Nathaniel Hansen – Filmmaker Blog

Category Archives: Documentary Film

The Elders Reviewed by Boston Globe Critic Peter Keough

Via The Boston Globe AMONG THE MANY outstanding documentaries in the 2013 Independent Film Festival of Boston, Nathaniel Hansen’s The Elders stands out as both commonplace and remarkable. It consists of interviews with ordinary people, ranging in age from their 70s to their 90s, and confirms the truism that with old age comes wisdom — and a [...]
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The Elders highlighted in “Best of Boston’s IFFB” lineup

THE ELDERS Why hasn’t Hollywood realized that old people are a gold mine of story material? Though Nathan Hansen’s documentary opens with a quote from Simone de Beauvoir about how a society should be judged by the way it treats the elderly, his film is more about what old people can offer than what they [...]
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Kupuna: An Interactive Documentary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Michelle Larson Email: info@kupunainteractive.com December 2012 Independent Filmmaker Returns to Kickstarter to Fund Interactive Documentary Featuring Indigenous, Elderly Hawaiians Boston, MA – When independent filmmaker and producer Nathaniel Hansen first found the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com in 2009, he said he “instinctively knew it would change the lives of artists around [...]
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Dreamin’ Up Work: What would you get if you combined Kickstarter + The Elders + Hawaii + Interactive Documentary storytelling?

What would you get if you combined Kickstarter + The Elders + Hawaii + Interactive Documentary storytelling? You’d get Kūpuna, that’s what, but first things first: I’m a dreamin’ man, yes that’s my problem. Not only does that phrase start one of my favorite Neil Young songs, but it also sums up how I feel as [...]
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Brazil – Short Documentary for Row6.com

Matthew Hashiguchi and I spent 6 weeks on the road through June and July, traveling to a variety of places around the world filming for The Joseph Campbell Foundation and the UN Global Partnership Forum. This is our film from Brazil. Be sure to turn on CC. Please Share and Enjoy:
Also posted in DSLR Filmmaking | 3 Comments

The Elders: It’s starting to happen!

While I was gone filming for the last 6 weeks, something pretty awesome happened for my first feature-length film The Elders: Kickstarter selected it to be shown in their 2nd annual film festival! Check out the poster: They showed a short segment from the film along with 11 other projects that were successfully funded during [...]
Also posted in Kickstarter | 3 Comments

Storytelling Around the World

Everyone has a story – and it doesn’t matter where on this planet you reside! I recently returned from a 6.5 week round the world shooting project that still has my head spinning and has left my heart racing. It’s impossible for me to recount what I’ve experienced in that time while visiting Venezuela, Brazil, [...]
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Feature Documentary Utilizes Zeiss ZF.2 Lenses to Maximize Look on Minimum Budget Documentary

Zeiss ZF.2 Lenses Take Low Budget Feature Documentary to the Next Level In May 2010, I set out to make a low-budget-high-quality documentary feature film about elderly Americans. I raised the funds on kickstarter ($12,500), got an unsolicited and very generous donation from an LA based non-profit, and by mid June found myself on a [...]
Also posted in DSLR Filmmaking | 8 Comments

The Elders documentary project lands on Kickstarter’s 2010 Award list!

I was thrilled to see that my documentary film project The Elders was listed as one of two other honorable mentions under the category of “Best Short Film” projects on kickstarter this year (2010). What an honor! With thousands of projects to choose from, it’s a pretty awesome feeling to have my work recognized in [...]
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A New kind of Documentary

I’ve been saying for years that high quality filmmaking and real world stories should meet up in documentary film. It’s what I strive for, and aspire to. Filmmaking friend Ryan Gibb and his partners have teamed up to make one of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen, LifeCycles. You can watch the trailer [...]
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