Long Tails and Big Heads Jul 14, 2008
The cause was online word of mouthrecommendations for Touching the Void on pushed people to purchase a book they'd never heard of. After it was reissued as a paperback and made into a documentary, Touching the Void's sales eclipsed those of Into Thin Air ... Success stories like that of Touching the Void depend on positive online ratings, but the propensity of buffs to rate down titles in the Long Tail limits such possibilities. (Slate)
Feature: Jason Solomons' view Jun 30, 2008
It's the best British documentary since Touching the Void. The festival will today reveal the winner of the Michael Powell Award for best new British feature, and the line-up here is always a fascinating gauge of the domestic scene. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Catching some northern rays Jun 15, 2008
But even bruised from bouncing over large chunks of ice, when I thought of the scene in the movie Touching the Void in which a climber falls into a chasm, I kept on going. The next day, we broke camp and climbed in rope teams up onto the Sapphire Glacier. (Globe and Mail)
ITV serious about comedy Apr 19, 2008
Manchester-based CGI studio Red Vision, the people behind the special effects for feature documentary "Touching the Void," is responsible for animating "Headcases.". Its work has already won two BAFTAS for best visuals in the past two years. (Variety)
Coronella: Its time we embraced The Winter Paunch Feb 7, 2008
So unless you re a committed hunter-gatherer combing the Maine woods for your daily crust or a die-hard winter sports enthusiast who insists on touching the void, I wouldn t get too worried about those extra seasonal pounds you may have put on. Personally, I m confident that as the weather starts to warm up in April and May, I ll return to my former streamlined self. (Medford Transcript, MA)
Securitas robbery to be made into TV film Jan 30, 2008
-style 2006 feature about the 9/11 attacks, United 93, and the 2003 mountain-climbing documentary Touching the Void. However, there were no plans to move to the next stage until the legal barriers had been removed, and no casting details were available. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Barbara Ellen Jan 13, 2008
The team the McCanns spoke to was responsible for the 2003 award-winning mountaineering docudrama, Touching the Void, which is about as far from standard La-La fare as you can get ... Considering all that the McCanns have been through, agreeing to talk to the Touching the Void crew must rank as very small moral beer. (Guardian Unlimited)
Madeleine film reports dismissed Jan 10, 2008
" The media are making money out of the situation themselves and we feel it is only fair and right that some aspect of that should come to the fund to help find Madeleine Clarence Mitchell He added that there had been a "preliminary discussion" with a production company about a documentary on the issues the family had faced since the disappearance of their daughter. The McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said on Tuesday that there had been a meeting in December with the IMG film company, the... (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Barbie 'boasted of hunting down Che' Dec 24, 2007
My Enemy's Enemy, a documentary directed by Macdonald, whose previous films include Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland, examines how Barbie's record was disregarded when he was recruited by US intelligence after the Second World War as a useful tool against communism. He evaded French justice by fleeing to Bolivia where, living under the alias Klaus Altmann, he was welcomed by fascist sympathisers. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Shed agrees Wall to Wall buy-up terms Nov 30, 2007
8am: Transworld International today confirmed it has bought independent producer Darlow Smithson, the factual specialist behind hit docudrama Touching the Void. By Ben Dowell in Cannes. (Guardian Unlimited)
Rescue Dawn - The Sunday Times review Nov 25, 2007
And, despite its outward resemblance to The Deer Hunter, this is really an old- fashioned prison/survival film, occupying a space somewhere between The Shawshank Redemption and Touching the Void. Only one scene evokes The Deer Hunter. (Times Online)
Downtown fashion show Nov 21, 2007
"Touching the Void" fans will be electrified with producer John Smithson's latest film. "Deep Water" is the stunning true story of the Golden Globe the first solo, non-stop, 'round-the-world boat race, and the psychological toll it took on its competitors. (Seacoast New Hampshire)
Birth of the original good-time girl Oct 28, 2007
