After the breakout success of beasts of the southern wild, benh zeitlin had hollywood in his pocket. Benh zeitlin was born in queens, new york, on october 14, 1982, to steve zeitlin and amanda dargan. Born in new york city and raised in sunnyside, queens and then westchester county. Barries classic story, this time centered on wendy rather than the magical peter.
Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up. How benh zeitlin made an impossible film and why the. Barries peter pan wendy had its world premiere at the sundance film festival on january 26, 2020 and was released on. The oscar nominee on his first film in eight years. A reimagining of peter pan that transplants it to the american deep south, wendy is the second movie from director benh zeitlin. Benh zeitlins longawaited followup to beasts of the southern wild is a sometimes astonishing, ultimately enervating retelling of peter pan. The film stars devin france, yashua mack, gage naquin, gavin naquin, ahmad cage, krzysztof meyn, and romyri ross. His parents are the founders of city lore, a nonprofit center for urban culture. She and all of the other actors were nonprofessionals. Nate twitchell is a young boy growing up on an ostrich farm in freedom, new hampshire. Benh zeitlins peter pan adaptation of wendy is a ponderous take on a. Flickdirect correspondent austin putnam sat down with wendy director benh zeitlin to discuss the underlying theme of holding on to faith, dreams, and.
Yashua mack, devin france, gage naquin, gavin naquin, romyri ross, ahmad cage and krzysztof meyn in the film wendy. Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at. Back in the heady days of 2012, rookie filmmaker benh zeitlin born ben h zeitlin was enjoying the kind of rarefied success that most freshfaced film school grads can only fantasize about. Barrie wrote peter pan, the story continues to live on in the hearts of adults and children everywhere. Wendy, benh zeitlins visually stunning new film, attempts to reinvigorate an overused taleand fails.
Court arts mission is to grow and sustain the cinema culture of new orleans, louisiana, and to celebrate radical artmaking across disciplines. Hogans version from 2003, but now we have possibly the most unusual version of them all wendy, from director benh zeitlin. Oscarnominated beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin is back with his first movie in eight years. Eight long years after beasts of the southern wild, benh zeitlin brings that same rustbottomed sense of magical realism to the legend of peter pan, reframing j. Benh zeitlin doesnt have any movies playing in theaters. Peter pans story, from a female perspective beasts of the southern wild writerdirector benh zeitlin tackles j. Benjamin harold benh zeitlin born october 14, 1982 is an american filmmaker, composer, and animator best known for directing the 2012 film beasts of the southern wild. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin returns with a new bit of magic the oscar nominee on his first film in eight years. This article appears in the march 2, 2020, issue of new york. The enormous egg is a 2020 american childrens movie written and directed by benh zeitlin, based off the book of the same name by oliver butterworth. Wendy is a 2020 american fantasy drama film directed by benh zeitlin, from a screenplay by zeitlin and eliza zeitlin. After making his debut with the best picture nominated film beasts of the southern wild, benh zeitlin disappeared for years, working on a peter pan retelling called wendy. Director benh zeitlin follows beasts of the southern wild with a new spin on j. This week, the new film wendy becomes the latest spurned.
Produced by the collective court pictures, as well as becky glupczynski, dan janvey, paul mezey, and josh penn. The enormous egg film idea wiki fandom powered by wikia. Filmmaker benh zeitlins followup to beasts of the southern wild might have benefited from more adult supervision. Wendy director benh zeitlin talks adapting the peter pan.
Barries iconic peter pan narrative by centering on wendys perspective. Zeitlin hasnt released a new feature since beasts, making next years wendy one of the years mustsee indie films. Made on a shoestring by a resourceful new orleansbased collective, it is animated by the same. But when new york director benh zeitlin was on the hunt for a child to play a wildeyed peter pan in his new movie, wendy, this tiny rastafarian village in antigua is where his search bore fruit.
She is the small, determined center of benh zeitlins beasts of the southern wild, which opens july 6 and seems destined for a best picture nomination from the academy. Benh zeitlins wendy is both daring and forgettable. Benh zeitlin reimagines peter pan in new movie wendy. If you feel like heading out, check out other movies in theaters. In 2017, my gregarious sevenyearold daughter cleo earned a small role in the movie wendy, cowritten and directed by benh zeitlin, creator of 2012s oscarnominated, beasts of the southern wild. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin gearing up new film wendy. With devin france, yashua mack, gage naquin, gavin naquin. Its a playful score with more than a dash of magic and if i say that its got a reasonable sized orchestra, plenty of. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin returns.
