Samara Weaving has been a scream queen, an action star, and now, the embodiment of multiple real-life feminist icons.
First up, the “Ready or Not” breakout star portrays French aristocrat Marie-Joséphine de Montalembert in this week’s new release “Chevalier” opposite Kelvin Harrison Jr. After that, Weaving will transform into former Playboy bunny Holly Madison for limited series “Down the Rabbit Hole,” and will then travel back in time once more to play Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte in “Liz.”
“Maybe I’m a masochist. You read a really good script or a really good pitch and you can’t say no to it,” Weaving told IndieWire of her period piece nods to real people. “Elizabeth Bonaparte, I’m a huge fan of [director] Adam Leon’s work. ‘Italian Studies’ is one of my favorite movies, so just working with him is going to be awesome. And Elizabeth Bonaparte is so dope. She’s the first American socialite,...
First up, the “Ready or Not” breakout star portrays French aristocrat Marie-Joséphine de Montalembert in this week’s new release “Chevalier” opposite Kelvin Harrison Jr. After that, Weaving will transform into former Playboy bunny Holly Madison for limited series “Down the Rabbit Hole,” and will then travel back in time once more to play Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte in “Liz.”
“Maybe I’m a masochist. You read a really good script or a really good pitch and you can’t say no to it,” Weaving told IndieWire of her period piece nods to real people. “Elizabeth Bonaparte, I’m a huge fan of [director] Adam Leon’s work. ‘Italian Studies’ is one of my favorite movies, so just working with him is going to be awesome. And Elizabeth Bonaparte is so dope. She’s the first American socialite,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Michael Leon, long time music industry executive and husband of 42 West founder and preeminent publicist Leslee Dart, passed away on April 2nd. He was 76 years old.
After joining famed independent label A&m Records in 1976, he rose to Senior Vice President and Head of East Coast Operations. Known for his gregarious management style and his ear for emerging talent, he was instrumental in the development of the careers of Suzanne Vega, Joan Armitrading, The Police, Squeeze, and Supertramp, among many others.
Leon also served as a Vice President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, the Head of International for Emi Records Group, and President of independent label Hybrid Records.
After marrying Dart in 1996, he was often seen by her side at gala events around the world, embracing the role of being, as he often called himself, “Mr. Dart” (he even changed his email name to “mistadart”).
Dart...
After joining famed independent label A&m Records in 1976, he rose to Senior Vice President and Head of East Coast Operations. Known for his gregarious management style and his ear for emerging talent, he was instrumental in the development of the careers of Suzanne Vega, Joan Armitrading, The Police, Squeeze, and Supertramp, among many others.
Leon also served as a Vice President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, the Head of International for Emi Records Group, and President of independent label Hybrid Records.
After marrying Dart in 1996, he was often seen by her side at gala events around the world, embracing the role of being, as he often called himself, “Mr. Dart” (he even changed his email name to “mistadart”).
Dart...
- 4/8/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Ryan Heller has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Film & Documentary at Topic Studios, the award-winning studio from First Look Media.
In his new role, he will continue to lead the feature film group, while adding feature-length documentaries to his purview, formalizing an area in which he had already been operating. He will oversee the doc arena with Vice President, Nonfiction, Christine Connor, continuing to report to CEO Michael Bloom.
A key player in the launch and critical successes of Topic Studios, who has since 2018 built and managed its feature film slate through development, financing, production and distribution, Heller most recently served as Senior Vice President of Film and Acquisitions.
He has long been a champion for new directorial voices, in recent years shepherding such breakout projects as the psychological horror Nanny and the acclaimed buddy comedy, The Climb. The former title from rising star director Nikyatu Jusu was...
In his new role, he will continue to lead the feature film group, while adding feature-length documentaries to his purview, formalizing an area in which he had already been operating. He will oversee the doc arena with Vice President, Nonfiction, Christine Connor, continuing to report to CEO Michael Bloom.
A key player in the launch and critical successes of Topic Studios, who has since 2018 built and managed its feature film slate through development, financing, production and distribution, Heller most recently served as Senior Vice President of Film and Acquisitions.
He has long been a champion for new directorial voices, in recent years shepherding such breakout projects as the psychological horror Nanny and the acclaimed buddy comedy, The Climb. The former title from rising star director Nikyatu Jusu was...
- 1/12/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"You don't have to be your mother. You get to define you, mama." Film Movement has debuted an official trailer for an indie dramedy titled Queen of Glory, featuring actress Nana Mensah who writes, directs, and stars in this film. It first premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival last year, and also played at tons of other fests including Melbourne, Reykjavik, Vancouver, Hamptons, London, Warsaw, and San Diego. Queen of Glory is a "tightly-conceived, witty and compassionate love letter to the Bronx" that's at once a view into a tight-knit community, and an intensely relatable drama-comedy for anyone with a family. It looks quite good and especially authentic. Ghanaian-American Sarah is set to abandon her Ivy League doctoral program to follow her married lover across the country, until she must take over running a small Christian bookstore in the Bronx. Nana Mensah stars with Meeko Gattuso, Russell G. Jones, Oberon K.A. Adjepong,...
- 6/17/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Executive joined from HBO in May 2022.
Topic Studios president Maria Zuckerman is departing the company after a three-year tenure in which the company delivered projects such as Pablo Larrain’s Spencer starring Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart and HBO/HBO Max surfing series 100 Foot Wave.
No reason was given for Zuckerman’s departure. She joined in May 2019 from HBO and reported to First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom.
Under her leadership, Topic Studios also enjoyed success with Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance grand jury winner Nanny, Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian with Jodie Foster, and Adam Leon’s Italian Studies starring Vanessa Kirby.
Topic Studios president Maria Zuckerman is departing the company after a three-year tenure in which the company delivered projects such as Pablo Larrain’s Spencer starring Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart and HBO/HBO Max surfing series 100 Foot Wave.
No reason was given for Zuckerman’s departure. She joined in May 2019 from HBO and reported to First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom.
Under her leadership, Topic Studios also enjoyed success with Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance grand jury winner Nanny, Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian with Jodie Foster, and Adam Leon’s Italian Studies starring Vanessa Kirby.
- 6/14/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Maria Zuckerman, the president of indie Topic Studios, is exiting her role after being with the studio since 2019.
It’s unclear where the executive will land or who her immediate replacement will be. Zuckerman joined Topic in 2019 as EVP and head of Topic Studios reporting to Topic’s parent company First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom, and she was elevated to president at Topic last July.
“Maria has a fantastic creative sensibility with a keen commercial sense to match. Over the past three years, she and the studio team have accelerated Topic Studios’ growth into a world-class independent studio, attracting stellar talent, exciting voices, and spear-heading award-winning films, documentaries, series, and podcasts. We are grateful for all she did and wish her the very best in the future,” Bloom said in a statement.
