American: The Bill Hicks Story
Encyclopedia
American: The Bill Hicks Story is a biographical documentary film
on the life of comedian
Bill Hicks
. The film was produced by Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, and features archival footage and interviews with family and friends, including Kevin Booth
.
The filmmakers used a cut-and-paste animation
technique to add movement to a large collection of still pictures used to document events in Hicks' life.
The film made its North America
n premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival.
The film was nominated for a 2010 Grierson British Documentary Award
for the "Most Entertaining Documentary" category.
It was also nominated for Best Graphics and Animation category in the 2011 Cinema Eye Awards. Awards won include The Dallas Film Festivals Texas Filmmaker Award, at Little Rock The Oxford American's Best Southern Film Award, and Best Documentary at the Downtown LA Film Festival.
On Rotten Tomatoes
, 82% of the first 55 reviews counted were rated positive.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on the life of comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...
. The film was produced by Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, and features archival footage and interviews with family and friends, including Kevin Booth
Kevin Booth
Kevin Booth is an American film and video director, producer, and musician. He is best known for his work with comedian Bill Hicks, who was the subject of his book Agent of Evolution, published by Harper Collins UK. Hicks and Booth knew each other since their time together at Stratford High School...
.
The filmmakers used a cut-and-paste animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
technique to add movement to a large collection of still pictures used to document events in Hicks' life.
The film made its North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival.
The film was nominated for a 2010 Grierson British Documentary Award
Grierson Awards
The Grierson Awards celebrate innovative and exciting new documentary films. The awards have been set up by The Grierson Trust to commemorate the life and work of world renowned Documentary Filmmaker John Grierson. The awards were first set-up in 1972 and have run annually...
for the "Most Entertaining Documentary" category.
It was also nominated for Best Graphics and Animation category in the 2011 Cinema Eye Awards. Awards won include The Dallas Film Festivals Texas Filmmaker Award, at Little Rock The Oxford American's Best Southern Film Award, and Best Documentary at the Downtown LA Film Festival.
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 82% of the first 55 reviews counted were rated positive.
External links
- "Animating the real Bill Hicks", interview with the directors, discussing the creation of the film, Shehani Fernando and Henry Barnes, guardian.co.uk, 11 May 2010
- "Film Review: American: The Bill Hicks Story", Andrew Pulver, guardian.co.ukGuardian.co.ukguardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
, 13 May 2010 - "American: the Bill Hicks Story, review ", Tim Robey, telegraph.co.uk, 14 May 2010
- "Review: American: the Bill Hicks Story", The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, 14 May 2010