Exclusive: Netflix has enlisted Yon Motskin (Encounters) to direct an untitled documentary feature on Connecticut native Nathan Carman, a young man who, after a fishing trip with his mother Linda off the coast of New England, survives a week on a life raft while she is lost at sea.
As highlighted in the doc, the sensational incident renews interest in the unsolved murder of Carman’s wealthy grandfather years earlier, spurring a media frenzy, a war over a vast family fortune, multiple investigations and ultimately federal charges against Carman for murder on the high seas. He died by suicide last summer while awaiting trial in connection to the death of his mother.
With unprecedented access to family, friends and investigators, the film currently in production is a nautical thriller that explores intimate human mysteries about family, greed, perception, mental health and the unpredictable mind of an enigmatic young man.
Motskin is producing alongside Mary-Jane Mitchell.
As highlighted in the doc, the sensational incident renews interest in the unsolved murder of Carman’s wealthy grandfather years earlier, spurring a media frenzy, a war over a vast family fortune, multiple investigations and ultimately federal charges against Carman for murder on the high seas. He died by suicide last summer while awaiting trial in connection to the death of his mother.
With unprecedented access to family, friends and investigators, the film currently in production is a nautical thriller that explores intimate human mysteries about family, greed, perception, mental health and the unpredictable mind of an enigmatic young man.
Motskin is producing alongside Mary-Jane Mitchell.
- 2/2/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Heidi Ewing has done an excellent job of portraying the real-life story of a gay couple in the film I Carry You With Me. The presentation of the real-life couple in the film, besides the actors, has made the overall presentation of the movie unique. The film is a docu-drama, presenting the real-life characters alongside skilled actors like Christian Vasquez and Armando Espitia. The film highlights societal perils like homophobia and racism and, hence, helps raise awareness among its audiences. The plot revolves around Ivan’s American dream of becoming a renowned chef someday. He illegally comes to America, and his lover follows him, but his memories back in his homeland keep gnawing at his heart. Will Ivan never be able to go back to Mexico? Let’s find out!
Spoiler Alert
How Did Ivan Fulfill His American Dream?
The lack of opportunities back in Mexico triggered Ivan to try...
Spoiler Alert
How Did Ivan Fulfill His American Dream?
The lack of opportunities back in Mexico triggered Ivan to try...
- 12/20/2023
- by Debjyoti Dey
- Film Fugitives
Madeleine Gavin’s Sundance award-winning documentary “Beyond Utopia” has garnered the best documentary and best doc editing honors at the 24th annual Woodstock Film Festival.
The documentary, which was recently acquired by Roadside Attractions, is vying for Academy Award attention.
Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”) and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”).
“This year’s winner is an astonishingly intimate, white-knuckle thriller following families trying to escape North Korea,” the jurors said in a joint statement. “Stitched together from raw, first person footage, it is impossible not to feel the heart-breaking courage as a family clings to each other during a nighttime crossing of the Mekong River.
The documentary, which was recently acquired by Roadside Attractions, is vying for Academy Award attention.
Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”) and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”).
“This year’s winner is an astonishingly intimate, white-knuckle thriller following families trying to escape North Korea,” the jurors said in a joint statement. “Stitched together from raw, first person footage, it is impossible not to feel the heart-breaking courage as a family clings to each other during a nighttime crossing of the Mekong River.
- 10/1/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Woodstock Film Festival has added Tony Goldwyn’s comedy drama “Ezra,” starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro to its 2023 lineup.
In the film, which made its world premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, Cannavale stars as Max, a stand up comic who after recently blowing up his career and marriage is living with his father Stan (De Niro). When Max’s autistic son Ezra is expelled from yet another school, Max makes the controversial decision to take him on a cross-country road trip.
In addition to Cannavale and De Niro, “Ezra” stars Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg and Rainn Wilson. (Mister Smith Entertainment and CAA are handling sales.)
“I am so excited that the Woodstock Film Festival chose to screen ‘Ezra,'” says Goldwyn. “Woodstock is one of the coolest festivals in the country for a filmmaker. After such an enthusiastic reception at TIFF last week,...
In the film, which made its world premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, Cannavale stars as Max, a stand up comic who after recently blowing up his career and marriage is living with his father Stan (De Niro). When Max’s autistic son Ezra is expelled from yet another school, Max makes the controversial decision to take him on a cross-country road trip.
In addition to Cannavale and De Niro, “Ezra” stars Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg and Rainn Wilson. (Mister Smith Entertainment and CAA are handling sales.)
“I am so excited that the Woodstock Film Festival chose to screen ‘Ezra,'” says Goldwyn. “Woodstock is one of the coolest festivals in the country for a filmmaker. After such an enthusiastic reception at TIFF last week,...
- 9/20/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The primary purpose of this roundup is to highlight films new to streaming platforms that could potentially contend for awards. But some weekends there are no new releases that could credibly be considered awards contenders. This is one of those weeks. But we don’t take the week off. Instead, we highlight the best of what’s new on streaming, whether it’s a contender or not. This week’s picks include a notable new release and three older Oscar contenders.
The contender to watch this week: “Fatal Attraction”
Before the Paramount+ adaptation starring Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson premieres at the end of April, revisit this classic for a dose of bunny-boiling electricity. “Fatal Attraction” was the third-highest-grossing release of 1987, eventually earning six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. People have been arguing about the movie’s messages ever since, but it’s hard to find performances as invigorating as...
The contender to watch this week: “Fatal Attraction”
Before the Paramount+ adaptation starring Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson premieres at the end of April, revisit this classic for a dose of bunny-boiling electricity. “Fatal Attraction” was the third-highest-grossing release of 1987, eventually earning six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. People have been arguing about the movie’s messages ever since, but it’s hard to find performances as invigorating as...
- 4/8/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Click here to read the full article.
All that Breathes topped the 2022 IDA Documentary Awards, winning best feature and two other competitive awards. The film was previously selected as the winner of the Pare Lorentz Award.
In addition to the top prize, the HBO title, which follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated to rescuing injured black kites that are often affected by air pollution in New Delhi, won best director for helmer Shaunak Sen and best editing.
National Geographic and Neon’s Fire of Love documentary about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, which led the nominations for the 38th annual International Documentary Association honors with five nods, won two awards.
The IDA Documentary Awards were presented in a ceremony at Los Angeles’ Paramount Theater, hosted by actor-comedian Jenny Yang.
Best Feature Documentary
All that Breathes (India, United States, United Kingdom | Sideshow and Submarine Deluxe, HBO Documentary Films...
All that Breathes topped the 2022 IDA Documentary Awards, winning best feature and two other competitive awards. The film was previously selected as the winner of the Pare Lorentz Award.
In addition to the top prize, the HBO title, which follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated to rescuing injured black kites that are often affected by air pollution in New Delhi, won best director for helmer Shaunak Sen and best editing.