Also Read:
Peter Rice, Toby Emmerich and the Hollowing Out of Hollywood’s C-Suites
Zuckerman had led the company’s film,...
It’s unclear where the executive will land or who her immediate replacement will be. Zuckerman joined Topic in 2019 as EVP and head of Topic Studios reporting to Topic’s parent company First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom, and she was elevated to president at Topic last July.
“Maria has a fantastic creative sensibility with a keen commercial sense to match. Over the past three years, she and the studio team have accelerated Topic Studios’ growth into a world-class independent studio, attracting stellar talent, exciting voices, and spear-heading award-winning films, documentaries, series, and podcasts. We are grateful for all she did and wish her the very best in the future,” Bloom said in a statement.
Also Read:
Peter Rice, Toby Emmerich and the Hollowing Out of Hollywood’s C-Suites
Zuckerman had led the company’s film,...
- 6/14/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Home is profoundly where the heartache is in Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), a finely wrought, wistful but mildly unsatisfying debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri. Tracking two resilient Lagos residents, in sequential order, united by one goal––to illegally migrate in search of a better life––the film occasionally feels akin to an immaculately put-together class assignment, over-mindful of the reaction of an end user or assessor, rather than a risky, personality-infused piece of art. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt)
The Innocents, the assured sophomore feature from Eskil Vogt, is a prickly film about childhood morality designed to...
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Home is profoundly where the heartache is in Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), a finely wrought, wistful but mildly unsatisfying debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri. Tracking two resilient Lagos residents, in sequential order, united by one goal––to illegally migrate in search of a better life––the film occasionally feels akin to an immaculately put-together class assignment, over-mindful of the reaction of an end user or assessor, rather than a risky, personality-infused piece of art. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt)
The Innocents, the assured sophomore feature from Eskil Vogt, is a prickly film about childhood morality designed to...
- 5/13/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Magnolia previously acquired North American rights.
Magnolia Pictures has acquired international sales for Cannes on SXSW grand jury prize and audience award winner I Love My Dad starring Patton Oswalt.
Lorna Lee Torres, head of international sales, and Austin Kennedy, international sales manager, will launch sales at the market later this month.
Inspired by writer, director, and star James Morosini’s actual life experience, I Love My Dad follows Chuck (Oswalt), an estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his troubled son, Franklin (Morosini).
Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress...
Magnolia Pictures has acquired international sales for Cannes on SXSW grand jury prize and audience award winner I Love My Dad starring Patton Oswalt.
Lorna Lee Torres, head of international sales, and Austin Kennedy, international sales manager, will launch sales at the market later this month.
Inspired by writer, director, and star James Morosini’s actual life experience, I Love My Dad follows Chuck (Oswalt), an estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his troubled son, Franklin (Morosini).
Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress...
- 5/2/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to the dramedy Queen of Glory, written, directed by and starring Nana Mensah, from Magnolia Pictures International, with plans to release it in theaters and on digital and VOD later this year.
In her debut feature, Mensah plays Sarah, a Ghanaian-American doctoral student at Columbia University who is weeks away from following her very married boyfriend to Ohio when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her as the owner of the small, Bronx-based Christian bookstore, King of Glory. Tasked with planning a culturally respectful funeral befitting the family matriarch, Sarah is forced to juggle the expectations of her loving, yet demanding family while also navigating the reappearance of her estranged father. Aided by an only-in-New York ensemble of Eastern European neighbors, feisty African aunties and a no-nonsense ex-con co-worker, she faces her new responsibilities while figuring out how to remain true to herself.
In her debut feature, Mensah plays Sarah, a Ghanaian-American doctoral student at Columbia University who is weeks away from following her very married boyfriend to Ohio when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her as the owner of the small, Bronx-based Christian bookstore, King of Glory. Tasked with planning a culturally respectful funeral befitting the family matriarch, Sarah is forced to juggle the expectations of her loving, yet demanding family while also navigating the reappearance of her estranged father. Aided by an only-in-New York ensemble of Eastern European neighbors, feisty African aunties and a no-nonsense ex-con co-worker, she faces her new responsibilities while figuring out how to remain true to herself.
- 2/28/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Indemnity, Italian Studies, Ultrasound, Mars One attract buyers.
Magnolia Pictures International has announced multiple territory sales on its EFM slate led by South African thriller Indemnity, drama Italian Studies, sci-fi Ultrasound and Brazilian Sundance premiere Mars One.
Travis Taute’s Indemnity is described as a Bourne-esque story about a former firefighter in Cape Town accused of murdering his wife. Sales have closed for France (Swift), Germany (Meteor), Latin America (A2/ Great Movies), Cis (New People Company), South Korea (Challan), Taiwan (Best Digital) and Poland (Mayfly). Magnolia’s genre label Magnet released the thriller in the US on February 11 and Mongrel...
Magnolia Pictures International has announced multiple territory sales on its EFM slate led by South African thriller Indemnity, drama Italian Studies, sci-fi Ultrasound and Brazilian Sundance premiere Mars One.
Travis Taute’s Indemnity is described as a Bourne-esque story about a former firefighter in Cape Town accused of murdering his wife. Sales have closed for France (Swift), Germany (Meteor), Latin America (A2/ Great Movies), Cis (New People Company), South Korea (Challan), Taiwan (Best Digital) and Poland (Mayfly). Magnolia’s genre label Magnet released the thriller in the US on February 11 and Mongrel...
- 2/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Vanessa Kirby didn’t go all Method for “Italian Studies,” but she didn’t need to in order for her character to seem a little out of sorts.
“The Crown” actor filmed the Adam Leon-directed indie drama — she stars as Alina, a successful writer who finds herself wandering around New York City with a group of teens after she suddenly suffers severe memory loss — while doing a play in London.
“Adam said, ‘I don’t want you to have a process. I want you to come as you are. If you are knackered, you come knackered,’” Kirby, who earned an Oscar nomination for her work in “Pieces of a Woman,” tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast.
When she was jet-lagged, which she was many times after coming to the New York set straight from a transatlantic flight, Leon told her to lean in.
“The Crown” actor filmed the Adam Leon-directed indie drama — she stars as Alina, a successful writer who finds herself wandering around New York City with a group of teens after she suddenly suffers severe memory loss — while doing a play in London.
“Adam said, ‘I don’t want you to have a process. I want you to come as you are. If you are knackered, you come knackered,’” Kirby, who earned an Oscar nomination for her work in “Pieces of a Woman,” tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast.
When she was jet-lagged, which she was many times after coming to the New York set straight from a transatlantic flight, Leon told her to lean in.
