We’re packing our bags and heading back to the scene of the crime, and by crime we mean Park City, Utah, home of all things Sundance.  WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, as you probably know, took the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at Sundance 2009 and director Ondi Timoner also won the Grand Jury Award for DIG! in 2004, making her the first filmmaker to take home the award twice in the festival’s history.  This endears them to us greatly.  We are thrilled to return to screen WE LIVE IN PUBLIC as a part of the Sundance Institute Film Series.

Wednesday, December 2
Park City Library, 7pm

In their words:

“Timoner offers a fascinating ten-year chronicle of internet pioneer Josh Harris as he launched an art experiment involving more than 100 artists living in a New York City bunker under 24-hour surveillance. Timoner couples Harris’s footage from his exhibitions with rousing vérité of her own for a sexy, yet cautionary tale where we all become Big Brother.”

Ondi will be there in person for a post-screening Q+A!

So the Best Doc category shortlist came out and we are sad to announce that The Academy wasn’t badass enough to include our film.  Maybe the soundtrack scared them off (what’s this… David Bowie? Sigur Ros? The Pixies? Sniff…) or maybe they couldn’t handle the fact that we didn’t include an interview with an environmentalist — we don’t know.   Other great and notable docs that were not shortlisted include the amazing ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL by our friend Sacha Gervasi, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY by Michael Moore and TYSON, by James Toback.  Some awards-watchers are getting our back and taking public note of the oversight.  Check it out:

New York Times
The Oscar Race for Documentaries: Who Got Snubbed?
“Among the documentaries whose Oscars dreams ended on Wednesday were some well-regarded and widely discussed films, including…  WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, a film by Ondi Timoner about the fallen dot-com millionaire Josh Harris and his increasing obsession with issues of surveillance and privacy.”

Variety
15 Docs on Oscar shortlist
“The year’s highest-grossing docu, Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story,” which opened Sept. 23, in time for the Academy’s Sept. 30 cutoff date, did not make the list. Other high-profile docs absent from the list include ‘The September Issue,’ ‘Tyson,’ ‘Anvil! The Story of Anvil,’ ‘It Might Get Loud’ and ‘We Live in Public.’”

Collider
15 Documentaries on Oscar Short-List; ANVIL!, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC and CAPITALISM Not Among Them
“While there are some deserved, if unsurprising, inclusions such as Food Inc. and The Cove, what’s more interesting are the films that didn’t make the cut. I’m upset about the We Live in Public, which won the Grand Jury Prize award in the U.S. documentary category at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. ”

Film Junk
Anvil! The Story of Anvil Among Academy Award Documentary Snubs
“…Considering the kinds of docs typically recognized by the Academy Awards, it’s easy to see why people might be turned off from the genre. Year after year, they seem to place higher value on “important” subjects, rather than deft storytelling and artistic merit… there are all kinds of other critically acclaimed films that were shunned including: We Live in Public”

Movieline
9 First Impressions of the Oscars’ Documentary Short List
“Wow. After all that innovation, audience outreach and Academy dispensation, We Live in Public still got screwed… Nothing against the films or filmmakers, many of which are very good, but come on.”

In any case, congrats to all the filmmakers who made the list, particularly Louie Psihoyos who made THE COVE and Robbie Kenner of FOOD, INC!

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC plays our second screening tomorrow night in Montreal at the RIDM, which is apparently a French acronym for Big Documentary Festival.  We got a whopping 5 STARS off of The Gazette film reviewer, Mark Tremblay who raves that we are, “one of the most compelling and technically accomplished films you’re likely to see this year.”

Last chance!  SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21st, report to Cinema ONF at 9:15pm!  Click here for INFO.

We begin a theatrical run in The Land Of The Artist Formally Known As Prince tonight, Friday November 20th at the Lagoon Cinema, a Landmark Theatre.  Get your tickets now — this is a one week only engagement!