National Geographic and Neon’s Fire of Love documentary about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, which led the nominations for the 38th annual International Documentary Association honors with five nods, won two awards.
The IDA Documentary Awards were presented in a ceremony at Los Angeles’ Paramount Theater, hosted by actor-comedian Jenny Yang.
Best Feature Documentary
All that Breathes (India, United States, United Kingdom | Sideshow and Submarine Deluxe, HBO Documentary Films...
- 12/11/2022
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Simon Lereng Wilmont’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival winner A House Made Of Splinters and Young Plato from Neasa Ní Chianáin and Declan McGrath are among the 38th International Documentary Association (IDA) feature nominees with Laura Poitras’s Venice Golden Lion winner All The Beauty And The Bloodshed.
They will vie for the top prize at the awards ceremony on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles on December 10 alongside Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, Sara Dosa’s Fire Of Love, Edward Buckles, Jr.’s Katrina Babies, Isabel Castro’s Mija, Daniel Roher’s Navalny, Akuol de Mabior’s No Simple Way Home,...
They will vie for the top prize at the awards ceremony on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles on December 10 alongside Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, Sara Dosa’s Fire Of Love, Edward Buckles, Jr.’s Katrina Babies, Isabel Castro’s Mija, Daniel Roher’s Navalny, Akuol de Mabior’s No Simple Way Home,...
- 11/11/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Endangered Review — Endangered (2022) Film Review from the 21st Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a documentary directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, featuring Patrícia Campos Mello, Carl Juste, Sáshenka Gutiérrez, Oliver Laughland, and Joel Simon. Back with their trademark observational approach, documentarian duo Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady turn their cameras around [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Endangered: The Trials and Tribulations of Modern-Day Journalists Are Given a Sharpened View But a Limited Scope [Tribeca 2022]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Endangered: The Trials and Tribulations of Modern-Day Journalists Are Given a Sharpened View But a Limited Scope [Tribeca 2022]...
- 7/1/2022
- by Jacob Mouradian
- Film-Book
After the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, it might seem crass to talk about the movies. This week’s column is not here to offer listicles about must-see cinema on a subject that causes such immediate pain and hardship. However, the people who produced documentaries on abortion rights provided essential context— and a few hours after the court’s decision, they told me we need more.
“We need all hands on deck,” said filmmaker Heidi Ewing, speaking over Zoom from the Nantucket Film Festival. “I’ve never claimed that movies can change the world, but I do feel movies should be part of all the conversations we’re having about this.”
As Ewing and others explained, this work can have measurable impact. With her regular co-director Rachel Grady, Ewing made the 2010 documentary “12th & Delaware,” which looked at both sides of the divide by contrasting an abortion clinic in Fort Pierce,...
“We need all hands on deck,” said filmmaker Heidi Ewing, speaking over Zoom from the Nantucket Film Festival. “I’ve never claimed that movies can change the world, but I do feel movies should be part of all the conversations we’re having about this.”
As Ewing and others explained, this work can have measurable impact. With her regular co-director Rachel Grady, Ewing made the 2010 documentary “12th & Delaware,” which looked at both sides of the divide by contrasting an abortion clinic in Fort Pierce,...
- 6/25/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The resurgence of neo-fascist movements and authoritarian rule around the world has unsurprisingly coincided with a ramping-up of hostility against press freedom. Assassinated U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is the most notorious single example, but hundreds in his profession have been murdered in recent years, with many more assaulted, detained, harassed and so forth. Telling the truth has become a dangerous business in an era where politicians now frequently stoke anger towards “fake news,” as they often brand any reportage that doesn’t flatter them. All this is occurring at a time when professional outlets and standards continue to diminish, their existence eroded by competition from newer platforms where opinion and rumor often supplant factual reality.
That escalating crisis gets its pulse taken by “Endangered,” the latest documentary feature by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, whose stellar collaborations to date have tackled diverse subjects from U.S. evangelicals...
That escalating crisis gets its pulse taken by “Endangered,” the latest documentary feature by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, whose stellar collaborations to date have tackled diverse subjects from U.S. evangelicals...
- 6/15/2022
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
"We can never tell what threats are going to materialize on the ground." HBO has revealed the trailer for a documentary titled Endangered, which is premiering at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival later this week. The title is a spin on endangered species, about how journalists are endangered now with so many threats from fascists people all over the world. It's made by talented doc filmmakers Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady and opens later in June on HBO. An investigation of threats against journalists in the United States and internationally, from intimidation to physical violence, following four different journalists. "As newsrooms across the world face economic hardships and layoffs, conventional checks and balances against corrupt institutions of power are weakening; journalists are at the forefront of a dangerous culture war with the very right to free speech at the crux of it." As timely and ...
- 6/8/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Timely topics including abortion, freedom of the press, the opioid crisis and the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case serve as the subject matters of four documentary features premiering at this year’s Tribeca Festival.
In “Battleground” director Cynthia Lowen follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations, who are devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade. While the efforts of pro-choice women determined to safeguard access to safe and legal abortions are also featured in the doc, Lowen felt it necessary to focus on “anti-choice actors.”
“In 2019 I went down to Alabama and originally was filming with several pro-choice advocates in the state about the abortion ban,” Lowen says. “But I quickly realized that to really understand what was happening at the local clinic and state level I needed to take a step back and get this bird’s eye view of the power structures that were in play that...
In “Battleground” director Cynthia Lowen follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations, who are devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade. While the efforts of pro-choice women determined to safeguard access to safe and legal abortions are also featured in the doc, Lowen felt it necessary to focus on “anti-choice actors.”
“In 2019 I went down to Alabama and originally was filming with several pro-choice advocates in the state about the abortion ban,” Lowen says. “But I quickly realized that to really understand what was happening at the local clinic and state level I needed to take a step back and get this bird’s eye view of the power structures that were in play that...
- 6/8/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The HBO Original documentary film Endangered, produced and directed by Oscar-nominees Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing and executive produced by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ronan Farrow, debuts Tuesday, June 28 (9:00-10:30 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max. An official selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, Endangered chronicles a […]
The post HBO Releases Trailer For New Documentary ‘Endangered’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
The post HBO Releases Trailer For New Documentary ‘Endangered’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
- 6/6/2022
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
This review of “Hit the Road” was first published on April 22, 2022, after its New York City opening.
“The cockroach thinks its baby is beautiful,” says the middle-aged father to his 6-year-old.
“Are we cockroaches?” the child asks. After pausing, the father replies, “We are now.”
This exchange, playful on the surface, but heavy with quiet grief, occurs late in “Hit The Road,” the stunning debut feature written and directed by Panahi about a troubled road trip, one involving a young man fleeing Iran for an uncertain future. He’s referred to frequently as a “traveler,” but there’s more to it than that.
