woodpecker
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a film by alex karpovsky
Male
101 years old
Brinkley, AR
United States
Last Login: 1/21/2009
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woodpecker's Film Bio
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| Website | woodpeckerfilm.com | | Influences | Joseph Conrad, James Audobon, James Tanner, Emily Dickinson, Werner Herzog, hawks, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, bayous, ball lightning, improvisation, memphis, hope, perpection, identity, existential despair | | Directors | Robert Altman, Lars von Trier, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Bogdanovich, Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodóvar, Hal Ashby, Stanley Kubrick, Richard Linklater, Brad Neely, David Kitson, Jonathan Demme, r, Michael Winterbottom, Louis Malle, Terrence Malick, Ross McElwee, Ken Loach, Billy Wilder, Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Nicholas Ray, Todd Haynes, Michael Mann, Andrew Bujalksi, Mike Nichols, Jacques Tati, P.T. Anderson, Jean-Luc Godard, Tim Burton, Andrei Tarkovsky, David O. Russell, David Lean, Coen Bros., Michael Haneke, Wes Anderson, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Vincent Gallo, Mike Leigh | | Awards | "Woodpecker" was selected into the IFP Narrative Rough Cut Lab in June of 2007 and the film participated in the IFP Market last September. | | Festivals | South by Southwest (World Premiere) (March 2008)
Wisconsin Film Festival (March)
Sarasota Film Festival (April)
Atlanta Film Festival (April)
Indep. Film Festival of Boston (April)
Minneapolis-St. Paul Int’l Film Festival (April)
Maryland Film Festival (May)
Newport Int’l Film Festival (June)
Solstice Film Festival (June)
Maine Int’l Film Festival (July)
Woods Hole Film Festival (June)
Rome Int’l Film Festival (Sept)
Kansas Int’l Film Festival (Sept)
Temecula Int’l Film Festival (Sept)
Big Water Film Festival (Sept)
Flyway Film Festival (Oct)
Indie Memphis Film Festival(Oct)
George Eastman House (Dec) | | Professional Affiliations | Independent Feature Project (IFP) |
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woodpecker's Details
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| Status: | Single | | Hometown: | Brinkley, Arkansas | | Zodiac Sign: | Sagittarius | | Smoke / Drink: | Yes / Yes | | Children: | Someday | | Income: | Less than $30,000 |
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woodpecker's Blurbs |
About me:
NEWS:
The “Woodpecker” soundtrack, composed by
James Lavino
with contributions from Colin Greenwood of
Radiohead
and Lee & Tyler Sargent of
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
is now available on
iTunes
,
Amazon MP3
and other online music stores.
ABOUT:
"Woodpecker" is a narrative feature film about one birdwatcher's determined/delusional efforts to locate the elusive/celebrated Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Shot on location in the bayous of Eastern Arkansas, the "Woodpecker" was selected into the IFP Narrative Rough Cut Lab in June of 2007, participated in the IFP Market last September in New York, and had its World Premiere at
SXSW
in March. "Woodpecker" is now on the festival circuit...
REVIEWS:
"... a beakful of yuks... 'Woodpecker' soars above the bulk of low-budget Amerindie farces, if not above the director's earlier 'The Hole Story', now a minor cult fave on DVD. A rare bird himself, Karpovsky remains one to watch."
Rob Nelson, VARIETY
"**** (4 stars) ... I love the way Karpovsky explores the angles on the discovery of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker (namely is this all a hoax or has the bird really made a comeback?) yet his choice to blend fiction and non-fictional elements into the film plays into that idea brilliantly ... 'Woodpecker' is a great, funny and surprisingly moving film that's not to be missed."
Don R. Lewis, FILM THREAT
"... I found myself in awe of this tale about an amateur birdwatcher on a desperate mission. A highly entertaining, character-driven story, the film blends tragedy with comedy, truth with fiction, pathos with absurdity, and the result will have you simultaneously laughing and performing mental gymnastics to unravel its many layers."
Toddy Burton, THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE
"Alex Karpovsky directs with a combination of soft wit and affection for Southern cadences... 'Woodpecker' works thanks to a combination of its great protagonist and a believable situation."
Eric Kohn, INDIEWIRE
"Filmmaker Alex Karpovsky marries documentary and narrative to create a whole new genre of filmmaking."
Nikki Chase, THE INDEPENDENT
"Alex Karpovsky's follow-up to his clever debut feature 'The Hole Story' is an even more accomplished and fully realized work of bittersweet existential docu-fiction. While many independent filmmakers continue to break new ground in the world of the fiction/non-fiction hybrid (two standouts from 2007 include Craig Zobel's 'Great World of Sound' and Zach Godshall's 'Low and Behold'), Karpovsky is
carving his own unique path in his quest to find a truer, deeper state of cinematic being. As in 'The Hole Story', 'Woodpecker' is equal parts television news report, American history lesson, probing documentary, and artificially constructed existential tragicomedy. More impressive than that, it works on both a universal and personal level as a statement of genuinely affecting edutainment."
Michael Tully, HAMMER TO NAIL
“… it doesn't matter what know when you start watching this movie -- after 10 minutes, you're going to be questioning and second-guessing. That's part of the ass-backwards, off-kilter enjoyment of ‘Woodpecker’”.
Jette Kernion, CINEMATICAL
“… SXSW 08 was a blast. And as always at film festivals, once the niceties are done with, you start trading lists of movies you've liked so far. Inevitably, ‘Woodpecker’ would rank right up there on the list of anyone who'd seen it.”
David Hudson, GREENCINE
“Listening to available recordings of Karpovsky's spoken poetry is to be transported into a mind that has been contracted by some higher power to tell the smaller stories -- the obscure and abstract stories that question our sense of faith, while simultaneously supporting it... The ululating sound of the ghost bird begins to haunt your own mind and urges you to dust off your old binoculars and set out questing after the transcendent ideals that come to be represented by the ivory-billed woodpecker of the film... A dark and comedic piece [’Woodpecker’] begs a sense of true faith from its viewers for the ivory-throated myth to exist at all.”
John Ayotte, MAINE MORNING SENTINEL
“… incredibly well-done … so subtle that you never really know if it’s fake or not, “Woodpecker’s” strength lies in the film’s central performance from Jon Hyrns, and in Karpovsky’s confident direction. Perhaps a bit slow for most people’s tastes, Karpovsky never lets the conceit get away from him.”
Mark Stolaroff, FILM RADAR
ABOUT THE WRITER/DIRECTOR:
Alex Karpovsky's first feature film, '
'The Hole Story'
, won numerous awards on the festival circuit before being released theatrically last year. Filmmaker Magazine selected Alex as one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film 2006" and he was shortlisted for the "Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award last year. In addition to 'Woodpecker', Alex is also in post-production with a feature-length documentary called 'Trust Us, This Is All Made UP', which focuses on America's most revered long-form comedy improvisers -
TJ Jagodowski
and
David Pasquesi
and. Alex also acts, most recently playing the male lead in a new film by
Andrew Bujalski
as well as the voices of several gangsters in the newly released
'Grand Theft Auto IV'
. Alex can be reached at alex@woodpeckerfilm.com.
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Who I'd like to meet:
YOU! Please visit:
www.woodpeckerfilm.com
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