Niko Fischer (Tom Schilling) in A Coffee in Berlin, courtesy of Music Box Films Twenty-something ennui (aka “the slacker”) is not endemic to the United States, as evidenced by German director Jan Ole Gerster‘s debut feature, A Coffee in Berlin. The film—which swept the German Film Academy Awards—follows a day in the life of Niko […]
This piece originally appeared on The Huffington Post. Pat Shortt & Daniel Radcliffe in ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan / Credit: Johan Persson Though he’s relatively unknown on American shores, comedian Pat Shortt has been racking up fans in his native Ireland for decades. After graduating from art college in the 1980s, Shortt and his buddy […]
Griffin Dunne (After Hours) stars as Lewis Birch, an academic purveyor of not-quite-popular history whose principled refusal to cater to the lowest common denominator has left him without a publisher. Still reeling from his divorce, he doesn’t quite know how to relate to his teenaged kids, portrayed by Madeleine Martin(“Californication“) and Devon Graye (“Dexter“). When the trio’s planned road trip from […]
I’ve always felt confident about the American history education I received in various public schools (my 12th-grade civics teacher Sharon Levin comes to mind). But after watching Sasha Reuther‘s riveting documentary Brothers on the Line, I realize that every education has a significant gap or two, and one of mine involved the fascinating and rich history of […]
Butterfly Girl, a documentary that premiered at SXSW 2013, tells the refreshing story of a spunky young Texan with a debilitating disease. Abigail Evans—Abbie— is a spitfire who says what she means, and deals with her health misfortunes the best way a teenager can: with equal parts sarcasm and optimism, and with a constant twinkle in […]
It’s hard to remember a time when Juliette Lewis wasn’t making a memorable mark on the big screen — can you believe Cape Fear came out in 1991? But after a few years out of the spotlight, during which she focused on a music career, she’s back on the big screen. In movies like August: Osage County and Hellion, she’s reminding us how […]
Directors Luis Lopez and Clay Tweel discuss their award-winning documentary Print the Legend, which had its world premiere this month at the 2014 South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival. Premiering last week at South By Southwest, the documentary Print the Legend chronicles the mainstream rise of 3D printing over the past five years, due in large […]
Young love is typically treated one of two ways in feature films made by adults: either as gauzy, treacly fairy tales of first kisses and two-straw milkshakes or as raunchy comedies where losing one’s virginity is a requirement for high school graduation — and in most cases, the protagonist is male. That’s what makes I […]
Austin filmmaker Bryan Poyser‘s third feature, Love & Air Sex, world premiered at the SXSW Film 2013. Since then, the bawdy rom-com/bromance has been on a roll, introducing the festival circuit to the wonders of Air Sex and reminding them that Austin is at the center of the current indie-film zeitgeist. The film centers on two couples who can’t […]
Born in Delft in 1632, Johannes Vermeer was not a prolific painter; scholars can only definitively attribute roughly 35 paintings to him. (A few more are in dispute.) Modestly successful in his lifetime, then relatively forgotten, Vermeer was rediscovered in the 19th Century. He has since become regarded as a grand master, best known for his impeccable […]
Kristin also presents social media workshops, moderates panels about all aspects of the film industry, and offers one-on-one training sessions about building a digital community.
She occasionally contributes filmmaker interviews to select outlets, and provides editorial content across platforms.