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Adam Bhala Lough

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Adam Bhala Lough
Born (1979-05-09) May 9, 1979 (age 45)
New York
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active2002–present

Adam Bhala Lough is an American film director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker from Fairfax, Virginia.[1] Known for his dramas about subcultures and popular youth cultures, several of Lough's films have been selected as part of the Sundance Film Festival, and is the only filmmaker with a feature film and a documentary in the festival, as well as a screenplay selected for the annual Sundance Screenwriter's Lab.[2]

Early life

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Adam Bhala Lough was born in New York and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. In his teenage years, Lough spent his time restocking shelves at Blockbuster, where he was inspired by the independent cinema of the early 1990s. Armed with a borrowed Panasonic VHS Camcorder, Lough shot several short films with his friends, and edited them tape to tape at the local public access television station, submitting one to the film school program at New York University.[3]

Career

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The rapper MF DOOM gave Lough his first big break at age 19 when he let him direct two music videos from his debut solo studio album Operation: Doomsday[4]

Feature films

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In 2002, Lough expanded his New York University thesis project to create Bomb the System, starring Mark Webber, Gano Grills, and Jaclyn DeSantis. With a budget of $500,000 and a crew composed mostly of Lough's fellow recent NYU graduates, Bomb the System was shot in New York City. The film garnered the then 23-year-old Lough a Best First Feature nomination at the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards.[5] Bomb the System was released by Palm Pictures in 2005.[6]

In 2007, Lough wrote and directed Weapons starring Nick Cannon and Paul Dano and a host of upcoming young actors and actresses.[7] Weapons was an experiment in non-linear storytelling tackling the problem of youth violence, and premiered in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.[8]

Documentary work

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In 2007 and 2008, Lough transitioned into documentary when he spent a year on the road with Lil Wayne, shooting what would become The Carter. The documentary was shot in the time before and shortly after the release of Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III. The film was critically acclaimed and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where indieWire dubbed it the "best film of the festival",[9] but raised controversy when Lil Wayne attempted to block the release of the film due to its depiction of his marijuana and cough syrup use. The case was eventually thrown out of court by a judge.[10]

In 2008, Lough premiered The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee "Scratch" Perry, a documentary following Lee "Scratch" Perry, at the SXSW Film Festival.[11] Named after Perry's 1969 album of the same name, the film played in dozens of film festivals worldwide, and was screened across the globe in nearly 100 theaters in 2011. The film is equally devoted to thirty years of Jamaican music and culture, and was narrated by Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro.[12]

Lough's first sports documentary The Motivation premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in late April 2013.[13] The film follows eight of the best professional skateboarders in the world including Ryan Sheckler, Nyjah Huston and Paul Rodriguez III.[14] Netflix commissioned two sequels: Motivation 2: The Chris Cole Story and Motivation 3: The Next Generation.

In 2017, Lough switched to political documentaries, profiling millennial radicals from the U.S. and the U.K. attacking the system through dangerous technological means. The documentary film, titled The New Radical, premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and featured Cody Wilson, Amir Taaki, Julian Assange and others. IndieWire called it "A real life Mr. Robot," in reference to the popular television series.[15] Lough followed up this film with Alt Right: Age of Rage a documentary about the Alt-Right movement that ended in tragedy at the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where his crew was caught in the melee. Age of Rage premiered on Netflix in the US and BBC in the UK.[16] In 2019, Lough Executive Produced the first feature from his long-time editor Alex Lee Moyer, TFW NO GF, an exploration of Incel culture in America.[17]

Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern directed Telemarketers, released on HBO in 2023. It revolves around two employees determined to expose the telemarketing industry. Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie were executive producers.[18][19]

Filmography

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Year Title Director Producer Writer
2002 Bomb the System Yes No Yes
2007 Weapons Yes No Yes
2008 The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee "Scratch" Perry Yes Yes Yes
2009 The Carter Yes Yes —
2009 Red Apples Falling No Yes —
2013 The Motivation Yes Yes —
2015 Hot Sugar's Cold World Yes Yes Yes
2015 Motivation 2: The Chris Cole Story Yes Yes —
2017 The New Radical Yes No Yes
2017 Motivation 3 Yes Yes —
2018 Alt-Right: Age of Rage Yes No Yes
2020 TFW NO GF No Yes No
2023 Telemarketers Yes Yes No

References

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  1. ^ "Adam Bhala Lough on his Lee "Scratch" Perry movie". Tbd.com. May 13, 2011. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  2. ^ "2014 Festival Films will be public in December". History.sundance.org. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  3. ^ "Bomb The System Director: Adam Bhala Lough Interview". At149st.com. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  4. ^ "The Making of MF DOOM's "?" and "Dead Bent" Videos". 4 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Film Independent Spirit Awards" (PDF). 2011.spriritawards.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  6. ^ "Palm Store: Bomb The System". Palmpictures.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  7. ^ "A Conversation With Adam Bhala Lough (WEAPONS) – Hammer to Nail". Hammertonail.com. 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  8. ^ "Weapons | Archives | Sundance Institute". History.sundance.org. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  9. ^ "Sundance Film Festival 2009 : 2009 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHINES NEW LIGHT ON ROCK LEGENDS: Festival to Feature Emerging Talent, Prominent Composers and Icons of Rock in Film and Live Performances" (PDF). Sundance.org. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  10. ^ Ditzian, Eric (April 22, 2009). "Lil Wayne's Lawsuit Against 'Tha Carter' Doc Rejected". MTV. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  11. ^ "2008 SXSW Film Festival Official Line-Up". Filmschoolrejects.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  12. ^ Beaujon, Andrew (2011-05-13). "Adam Bhala Lough on his Lee "Scratch" Perry movie - @TBD Arts". TBD.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  13. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (March 12, 2013). "Kevin Connolly Hockey Doc Leads Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  14. ^ "A Film By Adam Bhala Lough". The Motivation Movie. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  15. ^ "'The New Radical' Review: This Bitcoin Documentary is a Real-Life 'Mr. Robot' — Sundance 2017 Review". 26 January 2017.
  16. ^ "'Alt-Right: Age of Rage' Review – The Hollywood Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 March 2018.
  17. ^ "'TFW No GF' is a Deeply Uncomfortable Portrayal of Incel Culture". Rolling Stone. 4 May 2020.
  18. ^ Chapman, Wilson (July 26, 2023). "The Safdies Drop Surprise Telemarketer Docuseries on HBO — Watch the Trailer". IndieWire. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  19. ^ "HBO Original Docuseries TELEMARKETERS Debuts August 13". Warner Bros. Discovery. July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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