ADAM JAMES SMITH
  • Home
  • Films
    • The Diner
    • Love & Allegiance
    • Shangri-La
    • The Land of Many Palaces
    • Nightworld
    • Americaville
  • Contact
  • Blog

Filming in the Heartland

9/22/2022

 
I have spent most of 2022 catching up on lost time from the pandemic by working on new feature film projects in the USA. Collectively titled The Heartland Project, I've been on location recording for these projects in the Bakken Oil Field of North Dakota during February and at rodeos throughout Oklahoma during the summer. This new film work is observationally-driven and explores alternative approaches to feature-length storytelling in documentary film. I'm excited to start working on these in the editing room this autumn. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Americaville's return to Europe

2/2/2022

 
Picture
Picture
It was a delight to return to Wroclaw, Poland in October 2021 for MiastoMovie to present Americaville to my first in-person audience in a long while (photos above). The Land of Many Palaces, my first feature documentary film, opened the festival back in 2016. 

After attending IDFA in Amsterdam with a group of my students, I returned to the University of Cambridge in November to run a workshop on documentary filmmaking for anthropology students, followed by my homecoming screening of Americaville and Q&A at my former college of Peterhouse (photos below).
Picture
Picture
I also screened the film at DesignAgora in Porto, Portugal in December. I love the design of the festival posters (below).
Picture

Thank you to The Whickers

7/1/2021

 
The Whicker's Foundation, created in memory of the legendary broadcaster Alan Whicker, helped fund my film "Americaville". It was great to reconnect with the organization and its creative director, Jane Ray, for a Q&A about the film for its screening at the 2021 Barnes Film Festival in London. I encourage all feature documentary filmmakers apply for support from this excellent foundation.

Americaville: Director Q&A at Barnes Film Festival 2021 from The Whickers on Vimeo.

Zooming with Americaville

12/16/2020

 

​​From March 2020 all of my planned screenings of "Americaville" were either cancelled, postponed, or went online due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's been a learning experience attempting to promote the film entirely online through Zoom and Skype. Here are a few moments from throughout the pandemic...
Picture
I was featured on the Passport podcast. For this episode on Jackson Hole, China, the hosts interviewed the original project manager of Jackson Hole, the American designer of the community, and me about shooting "Americaville" in the town. Listen here.

Q&A with the Salem Film Festival...

​At least there were some in-person screenings during the summer in Europe, that I zoomed into for the Q&A sessions, like this event in Vienna, Austria...
Picture
Picture
I was delighted to win "Best Feature Documentary" at ArchFilmLund in Sweden...

​It was super to return (albeit remotely) to the Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam to discuss the production of the film...
I'm hoping to return to in-person screening events at some point in 2021. For more information visit www.americavillefilm.com/about 

Nightworld preview

8/1/2020

 
Picture
See below for a preview of my short film "Nightworld" shot in Chongqing, China with scaler daredevils posted on one of their Instagram accounts. The full film has been screening at festivals.
Click to set custom HTML
View this post on Instagram

@Charlie_7u . . . . . . ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #roof #rooftop_prj #rooftop #rooftop_project#rooftops #ig_roofs #roofingculture #chasing_rooftops #roofing #rooftop_project #ontheroof #rooflife #rooftop_spb #urbanromantix #chasingrooftops #rooftopping #urbanexploration #rooftopguys #scaryhighstuff #roofworld #altcreed #rooftopkillers #urbanxy #rooftopilegal #kings_gopro #moodygrams #citygrammers #watchthisinstagood#chongqing •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A post shared by 童虎□ (@charlie_7u) on Jun 29, 2020 at 2:37pm PDT

Americaville's homecoming in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

1/30/2020

 
​On January 24th 2020, I flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming (the original) to screen my film Americaville shot in the Chinese replica of the town. The Center for the Arts managed to sell out the 500 seat theatre to locals who were super curious to learn about why their town was so appealing to the Chinese and how it had been copied in China. My trip was sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council. It was such a memorable evening!
Picture
Picture
​Click below to listen to my interview with the Wyoming Humanities Council. 
Picture
Picture

"Americaville" release week in California

1/19/2020

 
I was thrilled to finally release my feature documentary film "Americaville", on China's replica of the American Wild West, at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I returned to the festival after premiering my first feature documentary "The Land of Many Palaces" at Santa Barbara in 2015. I had follow-up screenings and Q&A sessions at the School of Cinematic Arts and the US-China Institute at USC, The Long Institute at UCI, and the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA. 

www.americavillefilm.com/about 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Above: photographs and an interview from Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Below: photograph and interview from the screening at the USC.
Picture

"Fantasy Factory" shoot in China

9/17/2018

 
During late May and early June this year, filmmaker Kadri Koop and I co-directed and shot "Fantasy Factory" throughout China and are currently in post-production.