- 1/20/2022
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Hilary Duff Talks ‘How I Met Your Father’ and Why She’s Still Hopeful for a ‘Lizzie McGuire’ Revival
Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”
Hilary Duff‘s much-anticipated revival of “Lizzie McGuire” may have fallen apart a little more than a year ago, but all hope isn’t lost. “I don’t think it’s dead, and I don’t think it’s alive,” Duff tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “I think it’s just kind of sitting there.” Duff says the “Lizzie” conversations had been going on for about a decade. “I was like, ‘No, thank you,’” she recalls of first being approached. “And then one day, I was like, ‘Yup.’ There’s much love there.”
But alas, the project was nixed after Disney rejected Duff’s idea to make Lizzie’s comeback more adult than tween.
“There’s always struggle with something that’s so loved and important to so many people,” Duff now says. “I just keep my heart and my mind open.
Hilary Duff‘s much-anticipated revival of “Lizzie McGuire” may have fallen apart a little more than a year ago, but all hope isn’t lost. “I don’t think it’s dead, and I don’t think it’s alive,” Duff tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “I think it’s just kind of sitting there.” Duff says the “Lizzie” conversations had been going on for about a decade. “I was like, ‘No, thank you,’” she recalls of first being approached. “And then one day, I was like, ‘Yup.’ There’s much love there.”
But alas, the project was nixed after Disney rejected Duff’s idea to make Lizzie’s comeback more adult than tween.
“There’s always struggle with something that’s so loved and important to so many people,” Duff now says. “I just keep my heart and my mind open.
- 1/19/2022
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
“Italian Studies” begins on that most minor, familiar but nonetheless disorienting of social embarrassments: You run into a person who knows you, but you cannot for the life of you remember them. For most of us, it’s a simple slip of the memory. For London-based writer Alina, confronted with a blank space in her brain after bumming a cigarette off an apparent stranger, it’s a callback to a longer, more damaging period of dissociation — when, while living in Manhattan, she suddenly forgot who she was for several days. Adam Leon’s minor-key, jaggedly structured indie isn’t concerned with the specific whens, hows and whys of Alina’s out-of-nowhere amnesia, but with the hazy in-the-moment sensation of being struck with it, the sensation of stumbling for the lightswitch in your own mind. That’s a nebulous-sounding dramatic proposition, though as performed by a nervy, live-wire Vanessa Kirby, it becomes a tensely compelling one.
- 1/15/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Pieces of a Woman: Leon’s Latest Gets Lost in Own Identity Crisis
Somewhere along the various perambulations of its conflicted protagonist, Adam Leon’s Italian Studies eventually mirrors her plight and spins its wheels on ideas and possibilities. The third feature from the NYC filmmaker, who arrived with his vibrant indie debut Gimme the Loot in 2012, plays like an experimental exercise on authorial intention as entropy assembled under the guise of haphazard poetic license in the editing room. Despite the commanding presence of lead Vanessa Kirby, it’s an idiosyncratic effort which ultimately feels prosaic, often spelling out the most significant motifs via dialogue.…...
Somewhere along the various perambulations of its conflicted protagonist, Adam Leon’s Italian Studies eventually mirrors her plight and spins its wheels on ideas and possibilities. The third feature from the NYC filmmaker, who arrived with his vibrant indie debut Gimme the Loot in 2012, plays like an experimental exercise on authorial intention as entropy assembled under the guise of haphazard poetic license in the editing room. Despite the commanding presence of lead Vanessa Kirby, it’s an idiosyncratic effort which ultimately feels prosaic, often spelling out the most significant motifs via dialogue.…...
- 1/14/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Fathom Events presents Betty White: A Celebration in 1,529 locations nationwide, a one-day-only special event on Monday honoring the actress who died Dec. 31 just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. The star-studded reflection on White’s life and career, which had already been set by filmmakers Steven Boettcher and Mike Trinklein to celebrate her centennial Jan. 17, will run three showtimes at 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm.
As for weekend openings, a pair of solid documentaries and two dramas — about memory loss and global apocalypse by pink gas — debut in a frame where there isn’t much new. Distributors are carefully weighing expansion for award hopefuls already out amid the ongoing surge in Omicron and ahead of Oscar nods Feb. 8.
Newcomers include Magnolia Pictures’ drama Italian Studies in seven theaters including New York and LA, and on demand. Directed by Adam Leon it stars Vanessa Kirby, Simon Brickner,...
As for weekend openings, a pair of solid documentaries and two dramas — about memory loss and global apocalypse by pink gas — debut in a frame where there isn’t much new. Distributors are carefully weighing expansion for award hopefuls already out amid the ongoing surge in Omicron and ahead of Oscar nods Feb. 8.
Newcomers include Magnolia Pictures’ drama Italian Studies in seven theaters including New York and LA, and on demand. Directed by Adam Leon it stars Vanessa Kirby, Simon Brickner,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
In “Italian Studies,” Vanessa Kirby gets lost in New York. This shimmering wisp of a drama — in theaters and on VOD this Friday — offers a breezy pre-pandemic portrait of the city, following an author who wanders its crowded sidewalks and falls in with its young minds after inexplicably losing her memory. As hazily directed and ever so slightly written by Adam Leon, “Italian Studies” is less about solving the mystery of Alina’s sudden amnesia than asking how her surroundings might fill the wiped-clean slate of her identity in with vivid details (read our review here).
Continue reading Vanessa Kirby On ‘Italian Studies,’ Memory Plays & Ridley Scott [Interview] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Vanessa Kirby On ‘Italian Studies,’ Memory Plays & Ridley Scott [Interview] at The Playlist.
- 1/14/2022
- by Isaac Feldberg
- The Playlist
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born in the middle of Texas during The Great Depression, old recordings of Ailey recount his picking cotton with his mother (his father was non-existent in his life), then later on seeing Katherine Dunham (and her male backup dancers) perform live. The shock of watching somebody that looked like him produce such wonderful art emboldened him to pursue the work himself. – Dan M. (full...
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born in the middle of Texas during The Great Depression, old recordings of Ailey recount his picking cotton with his mother (his father was non-existent in his life), then later on seeing Katherine Dunham (and her male backup dancers) perform live. The shock of watching somebody that looked like him produce such wonderful art emboldened him to pursue the work himself. – Dan M. (full...
- 1/14/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Adam Leon’s films look at New York City with a street-side view. His characters, through his first three features, wander the neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, or the Bronx, or the West Village with little cash and minor control of their situation. From the SXSW Grand Jury Winner Gimme the Loot (2012) to Netflix’s hangout romantic dramedy Tramps (2016), Leon makes films depicting different parts of the city he grew up in, the interactions that go unnoticed and overlooked, the people that get passed and immediately forgotten.