The young man is Farid (Amin Simiar). He’s driving to a meeting spot, where masked guides on motorcycles are meant to smuggle him into Turkey. Along for the ride are his mother (Pantea Panahiha), father (Hassan Majooni) and young brother (Rayan Sarlak).
There’s been a summons,...
“The cockroach thinks its baby is beautiful,” says the middle-aged father to his 6-year-old.
“Are we cockroaches?” the child asks. After pausing, the father replies, “We are now.”
This exchange, playful on the surface, but heavy with quiet grief, occurs late in “Hit The Road,” the stunning debut feature written and directed by Panahi about a troubled road trip, one involving a young man fleeing Iran for an uncertain future. He’s referred to frequently as a “traveler,” but there’s more to it than that.
The young man is Farid (Amin Simiar). He’s driving to a meeting spot, where masked guides on motorcycles are meant to smuggle him into Turkey. Along for the ride are his mother (Pantea Panahiha), father (Hassan Majooni) and young brother (Rayan Sarlak).
There’s been a summons,...
- 5/7/2022
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
Next month’s Mubi lineup for the U.S. has been unveiled, with a major highlight being their recent release Lingui, The Sacred Bonds and more films from director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (read our recent chat with him). Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella and Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 Ft., two of last year’s highlights, will also arrive.
Two recent Cannes premieres, the Adèle Exarchopoulos-led Zero Fucks Given and Peter Tscherkassky’s Train Again will also finally come to the U.S. courtesy of Mubi. In terms of older highlights, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Hong Sang-soo’s The Power of the Kangwon Province, Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, and more will arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 | The Willmar 8 | Lee Grant | Down and Out in America: Lee Grant’s Documentaries
March 2 | Train Again | Peter Tscherkassky | Brief Encounters
March...
Two recent Cannes premieres, the Adèle Exarchopoulos-led Zero Fucks Given and Peter Tscherkassky’s Train Again will also finally come to the U.S. courtesy of Mubi. In terms of older highlights, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Hong Sang-soo’s The Power of the Kangwon Province, Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, and more will arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 | The Willmar 8 | Lee Grant | Down and Out in America: Lee Grant’s Documentaries
March 2 | Train Again | Peter Tscherkassky | Brief Encounters
March...
- 2/18/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Deadline has the first exclusive tracks from Jay Wadley’s Swan Song score, which is set for digital release via Lakeshore Records on December 17—the same day that the Apple Original Film premieres in theaters and globally on Apple TV+. Nine instant grat tracks will be available with every preorder.
The first feature from Oscar-winning writer-director Benjamin Cleary is set in the near future and centers on Cameron (Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family’s fate, he ends up learning more about life and love than he ever imagined he would.
For the film marking his first collaboration with Cleary, Wadley looked to evoke deeply felt emotions, maintaining at the same time a sense of space and minimalism.
The first feature from Oscar-winning writer-director Benjamin Cleary is set in the near future and centers on Cameron (Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family’s fate, he ends up learning more about life and love than he ever imagined he would.
For the film marking his first collaboration with Cleary, Wadley looked to evoke deeply felt emotions, maintaining at the same time a sense of space and minimalism.
- 12/10/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Ten years ago, the New York Times embarked on an experiment to incorporate short documentary films into its opinion section and quickly established itself as an alternative to HBO Documentary Films, then the most prominent distributor of short documentaries, growing along with the market for these short nonfiction films in its first decade.
Errol Morris, Jessica Yu and Alex Gibney made shorts for “New York Times: Op-Docs” its inaugural year and since that time its roster has expanded to include Garrett Bradley and Laura Poitras, who expanded their respective op-docs into features that garnered favor with Oscar voters: Poitras’ Oscar-winning documentary “CitizenFour” was born out of “The Program” (2012), while Bradley’s Oscar nominated “Time” grew out of her 2016 op-doc short titled “Alone.” Four op-docs shorts have received Oscar nominations, including “Walk Run Cha-Cha” and “A Concerto Is a Conversation” the past two consecutive years, and the program’s docs have...
Errol Morris, Jessica Yu and Alex Gibney made shorts for “New York Times: Op-Docs” its inaugural year and since that time its roster has expanded to include Garrett Bradley and Laura Poitras, who expanded their respective op-docs into features that garnered favor with Oscar voters: Poitras’ Oscar-winning documentary “CitizenFour” was born out of “The Program” (2012), while Bradley’s Oscar nominated “Time” grew out of her 2016 op-doc short titled “Alone.” Four op-docs shorts have received Oscar nominations, including “Walk Run Cha-Cha” and “A Concerto Is a Conversation” the past two consecutive years, and the program’s docs have...
- 11/30/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter considers Title IX, anti-gender discrimination legislation passed by Congress in 1972, as “one of the most misunderstood civil rights laws” and is setting out to change that with “Fifty/50,” a four-part ESPN docuseries that she is executive producing and co-directing.
On Oct. 19, she is slated to unveil a first look at “Fifty/50” during a conversation with fellow executive producer Allison Glock and Hannah Storm at the espnW: Women + Sports Summit in La Jolla, Calif.
“Fifty/50,” which she is co-directing with Nicole Newnham (“Crip Camp), celebrates the 50th anniversary of Title IX while also exploring the current struggle to maintain and evolve the 1972 law that forbids discrimination based on gender.
Prior to 1972, gender discrimination was commonplace in education and athletics. Physical activity for girls and women was cast as unfeminine, and while schools poured money and other resources into programs for male students, budding female athletes were left to fend for themselves.
On Oct. 19, she is slated to unveil a first look at “Fifty/50” during a conversation with fellow executive producer Allison Glock and Hannah Storm at the espnW: Women + Sports Summit in La Jolla, Calif.
“Fifty/50,” which she is co-directing with Nicole Newnham (“Crip Camp), celebrates the 50th anniversary of Title IX while also exploring the current struggle to maintain and evolve the 1972 law that forbids discrimination based on gender.
Prior to 1972, gender discrimination was commonplace in education and athletics. Physical activity for girls and women was cast as unfeminine, and while schools poured money and other resources into programs for male students, budding female athletes were left to fend for themselves.
- 10/19/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
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.
Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)
Following his early days of being an assistant for Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi’s career soon blossomed, leading to a few collaborations between the two monumental figures of Iranian cinemas––one of which, Crimson Gold, is now available on The Criterion Channel. The masterful 2003 character study, scripted by Kiarostami after he told the tenets of the story to Panahi while sitting in traffic, stars unprofessional actor Hossain Emadeddin in his sole performance. Following a pizza delivery driver who witnesses the sharp class divide and political terror playing out in his society, Kiarostami and Panahi brilliantly preview the brutal ending from the start as the pieces then cogently and subtly fall into place as to why a man would...
Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)
Following his early days of being an assistant for Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi’s career soon blossomed, leading to a few collaborations between the two monumental figures of Iranian cinemas––one of which, Crimson Gold, is now available on The Criterion Channel. The masterful 2003 character study, scripted by Kiarostami after he told the tenets of the story to Panahi while sitting in traffic, stars unprofessional actor Hossain Emadeddin in his sole performance. Following a pizza delivery driver who witnesses the sharp class divide and political terror playing out in his society, Kiarostami and Panahi brilliantly preview the brutal ending from the start as the pieces then cogently and subtly fall into place as to why a man would...
- 9/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Heidi Ewing’s first narrative film uses elements of documentary in the true story of a relationship between Mexican immigrants in the US
Revolving around a tender true love story, this first narrative feature from seasoned documentary director Heidi Ewing (which won a couple of awards at Sundance) is a fascinating – though at times uneven – blend of film styles. Alternating between fictional re-enactments and real-life vignettes, it is a hybrid drama that charts the relationship between Ivan and Gerardo, two undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the US.
The evocative rumbles of the New York subway train act as an enigmatic conduit to Ivan’s youth in the Mexican city of Puebla. Bearing a striking resemblance to the real-life character, Armando Espitia portrays the young Ivan with a raffish charm. Struggling with a dead-end job and unable to provide for his son from a previous relationship, Ivan finds solace in his...
Revolving around a tender true love story, this first narrative feature from seasoned documentary director Heidi Ewing (which won a couple of awards at Sundance) is a fascinating – though at times uneven – blend of film styles. Alternating between fictional re-enactments and real-life vignettes, it is a hybrid drama that charts the relationship between Ivan and Gerardo, two undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the US.
The evocative rumbles of the New York subway train act as an enigmatic conduit to Ivan’s youth in the Mexican city of Puebla. Bearing a striking resemblance to the real-life character, Armando Espitia portrays the young Ivan with a raffish charm. Struggling with a dead-end job and unable to provide for his son from a previous relationship, Ivan finds solace in his...
- 9/14/2021
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
The African American Film Critics Association has scrapped its planned in-person ceremony for the 3rd annual Aafca TV Honors, and will instead now take place as a virtual event. The shift was made in light of the recent rise in Covid-19 cases in both Southern California and around the country due to the delta strain of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Aafca also announced on Monday that it would recognize legendary TV producer Norman Lear with the org’s Aafca TV Honors Legend Award. The virtual ceremony takes place on Saturday, Aug. 21 at 4 p.m. Pt. Yvette Nicole Brown will host the now-online affair, which had been previously slated for the California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey, with a 50 percent audience capacity.
“Norman Lear’s work has made such a tremendous impact that creators still feed off of it till this day,” said Aafca co-founder and president Gil Robertson. “This award recognizes Mr.
Meanwhile, Aafca also announced on Monday that it would recognize legendary TV producer Norman Lear with the org’s Aafca TV Honors Legend Award. The virtual ceremony takes place on Saturday, Aug. 21 at 4 p.m. Pt. Yvette Nicole Brown will host the now-online affair, which had been previously slated for the California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey, with a 50 percent audience capacity.
“Norman Lear’s work has made such a tremendous impact that creators still feed off of it till this day,” said Aafca co-founder and president Gil Robertson. “This award recognizes Mr.
- 8/9/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Lear celebrated the dawn of his second century on the planet by probably accomplishing more than you did in the past month. Not only did he gather with family and friends, but Lear also published an op-ed in The Washington Post, warning of the erosion of voting rights in America, and TBS sealed a deal to develop a new version of his iconic 1970s late-night soap “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”
“How about that,” said Lear, on the phone from New York. “I can’t overstate how exciting I find that.”
Brent Miller, who runs Lear’s Act III production company, credited Sony for “for really pushing through in the way they have. To make sure that we could close that [TBS] deal right on his birthday was a nice gift.” The updated show is set to star Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”) in the title role; Hampshire and Jacob Tierney (“Letterkenny”) are writing and executive producing.
“How about that,” said Lear, on the phone from New York. “I can’t overstate how exciting I find that.”
Brent Miller, who runs Lear’s Act III production company, credited Sony for “for really pushing through in the way they have. To make sure that we could close that [TBS] deal right on his birthday was a nice gift.” The updated show is set to star Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”) in the title role; Hampshire and Jacob Tierney (“Letterkenny”) are writing and executive producing.
- 7/30/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
The Woodstock Film Festival will resume indoor screenings at its 22nd annual edition this fall, and also will recognize Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn with a career honor.
This year’s festival will run from September 30 to October 3. It has carved out a notable place in the fall fest circuit because of its location, which is 110 miles north of New York City and also close to a number of film industry figures in the Hudson Valley. The surrounding region has also become more active in terms of film and TV production in recent years, adding multiple new soundstages.
Quinn will receive the festival’s 2021 Honorary Trailblazer Award. Before Covid-19 turned the 2020 edition into a hybrid affair with drive-ins and online screenings, Quinn had been scheduled to get the award last year, on the heels of Neon’s triumph with Parasite. The film, which had its world premiere in Cannes...
This year’s festival will run from September 30 to October 3. It has carved out a notable place in the fall fest circuit because of its location, which is 110 miles north of New York City and also close to a number of film industry figures in the Hudson Valley. The surrounding region has also become more active in terms of film and TV production in recent years, adding multiple new soundstages.
Quinn will receive the festival’s 2021 Honorary Trailblazer Award. Before Covid-19 turned the 2020 edition into a hybrid affair with drive-ins and online screenings, Quinn had been scheduled to get the award last year, on the heels of Neon’s triumph with Parasite. The film, which had its world premiere in Cannes...
- 7/20/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will report a three-day cum of $650K in 752 theaters in North America for a per screen average of $865, distributor Searchlight said of the Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson doc about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.
The film, with an A+ CinemaScore, performed best in art houses and specialty theaters with top performing locations including the El Capitan in Hollywood, the Landmark in West L.A., Midtown in Atlanta, Ritz 5 in Philadelphia, Angelika in New York, Jacob Burns in Pleasantville NY, Bam Rose in Brooklyn, Tampa Theatre, Sag Harbor Cinema, Hollywood Portland Or., Cinema 21 in Portland Or., Coolidge Corner in Boston, and both Nighthawk theatres in Brooklyn. Top mainstream locations: AMC Lincoln Square in NYC, the AMC Georgetown in DC, and the Empire 25 in Manhattan.
The distrib anticipates a dip in grosses today, the 4th, but a bounce on Monday in what is...
The film, with an A+ CinemaScore, performed best in art houses and specialty theaters with top performing locations including the El Capitan in Hollywood, the Landmark in West L.A., Midtown in Atlanta, Ritz 5 in Philadelphia, Angelika in New York, Jacob Burns in Pleasantville NY, Bam Rose in Brooklyn, Tampa Theatre, Sag Harbor Cinema, Hollywood Portland Or., Cinema 21 in Portland Or., Coolidge Corner in Boston, and both Nighthawk theatres in Brooklyn. Top mainstream locations: AMC Lincoln Square in NYC, the AMC Georgetown in DC, and the Empire 25 in Manhattan.
