Isidore Bethel

Last updated
Isidore Bethel
Born
Atlanta, United States
CitizenshipUnited States
France
Education Harvard
École Normale Supérieure
SAIC
Occupations
  • filmmaker
  • professor
Years active2011–present
Works Acts of Love
What We Leave Behind
Of Men and War
Honors Filmmaker's 25 New Faces [1]
Chéries-Chéris Jury Prize [2]
DOC NYC "40 Under 40" [3]

Isidore Bethel is a French-American filmmaker who was among Filmmaker's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2020 and DOC NYC's "40 Under 40" in 2023. [4] [5] The films he edits, directs, and produces use filmmaking to make sense of overwhelming experiences and touch on recurrent themes of displacement, sexuality, aging, trauma, grief, therapy, and art-making. [6] His first feature film as director, Liam, premiered at the Boston LGBT Film Festival in 2018 and received the Jury Prize in the Documentary section of the Paris LGBTQ+ Film Festival. [7] [8] His second film, Acts of Love, which French actor Francis Leplay co-directed, premiered at Hot Docs, received the Tacoma Film Festival's Best Feature Award, and appeared on MovieWeb's list of the top LGBTQ+ films of 2021. [9] [10] [11]

Contents

Films he has edited have screened at Cannes, SXSW, and the Berlinale, in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Beirut Art Center, and the Pompidou Center, and on broadcast platforms such as POV , The New York Times' Op-Docs, and Netflix. [12] [13] [14] [15] He has worked in France, Mexico, and the United States with directors such as Dominique Cabrera, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, Juan Pablo González, Laurent Bécue-Renard, Juan Manuel Sepúlveda, Arturo González Villaseñor, Daniel Hymanson, and Iliana Sosa. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] He has also collaborated with filmmakers in Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, India, and Turkey. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] He acts as a producer on many of the films that he edits, which have received support from the Sundance Institute, the Ford Foundation, Field of Vision, the CNC in France, and Mexico's IMCINE and FONCA funds. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] Critics have characterized his editing as demonstrative of "admirable restraint," "tender," "astute," and "elegant." [34] [35] [36] [37]

A graduate of Harvard University, the École Normale Supérieure, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Bethel has received funding from the Institut Français, France's Île-de-France region, the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation as well as support from Berlinale Talents, the Tribeca Film Institute, the Villa Medici, the Gotham, Film Independent, the Logan Nonfiction Program, and Eurodoc. [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] He has taught at Stone Soup's filmmaking workshop, Sundance's Art of Editing fellowship, Sarah Lawrence College's Paris campus, La Fémis, and Parsons Paris. [51] [52] [53] [54]

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitleEditorDirectorProducerWriterNotes
2013 Grandir YesNoNoNoDirected by Dominique Cabrera. ACID Cannes. [55]
2014 Of Men and War YesNoYesNoCredited as associate producer. Directed by Laurent Bécue-Renard. Cannes Film Festival.
2016 La Balada del Oppenheimer Park YesNoYesNoDirected by Juan Manuel Sepúlveda. Best Documentary nominee at the Mexican Academy Awards. [56]
2018 Caballerango YesNoNoNoDirected by Juan Pablo González. IDFA. [57]
2018 Liam NoYesYesYesJury Prize in the Documentary section of the Paris LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
2020 So Late So Soon YesNoYesNoCredited as associate producer. Directed by Daniel Hymanson. True/False. [58]
2021 Acts of Love NoYesYesYesCo-directed with Francis Leplay. Hot Docs.
2022 What We Leave Behind YesNoYesYesDirected by Iliana Sosa. Louis Black Lone Star and Fandor New Voices Awards at SXSW. [59]
2023HummingbirdsYesNoYesNoCredited as co-producer. Directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía Contreras. Generation 14plus Grand Prize at the Berlinale. [60]
2023The Taste of MangoYesNoNoNoDirected by Chloe Abrahams. BFI London Audience Award, BIFA for Best Debut Director. [61] [62]

