Dark Matter: Independent Filmmaking in the 21st Century

(Paperback)

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A Sight & Sound Book of the Year "Eye-opening and addictively readable." Total Film Who and what decides if a film gets funded How do those who control the purse strings also determine a film's content and even its message Writing as the director of award-winning feature films including Welcome to Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People and The Road to Guantanamo as well as the hugely popular The Trip series, Michael Winterbottom provides an insider's view of the workings of international film funding and distribution, revealing how the studios that fund film production and control distribution networks also work against a sustainable independent film culture and limit innovation in filmmaking style and content. In addition to reflecting upon his own filmmaking career, featuring critical and commercial successes alongside a 'very long list' of films that didn't get made, Winterbottom also interviews leading contemporary filmmakers including Lynne Ramsay, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Asif Kapadia and Joanna Hogg about their filmmaking practice. The book closes with a vision of how the contemporary filmmaking landscape could be reformed for the better with fairer funding and payment practices allowing for a more innovative and sustainable 21st century industry.

Reviews

Seeking to understand the obstacles that even notable names face trying to finance a British film these days, Winterbottom uses the first Covid lockdown to interview an enviable list of directors, including Steve McQueen, Lynne Ramsay and Mike Leigh Theres fascinating candour Eye-opening and addictively readable. * Total Film *
The interviews focus on the business side of film production is relatively unusual and all the more valuable for it. Possibly liberated by the uncertainty of the moment, Winterbottoms subjects are more frank about the industry than is customary. Their perspectives often converge, but the directors reasons for not directing vary as widely as their circumstances. -- Henry K. Miller * Sight & Sound *
A must-read for anyone interested in how films are made, and not made. * The Saturday Paper *

Author Bio

Michael Winterbottom is the director of award-winning films and TV series including Jude (1996); Welcome to Sarajevo (1997); Wonderland (1999); 24 Hour Party People (2002); The Road to Guantanamo (2006); The Trip (2010), The Trip to Italy (2013), The Trip to Spain (2017) and The Trip to Greece (2020), as well as the 2019 feature Greed (2019). He is currently working on a TV mini-series focusing on British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons handling of the Covid-19 crisis.