"In a series of photoshoots, a disorienting docu-fantasy explores the dissonance between desired and lived realities against the industrial, rural, and replica-cityscapes of contemporary China."
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Nightworld completion

9/17/2018

 
Picture
While living and teaching film in China during early 2017, I spent 3 weekends shooting "Nightworld" in Chongqing - one of the world's largest, but strangely unknown, cities with a population of over 30 million. The film was entirely shot at night, beginning as a study on urban night activities throughout the city, with an emphasis on performance. While shooting and researching the city, I came across a community of scaler daredevils, who climb buildings and structures throughout the city and take photographs that are later posted on Instagram and Chinese social media accounts. It took a while to build a line of communication and trust with the community, as what they do is technically illegal. On my second trip, I managed to meet with two mute-deaf scalers - Cao Yu and Liu Zhixin - who climbed together and agreed to let me follow them. Their journey throughout the city, climbing various structures, became the backbone of the final short film, from which I build out other shot and night scenarios of the city. The final film plays just under 6 minutes, is without dialogue, and features music by Rob Scales who I worked with on "The Land of Many Palaces" and "Americaville"

Trailer:

The extended production of "Americaville"

6/26/2016

 
Originally I planned to shoot my feature documentary "Americaville" over a 3 month period last summer, while living in the Chinese replica of Jackson Hole, Wyoming on the outskirts of Beijing. Upon receiving feedback after presenting a trailer of the film at the Peterhouse Graduate Symposium 2015 in Cambridge, UK and at GZDocs 2015 in Guangzhou, China, I decided to continue shooting. In December 2015, The New York Times published an article about the replica of Jackson Hole. The story was picked up by the Chinese state media, which widely criticised the residents of the town for being unpatriotic. Here is the original NY Times article.
Picture
Picture
I returned to shoot in Jackson Hole over Christmas 2015 and Easter 2016 to capture the reaction of the townspeople to losing the ability of defining themselves on their own terms. This criticism they received had a profound affect on the general mood of the town, but my main character Liu Hua seemed initially undisturbed and intent on continuing to live her dream life in Jackson Hole. The two shoot trips were made possible by the support of the Bruckmann Trust.
Picture
Picture
Above left: The Jackson Hole Children's Choir organise themselves to performs carols on Christmas Eve in the Jackson Hole church.
Above right: Some of my documentary characters enjoy Christmas dinner at Liu Hua's home.
Picture
Above: Liu Hua prepares a cake for her husband over Easter.
Picture
Above: My interns QiYuan and KeHui from the Beijing Film Academy during the Easter shoot.
Picture
Picture
I attended Sheffield Doc Fest 2016 to pitch my film to the Whicker's World Foundation. I walked away with the runner-up funder award, while "Burma's Lost Royals" won the 80k grant. The grant will allow me to continue shooting for the rest of the year.

Spring screenings of "The Land of Many Palaces"

6/24/2016

 
We enjoyed a great run of screening throughout the spring, ranging from film festivals to art gallery screenings. We screened in Beijing, Moscow, Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Wroclaw, Tartu, Copenhagen, Brussels, Washington DC, Budapest, Peterborough, and Tallinn.
Picture
Above: Taking audience questions at Budapest Architecture Film Days.
Picture
Above: The introduction to our screening at the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium.
Picture
Above: We screened at the Copenhagen Architecture Festival alongside the great new documentary, "Chinese Dreamland".
Picture
Above: "The Land of Many Palaces" picked up the Best Directing award at the Moscow International Documentary Film Festival.
Picture
Above and below: I attended a great screening and Q&A session for "The Land of Many Palaces", which opened the MIASTOmovie festival in Wroclaw, Poland.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Above: We screened at the beautiful Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn, Estonia.

Architecture Film Festivals

1/7/2016

 
In the autumn I discovered the world of architecture film festivals, after screening "The Land of Many Palaces" at Beijing Design Week, the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, the Architecture and Design Film Festival in New York, Urban Eye in Bucharest, and at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The circuit of architecture film festivals is a great network made up of people passionate about sharing films on architecture and urbanism's profound influence on us all. I'm looking forward to screening the film at more architecture and design film festivals, organisations and biennales in 2016.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
From top left to right: the film in the AFFR catalogue, Ting and I at AFFR, Ting taking questions in New York, ADFF poster, Urban Eye poster, audience during the Q&A at Urban Eye,
​audience at Pakhuis de Zwijger, Beijing Design Week.

IAFOR Prize for "The Land of Many Palaces"

1/6/2016

 
Picture
I'm thrilled "The Land of Many Palaces" won "Best Newcomer Feature Documentary" at the IAFOR conference in Kobe, Japan last year. The film will go on tour around the IAFOR conferences around the world in 2016.