Short films

YearTitleEditorDirectorProducerWriterNotes
2011"Someone I Love or Someone Who I Want to Be"YesYesYesYesHarvard Hoopes Prize. [63]
2013"Goat Milk"YesNoNoNoDirected by Dominique Cabrera. Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival. [64]
2016"We Eat the Earth/The Earth Eats Us"YesNoYesNoCredited as associate producer. Directed by Lucy Pawlak. Athens Digital Arts Festival. [65]
2016"We Died and Here We Are"YesNoYesNoDirected by Mohamad Kanaan. Ashkal Alwan's Video Works 2016 at the Beirut Art Center. [66]
2021"Some Kind of Intimacy"YesNoYesYesDirected by Toby Bull. Sundance London. [67]
2022"Blue Room"YesNoYesNoCredited as associate producer. Directed by Merete Mueller. AFI Fest. [68]
2022"Suddenly TV"YesNoNoNoCredited as consulting editor. Directed by Roopa Gogineni. Documentary Short Special Jury Award at SXSW. [69]

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References

  1. ↑ "Isidore Bethel". Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces of Independent Film. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Documentaire: Liam, d'Isidore Bethel". University of Évry Val d'Essonne . Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Isidore Bethel - DOC NYC". DOC NYC 40 Under 40. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Isidore Bethel". Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces of Independent Film. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Isidore Bethel - DOC NYC". DOC NYC 40 Under 40. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Isidore Bethel – Projects". Isidore Bethel. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "WORLD PREMIERE: Liam". Wicked Queer Boston LGBT Film Festival. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Chéries-Chéris : Grand Prix pour " Les Moissonneurs " et deux films brésiliens au palmarès". Komitid. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  9. ↑ "Acts of Love". Hot Docs . Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS". Tacoma Film Festival. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Top 10 LGBTQ+ Movies of 2021". Top 10 LGBTQ+ Movies of 2021. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Hummingbirds". Berlinale . Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "Troubled Veterans Recount War's Horrors in POV Documentary 'Of Men and War'". POV . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Blue Room". The New York Times . 13 December 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "100 Must-See Documentaries Streaming on Netflix This October". Nonfics. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Les Films autobiographiques de Dominique Cabrera". Potemkine Films. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Staircase: Last Chance, Credits". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Caballerango". Full Frame Documentary Film Festival . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "OF MEN AND WAR (DES HOMMES ET DE LA GUERRE)". Cannes Film Festival . Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "List of Selected Projects, Screenings 2015". Cinéma du Réel . Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Arturo Gonález Villaseñor". Logan Nonfiction Program. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  22. ↑ "'So Late So Soon' Review: Aging Artists Face Realities of Mortality and Marriage in Beautiful Doc". IndieWire . 19 November 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  23. ↑ "Lab Alumni: 2020 Documentary Projects & Fellows". The Gotham Film & Media Institute . 30 August 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  24. ↑ "Video Works 2016". Ashkal Alwan . Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  25. ↑ "Some Kind of Intimacy". British Council . Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  26. ↑ "Shadow of His Wings: Doc Lab Fellows Level Up (and You Could be Next)". Film Independent. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  27. ↑ "The Gotham Announces 20 Projects and Selected Fellows for The 2021 Documentary and TV Series Labs". The Gotham Film & Media Institute . 27 May 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  28. ↑ "Bazaar Protocol". IMDb . Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  29. ↑ "Sundance Institute: Over Half a Million Dollars to Documentary Projects". Sundance Institute . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  30. ↑ "Ford Foundation Announces 2019-2020 JustFilms Documentary Grantees". Ford Foundation . 16 December 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  31. ↑ "Iliana Sosa's beautiful feature WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND will have its world premiere at #SXSW 2022!". Field of Vision . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  32. ↑ "Sélections Cannes - 20 films d'avance sur recettes : un record historique". CNC . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  33. ↑ "La cinta mexicana "La balada del Oppenheimer Park" compite en..." 20 minutos . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  34. ↑ "True/False 2020 Dispatch 1: The Viewing Booth, So Late So Soon, That Cloud Never Left". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  35. ↑ "So Late So Soon". The DocYard. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  36. ↑ "'What We Leave Behind' Review: A Filmmaker's Lyrical and Gripping Tribute to Her Grandfather". The Hollywood Reporter . 29 September 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  37. ↑ "Daniel Hymanson 25 New Faces of Independent Film". Filmmaker . 19 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  38. ↑ "MANUEL SEPULVEDA". Riviera Maya Film Festival. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  39. ↑ "Cooke Alumni Buzz". Jack Kent Cooke Foundation . Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  40. ↑ "HORS LES MURS : LAURÉATS 2016". Institut Français . Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  41. ↑ "AIDES À L'ÉCRITURE DE SCÉNARIO : 23 AUTEUR.TRICE.S SOUTENU.E.S". Film Paris Region. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  42. ↑ "LAURÉAT DE LA BOURSE 2013". Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  43. ↑ "JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2014 GRADUATE ARTS AWARDS RECIPIENTS". Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  44. ↑ "ISIDORE BETHEL EDITOR, PRODUCER". Berlinale Talents . Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  45. ↑ "Isidore Bethel". Tribeca Film Institute . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  46. ↑ "Call for Entries Aristoteles Workshop". Aristoteles Workshop. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  47. ↑ "IFP Announces Documentary Projects For Its Annual IFP Labs". Independent Filmmaker Project . 23 May 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  48. ↑ "Shadow of His Wings: Doc Lab Fellows Level Up (and You Could be Next)". Film Independent. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  49. ↑ "Logan Nonfiction Program Announces 12th Class of Journalism & Documentary Fellows". Logan Nonfiction Program. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  50. ↑ "EURODOC Current Cycle Participants". Eurodoc. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  51. ↑ "Portraits of Self and Others: An Introduction to Short-Form Filmmaking with Isidore Bethel". Stone Soup . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  52. ↑ "Isidore Bethel". Logan Nonfiction Program. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  53. ↑ "Play is a Very Serious Thing". Talkhouse . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  54. ↑ "Cooke Alumni Buzz". Jack Kent Cooke Foundation . 12 February 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  55. ↑ "GRANDIR (Ô HEUREUX JOURS)". ACID. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  56. ↑ "La Balada del Oppenheimer Park". La Casa de la Universidad de California en México . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  57. ↑ "Caballerango". IDFA. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  58. ↑ "True/False 2020 Dispatch 1: The Viewing Booth, So Late So Soon, That Cloud Never Left". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  59. ↑ "I Love My Dad, Master of Light Win Top Feature Prizes at SXSW". Filmmaker . 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  60. ↑ "Berlin: 'Adolfo', 'Hummingbirds' Win 2023 Generation 14Plus Sidebar". Hollywood Reporter . 25 February 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  61. ↑ "67th BFI London Film Festival brings in record audience and announces LFF Audience Award winners". British Film Institute . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  62. ↑ "Winners & Nominations The Awards 2023". British Independent Film Awards . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  63. ↑ "85 Undergraduates Receive Hoopes Prize". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  64. ↑ "Goat Milk". Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  65. ↑ "Videonale 16: Festival for Video and Time-Based Arts". Athens Digital Arts Festival . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  66. ↑ "Video Works 2016". Ashkal Alwan . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  67. ↑ "SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON ANNOUNCES BIGGEST LINE-UP TO DATE". Sundance Film Festival . Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  68. ↑ "Blue Room Short Film Competition". American Film Institute . Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  69. ↑ "Suddenly TV". SXSW . Retrieved 19 March 2023.
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