Click HERE for showtimes, theater and ticket info

Thanks so much for the warm welcome in anticipation of our arrival.  Chris Hewitt in the Pioneer Press listed us first out of “the five best movies in theaters now”, alongside WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and the Coen Brothers’ A SERIOUS MAN.  He writes, “Shocking and powerful, this documentary starts out profiling Internet pioneer Josh Harris but becomes the story of how Harris’ obsession with all things www brought about his ruin. *** 1/2″ Full article: The five best movies in theaters now

The Star Tribune also raves, “WE LIVE IN PUBLIC is a whirlwind look at an eccentric personality in a turbulent time. It’s a story of hubris punished… It also asks pointed questions about how far people will prostitute themselves for attention, how the virtual world forms and deforms our personal lives. *** 1/2″  Full article: “We Live in Public” follows a dot-com Mad Hatter

And vita.mn, an online arbiter of cool things to do in the Twin Cities, posted a great article profiling director Ondi Timoner. ”Like DIG!, her 2004 documentary about dueling indie-rockers, Ondi Timoner’s WE LIVE IN PUBLIC is both a study and product of extreme obsession… intensely immersive.”  Full article: ‘Public’ affairs with Ondi Timoner

Thanks and see you at the Lagoon!

Indulge me in this excuse to pull out my high school French.  Bonjour, nous allons a Montreal ce soir.  Ok, I’m over it.  WE LIVE IN PUBLIC has two upcoming screenings at the Rencontres Internationales Du Documentaire De Montreal (RIDM) festival in Montreal Canada, and the first one is TONIGHT!

November 19  9:30pm
Grande Bibliotheque

November 21 9:15pm
ONF Cinema

Click HERE for info about the screenings.

Gather up your amis and come out to support WE LIVE IN PUBLIC!

“This is a remarkable film about a strange and prophetic man [4 STARS]“ Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times

We begin a theatrical run in The Land Of The Artist Formally Known As Prince tomorrow, Friday November 20th at the Lagoon Cinema, a Landmark Theatre.  Get your tickets now — this is a one week only engagement!

Click HERE for showtimes and info.

We are coming to you, Land of the Big Arch,  bringing documentary magic to delight and astound you.  We kick off the fun TONIGHT, November 19th, 2009 as part of the 18th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival.  We are playing at the Tivoli 1 at 7pm.

We have three screenings at the 22nd International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam.  This has become the largest doc fest in the world and we are excited to be there for it!   Ondi is in Amsterdam and will be at the Thursday and Friday screenings for post-film Q+A sessions.

Showtime info:
Munt 11  Thursday Nov 19th  5:45pm
OBA   Friday Nov 20th  8pm  — TONIGHT!
Tuschinski 4  Nov 28th 9pm

Get your tickets HERE!

Also, this Friday November 20th, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC opens theatrically in Minneapolis at the Lagoon Cinema, a Landmark Theatre. Get your seats, grab your friends and go!

Our London theatrical run at the Odeon has been going so well, they’ve asked us to stick around for another week.  Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, get your British bum over to the Odeon and catch us while you still can!  Click here for tickets and screening times.

For those of you in Manchester, Belfast, Bath, Newbury, Edinburgh and Northampton, we have upcoming screenings in your neck of the woods as well in the upcoming days.   Below is the current screening info as we take this little blog post to press, but click HERE for the most up-to-date info…

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC UK Screenings

Wednesday 18 November

London – Odeon Panton Street

Thursday 19 November

London – Odeon Panton Street

Manchester – Cornerhouse – Time 20:30

Friday 20 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Saturday 21 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Sunday 22 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Monday 23 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Tuesday 24 November

Bath – Little Theatre Cinema – Time 20:45

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Newbury – The Corn Exchange

Wednesday 25 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Newbury - The Corn Exchange

Thursday 26 November

Belfast – Queen’s Film Theatre

London – Odeon Panton Street

Tuesday 22 December

Edinburgh – Edinburgh Filmhouse

Wednesday 23 December

Edinburgh – Edinburgh Filmhouse

Monday 25 January

Northampton – Forum Cinema

Tuesday 26 January

Northampton – Forum Cinema

As Ondi and Josh jetset around the world, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC will make an appearance at the 18th Annual Whitaker St Louis International Film Festival this Thursday November 19th at 7pm at the Tivoli 1.  This is a great festival with tons of amazing films and we are excited to be a part of it.  Tell your Missouri friends!