Americaville Feature Shoot Photos - Part 2

9/22/2015

 
I recently finished the Americaville feature documentary shoot in Jackson Hole, China. It was an eventful second half of the summer with the character and communal stories really coming together. I look forward to starting the edit in October.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Americaville Feature Shoot in Jackson Hole, China

7/27/2015

 
I'm currently in the middle of the shoot for Americaville, a feature documentary about the community of Jackson Hole, China.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

April, May, June Festival Screenings of "The Land of Many Palaces"

6/22/2015

 
Since the American screening tour ended, "The Land of Many Palaces" has screened at several film festivals around the world, including the Beijing International Film Festival in China, DocAviv in Israel, Rome Independent Film Festival in Italy, and Documentary Edge Festival in New Zealand. 
Picture
Picture
Picture

April and May Press for "The Land of Many Palaces"

5/30/2015

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

"Best International Documentary" at Rome Independent Film Festival

5/16/2015

 
Picture
"The Land of Many Palaces" won "Best Independent Documentary" at Rome Independent Film Festival 2015. Co-director/co-producer, Song Ting, was at the festival to pick up the award.
Picture

Variations on a Poster

5/1/2015

 
While on tour with "The Land of Many Palaces", it has been interesting to see how each screening venue has adapted the posters that were given to them. Here are a few examples...
Picture
Picture
Picture

North American Tour for "The Land of Many Palaces"

4/27/2015

 
The North American tour for "The Land of Many Palaces" came to an end on April 18th with a final screening in Toronto, Canada. I traveled non-stop for three months throughout the US and Canada to screen the film to a variety of different audiences, in many types of venue, including, film festivals, independent theatres, universities, organisations, museums, and schools. I also focused on garnering press about the film and Ordos.

Here are some photos from the tour...

Picture
Picture
Picture
Taking questions at the Film Expo for the Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on March 27th 2015. The conference was a great opportunity to promote the film to the Asian Studies community.
A digital promotion banner for the film and taking questions from the audience at the Asia Society in Houston, Texas, March 4th 2015.
Picture
Picture
Sign board and the audience for "The Land of Many Palaces" screening at The Loft Cinema, Tucson, Arizona, March 3rd 2015.
Picture
The red carpet on the opening night of the Miami International Film Festival, March 6th 2015. "The Land of Many Palaces" screened in Little Havana on March 8th.
Picture
Screening at the Human Rights Film Festival in San Francisco, California, on April 10th 2015.
Picture
Picture
"The Land of Many Palaces" Q&A session, hosted by Robin Smith, Hot Docs Programmer, at Innis Town Hall, Toronto, April 18th 2015.

February and March Press for "The Land of Many Palaces"

3/11/2015

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

The World Festival Premiere of "The Land of Many Palaces" at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2015

2/9/2015

 
Ting and I recently premiered "The Land of Many Palaces" at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. We attended the opening night film screening of "Desert Dancer"...
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
On the second day of the festival we screened "The Land of Many Palaces" at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, followed by a screening at Metro 4 Theatre on the third day of the festival...
Picture
Picture
Both screenings were sold out and were followed by a lively Q&A session. 

You can read our interview with the Santa Barbara Independent here:


Picture

Canadian Preview Screenings of "The Land of Many Palaces"

1/24/2015

 

Our final two preview screenings of "The Land of Many Palaces" took place at the University of Toronto for the Munk School of Global Affairs, and at the University of Victoria for the Center for Asian Pacific Initiatives. I attended both to take part in the lively discussions that followed each screening. I look forward to retuning to Canada in April to screen the film at the Bloor Hot Docs Theatre in Toronto.

Picture
Picture

Recent Press for "The Land of Many Palaces"

1/1/2015

 

As we gear-up for the official festival premiere of "The Land of Many Palaces" later this month in California, Ting and I have been doing some press for the film.

Here's an article I wrote for The Guardian, about some of the things I discovered while shooting for the film in Ordos, Inner Mongolia:

Picture

Here's an interview we participated in for The Wall Street Journal: 

Picture

Jackson Hole, Hebei December 2014 Shoot

12/30/2014

 

In the mountains, north of Beijing, stands a replica of the Wyoming ski-town of Jackson Hole. Home to a few thousand residents, the town offers respite to Beijingers seeking not only an escape from the city, but an escape from China itself. 

I shot there for a short film (working title: Mountain Town), earlier this month, over two weekends. I interviewed several families and individuals, including the founder of the community, Mr. Liu. On my second weekend there, they sprayed man-made snow on the streets! 


Picture

Shooting outside the church in Jackson Hole, China.

Picture
Picture

Main Street, Jackson Hole, Hebei... Complete with man-made snow!

<<Previous

    Archives

    September 2022
    February 2022
    July 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    January 2020
    September 2018
    June 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    Author

    The blog for documentary filmmaker, Adam James Smith.

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Films
    • The Diner
    • Love & Allegiance
    • Shangri-La
    • The Land of Many Palaces
    • Nightworld
    • Americaville
  • Contact
  • Blog