The distrib anticipates a dip in grosses today, the 4th, but a bounce on Monday in what is...
- 7/4/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
First things first. At $70 million for its first weekend, “F9” (Universal) showed a terrific start. Not only is it the best opening for any film in 18 months, it beat “A Quiet Place Part II” (Paramount) by almost 50 percent for the top gross since the pandemic. And John Krasinski’s very impressive performer opened on a holiday weekend.
The total was ahead of the usually conservative projections. Though it did fall short of the previous two main series entries, even under normal conditions this might not have been seen as a horrific drop.
This is all part of a bigger picture. But two issues remain. First, is this total part of a steady improvement or is $70 million the new $100 million? Second, even if this established sequel release pulled this off, will all of them?
And that doesn’t include two other critical concerns. Is it possible for original titles to accomplish this,...
The total was ahead of the usually conservative projections. Though it did fall short of the previous two main series entries, even under normal conditions this might not have been seen as a horrific drop.
This is all part of a bigger picture. But two issues remain. First, is this total part of a steady improvement or is $70 million the new $100 million? Second, even if this established sequel release pulled this off, will all of them?
And that doesn’t include two other critical concerns. Is it possible for original titles to accomplish this,...
- 6/27/2021
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Photo: ‘I Carry You With Me’/Sony Pictures Classics ‘I Carry You With Me’, director Heidi Ewing’s newest film, is a masterpiece about the fragments of moments that shape us. Time and space are constantly changing, as are feelings and attitudes in this film. It’s also a testament to true love, and how that love can burn inside of us even decades later. Partly a story about romantic love, partly a story of immigration, and partly a story about change, ‘I Carry You With Me’ is a heart-wrenching, beautiful movie. A Feeling of Nostalgia and Loss Perhaps the most beautiful part of ‘I Carry You With Me’ is its cinematography. As Ewing stated in her interview with The Academy, she tends to use a voyeuristic approach. We peer around walls to watch Gerardo and Iván talk, making us feel like we’re as secretive as they have to be.
- 6/25/2021
- by Jordan Qin
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
by Nick Taylor
I am both tremendously enthusiastic and a bit disappointed that I Carry You With Me is finally getting a theatrical release. Enthused because it’s a goddamn gem that ranks among the best films of last year, and sits right alongside Lingua Franca and Welcome to Chechnya as one of the very best queer films. The disappointment comes from the fact that, as far as anyone's concerned, this is a 2020 film. Distributor Sony Pictures Classics went out of its way to give this an awards-qualifying run despite pushing its wide release date further and further back. As with the aesthetically entrancing documentary Gunda or the tonally triumphant, richly acted French Exit (both also distributed by SPC), it’s a bit mystifying that this was seen as the superior strategy rather than letting I Carry You With Me’s reputation build over the course of this year. Art doesn’t need awards,...
I am both tremendously enthusiastic and a bit disappointed that I Carry You With Me is finally getting a theatrical release. Enthused because it’s a goddamn gem that ranks among the best films of last year, and sits right alongside Lingua Franca and Welcome to Chechnya as one of the very best queer films. The disappointment comes from the fact that, as far as anyone's concerned, this is a 2020 film. Distributor Sony Pictures Classics went out of its way to give this an awards-qualifying run despite pushing its wide release date further and further back. As with the aesthetically entrancing documentary Gunda or the tonally triumphant, richly acted French Exit (both also distributed by SPC), it’s a bit mystifying that this was seen as the superior strategy rather than letting I Carry You With Me’s reputation build over the course of this year. Art doesn’t need awards,...
- 6/25/2021
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
Questlove’s Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will tease the specialty box office this weekend with the brilliantly reviewed Sundance Grand Jury and Audience award-winner in special engagements in two theaters to tee up a wide release on some 600 screens, and Hulu, July 2.
The film from Searchlight Pictures about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which features never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and others, will strike a chord at the El Capitan Theater in LA and the Magic Johnson AMC Harlem.
Footage from the festival in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) held the same year as Woodstock was stored in a basement and all but forgotten for 50 years before today and this film, which was directed by musician Ahmir Khalib Thompson, known as Questlove, drummer of...
The film from Searchlight Pictures about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which features never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and others, will strike a chord at the El Capitan Theater in LA and the Magic Johnson AMC Harlem.
Footage from the festival in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) held the same year as Woodstock was stored in a basement and all but forgotten for 50 years before today and this film, which was directed by musician Ahmir Khalib Thompson, known as Questlove, drummer of...
- 6/25/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
This is the weekend Hollywood has been waiting for. F9: The Fast Saga finally opens in the U.S. after over a year of delays, and it is the first major blockbuster release of the summer. It’s been a rocky summer movie season, with one bonafide hit (A Quiet Place Part II), a string of disappointments, and films that came somewhere in between. It is hard to know exactly where the industry stands and how to diagnose the lackluster grosses of many films. On one hand, there is still some segment of the audience that is reluctant to go back to the movies, and VOD availability for many films could be diminishing the turnout. On the other hand, maybe many of the films released so far have just not been the right films to draw the audience back. F9 might just be the movie to change that for many,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Sam Mendelsohn <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
- Box Office Mojo
To Heidi Ewing, they were simply Iván and Gerardo, a longtime couple who owned restaurants in New York, liked to go dancing, were wonderful company to be around. They had met in Mexico in 1994. Iván had a son and aspirations to be a chef. Gerardo had grown up on a cattle ranch in Chiapas and worked as a teacher. He spotted Iván, closeted at the time, in a gay bar and attracted his attention with a laser pointer. They were very young then. Now they were married, and middle-aged, and settled down.
- 6/24/2021
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.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
Documentarians Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner (“Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult”) and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (“Love Fraud”) not only share similar shooting philosophies, in focusing on vérité, but they are also passionate about centering their projects on female survivors’ stories.
The four-part Starz series “Seduced” explores the connection between a few women, including India Oxenberg, who escaped the clutches of Nxivm and its more dangerous subsets Jness and Dos, while the four-part “Love Fraud” for Showtime follows a group of women (including bounty hunter Carla Campbell) as they go after the con man who stole their hearts and a lot of their money.
These four powerhouses came together to talk about their experiences making these two Emmy contending series, as well as the sense of healing and justice they wanted for their subjects.
There is often a debate over how much to say a criminal’s name...
The four-part Starz series “Seduced” explores the connection between a few women, including India Oxenberg, who escaped the clutches of Nxivm and its more dangerous subsets Jness and Dos, while the four-part “Love Fraud” for Showtime follows a group of women (including bounty hunter Carla Campbell) as they go after the con man who stole their hearts and a lot of their money.