He continued making films as a child before attending wesleyan university, where he majored in film. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin sticks to familiar territory with peter pan adaptation wendy from origin stories finding neverland and midlifecrisis comedies hook to disney animated classics and p. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin returns with a new bit of magic. Long before he directed beasts of the southern wild the sundance phenomenon, which went on to earn four oscar nominationsbenh zeitlin. Wendy director benh zeitlin on bringing dream project to.
Born in new york city and raised in sunnyside, queens and then westchester county, benh zeitlin began his career as a filmmaker at the tender age of 6 years when he and a friend made a batman movie. After breaking out with beasts of the southern wild, benh zeitlin has. A sit down with benh zeitlin about his new film, wendy. Director benh zeitlin discusses his new film wendy, the first major motion picture to feature a black peter pan. When it comes to sundance success stories, nothing quite rivals 2012s beasts of the southern wild. Since disney owns fox searchlight, that makes this film a disney remake of peter pan.
Filmmaker benh zeitlins followup to beasts of the southern wild might. How a rastafarian village gave hollywood peter pan bbc news. The new york native had become wellentrenched in the louisiana film. Young filmmaker benh zeitlin took sundance by storm in 2012 with his emotional indie beasts of the southern wild, and a year later that translated into. Zeitlin cowrote wendy, his second feature, with his sister eliza. At the end of the day, he made the movie he wanted to make the only. How benh zeitlin made beasts of the southern wild arts. Benh zeitlins wendy peter pan movie releases first photos. Her whimsical and carefree experience is eventually marred by the realization of what. Hogans faithful 2003 liveaction adaptation, hollywood has never outgrown its fascination with j.
Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin returns with a. The new york native had become wellentrenched in the louisiana film community and started contemplating a return to smallerscale projects. It stars devin france as a softspoken louisiana girl who journeys to neverland, an exciting, ethereal, and tropical island jungle where children never grow old. Directorcowriter benh zeitlins fantasy drama reimagines j. Benh zeitlins peter pan adaptation of wendy is a ponderous take on a childrens classic, and is not nearly as exciting as his best picture oscar nominee beasts of the southern. Director benh zeitlin hugs actor tommie lynn milazzo as they stand on the red carpet with writer eliza zeitlin during the red carpet event for the film wendy at the orpheum theater in new. Benh zeitlin made a splash eight years ago with the movie beasts of the southern wild and returns with a reinterpretation of the peter pan story with the movie wendy which he cowrote with his sister eliza i attended the movie s premiere at the 2020 sundance film festival and it was a lovefest with many members of the cast and crew in attendance. Benh zeitlin, the director of beasts of the southern wild, narrates a scene from the film.
The screenplay is by benh zeitlin and eliza zeitlin. Following his oscar nominated debut, beasts of the southern wild, benh zeitlin has spent the last 8 years crafting wendy, a very original adaptation of the. Can we please stop with the mediocre peter pan movies every 3 to 5 years. The wendy movie is a magical realist take on peter pan from benh zeitlin by emily odonnell november 9, 2019 april 30, 2020 over a hundred years since j. Beasts of the southern wild director benh zeitlin is finally gearing up to premiere his longintheworks new drama wendy next year. The microbudget film was produced by a small, scrappy new orleans filmmaking collective and helmed by a firsttime director. Congratulations to benh zeitlin and the cast and crew of beasts of the southern wild for their four oscar nominations, including best picture and best director for. Some of the most famous include the disney animated feature from 1953, steven spielbergs sequel hook in 1991, and p. Why it took benh zeitlin seven years to make wendy indiewire. Oktober 1982 in queens, new york ist ein usamerikanischer filmemacher. Zeitlin was born in manhattan and raised in sunnyside, queens, and in suburban hastingsonhudson, ny.
Inside the 7year journey of benh zeitlins beasts of the. He is a graduate of hastings high school and wesleyan university. Beasts of the southern wild music from the motion picture. Benh zeitlin follows beasts of the southern wild with a gorgeous reinvention of peter pan the longawaited followup is a gorgeous continuation of the beasts aesthetic. New benh zeitlin movie wendy filming in antigua this year. Benh zeitlin and sturla brandth grovlen in wendy 2020. Benh zeitlins movie makes the case for studio meddling. The film follows a young boy who discovers a triceratops that has laid its eggs on his family farm and the ensuing chaos that erupts around town and beyond. The classic story of peter pan is wildly reimagined in this ragtag epic from benh zeitlin, director of beasts of the southern wild. Filmmaker benh zeitlin premieres wendy for hometown new. First full trailer for benh zeitlins new peter pan. In this movie, the physical manifestation of mother is a giant deepsea fish. They based the script on peter pan lore, and on their shared childhood fantasies.
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