Pirate the Pirate Bay.
TPB AFK tells the story of the Swedish file-sharing site that revolutionized file sharing and prompted an international legal battle.
When the crew is found guilty, they are confronted with the reality of life offline — away from keyboard.
You can download and watch the doc right now (uploaded directly to The Pirate Bay by the director, of course)!
31 Kickstarter-funded films at SXSW.
We’re thrilled to announce that so far 31 Kickstarter-funded films are heading to SXSW! Congratulations to all of these amazing filmmakers and their teams — we can’t wait to see your work on the big screen.
Check out all of the selections on our SXSW Curated Page and stay tuned for more updates before March.
See you in Austin!
Narrative Feature competition
Improvement Club
Documentary feature competition
12 O’Clock Boys, Big Joy, William and the Windmill
Narrative Spotlight
Grow Up, Tony Phillips, Good Night
Documentary Spotlight
I Am Divine, Good Ol’ Freda, Medora, Continental, Rewind This!, TINY, We Cause Scenes, Mr. Angel
Visions
Our Nixon, Maidentrip, White Reindeer, Euphonia
Special Events
TPB AFK
Narrative Shorts competition
Boneshaker, It’s Not You, It’s Me, Mobile Homes, Sequin Raze, Shale
Documentary Shorts competition
SLOMO
Animated Shorts competition
Cicada Princess
Midnight Shorts competition
Child Eater
24 Beats Per Second
The Punk Singer, Finding the Funk, All the Labor
Texas High School Shorts competition
GBFF
White House home movies.
Our Nixon documents the president’s rise and fall through home movies shot by three of Nixon’s closest aides. Forgotten for nearly 40 years, these Super 8 films offer a unique look at life inside the White House.
Lin it to win it.
As an undrafted rookie from Harvard, Jeremy Lin seemed an unlikely candidate for basketball stardom. This documentary was there from the beginning to trace Lin’s meteoric rise, from his struggles in obscurity to the game that changed it all.
Kickstarter at Sundance.
We’re back from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with lots of exciting news to share. Kickstarter-funded films earned major awards, picked up distribution deals, and delighted packed houses, and we couldn’t be happier for these dedicated filmmakers and their backers.
It’s been an exciting year for independent film on Kickstarter, and Sundance begins the new year on a high note. We’re thrilled to see so many talented creators recognized for their hard work. Congratulations!
Featured films:
This year, 17 Kickstarter-funded films screened at the festival, including features, documentaries, and short films.
Awards:
Five films headed home with top prizes, including double laurels for Blood Brother. Hats off for this amazing achievement.
Deals:
Several films left Sundance with distribution deals in tow. Looking forward to seeing them in theaters soon!
Press:
We could fill a book with all the positive press garnered by these 17 films during Sundance. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Congrats again to all the filmmakers, their teams, and their backers. See you next year, Park City!
Big winners at Sundance.
Good morning, internet. Exciting news out of Sundance: Kickstarter-funded doc Blood Brother wins big at the prestigous festival, taking home both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary and the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary. Incredible!
Blood Brother wasn’t the only Kickstarter success story at the festival. Of the 17 films that played, The Square won the Audience Award for World Cinema and This Is Martin Bonner won the Audience Award: Best of NEXT. Inequality for All and American Promise also took home special jury prizes.
Congrats to all the filmmakers and backers who made these films possible!
Crossover move.
Co-director of Doin’ It in the Park (and legendary hip-hop DJ) Bobbito Garcia schools a kid on the court. The doc explores the history and cultural impact of New York City’s street basketball scene.
The best way to approach Kickstarter campaign is to think beyond money.
—Pete Nicks, creator of The Waiting Room, quoted on the PBS documentary blog. Great advice from three 2012 doc projects!
A magician’s secrets.
This documentary profiles the life of magician-turned-skeptic James “The Amazing” Randi, as he confronts psychics, faith healers, and con artists to reveal their deceptions. Now 84, Randi has lived most of his life in the public eye — but there are still a few surprises left to reveal.
Pirates take Berlin.
Congratulations to The Pirate Bay: Away From Keyboard, a feature-length doc about the Swedish file-sharing site that revolutionized the media landscape and prompted an international legal fight.
The filmmaker just announced that his movie will premiere at this year’s Berlinale!
In a first for the prestigious festival, the doc will debut simultaneously in a free online screening — tune in February 8th.
Art in the streets.
One City - Eight Artists - Seven Days: Baltimore documents the production of the Stereoscopic 3D Mural and thanks all 57 backers of the Kickstarter project. If you’ve got 33 minutes, it’s well worth the trip.
Greetings from Science Fiction Land.
Rewards have landed for Science Fiction Land, a doc about the untold sci-fi saga behind the Oscar-nominated film Argo.
Kickstarter rewards for supporting Judd Ehrlich’s forthcoming film, Science Fiction Land.
Deep in the Delta.
Delta Boys explores the untold stories of the Niger Delta militancy — an ongoing armed struggle over this oil-rich region of Nigeria.
The film just received a very positive review in the New York Times and is now available to stream through Netflix, Hulu, and SnagFilms. Congrats to director Andrew Berends on his remarkable doc!
Occupy the farm.
On April 22, 2012, more than 200 urban farmers and community activists marched onto 10 acres of fallow farmland owned by the University of California and began to plant.
Throughout the growing season, these activists tended to their crops while engaging in an increasingly contentious dispute with the school over the fate of the land. A veteran filmmaker, Todd Darling, was there to document the entire process, and Occupy the Farm is the result.
With just three days left to fund the production, the documentary is $3,500 short of its goal — but the gap is closing.
Peek into the future.
A documentary exploration of new media creativity, Clouds uses new 3D technology to share interviews in a videogame-like environment.
Presented as a database of tagged interviews, viewers can navigate through the project in every direction by simply typing in a question or search term. This future-minded portrait of the digital arts community is our Project of the Day.