These four powerhouses came together to talk about their experiences making these two Emmy contending series, as well as the sense of healing and justice they wanted for their subjects.
There is often a debate over how much to say a criminal’s name...
- 6/17/2021
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
If there’s one thing that 2020 taught us, it’s that nothing is ever set in stone, especially release dates. With the global box office in upheaval — really, with the entire globe in upheaval — a year that seemed otherwise poised to give us yet another steady stream of blockbusters was instead hit hard by lockdowns, closed theaters, and plenty of delayed release dates. The pandemic and its considerable ripple effect also derailed what was going to be a particularly thrilling year for female filmmakers, just as they were starting to truly break through on the studio side, though a new look at the year in review finds that 2020 still held plenty of reason for Hollywood’s women to celebrate.
It’s still unclear how (or even if) 2021 will provide a bounceback for the box office and its rising women talents. But there are some positive indicators. As we head into a new era,...
It’s still unclear how (or even if) 2021 will provide a bounceback for the box office and its rising women talents. But there are some positive indicators. As we head into a new era,...
- 5/28/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Sony Pictures Classics Updates Release Information for Summer Slate
Sony Pictures Classics has updated its summer release plans for “I Carry You With Me,” “12 Mighty Orphans” and “The Lost Leonardo.” All three films are set to screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival both in person and virtually.
The world premiere of the art documentary “The Lost Leonardo” will screen at Tribeca on June 13 at The Battery. Set to open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the film will expand to other markets shortly after. “The Lost Leonardo” tells the story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million. Produced by Andreas Dalsgaard for Copenhagen-based Elk Film and Christoph Jörg for Paris-based Pumpernickel Film, the documentary was directed by Andreas Koefoed. Sony Pictures acquired the rights to the film back in March.
“12 Mighty Orphans,” which stars Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, Vinessa Shaw,...
Sony Pictures Classics has updated its summer release plans for “I Carry You With Me,” “12 Mighty Orphans” and “The Lost Leonardo.” All three films are set to screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival both in person and virtually.
The world premiere of the art documentary “The Lost Leonardo” will screen at Tribeca on June 13 at The Battery. Set to open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the film will expand to other markets shortly after. “The Lost Leonardo” tells the story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million. Produced by Andreas Dalsgaard for Copenhagen-based Elk Film and Christoph Jörg for Paris-based Pumpernickel Film, the documentary was directed by Andreas Koefoed. Sony Pictures acquired the rights to the film back in March.
“12 Mighty Orphans,” which stars Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, Vinessa Shaw,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
Amid a spate of anti-Asian hate crimes this past year, the story of Vincent Chin — the 27-year-old Chinese American brutally beaten and killed in 1982 by two former autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, who blamed him for the economic downturn in Detroit — has become the focus of renewed interest for the entertainment industry. One project that has been in development for some time is a limited series created, written and executive produced by Marilyn Fu, Variety has learned exclusively, from Amazon Studios in association with First Look Media’s Topic Studios. The Topic Studios project came to Amazon in 2020 and writing is underway.
The still-untitled project, based on the true story of Chin’s murder, will take place in Detroit during the devastating recession in the early ’80s, during which American car companies were being outperformed by Japanese automakers, fueling the racially charged atmosphere that led to Chin’s death...
The still-untitled project, based on the true story of Chin’s murder, will take place in Detroit during the devastating recession in the early ’80s, during which American car companies were being outperformed by Japanese automakers, fueling the racially charged atmosphere that led to Chin’s death...
- 5/4/2021
- by Elaine Low
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re nowhere near a television and want to know the winners of the 36th Independent Spirit Awards as they happen, you’ve come to the right place. Follow along with Gold Derby’s Indie Spirits live blog 2021 to see who won all of the night’s film and TV prizes, who presented what categories, and how Melissa Villaseñor (“Saturday Night Live”) did as host. The virtual ceremony aired Thursday, April 22 on IFC at 7 p.m. Pt/10 p.m. Et.
SEE2021 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners list in all film and TV categories
This year’s Spirit Awards celebrated the best in indie filmmaking for the 2020 calendar year, with a little bit of television thrown in for good measure. Remember, only American-made fare with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration. Winners were chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who signed up for membership.
SEE2021 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners list in all film and TV categories
This year’s Spirit Awards celebrated the best in indie filmmaking for the 2020 calendar year, with a little bit of television thrown in for good measure. Remember, only American-made fare with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration. Winners were chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who signed up for membership.
- 4/23/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
The last major awards show before the Oscars has finally arrived, the 36th Independent Spirit Awards. The virtual ceremony aired Thursday, April 22 on IFC at 7 p.m. Pt/10 p.m. Et and was hosted by “Saturday Night Live” star Melissa Villaseñor. The Spirit Awards celebrated the best in indie filmmaking for the 2020 calendar year, and this year they invited TV shows to the party, too. Don’t forget, only American-made fare with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration. Winners were chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who signed up for membership.
Heading into the ceremony, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was the nominations leader with seven overall bids. “Minari” came in right behind it with six noms, followed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” (the Oscar front-runner) with five bids each. On the TV side, both “Little America” and...
Heading into the ceremony, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was the nominations leader with seven overall bids. “Minari” came in right behind it with six noms, followed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” (the Oscar front-runner) with five bids each. On the TV side, both “Little America” and...
- 4/23/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Selection presents 56 world premieres, focuses on comedic, music-centered, socially-conscious films.
Tribeca Festival 2021 has announced 66 films in the line-up of the upcoming outdoor 20th anniversary edition that runs June 9-20, including documentaries on the late food and travel broadcaster Anthony Bourdain and Norwegian pop icons A-ha.
The selection will present 56 world premieres and focuses on comedic, music-centered, and socially-conscious films. Many of the films will also be available for US audiences to view online the day after they premiere in person through the Tribeca at Home virtual hub.
Curated Juneteenth programming throughout the festival will celebrate voices from the African Diaspora,...
Tribeca Festival 2021 has announced 66 films in the line-up of the upcoming outdoor 20th anniversary edition that runs June 9-20, including documentaries on the late food and travel broadcaster Anthony Bourdain and Norwegian pop icons A-ha.
The selection will present 56 world premieres and focuses on comedic, music-centered, and socially-conscious films. Many of the films will also be available for US audiences to view online the day after they premiere in person through the Tribeca at Home virtual hub.
Curated Juneteenth programming throughout the festival will celebrate voices from the African Diaspora,...