Often, there’s an initial manic energy to Leon’s low-budget films, now commonly associated with another New Yorker directorial team, the Safdie brothers. A sense of confusion or difficulty overwhelms Leon’s characters, putting them in less-than-ideal positions. In his previous two films, Leon put together two younger lightweight criminals, people living on the periphery of most films about New York City,...
Often, there’s an initial manic energy to Leon’s low-budget films, now commonly associated with another New Yorker directorial team, the Safdie brothers. A sense of confusion or difficulty overwhelms Leon’s characters, putting them in less-than-ideal positions. In his previous two films, Leon put together two younger lightweight criminals, people living on the periphery of most films about New York City,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Gabriel Martins’ movie Mars One has been snapped up by Magnolia Pictures International before the pic’s world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next week in the World Cinema Dramatic Section.
Mars One follows the Martins family, optimistic dreamers who are quietly leading their lives on the margins of a major Brazilian city, following the disappointing election of a far-right extremist president. A lower-middle-class Black family, they feel the strain of their new reality as the political dust settles.
“Gabriel Martins has crafted an uplifting and tender film about a family’s hopes and dreams, set against a Brazil in constant turmoil,” said Lorna Lee Torres, Head of International Sales. “We are beyond excited to champion this beautiful film, and invite audiences to share in these characters’ successes, failures, fears, and loves—all portrayed with delicacy and charm.”
Mars One producer Thiago Macêdo Correia added: “We at Filmes de Plástico...
Mars One follows the Martins family, optimistic dreamers who are quietly leading their lives on the margins of a major Brazilian city, following the disappointing election of a far-right extremist president. A lower-middle-class Black family, they feel the strain of their new reality as the political dust settles.
“Gabriel Martins has crafted an uplifting and tender film about a family’s hopes and dreams, set against a Brazil in constant turmoil,” said Lorna Lee Torres, Head of International Sales. “We are beyond excited to champion this beautiful film, and invite audiences to share in these characters’ successes, failures, fears, and loves—all portrayed with delicacy and charm.”
Mars One producer Thiago Macêdo Correia added: “We at Filmes de Plástico...
- 1/12/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2021, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2022. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year (and beyond) that either have confirmed 2022 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.
As an additional note, a number of 2021 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2022, including A Hero (Jan. 7), Cyrano (Jan. 28), The Worst Person in the World (Feb. 4), Mothering Sunday (Feb. 25), Petite Maman, and A Chiara.
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Pushpendra Singh; Jan. 12)
Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a...
As an additional note, a number of 2021 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2022, including A Hero (Jan. 7), Cyrano (Jan. 28), The Worst Person in the World (Feb. 4), Mothering Sunday (Feb. 25), Petite Maman, and A Chiara.
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Pushpendra Singh; Jan. 12)
Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a...
- 1/5/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Vanessa Kirby is Ridley Scott’s choice to play Empress Josephine opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon in Kitbag, the historical drama for Apple that begins production this spring. She will replace Jodie Comer, who exited the project over scheduling. Her reps are negotiating a deal for Kirby, who is coming off an Oscar nomination for her gut-wrenching performance in Pieces of a Woman.
Scripted by Scott’s All the Money in the World collaborator David Scarpa, Kitbag explores Bonaparte’s origins and his swift, told through the lens of his addictive and often volatile relationship with the Empress. Scott and Kevin Walsh are producing for Scott Free. Deadline first broke the news of Scott’s plan to direct the film and reunite with Gladiator star Phoenix in October of 2020, as well as Apple Studios’ commitment to finance and produce the project.
Kirby earned her first Oscar nomination just this...
Scripted by Scott’s All the Money in the World collaborator David Scarpa, Kitbag explores Bonaparte’s origins and his swift, told through the lens of his addictive and often volatile relationship with the Empress. Scott and Kevin Walsh are producing for Scott Free. Deadline first broke the news of Scott’s plan to direct the film and reunite with Gladiator star Phoenix in October of 2020, as well as Apple Studios’ commitment to finance and produce the project.
Kirby earned her first Oscar nomination just this...
- 1/4/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
As we wrap up the year in film, it’s time to set sights on 2022. While we’ll share a few looks at what’s in store over the next 12 months, first we have an overview of January’s most notable films. Unsurprisingly, the top offerings solely consist of 2021 festival premieres (and one from 2020) that are finally arriving.
10. Sundown (Michel Franco; Jan. 28 in theaters)
After last year’s wildly divisive New Order, Michel Franco returns this month with a drama of a much different stripe. As Jared Mobarak said in his review, “Writer-director Michel Franco throws the first curveball early during his latest film Sundown. We’ve already spent a bit of time with his quartet of European characters vacationing in Acapulco to make a few assumptions before workaholic Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) leans over to the quietly satisfied Neil (Tim Roth) and thanks him for coming along. Why wouldn’t he have?...
10. Sundown (Michel Franco; Jan. 28 in theaters)
After last year’s wildly divisive New Order, Michel Franco returns this month with a drama of a much different stripe. As Jared Mobarak said in his review, “Writer-director Michel Franco throws the first curveball early during his latest film Sundown. We’ve already spent a bit of time with his quartet of European characters vacationing in Acapulco to make a few assumptions before workaholic Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) leans over to the quietly satisfied Neil (Tim Roth) and thanks him for coming along. Why wouldn’t he have?...
- 1/4/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
While the moviegoing world might be nowhere near “pre-pandemic normalcy,” here’s something to get excited about: a whittled-down annual list of the best movies we’ve already seen from the year to come. Last year’s list was one of our most stacked ever, thanks to a number of hotly anticipated titles (including a wide variety of festive standouts from 2020 and early 2021) getting pushed way back to later, more optimistic release dates. Now, as films make their way to audiences through theatrical releases, streaming options, and more, we’re not waiting quite so long to see some of our favorites.
But that doesn’t mean 2022 doesn’t already have a bevy of fantastic new offerings we’ve been lucky enough to see, review, and champion. These films include a number of our favorite festival picks (from 2020 and 2021) gearing up for theatrical and VOD release in the coming months.
IndieWire...
But that doesn’t mean 2022 doesn’t already have a bevy of fantastic new offerings we’ve been lucky enough to see, review, and champion. These films include a number of our favorite festival picks (from 2020 and 2021) gearing up for theatrical and VOD release in the coming months.
IndieWire...
- 12/29/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Queen of Glory Review Video — Queen of Glory (2021) Video Movie Review, a movie directed by Nana Mensah, written by Nana Mensah, and starring Nana Mensah, Meeko Gattuso, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, Adam Leon, Ward Horton, Elia Monte-Brown, Purva Bedi, Anya Migdal, Daniel Reece, Alok Tewari, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Russell G. Jones, Sholanty Taylor, Jocelyn [...]
Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Queen Of Glory (2021): An Assured, Confident Film that will Move Audiences with Compelling Scenes...
Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Queen Of Glory (2021): An Assured, Confident Film that will Move Audiences with Compelling Scenes...
- 12/17/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
"All of my memories... begin with me walking among these people." Magnolia has unveiled the official US trailer for an indie film titled Italian Studies, the latest creation by filmmaker Adam Leon. This film initially premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, and is finally opening in January for anyone curious to watch it. Another film that showcases the remarkable talents of actress Vanessa Kirby, following last year's Pieces of a Woman. In this film, Kirby plays a writer who loses her memory in New York City. Attempting to find her way home, she connects with a teenager and other strangers in conversations, real & imagined. "As the night progresses, she approaches something intangible on the journey back to herself." The cast includes David Ajala, Annika Wahlsten, and Lars Wahlsten. It's hard to tell where this film is going and what it's trying to comment on, but it certainly looks appealing.
- 12/15/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
American indie director Adam Leon makes street-wise, visceral films that feel of the moment, electric, alive, and often pounding the pavement in pursuit of some goal. His latest film, “Italian Studies,” starring Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces Of A Woman”), is of the same ilk but slightly different. Set on the streets of New York again, “Italian Studies” centers on an author who temporarily and inexplicably loses her memory.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’ Trailer: Vanessa Kirby Wanders New York In A Hazy Lapse Of Memory at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’ Trailer: Vanessa Kirby Wanders New York In A Hazy Lapse Of Memory at The Playlist.
- 12/15/2021
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Ping-ponging between major blockbusters like the Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious franchises and indie dramas such as Pieces of a Woman and The World to Come, Vanessa Kirby has had quite a last few years. She’s now returning in Adam Leon’s third feature, Italian Studies, which follows Kirby as Alina Reynolds, a woman who at times doesn’t know her own name, over the course of 24 hours in NYC. Scored by Nicholas Britell, the film was picked up by Magnolia following a Tribeca premiere and now the first trailer has arrived.
Michael Frank said in his review, “Italian Studies could easily be described as no plot, all vibes. And those vibes largely become weirder as the 81-minute film wears on, Reynolds starting to interact with a group of high school students and learning she’s a published author with a book of short stories. But even that...
Michael Frank said in his review, “Italian Studies could easily be described as no plot, all vibes. And those vibes largely become weirder as the 81-minute film wears on, Reynolds starting to interact with a group of high school students and learning she’s a published author with a book of short stories. But even that...
- 12/14/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Fred Hechinger has landed a lead role opposite Nicolas Cage in Gabe Polsky’s Western Butcher’s Crossing, adapted from John Williams’ 1960 novel.
In the film scripted by Polsky and Liam Satre-Meloy, Hechinger will play Will Andrews, a naive Harvard student who heads west in 1874 to fulfill his dream of seeing the country and living off the land. Will agrees to fund a dangerous but potentially lucrative expedition to Colorado, led by Miller (Cage), an experienced hunter obsessed with a near-mythological buffalo herd he once glimpsed in the Rockies. As the weeks and then months pass, Miller’s single-minded resolve to slaughter every buffalo in the enormous herd puts Will and the rest of the hunting party at risk of losing their sanity and their lives.
Polsky and Phiphen Pictures’ Molly Conners are producing the adventure pic alongside Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment...
In the film scripted by Polsky and Liam Satre-Meloy, Hechinger will play Will Andrews, a naive Harvard student who heads west in 1874 to fulfill his dream of seeing the country and living off the land. Will agrees to fund a dangerous but potentially lucrative expedition to Colorado, led by Miller (Cage), an experienced hunter obsessed with a near-mythological buffalo herd he once glimpsed in the Rockies. As the weeks and then months pass, Miller’s single-minded resolve to slaughter every buffalo in the enormous herd puts Will and the rest of the hunting party at risk of losing their sanity and their lives.
Polsky and Phiphen Pictures’ Molly Conners are producing the adventure pic alongside Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment...
- 11/1/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Magnolia Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to Italian Studies, the Tribeca Film Festival title that stars Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby.
Tramps filmmaker Adam Leon is behind the film that follows writer Alina Reynolds (Kirby), who loses her memory and finds herself adrift in New York City — with almost no sense of time, place, the season or her own identity. She finds an anchor in a charismatic teenager (Simon Brickner), connecting with him and his free-spirited group of friends as she makes her way through a disorienting but strangely beautiful cityscape.
Annika Wahlsten, Annabel Hoffman, Maya Hawke and Fred Hechinger also star in ...
Tramps filmmaker Adam Leon is behind the film that follows writer Alina Reynolds (Kirby), who loses her memory and finds herself adrift in New York City — with almost no sense of time, place, the season or her own identity. She finds an anchor in a charismatic teenager (Simon Brickner), connecting with him and his free-spirited group of friends as she makes her way through a disorienting but strangely beautiful cityscape.
Annika Wahlsten, Annabel Hoffman, Maya Hawke and Fred Hechinger also star in ...
- 10/19/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Magnolia Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to Italian Studies, the Tribeca Film Festival title that stars Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby.
Tramps filmmaker Adam Leon is behind the film that follows writer Alina Reynolds (Kirby), who loses her memory and finds herself adrift in New York City — with almost no sense of time, place, the season or her own identity. She finds an anchor in a charismatic teenager (Simon Brickner), connecting with him and his free-spirited group of friends as she makes her way through a disorienting but strangely beautiful cityscape.
“Our entire team is thrilled to partner with Magnolia and honored ...
Tramps filmmaker Adam Leon is behind the film that follows writer Alina Reynolds (Kirby), who loses her memory and finds herself adrift in New York City — with almost no sense of time, place, the season or her own identity. She finds an anchor in a charismatic teenager (Simon Brickner), connecting with him and his free-spirited group of friends as she makes her way through a disorienting but strangely beautiful cityscape.
“Our entire team is thrilled to partner with Magnolia and honored ...
- 10/19/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
First Look Media has promoted Maria Zuckerman to President of Topic Studios. She will continue to report to the company’s CEO Michael Bloom.
Zuckerman will continue to lead the Studio’s creative vision and overall strategy, including development, financing, and production across feature films, documentaries, television, and podcasts. She joined the Studio in May of 2019 as EVP & Head of Topic Studios.
During her tenure, Topic Studios has expanded with a broad range of award-winning film projects, as well as ramping up their TV division and full-service podcast studio. In addition, the Topic Studios has brought in world-class creators such as Pablo Larraín, Destin Daniel Cretton, Awkwafina, Kevin Macdonald, Chris Smith, Nikyatu Jusu, Adam Leon and Toni Collette.
