This year’s Sundance Film Festival will screen four films from Dattner Dispoto cinematographers: Mott Hupfel’s Jack Goes Boating; Xavier Perez Grobet’s Mother and Child; Sam Levy’s The Romantics; Maryse Alberti’s Casino Jack and the United States of Money; plus one from costume designer Mary Claire Hannan’s The Kids Are Alright.
Jack Goes Boating is a beautifully crafted independent feature adapted from Robert Glaudini’s play and directed by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman chose to work with DP Hupfel after performing in front of his camera in the well-received The Savages and knowing his work on The Notorious Bettie Page.
The film is adapted for the screen by the playwright. Hoffman, Daphne Rubin-Vega and John Ortiz reprise the roles they played on stage. Jack Goes Boating is an unconventional working-class love story following Jack, a New York City limo driver, who turns his otherwise ordinary life while pursuing his affection for Connie, played by Amy Ryan.
Mother and Child, lensed by Grobet, which premiered at 2009’s Toronto International Film Festival, is a multi-character drama from director Rodrigo García (Nine Lives, Passengers). Three women, played by Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Kerry Washington, drive a narrative that examines themes of child adoption. The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, David Morse and Jimmy Smits and boasts a host of prestigious producers including Alejandro González Iñárritu and Julie Lynn.
Grobet lensed ‘Nine Lives’ for García in 2005 and returns to grace ‘Mother and Child’ with the expert photography for which he is known. Grobet also shot ‘Before Night Falls’ with director Julian Schnabel, which earned him a best cinematography Independent Spirit Award nomination. From animated features (Monster House; “a visual treat” – Reel.com), to live action comedy (Nacho Libre; “marvelous cinematography” – DVD Times) to award-winning drama (The Woodsman; “cogently framed by cinematographer Xavier Pérez Grobet’s stark lensing” – The Hollywood Reporter), Grobet is one of the most versatile DPs working today.
Cinematographer Sam Levy’s The Romantics is directed and adapted for the screen by producer/novelist Galt Niederhoffer from her 2008 novel. It stars Katie Holmes, Elijah Wood, Josh Duhamel and Anna Paquin as former college chums who reunite for a friend’s wedding, measuring their respective disappointments against one another and rekindling old competitive battles.
Levy’s imagery for The Romantics follows his much-lauded work on last year’s Cannes premiere Wendy and Lucy, one of AFI’s top 10 films of 2008. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker says Levy’s work on the picture “finds a formal, unhurried beauty in the storefronts and train yards of Portland.” Levy also recently shot the music promo Oasis Dig Out Your Soul – In The Streets, which won a string of awards and confirmed him as a lensman to watch.
Maryse Alberti’s documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money, directed by Alex Gibney investigates the lies, greed and corruption surrounding Jack Abramoff, a notoriously corrupt D.C. lobbyist who pled guilty in Federal court to fraudulent dealings with SunCruz Casinos, among other offenses. ‘Casino Jack’ is the latest in a long line of Alberti-Gibney collaborations including the Oscar™-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
In her previous showings at Sundance, Alberti won Best Cinematography Awards for the documentaries ‘Crumb’ in 1994 and ‘H-2 Worker’ in 1990. Alberti’s cinematography on narrative features is equally lauded, with Independent Spirit Best Cinematography Awards for ‘The Wrestler’ and ‘Velvet Goldmine’ and a nomination for ‘We Don’t Live Here Anymore.’ Alberti recently shot ‘Stone’ for helmer John Curran, which stars Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. Slated for release in 2010 is yet another documentary with Gibney, focusing on the cyclist Lance Armstrong.
Alberti’s 1991 project with director Todd Haynes, Poison, will screen as part of the festival’s From the Collection series.
Mary Claire Hannan’s costumes for Sean Penn’s Into the Wild earned her the Costume Designers Guild nomination for Excellence in Costume Design for a Film – Contemporary in 2008. She arrived in Hollywood via the Quentin Tarantino school, working as his costume supervisor on ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and assistant costume designer on ‘Pulp Fiction.’
In Hannan’s The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play the lesbian mothers, Mark Ruffalo plays the sperm donor, while the female offspring Joni is played by Mia Wasikowska.
SCREENING TIMES ‘Jack Goes Boating’ screens Saturday, Jan. 23, 9:15 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 24, 9:15 a.m. at Eccles Theatre and Monday Jan. 25, 9:30 p.m. at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
‘The Romantics’ screens Wednesday, Jan. 27, 11:30 a.m. at Library Center Theatre, Thursday, Jan. 28, 9:30 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 29, 9:15 a.m. at Eccles Theatre and Saturday Jan. 30, 9:30 p.m. at Peery’s Egyptian Theater.
‘Mother and Child’ screens Saturday Jan. 23, 3 p.m. at the Screening Room, Sundance Resort; Sunday Jan. 24, 12 p.m. at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Monday Jan. 25, 8 p.m. at the Racquet Club, Wednesday Jan. 27, 3 p.m. at the Egyptian Theater and Saturday Jan. 30, 3:30 p.m. at Peery’s Egyptian Theater.
‘Casino Jack and the United States of Money’ screens Saturday Jan. 23, 6 p.m. at the Temple Theatre, Monday Jan. 25, 9 p.m. at Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, Tuesday Jan. 26, 9 p.m. at the Temple Theatre, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2:30 p.m. at the Library Center Theatre and Friday Jan. 29, 10 a.m. at Holiday Village Cinema III.
‘Poison’ screens Friday, Jan. 22, 8:30 p.m. at Prospector Square Theatre, Saturday, Jan. 23, 9:30 p.m. at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center and Friday Jan. 29, 10 p.m. at Holiday Village Cinema III.
‘The Kids Are All Right’ screens Monday Jan. 25, 8:30 p.m. at the Library Center Theatre, Thursday Jan. 28, 6:30 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Friday Jan. 29, 9:30 p.m. at the Eccles Theatre and Saturday Jan. 30, 3 p.m. at Prospector Square Theatre.
ABOUT DDA
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) is a Hollywood-based talent agency representing an elite, international group of producers, cinematographers and designers. Please visit www.ddatalent.com for further news and information on DDA clients.