- 4/20/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Year after year since its inception, Salem Horror Fest has made big strides to set itself apart from other events by focusing on education, diverse guests and diverse programming. Today, they have announced an wonderful opportunity through their new partnership with The George A. Romero Foundation that will pair new filmmakers with experts, including Mynette Louie, Travis Stevens, and Jenn Wexler:
Salem, Ma - April 20, 2021 - Salem Horror Fest has announced a new partnership with The George A. Romero Foundation to support independent genre filmmakers in honor of the Master of Horror’s work and legacy.
“We are excited to partner with the Salem Horror Fest as part of our commitment to support a new generation of filmmakers and artists inspired by George’s legacy. Salem’s history and reputation as a Halloween town is the perfect backdrop to tell new scary stories with a social thread,” said Suzanne Desrocher-Romero,...
Salem, Ma - April 20, 2021 - Salem Horror Fest has announced a new partnership with The George A. Romero Foundation to support independent genre filmmakers in honor of the Master of Horror’s work and legacy.
“We are excited to partner with the Salem Horror Fest as part of our commitment to support a new generation of filmmakers and artists inspired by George’s legacy. Salem’s history and reputation as a Halloween town is the perfect backdrop to tell new scary stories with a social thread,” said Suzanne Desrocher-Romero,...
- 4/20/2021
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Film at Lincoln Center’s reopening includes in-cinema screenings of Christian Petzold’s Undine Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center will reopen to the public at 25% capacity on Friday, April 16 with screenings of Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges with Small Frank (voiced by Tracy Letts), and the restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Mirror (1974). Upcoming films include Christian Petzold’s Undine, starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski; François Ozon’s Summer Of ’85 (Été ’85); Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me; Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran, and Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue. The World of Wong Kar Wai comes May 14-20.
Film at Lincoln Center has the World of Wong Kar Wai coming Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema was abruptly halted on March 12, 2020, following Rebecca Zlotowski...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center will reopen to the public at 25% capacity on Friday, April 16 with screenings of Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges with Small Frank (voiced by Tracy Letts), and the restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Mirror (1974). Upcoming films include Christian Petzold’s Undine, starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski; François Ozon’s Summer Of ’85 (Été ’85); Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me; Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran, and Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue. The World of Wong Kar Wai comes May 14-20.
Film at Lincoln Center has the World of Wong Kar Wai coming Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema was abruptly halted on March 12, 2020, following Rebecca Zlotowski...
- 4/1/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
It’s no secret that Latino artists are rarely nominated for mainstream accolades. Unless there’s a streaming behemoth supporting a famed director, like “Roma” back in 2018, Latin Americans and American Latinos are routinely shut out of the awards conversation.
Of course, that’s not because there’s a lack of worthy contenders. Among the many factors that keep the projects that do make it to screens in the United States from getting recognition, a crucial one is clear economic disparity in relation to titles with deep-pocketed distributors.
Most of these movies don’t have sizable budgets for marketing campaigns, which makes it difficult for them to get on the radar of awards pundits, the press in general, and, more importantly, Academy voters. Nevertheless, this season, once again, there are plenty of works by or about Latinos that Academy members can and should consider.
Some great documentaries — such as “Mucho Mucho Amor,...
Of course, that’s not because there’s a lack of worthy contenders. Among the many factors that keep the projects that do make it to screens in the United States from getting recognition, a crucial one is clear economic disparity in relation to titles with deep-pocketed distributors.
Most of these movies don’t have sizable budgets for marketing campaigns, which makes it difficult for them to get on the radar of awards pundits, the press in general, and, more importantly, Academy voters. Nevertheless, this season, once again, there are plenty of works by or about Latinos that Academy members can and should consider.
Some great documentaries — such as “Mucho Mucho Amor,...
- 3/4/2021
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
The nominations for the 3rd Annual Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (Leja) Awards have been announced with “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” leading.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” by director George C. Wolfe, earned 10 nominations including best picture, best actor for Chadwick Boseman, best actress for Viola Davis, best supporting actor for Colman Domingo, best adapted screenplay for Ruben Santiago-Hudson, best ensemble casting, best production and set design, best costume design, best hair and makeup and best sound.
Chloé Zhao received the most individual nominations for directing, writing, producing and editing Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” the most for any woman in the history of Leja. Jayro Bustamante was nominated for best picture, director, original screenplay and international feature for “La Llorona.”
Netflix led the studio tally with a total of 42 nominations, and Amazon Studios nabbed an impressive 14 total.
“It’s been an extremely difficult year for our industry and our Latinx community,...
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” by director George C. Wolfe, earned 10 nominations including best picture, best actor for Chadwick Boseman, best actress for Viola Davis, best supporting actor for Colman Domingo, best adapted screenplay for Ruben Santiago-Hudson, best ensemble casting, best production and set design, best costume design, best hair and makeup and best sound.
Chloé Zhao received the most individual nominations for directing, writing, producing and editing Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” the most for any woman in the history of Leja. Jayro Bustamante was nominated for best picture, director, original screenplay and international feature for “La Llorona.”
Netflix led the studio tally with a total of 42 nominations, and Amazon Studios nabbed an impressive 14 total.
“It’s been an extremely difficult year for our industry and our Latinx community,...
- 3/3/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Lear accepted the Carol Burnett Award on Sunday’s Golden Globes, and imparted some wisdom on longevity as he prepares to celebrate his 99th birthday this year.
“At close to 99, I can tell you that I have never lived alone,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I have never laughed alone and that has as much to do with my being here today as anything else I know.”
Lear said “there would be an entirely different Norman Lear tonight” without the help of partners throughout his career including Ed Simmons, Bud Yorkin, Alan Horn, Jerry Perenchio and Mark E. Pollack, as well as his current partner overseeing Act III Prods., Brent Miller. Lear also gave thanks to various writers, including “One Day at a Time” executive producers Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, as well as his wife of 30 years, Lyn Davis Lear, and his children – who range in...
“At close to 99, I can tell you that I have never lived alone,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I have never laughed alone and that has as much to do with my being here today as anything else I know.”
Lear said “there would be an entirely different Norman Lear tonight” without the help of partners throughout his career including Ed Simmons, Bud Yorkin, Alan Horn, Jerry Perenchio and Mark E. Pollack, as well as his current partner overseeing Act III Prods., Brent Miller. Lear also gave thanks to various writers, including “One Day at a Time” executive producers Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, as well as his wife of 30 years, Lyn Davis Lear, and his children – who range in...
- 3/1/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
In his 2014 memoir “Even This I Get to Experience,” TV legend Norman Lear writes about the busiest period of his life as a time of “joyful stress.”
The 1970s were the pinnacle of Lear’s success as an uber producer, and at one point he simultaneously had eight shows on the air — including such landmark sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “One Day at a Time,” “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”
“Even doing your best work and enjoying the results of that, there is a reasonable amount to a great amount of stress,” Lear tells Variety. “And if one can learn to accept that joyfully, one can be stressed and understand that he or she is having a good time also. And so, I’ve enjoyed an awful lot of that through my career.”