Zuckerman’s promotion comes just weeks after Topic Studios, along with its partners The Intercept and the Invisible Institute, were lauded as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the podcast Somebody, and the...
Zuckerman will continue to lead the Studio’s creative vision and overall strategy, including development, financing, and production across feature films, documentaries, television, and podcasts. She joined the Studio in May of 2019 as EVP & Head of Topic Studios.
During her tenure, Topic Studios has expanded with a broad range of award-winning film projects, as well as ramping up their TV division and full-service podcast studio. In addition, the Topic Studios has brought in world-class creators such as Pablo Larraín, Destin Daniel Cretton, Awkwafina, Kevin Macdonald, Chris Smith, Nikyatu Jusu, Adam Leon and Toni Collette.
Zuckerman’s promotion comes just weeks after Topic Studios, along with its partners The Intercept and the Invisible Institute, were lauded as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the podcast Somebody, and the...
- 7/28/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
First Look Media has tapped Maria Zuckerman to serve as president of Topic Studios, a major promotion for the executive who joined the company in May 2019.
“I’m thrilled to recognize Maria’s role in growing Topic Studios with her promotion to president,” said Michael Bloom, First Look Media’s CEO. ”Maria and her team have built the studio into a major creative force, giving new and established voices the opportunity to collaborate and produce truly extraordinary work. I know the studio will continue to thrive under her leadership, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Over the last two years as executive vice president and head of Topic Studios, Zuckerman has worked to raise the company’s profile with movies like “The Mauritanian”; Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin’s “The Climb” (distributed by Sony Pictures Classics); and seven projects at the Sundance Film Festival, including...
“I’m thrilled to recognize Maria’s role in growing Topic Studios with her promotion to president,” said Michael Bloom, First Look Media’s CEO. ”Maria and her team have built the studio into a major creative force, giving new and established voices the opportunity to collaborate and produce truly extraordinary work. I know the studio will continue to thrive under her leadership, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Over the last two years as executive vice president and head of Topic Studios, Zuckerman has worked to raise the company’s profile with movies like “The Mauritanian”; Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin’s “The Climb” (distributed by Sony Pictures Classics); and seven projects at the Sundance Film Festival, including...
- 7/28/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Maria Zuckerman has been promoted to president of Topic Studios, First Look Media announced Wednesday.
Zuckerman joined Topic in May 2019 as EVP and head of Topic Studios and will now continue to report to the company’s CEO, Michael Bloom. She will continue to lead the studio’s creative vision and overall strategy, including development, financing and production across feature films, documentaries, television and podcasts.
“I’m thrilled to recognize Maria’s role in growing Topic Studios with her promotion to President. Maria and her team have built the Studio into a major creative force, giving new and established voices the opportunity to collaborate and produce truly extraordinary work. I know the Studio will continue to thrive under her leadership, and I can’t wait to see what’s next,” Bloom said in a statement.
“It has been thrilling over the past two years to grow Topic Studios’ reach and slate of productions.
Zuckerman joined Topic in May 2019 as EVP and head of Topic Studios and will now continue to report to the company’s CEO, Michael Bloom. She will continue to lead the studio’s creative vision and overall strategy, including development, financing and production across feature films, documentaries, television and podcasts.
“I’m thrilled to recognize Maria’s role in growing Topic Studios with her promotion to President. Maria and her team have built the Studio into a major creative force, giving new and established voices the opportunity to collaborate and produce truly extraordinary work. I know the Studio will continue to thrive under her leadership, and I can’t wait to see what’s next,” Bloom said in a statement.
“It has been thrilling over the past two years to grow Topic Studios’ reach and slate of productions.
- 7/28/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Swan Song, Mayday, Queen Of Glory, A Glitch In The Matrix galvanise buyers.
Magnolia Pictures International head Lorna Lee Torres has reported brisk sales in Cannes on Udo Kier drama and SXSW selection Swan Song, Sundance action fantasy Mayday, Tribeca winner Queen Of Glory, and Sundance Midnight entry A Glitch In The Matrix.
Torres and Magnolia international sales director Marie Zeniter attended Cannes for what proved to be a productive trip.
Rights to Swan Song have gone in the UK (Peccadillo), Germany and Austria (Koch Media), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Australia and New Zealand (Icon), Scandinavia, Baltics, Iceland (NonStop), Canada (Mongrel...
Magnolia Pictures International head Lorna Lee Torres has reported brisk sales in Cannes on Udo Kier drama and SXSW selection Swan Song, Sundance action fantasy Mayday, Tribeca winner Queen Of Glory, and Sundance Midnight entry A Glitch In The Matrix.
Torres and Magnolia international sales director Marie Zeniter attended Cannes for what proved to be a productive trip.
Rights to Swan Song have gone in the UK (Peccadillo), Germany and Austria (Koch Media), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Australia and New Zealand (Icon), Scandinavia, Baltics, Iceland (NonStop), Canada (Mongrel...
- 7/19/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
NYC-based auteur Adam Leon brings high-profile talent and understated storytelling to Tribeca Ff 2021 with Italian Studies, his third feature film. The indelible Vanessa Kirby stars as a mysterious woman who can’t recall her own identity. As she wanders the streets of Manhattan, people fade in and out of her life like dreams. Like The Father, we witness it all from her perspective, as if we are amnesiacs ourselves. An ensemble of youthful first-time actors play against Kirby with electric chemistry, leading to surprisingly tender moments. Leon’s actors are remarkably open to the camera, and his understated urban style is unparalleled—but if Italian Studies were to invite comparison, it could be kindred to Eliza Hittman’s 2020 gem Never Rarely Sometimes Always.…...
- 6/23/2021
- by Dylan Kai Dempsey
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – That’s a wrap! The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival – a hybrid mix of New York City in-person events and online access – has its last day on Sunday, June 20th. It’s also the last day for Tribeca At Home, click Tribeca2021.
The 2021 Tribeca Festival was presented by AT&T, bringing artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. This year’s celebration of storytelling can be enjoyed virtually through the “Tribeca At Home” program. Many of the most anticipated features and short films will be made available only as part of our Tribeca Online Premieres lineup … a diverse range of dramas, comedies and documentaries.
Bernstein’s Wall
Photo credit: TribecaFilm.com
Four Films Of Tribeca Fest: Capsule Reviews
Click the title for...
The 2021 Tribeca Festival was presented by AT&T, bringing artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. This year’s celebration of storytelling can be enjoyed virtually through the “Tribeca At Home” program. Many of the most anticipated features and short films will be made available only as part of our Tribeca Online Premieres lineup … a diverse range of dramas, comedies and documentaries.
