Joseph Swanberg is an American independent film director, producer, writer, and actor. Known for micro-budget films which make extensive use of improvisation, Swanberg is considered a major figure in the mumblecore film movement. His films often focus on relationships, sex, technology, and the filmmaking process, and he is credited with launching the career of Greta Gerwig.
Kris Swanberg is an American businesswoman, filmmaker, actress and former high school teacher living in Chicago, Illinois. She has been credited at various times as Kris Williams, Kris Swanberg and Kris Rey. Her works as a director include the short documentary Bathwater (2006), the Nerve.com documentary web series Boys and Girls and the feature films It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (2009), Empire Builder (2012), Unexpected (2015) and I Used to Go Here (2020). She has also had small roles in a number of films, including First Man (2018).
Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent film characterized by naturalistic acting and dialogue, low-budget film production, an emphasis on dialogue over plot, and a focus on the personal relationships of young adults. Filmmakers associated with the genre include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, Greta Gerwig, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Ry Russo-Young. In many cases, though, these directors reject the term.
Hannah Takes the Stairs is a 2007 American independent mumblecore film by Joe Swanberg. It has been described "as the defining movie of the low-budget, dialogue-driven 'mumblecore' movement."
Alexander the Last is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Joe Swanberg and starring Jess Weixler, Justin Rice, Barlow Jacobs, and Amy Seimetz. The film is about a married actress and her sister. The film premiered in 2009 and was released on DVD in 2010.
Silver Bullets is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Joe Swanberg. The film stars Kate Lyn Sheil, Ti West, Swanberg and Amy Seimetz. It is one of six films released by Swanberg in 2011. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 12, 2011, and was then released in a limited release on October 28, 2011, by Factory25.
Sun Don't Shine is a 2012 independent thriller film written and directed by Amy Seimetz and starring Kate Lyn Sheil and Kentucker Audley. It first premiered on March 10, 2012 at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won a special jury award. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on April 26, 2013, by Factory25.
The Sacrament is a 2013 American found footage horror film written and directed by Ti West. A. J. Bowen and Joe Swanberg play VICE journalists who document their co-worker's attempt to locate his sister after she joins a reclusive religious commune. The film's plot is inspired by the real-life events of the Jonestown Massacre of 1978.
All the Light in the Sky is an American drama film directed by Joe Swanberg and written by Swanberg and Jane Adams, who also stars in the film, along with Sophia Takal, Kent Osborne, Lawrence Michael Levine, Larry Fessenden, and Lindsay Burdge. The film had its world premiere at the AFI on November 3, 2012. The film was released on video on demand on December 3, 2013, before being released in a limited release on December 20, 2013, by Factory25.
Sophia Takal is an American actress, writer and director, perhaps best known for her work in independent features such as All the Light in the Sky, Supporting Characters and Gabi on the Roof in July. Filmmaker magazine named Takal one of the "25 New Faces of Film" in 2011. She directed and co-wrote the 2019 remake of the 1974 horror film Black Christmas.
24 Exposures is a 2013 erotic thriller film written and directed by Joe Swanberg. It stars Adam Wingard as a fetish photographer who becomes involved in a murder mystery and Simon Barrett as the detective who investigates the crime. IFC Midnight distributed it on January 24, 2014, in a limited release and through video on demand.
Kate Lyn Sheil is an American actress. She is primarily known for her roles in independent films like You're Next, V/H/S, The Color Wheel, The Sacrament, and the award-winning Netflix series House of Cards.
Simon Barrett is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter known for his collaborations with Adam Wingard, including A Horrible Way to Die, V/H/S, V/H/S/2, You're Next, and The Guest. He is associated with the mumblegore movement and has worked with director Joe Swanberg several times.
Autoerotic is a 2011 comedy-drama film directed by Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard, written by Swanberg, Wingard, and Simon Barrett, and starring Kate Lyn Sheil, Amy Seimetz, Lane Hughes, Kris Swanberg, Ti West, and Frank V. Ross. IFC Midnight released it to video on demand on July 22, 2011.
Art History is a 2011 American drama film directed by Joe Swanberg, written by Swanberg, Josephine Decker, and Kent Osborne. It stars Decker, Swanberg, Osborne, Adam Wingard, and Kris Swanberg as filmmakers whose lives are complicated by a graphic sex scene in an arthouse film.
Easy is an American comedy-drama anthology series written, directed, edited and produced by Joe Swanberg. It consists of 25 half-hour episodes. The series is set in Chicago.
She Dies Tomorrow is a 2020 American psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by Amy Seimetz. It stars Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton, Chris Messina, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michelle Rodriguez, Josh Lucas and Adam Wingard.
Andrew Michael Nenninger, known professionally as Kentucker Audley, is an American filmmaker and actor. He appeared on the 2007 Filmmaker Magazine list of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. He founded the independent film platform NoBudge, first as a Tumblr blog in 2011 and then a full website in 2015.
Bad Fever is a 2011 American independent drama film directed by Dustin Guy Defa.
Dustin Guy Defa is an American independent filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing the feature films Bad Fever and Person to Person and writing the screenplay for The Mountain.