Out of that “joyful stress” came Lear’s...
The 1970s were the pinnacle of Lear’s success as an uber producer, and at one point he simultaneously had eight shows on the air — including such landmark sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “One Day at a Time,” “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”
“Even doing your best work and enjoying the results of that, there is a reasonable amount to a great amount of stress,” Lear tells Variety. “And if one can learn to accept that joyfully, one can be stressed and understand that he or she is having a good time also. And so, I’ve enjoyed an awful lot of that through my career.”
Out of that “joyful stress” came Lear’s...
- 2/24/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Lear’s Act III Prods. and Sony Pictures TV have landed a pair of projects in development at Amazon’s IMDb TV, including one starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace.
Lear and his production partner Brent Miller are executive producers on “Clean Slate” and “Lotería,” which are set up at the quickly growing IMDb TV, which is the premium free streaming service complement to Amazon’s subscription Prime Video service.
Both projects are original ideas about family navigating unique challenges to their relationships: “Clean Slate,” which comes from Cox, Wallace and Dan Ewen, centers on car wash owner Henry (Wallace), whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some soul searching as he comes to terms with the fact that his adult child is a trans woman, Desiree (Cox).
Ewen is executive producer and showrunner on the half-hour comedy, while Cox also serves as executive producer.
Lear and his production partner Brent Miller are executive producers on “Clean Slate” and “Lotería,” which are set up at the quickly growing IMDb TV, which is the premium free streaming service complement to Amazon’s subscription Prime Video service.
Both projects are original ideas about family navigating unique challenges to their relationships: “Clean Slate,” which comes from Cox, Wallace and Dan Ewen, centers on car wash owner Henry (Wallace), whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some soul searching as he comes to terms with the fact that his adult child is a trans woman, Desiree (Cox).
Ewen is executive producer and showrunner on the half-hour comedy, while Cox also serves as executive producer.
- 2/22/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
“Schitt’s Creek” star Emily Hampshire has signed on to star as the title character in a new, updated version of Norman Lear’s 1970s syndicated hit “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”
Hampshire will also be an executive producer on the project, and co-write the script with Jacob Tierney (“Letterkenny”), who will serve as showrunner. Sony Pictures TV is planning to shop the show to buyers in the coming weeks.
It’s the latest series remake to come out of the Lear cannon, following the recent critically acclaimed reimagining of “One Day at a Time,” and an animated take on “Good Times” that is currently in the works. Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Prods. is developing the new “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” with Sony, with Lear and Miller as executive producers alongside Hampshire and Tierney.
“Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” reunites Hampshire with Tierney, as Hampshire previously starred in Tierney’s film “The Trotsky.
Hampshire will also be an executive producer on the project, and co-write the script with Jacob Tierney (“Letterkenny”), who will serve as showrunner. Sony Pictures TV is planning to shop the show to buyers in the coming weeks.
It’s the latest series remake to come out of the Lear cannon, following the recent critically acclaimed reimagining of “One Day at a Time,” and an animated take on “Good Times” that is currently in the works. Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Prods. is developing the new “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” with Sony, with Lear and Miller as executive producers alongside Hampshire and Tierney.
“Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” reunites Hampshire with Tierney, as Hampshire previously starred in Tierney’s film “The Trotsky.
- 2/4/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Another Norman Lear classic is eying a return to TV. Sony Pictures Television is developing a remake of Lear’s acclaimed 1970s series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
It hails from Schitt’s Creek co-star Emily Hampshire, who will co-write, executive produce and star as the title character Mary Hartman; Letterkenny creator Jacob Tierney, who will co-write with Hampshire; and Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Productions. Tierney will serve as showrunner of the series, which will be shopped to buyers in the coming weeks, I hear.
The updated Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is about a small-town woman (Hampshire) who feels like a nobody in every aspect of her life until she suddenly becomes a “Verified” social media somebody. The remake will bring the original show’s satirical look at consumer culture into today’s social [me]dia world, where “America’s Typical Consumer Housewife” has now become the product consumed...
It hails from Schitt’s Creek co-star Emily Hampshire, who will co-write, executive produce and star as the title character Mary Hartman; Letterkenny creator Jacob Tierney, who will co-write with Hampshire; and Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Productions. Tierney will serve as showrunner of the series, which will be shopped to buyers in the coming weeks, I hear.
The updated Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is about a small-town woman (Hampshire) who feels like a nobody in every aspect of her life until she suddenly becomes a “Verified” social media somebody. The remake will bring the original show’s satirical look at consumer culture into today’s social [me]dia world, where “America’s Typical Consumer Housewife” has now become the product consumed...
- 2/4/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Sony Pictures Classics has made some tweaks to its release schedule for four upcoming pics and one that’s already in theaters.
The distributor run by co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard said that Dror Moreh’s documentary The Human Factor, which opened last month in Los Angeles and New York, will go nationwide in theaters on May 7.
‘The Human Factor’ Director On “Amazing Stories” Revealed In Film About Mideast Peace Negotiations – Contenders Documentary
The Michelle Pfeiffer-Lucas Hodges drama French Exit, which bowed at the 2020 New York Film Festival, last year, is set to open in Los Angeles and New York on February 12 then go nationwide on April 2.
Michelle Pfeiffer On ‘French Exit’: “It Was Unlike Anything I Had Ever Read” – Contenders Film
The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, remains set to bow February 26 in theaters in New York and L.A. The pic will expand...
The distributor run by co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard said that Dror Moreh’s documentary The Human Factor, which opened last month in Los Angeles and New York, will go nationwide in theaters on May 7.
‘The Human Factor’ Director On “Amazing Stories” Revealed In Film About Mideast Peace Negotiations – Contenders Documentary
The Michelle Pfeiffer-Lucas Hodges drama French Exit, which bowed at the 2020 New York Film Festival, last year, is set to open in Los Angeles and New York on February 12 then go nationwide on April 2.
Michelle Pfeiffer On ‘French Exit’: “It Was Unlike Anything I Had Ever Read” – Contenders Film
The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, remains set to bow February 26 in theaters in New York and L.A. The pic will expand...
- 2/3/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Distributor to customises releases amid slow re-opening of US cinemas in the.
Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled additional release details and expansion information for its film slate as it customises releases for each film amid the slow re-opening of cinemas in the US.
Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor, which opened in the New York and Los Angeles areas on January 22, will open nationwide on May 7
Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges is set to open in the New York and Los Angeles areas on February 12 and will open nationwide on April 2.
As previously announced,...
Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled additional release details and expansion information for its film slate as it customises releases for each film amid the slow re-opening of cinemas in the US.
Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor, which opened in the New York and Los Angeles areas on January 22, will open nationwide on May 7
Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges is set to open in the New York and Los Angeles areas on February 12 and will open nationwide on April 2.
As previously announced,...
- 2/2/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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