Bernstein’s Wall
Photo credit: TribecaFilm.com
Four Films Of Tribeca Fest: Capsule Reviews
Click the title for...
- 6/21/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Tribeca may have been the first big in-person film event of 2021, but it wasn’t clear what it told us about the year ahead. From anticipated premieres to lower-profile films, ambiguity loomed large.
The 20th edition launched June 9 with the world premiere in all five boroughs of Jon M. Chu’s movie of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “In the Heights,” from relaxed lawn chairs on the Oval in Battery Park to the mask-free 91-year-old United Palace in Washington Heights. Mostly, outdoor venues at The Battery and a reopened Pier 76 at the Hudson River Park were the main attractions during the festival, which offered 56 world premieres out of 66 feature titles. Many of them were also available online, along with shorts, VR offerings, podcasts, and conversations with the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood and Bradley Cooper and his “Nightmare Alley” director Guillermo del Toro.
Needless to say, movies were only part of the equation,...
The 20th edition launched June 9 with the world premiere in all five boroughs of Jon M. Chu’s movie of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “In the Heights,” from relaxed lawn chairs on the Oval in Battery Park to the mask-free 91-year-old United Palace in Washington Heights. Mostly, outdoor venues at The Battery and a reopened Pier 76 at the Hudson River Park were the main attractions during the festival, which offered 56 world premieres out of 66 feature titles. Many of them were also available online, along with shorts, VR offerings, podcasts, and conversations with the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood and Bradley Cooper and his “Nightmare Alley” director Guillermo del Toro.
Needless to say, movies were only part of the equation,...
- 6/19/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Tribeca may have been the first big in-person film event of 2021, but it wasn’t clear what it told us about the year ahead. From anticipated premieres to lower-profile films, ambiguity loomed large.
The 20th edition launched June 9 with the world premiere in all five boroughs of Jon M. Chu’s movie of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “In the Heights,” from relaxed lawn chairs on the Oval in Battery Park to the mask-free 91-year-old United Palace in Washington Heights. Mostly, outdoor venues at The Battery and a reopened Pier 76 at the Hudson River Park were the main attractions during the festival, which offered 56 world premieres out of 66 feature titles. Many of them were also available online, along with shorts, VR offerings, podcasts, and conversations with the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood and Bradley Cooper and his “Nightmare Alley” director Guillermo del Toro.
Needless to say, movies were only part of the equation,...
The 20th edition launched June 9 with the world premiere in all five boroughs of Jon M. Chu’s movie of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “In the Heights,” from relaxed lawn chairs on the Oval in Battery Park to the mask-free 91-year-old United Palace in Washington Heights. Mostly, outdoor venues at The Battery and a reopened Pier 76 at the Hudson River Park were the main attractions during the festival, which offered 56 world premieres out of 66 feature titles. Many of them were also available online, along with shorts, VR offerings, podcasts, and conversations with the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood and Bradley Cooper and his “Nightmare Alley” director Guillermo del Toro.
Needless to say, movies were only part of the equation,...
- 6/19/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Queen of Glory Review — Queen of Glory (2021) Film Review from the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Nana Mensah, and starring Nana Mensah, Meeko Gattuso, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, Adam Leon, Ward Horton, Elia Monte-Brown, Purva Bedi, Anya Migdal, Daniel Reece, Alok Tewari, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Russell G. Jones, Sholanty Taylor, Jocelyn [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Queen Of Glory: A Heartfelt Character Study that Will Engage Audiences [Tribeca 2021]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Queen Of Glory: A Heartfelt Character Study that Will Engage Audiences [Tribeca 2021]...
- 6/18/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
Adam Leon’s third feature, Italian Studies, follows Vanessa Kirby as Alina Reynolds, a woman who at times doesn’t know her own name. Call it amnesia or memory loss or even a blackout, but Kirby’s leading performance is built on a calm confusion. Leon’s story gives little context or background to how this woman came to have these spells, instead accompanying her over the course of a 24-hour period in New York City.
Italian Studies could easily be described as no plot, all vibes. And those vibes largely become weirder as the 81-minute film wears on, Reynolds starting to interact with a group of high school students and learning she’s a published author with a book of short stories. But even that “fact” never seems to be confirmed. She stumbles around NYC like a child, doe-eyed and without a single piece of property besides the clothes she happens to be wearing.
Italian Studies could easily be described as no plot, all vibes. And those vibes largely become weirder as the 81-minute film wears on, Reynolds starting to interact with a group of high school students and learning she’s a published author with a book of short stories. But even that “fact” never seems to be confirmed. She stumbles around NYC like a child, doe-eyed and without a single piece of property besides the clothes she happens to be wearing.
- 6/16/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Italian Studies Review — Italian Studies (2021) Film Review from the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Adam Leon, starring Vanessa Kirby, Simon Brickner, David Ajala, Misha Brooks, Fred Hechinger, and Maya Hawke. Who are we but a mix of our histories, our experiences, and the stories we [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Italian Studies: New York Stories in the Most Ephemeral Sense [Tribeca 2021]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Italian Studies: New York Stories in the Most Ephemeral Sense [Tribeca 2021]...
- 6/16/2021
- by Jacob Mouradian
- Film-Book
A Columbia U. doctoral student grapples with cultural expectations, demands and pressures while carving out her own path in “Queen of Glory,” writer-director-star Nana Mensah’s inviting and understated indie about immigrant identity anxieties. With a lived-in feel for the Bronx community in which her story takes place, the filmmaker generates endearing pathos from a story whose familiarity is offset by its humor and authenticity. Its small scale will likely constrain its box-office fortunes, but
Though thriving in the Ivy League, Sarah (Mensah) intends to relocate to Ohio to be with her colleague/boyfriend Lyle (Adam Leon). That plan is complicated first by the fact that Lyle is married with children, and subsequently by the unexpected death of her beloved Ghanaian-American mother. Sarah is thus tasked with handling her mom’s funeral and estate, the former necessitating a week-long event involving two gatherings, and the latter requiring her to do...
Though thriving in the Ivy League, Sarah (Mensah) intends to relocate to Ohio to be with her colleague/boyfriend Lyle (Adam Leon). That plan is complicated first by the fact that Lyle is married with children, and subsequently by the unexpected death of her beloved Ghanaian-American mother. Sarah is thus tasked with handling her mom’s funeral and estate, the former necessitating a week-long event involving two gatherings, and the latter requiring her to do...