Those who have read the book or seen the film Touching the Void will know that Simpson's climbing career, not to mention his life, was almost finished by an accident that left him lying at the bottom of a crevasse in the Andes, his leg shattered, for an entire night. The kinship that he feels with a climber he never had the opportunity to meet is the subject of The Beckoning Silence. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
For Durango guide, a new route to top: Listen to the Audio Oct 16, 2007
Call it boring, but nobody died (read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air), cut a rope (Joe Simpson, Touching the Void), or hacked off an arm to survive (Aron Ralston, Between a Rock and a Hard Place). They reached the top in good time and, after a series of 15 or 16 200-foot rappels, tromped back into high camp. (Durango Herald)
Stayin' Alive Sep 16, 2007
Where we learned it: "Touching the Void". 5. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
The weekend's TV Aug 7, 2007
It's done in Touching the Void style, with (very) dramatic reconstruction interspersed with first-hand accounts from the men involved ... It's an extraordinary story - perhaps not quite as good as Touching the Void, as this is North America where there are radios and helicopters and people, whereas that was South America where there weren't. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE LIFESTYLE BUDGET Jul 5, 2007
ZOO-FILM (Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star) -- Director Robinson Devor, working in the re-enactment documentary style of "The Thin Blue Line" (1988) and "Touching the Void" (2003) handles a distasteful topic -- people who have sex with beasts -- tastefully in "Zoo." 450. TELEVISION. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
'Zoo' handles distasteful topic tastefully Jul 4, 2007
Devor crafts the movie in the re-enactment documentary style of "The Thin Blue Line" (1988) and "Touching the Void" (2003). Devor speaks to men who were members of the victim's zoophile group and, in most cases, dubbed the recorded interviews over footage of actors onscreen. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart Jun 7, 2007
From the opening scenes, this account of the 2002 abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart is engrossing - which is no surprise, since it's produced by the folks who made Touching the Void. Elizabeth, from a wealthy Mormon family in Salt Lake City, was taken from her bed at knifepoint by an intruder, her nine-year-old sister the only witness. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Abortion movie sweeps UK awards May 4, 2007
Bafta-winning documentary Touching the Void, about a disastrous mountain expedition, won two awards ... Also nominated: Dead Man's ShoesTouching the VoidShaun of the DeadMy Summer of Love ... Also nominated:Kevin Macdonald - Touching the VoidShane Meadows - Dead Man's ShoesPawel Pawlikowsky - My Summer of LoveRoger Michell - Enduring Love. (Yahoo News -- Film Awards)
Three-way race for Oscar Apr 29, 2007
But that leaves out such excellent non-fiction films as Touching the Void, Home of the Brave and Riding Giants, all of which were eligible. Eliminated before the nominations were announced were Control Room, The Corporation and the years top-grossing documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, which Michael Moore hoped would earn a best picture nomination. (MSNBC -- Academy Awards)
Harsh lesson for Hot Docs delegates Apr 25, 2007
Despite his experience as producer of "Touching the Void," the most successful British theatrical documentary in British B.O. history, Smithson expressed great ambivalence about the potential of the theatrical docu market ... He also pointed out that although the quantity of theatrical docs has mushroomed since "Touching the Void," the lone B.O. successes in the U.K. have been "March of the Penguins" and "An Inconvenient Truth.". (Variety)
Readings and Signings Apr 13, 2007
Friday April 13, 2007 CURRENT CONDITIONS: M/SUNNY 32. Wednesday, April 18, 7 p.m. May Sarton's Journal of Solitude,and some of her poetry, will be discussed at the Exeter Public Library. (Seacoast New Hampshire)
Death of a Social Climber Apr 11, 2007
K2 was first staged in 1982 (presaging the classic mountaineering disaster tale, Touching the Void) and it played on Broadway as well as in Europe and Asia. No wonder: This is the kind of white-knuckle tale that can fill a man with fear when he's no higher up than the basement of his ranch home. (City Pages)
Macdonald to direct 'State of Play' Mar 20, 2007
