Wow… Dallas holds Unforeseen over for another week…
What can I say? I’m completely surprised. We’re still a tiny blip on the box office radar as you can plainly see. Our theatrical run ends in July in I believe St. Louis. Then it’s onto Sundance Channel, DVD and… who knows? ;-D
Laura Dunn receives Independent Spirit Award for “The Unforeseen” (Videos)
You can also see about Laura’s Press Room interview at Film Independent’s 2008 Spirit Awards Coverage page. Click the image below.
(clicking about image will open a new window)
Tales from the Indie Spirit Awards….
(Laura and fellow nominees Gary and John, photo from AJ Schnack’s blog)
So our award was, honestly, totally unexpected. Having rapped with one of the jurors - the venerable AJ Schnack - at the nominee reception a couple nights before, I was completely convinced that we hadn’t won. He positively raved about the film “Running Stumbled” as a powerful and most amazing film and deserving of the highest praise. In fact, I had heard rave reviews about both Helvetica and Running Stumbled and simply felt honored to be in their company. Even when the nominees were read it seemed clear from the audiences applause when both of their names were read that they had genuinely enthusiast fans while our film simply seemed unknown.
So my husband Jef and I approached the afternoon with a kind of carefree enjoy-the-spectacle attitude, sneaking by the hordes of press and photographers on the blue carpet and scoping out whatever non-alcoholic beverages we could find. Having a 2-year old at home, we don’t get out much and aren’t exactly the “socializing” types, but we loved running into several dear friends who have championed our film such as Christian Vesper and Laura Michalchyshyn from the Sundance Channel and our superhuman sales rep Josh Braun wearing an awesome orange shirt. So yes, the win was unexpected and I had nothing prepared to say — not sure how it all came off — but we are very grateful for the opportunity to further the film’s message about protecting the natural world in the face of unrelenting development, and to spotlight our beloved Austin and her treasures still at stake. Congrats to Gary and Brigid on their engagement — we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the lovely couple. And I can’t wait to see both Helvetica and Running Stumbled — how inspiring to meet a community of filmmakers doing what they love despite the challenges along the way.
Cancer Pioneer Judah Folkman dies
One of the most critical interviews in “The Unforeseen” comes from an extraordinary cancer researcher named Judah Folkman, who sadly passed away earlier today. From Reuters:
Dr. Judah Folkman, who discovered that tumors generate their own network of tiny blood vessels to nourish themselves, has died at the age of 74, Harvard Medical School said on Tuesday.
Folkman’s work founded an entire branch of cancer research called anti-angiogenesis therapy. His theory was that if a tumor could be stopped from growing its own blood supply, it would wither and die.
Known for his amazing generosity of spirit and kindness, he extended tremendous patience with us during our interview in 2004, in which he carefully explained how tumors grow and distinguished healthy cell growth patterns from malignant ones. His cogent distillation of these complex biological systems ultimately became key to grasping the central thesis of our film: that all growth is not good, and in fact, (in the words of Edward Abbey) “growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
I feel so grateful to have met Judah Folkman, an outstanding teacher and scientist. This blog entry is an attempt, however small, to honor his enormous contributions.
Read more from today’s Associated Press.
Read more about his work in this 2002 interview from Scientific American.
“Is that a Helicopter Shot?”
Many have asked about the film’s opening shot. Was it a helicopter shot?
See for yourself…
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About The Unforeseen
The Unforeseen, executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Called "the best film at the festival, hands down" by Film Comment's Gavin Smith, the film documents the struggles between development and preservation of Austin Texas.