- 6/16/2021
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
In the span of only three films, writer/director Adam Leon has proven to have a significant feel for New York City and those who populate its streets. His debut film “Gimme the Loot” premiered at SXSW and then the Cannes Film Festival; his follow-up “Tramps” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up by Netflix. Both films focus on teenagers blitzing through the city, captured by Leon’s on-the-ground filmmaking.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’: Adam Leon Talks Experimenting And Collaborating With Vanessa Kirby [Interview] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’: Adam Leon Talks Experimenting And Collaborating With Vanessa Kirby [Interview] at The Playlist.
- 6/15/2021
- by Nick Allen
- The Playlist
by Jason Adams
About a year after I first moved to New York a friend pulled me aside at a party to tell me two secrets about a mutual acquaintance of ours. The first secret was that this mutual was secretly fabulously wealthy, which one never would have guessed from the way she presented herself -- after twenty years of living in NYC I've come across this type often enough that it doesn't seem novel anymore, but it surprised me then. But it was the second secret that has really stuck with me all these years -- this friend would occasionally take a week off from her life, check into a high-scale hotel uptown, and pretend to be a different person. She told stories of romances and adventures in disguise -- a dalliance outside of one's daily existence; a vacation from one's literal self.
The second secret obviously couldn't exist...
About a year after I first moved to New York a friend pulled me aside at a party to tell me two secrets about a mutual acquaintance of ours. The first secret was that this mutual was secretly fabulously wealthy, which one never would have guessed from the way she presented herself -- after twenty years of living in NYC I've come across this type often enough that it doesn't seem novel anymore, but it surprised me then. But it was the second secret that has really stuck with me all these years -- this friend would occasionally take a week off from her life, check into a high-scale hotel uptown, and pretend to be a different person. She told stories of romances and adventures in disguise -- a dalliance outside of one's daily existence; a vacation from one's literal self.
The second secret obviously couldn't exist...
- 6/14/2021
- by JA
- FilmExperience
shot piecemeal between July 2018 and April of the following year, Adam Leon’s “Italian Studies” may be set along (and expertly stolen from) the crowded sidewalks of London and New York, but it’s unmistakably suffused with the woozy dislocation and “we have to make something” life-force of a Covid film. No one is wearing masks or social distancing in the heat of lower Manhattan on a summer afternoon, yet Leon’s heroine — a successful author played by Vanessa Kirby at a time just before people on the street would recognize her as one of the gutsiest actresses of her generation, or as anyone at all — is lost in a fugue state that vividly reflects the isolation and uncertainty of the last 18 months.
Alina Reynolds (Kirby) can’t tell if she’s in crisis, or if she’s just confused. She can’t tell if she remembers the world around...
Alina Reynolds (Kirby) can’t tell if she’s in crisis, or if she’s just confused. She can’t tell if she remembers the world around...
- 6/13/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Vanessa Kirby is fascinating to watch and follow in writer/director Adam Leon’s “Italian Studies,” a purposefully hazy but compelling survey of New York City and its young minds. The Academy Award nominee of “Pieces of a Woman” uses her celebrity presence among regular New Yorkers for something of a low-key “Under the Skin” as she wades through this crowded society with a blank slate perspective forcing us to see it all with the same new lens.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’: Vanessa Kirby Is Fascinating To Watch In Adam Leon’s Dreamy & Compelling Mood Piece [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’: Vanessa Kirby Is Fascinating To Watch In Adam Leon’s Dreamy & Compelling Mood Piece [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.
- 6/13/2021
- by Nick Allen
- The Playlist
In Gimme the Loot and Tramps, writer-director Adam Leon displayed a keen ear for the vernacular of youth and a captivating light touch observing the fluid shifts in his characters from spiky friendship to romantic intimacy. There are plenty of young New Yorkers on hand again in his third feature, Italian Studies, but precious little engagement as they drone on about their fears, frustrations and yearnings. At the center of this supposed reflection on dislocation and connection is Vanessa Kirby, playing a British writer with temporary amnesia in a display of actressy self-indulgence whose charms are far exceeded by its brief 81-minute run time.
Saved ...
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- 6/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
In Gimme the Loot and Tramps, writer-director Adam Leon displayed a keen ear for the vernacular of youth and a captivating light touch observing the fluid shifts in his characters from spiky friendship to romantic intimacy. There are plenty of young New Yorkers on hand again in his third feature, Italian Studies, but precious little engagement as they drone on about their fears, frustrations and yearnings. At the center of this supposed reflection on dislocation and connection is Vanessa Kirby, playing a British writer with temporary amnesia in a display of actressy self-indulgence whose charms are far exceeded by its brief 81-minute run time.
Saved ...
Saved ...
- 6/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Taking place across outdoor venues in all five boroughs of New York City, the Tribeca Film Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary June 9-20, screening a bevy of features, shorts, TV series, podcasts and games in what is being billed as the first major in-person film festival to take place in North America since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Managing all the logistics to mount a proper in-person festival despite such circumstances would be a tall enough order, but the task of assembling a credible festival lineup across multiple disciplines, despite a near-total shutdown of film production for months, could have been quite a challenge on its own. It was something that Tribeca’s festival director Cara Cusumano was apprehensive about as the festival prepared to open for submissions last summer, but it turned out she needn’t have worried.
“We didn’t know what to expect, submissions-wise,” she says.
Managing all the logistics to mount a proper in-person festival despite such circumstances would be a tall enough order, but the task of assembling a credible festival lineup across multiple disciplines, despite a near-total shutdown of film production for months, could have been quite a challenge on its own. It was something that Tribeca’s festival director Cara Cusumano was apprehensive about as the festival prepared to open for submissions last summer, but it turned out she needn’t have worried.
“We didn’t know what to expect, submissions-wise,” she says.
- 6/8/2021
- by Andrew Barker
- Variety Film + TV
Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, starring Benicio Del Toro and Don Cheadle is the Centerpiece Gala selection of the 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival
The World Premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, starring Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and David Harbour, with Ray Liotta and Jon Hamm is the Centerpiece Gala selection of the 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival, and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s documentary on Dave Chappelle will have its World Premiere at Radio City Music Hall as the Closing Night event. Jon M Chu’s adaption of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights is the Opening Night selection.
Frédéric Boyer with Anne-Katrin Titze on Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate: “In this film there is something I have never seen.”
Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer shared his thoughts on Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate; Adam Leon’s Italian Studies, starring...
The World Premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, starring Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and David Harbour, with Ray Liotta and Jon Hamm is the Centerpiece Gala selection of the 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival, and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s documentary on Dave Chappelle will have its World Premiere at Radio City Music Hall as the Closing Night event. Jon M Chu’s adaption of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights is the Opening Night selection.
Frédéric Boyer with Anne-Katrin Titze on Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate: “In this film there is something I have never seen.”
Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer shared his thoughts on Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate; Adam Leon’s Italian Studies, starring...
- 5/29/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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