Macdonald also directed the docu "Touching the Void" and just completed "My Enemy's Enemy," an investigation into how the CIA protected Klaus Barbie and other Nazi war criminals in Latin America, under the guise they could help battle communism ... Macdonald, who has been working with Carnahan on a new draft, passed muster with Pitt not only because the actor liked his docu "Touching the Void" and "The Last King of Scotland," but also because Macdonald has been working with Pitt's Plan B to... (Variety)
Gore's Film an Oscar Favorite but Violates Academy Standards, Critics Say Feb 27, 2007
Other more recent examples involving storytelling techniques described in rule 12 include "The Thin Blue Line" (1988) about the shooting of a Dallas police officer, and "Touching the Void" (2005), a film about a near-fatal climb in the Peruvian Andes. Both films received critical acclaim but, Berlau said, ultimately fell short of serious Oscar contention because the Academy took issue with the use of re-enactments. (CNSnews.com)
All That Glitters Feb 25, 2007
The film's standing as the most effective white-knuckle thriller of the year can be largely attributed to director Kevin Macdonald ("Touching the Void"), who proves he's a major up-and-coming suspense filmmaker. Yet I'm willing to forgive the Academy's oversight, since I have no doubt that if he continues down this road, Macdonald will eventually find himself the recipient of some richly deserved Oscar love in the years to come. (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
IFC offers indie films via iTunes Store Feb 22, 2007
Past IFC Films work includes the Oscar-winning Hilary Swank film Boys Don t Cry and Touching the Void, a documentary about two climbers who came close to death in the Peruvian Andes. The IFC Entertainment offerings added to the iTunes Store are full-length movies. (MacCentral)
IFC Entertainment Launches Independent Films on the iTunes Store Feb 22, 2007
Notable IFC Films include Me And You And Everyone We Know, the Academy Award winning Boys Don't Cry, Touching the Void which broke box office records to become among the top ten grossing documentaries of all time, 2003 Oscar-nominated My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mama Tambien. IFC Films co-distributed Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and the award winning Transamerica. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
'The Last King of Scotland' and 'The Queen' triumph at British Academy Film Awards Feb 12, 2007
"Forest, if you're willing, I think there may be some takers.'' Whitaker beat Daniel Craig ("Casino Royale''), Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Departed''), Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys'') and Peter O'Toole ("Venus'') to the best-actor prize. Director Kevin Macdonald, however, said he initially doubted Whitaker was right for the role. "He seemed such a sweet, gentle, lovable kind of person,'' said Macdonald, whose last film was mountaineering documentary "Touching the Void.'' "But he proved. he... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Mirren, Whitaker win British Academy Awards Feb 12, 2007
He seemed such a sweet, gentle, lovable sort of person, said Macdonald, whose last film was mountaineering documentary Touching the Void. He proved he did have those depths of anger and paranoia and terror in him. (Globe and Mail)
When it's cold outside, stay in and enjoy these frosty treats Feb 4, 2007
Killer aliens are scary, but they're nothing compared to real-life horrors like those seen in "Touching the Void," a docu-drama that re-creates the ordeal faced by Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two young men who set out to climb the face of Siula Grande in 1985 ... Bringing to mind recent news stories involving some thrill-seekers who weren't so lucky, "Touching the Void" is a reminder of why it's sometimes best to avoid the elements in favor of a quiet evening at home with a good movie. (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
Dramatic conversion pays off for documentary purist Jan 10, 2007
"The real difference for me was working with the actors," says Macdonald, comparing the film with his best known documentaries, Touching the Void and One Day in September ... Macdonald didn't have much regard for drama when he embarked on Touching the Void ... "But Touching the Void had some drama in it and it made me curious about the acting process.". (The Australian)
The king and I: the winning ways of a mass murderer Jan 7, 2007
He won an Oscar for One Day In September and a Bafta for Touching The Void. Now, he makes the leap from documentaries to dramas with a confident, beautifully paced adaptation of the Giles Foden novel in which a naive Scottish doctor becomes the new playmate of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. (Scotsman)
