Benjamin Ree | |
|---|---|
 Ree in 2019 | |
| Born | Benjamin Olafsen Ree 10 July 1989 Hole, Norway |
| Education | Oslo Metropolitan University |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 2010–present |
Benjamin Ree (born July 10, 1989) is a Norwegian director and cinematographer of several documentaries, including Magnus (2016), The Painter and the Thief (2020), and Ibelin (2024). [1]
Ree began making films at the age of eleven [2] and studied Journalism at Oslo Metropolitan University. [3] After his studies Ree worked as a freelance videojournalist for BBC and Reuters, [4] most notably covering the 2011 Norway attacks. [5] Ree has said in interviews that making his first feature Magnus was his film school: "There I understood that I could transfer the interviews to a universal, nonverbal cinematic language." [6]
His debut film Magnus (2016) premiered at Tribeca Film Festival [7] and was distributed to 64 countries. [8] The film is a coming of age story about the world's best chess player Magnus Carlsen. Magnus received mostly positive reviews. It has an 81% average on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews. [9] The BBC praised the film and ranked it on its top ten list, but The New York Times gave the film a negative review. [10] [11] The film won several awards at festivals, including the Global Future Prize at the Oulu International Children's and Youth Film Festival, The Ray of Sunshine prize at the Norwegian International Film Festival, and the Audience Award at Docville. [12] [13] [14]
His second feature film The Painter and the Thief (2020) was one of the opening films at Sundance Film Festival [15] where it won a Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling. [16] [15] The film tells the story of an artist who befriends the thief who stole two of her paintings. [17] NEON bought the world rights to the film after the Sundance Film Festival premiere. [18] It received overall positive reviews, averaging 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 112 reviews. [19]
The storytelling style of The Painter and the Thief has been met with some criticism. The Painter and the Thief jumps back and forth in time, which is unusual for a documentary using the Cinéma vérité technique. This storytelling style was criticized by some reviewers for weakening the trust between filmmaker and viewer. AV Club wrote that "by scrambling his film’s chronology in ways that threaten to rupture any sense of trust between director and viewer." [20]
The film has been named by Mubi as one of the best in film history, [21] by New York (magazine) to have one of the best movie endings in movie history [22] and as a film that has helped change the documentary film genre. [23] [24] Vanity Fair placed The Painter and the Thief at the top of documentaries that were changing the genre. [25]
The film won over 30 film awards., [26] including the Audience Award for Best Documentary Virtual at the London Film Festival and the Golden FireBird Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. [27] In addition the film got a Directors Guild of America nomination and two nominations at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards for best director and best film. [28] It has been ranked as the best film of 2020 by The New York Times , [24] Vox [29] and Aftenposten . [30] The film was named one of the year's best films by BBC, [31] Washington Post , [32] Boston Globe [33] og The Guardian . [34]
His third documentary feature film, Ibelin, premiered in competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Documentary Directing Award and the Audience Award. [35] It was picked up for distribution by Netflix. [1]
The film documents the life of "Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. [36] The title comes from the name of a character in World of Warcraft. [37]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 20 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Variety praised the film, stating "It’s a world unto itself, and a glowing example of how moviemaking — like a person’s digital footprint — can be a form of immortality that soothes even the most devastating loss." and calling it "[...]a moving, multifaceted masterwork" [38]
Ree researched and directed the TV documentary series Conversion Therapy with Morten Hegseth (2019) which uncovers how religious groups are offering Conversion Therapy for gay people in Norway. [39] In the aftermath of the series the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg said that she would stop the practice of conversion therapy in Norway: "We have to ensure that the abuses we have seen documented by VG do not happen in the future", she said. [40] [41]
Fuel is a 2008 documentary film directed by Josh Tickell and produced by Greg Reitman, Dale Rosenbloom, Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.
The Interrupters is a 2011 documentary film, produced by Kartemquin Films, that tells the story of three violence interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. It examines a year in which Chicago drew national headlines for violence and murder that plagued the city.
God Loves Uganda is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Roger Ross Williams, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It explores connections between evangelicalism in North America and in Uganda, suggesting that the North American influence is the reason behind the controversial Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which at one point raised the possibility of the death penalty for gays and lesbians. The filmmakers follow a group of young missionaries from the International House of Prayer in their first missionary effort in another nation, as well as interviewing several evangelical leaders from the US and Uganda.
Hilary Brougher is a screenwriter and director based in New York City. She is known for her 2006 drama film Stephanie Daley starring Tilda Swinton and Melissa Leo.
Lana Wilson is an American filmmaker. She directed the feature documentaries After Tiller, The Departure,Miss Americana, and Look Into My Eyes, as well as the two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The first two films were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
Magnus is a 2016 documentary film by Benjamin Ree about the early life of Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen, him becoming a Grandmaster at age 13 and winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2013. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, and was sold to 64 countries.
Minding the Gap is a 2018 documentary film directed by Bing Liu and produced by Liu and Diane Moy Quon through Kartemquin Films. It chronicles the lives and friendships of three young men growing up in Rockford, Illinois, united by their love of skateboarding. The film received critical acclaim, won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.
Hal is a 2018 American documentary film by Amy Scott about the film director Hal Ashby. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January and was released theatrically by Oscilloscope Laboratories on September 7, 2018.
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was Miss Americana directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, and Christine O'Malley.
Vitalina Varela is a 2019 Portuguese drama directed by acclaimed director Pedro Costa. It won the Golden Leopard and Best Actress Award at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival. The film follows Vitalina Varela, a character who previously appeared in Pedro Costa's Horse Money.
Feels Good Man is a 2020 American documentary film about the Internet meme Pepe the Frog. Marking the directorial debut of Arthur Jones, the film stars artist Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe. The film follows Furie as he struggles to reclaim control of Pepe from members of the alt-right who have co-opted the image for their own purposes. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker. It was also nominated in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance. Sometime in the 2020s, ranging from 2023 to 2024, the film was added to FAST service Pluto TV in Canada.
Dead Pigs is a 2018 comedy drama film written and directed by Cathy Yan in her directorial feature film debut. It stars Vivian Wu, Haoyu Yang, Mason Lee, Meng Li, and David Rysdahl. The film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018. It was released worldwide on Mubi on February 12, 2021.
The Painter and the Thief is a 2020 Norwegian documentary film directed by Benjamin Ree.
Whirlybird is a 2020 American documentary film by Matt Yoka. It competed in the US Documentary category at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is a 2021 American documentary film directed by Marilyn Agrelo. Based on the non-fiction book Street Gang by Michael Davis, the film chronicles the development and airing of the children's television program Sesame Street, featuring interviews with series creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, as well as writers, actors, and artists involved in its creation.
Faya Dayi is an 2021 American-Ethiopian documentary film, directed, written, starring and produced by Jessica Beshir. It explores the rituals of khat, a psychoactive plant that plays an important role in Ethiopia's economy and culture.
The Cathedral is a 2021 American semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama film written, directed, and edited by Ricky D'Ambrose. It stars Brian d'Arcy James and Monica Barbaro.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to 28, 2024. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 6, 2023.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a 2024 Norwegian documentary by Benjamin Ree.
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