Emmy Award-winning PBS series “Independent Lens” has announced its spring slate of documentary films, including Sundance favorite “Try Harder!,” from director Debbie Lum. The spring lineup kicks off on April 25 at 10 p.m., with additional titles available on PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
“This spring we’re focusing on stories that shine light on a spectrum of youth perspectives, from ambitious high school students in San Francisco striving to navigate the college admissions system that feels stacked against them to Indigenous students in Utah’s Navajo Nation balancing universal teenage trials with issues in their community,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of “Independent Lens.” “We hope viewers are inspired to think about new systems and practices in education, criminal justice reform, and representation that are needed within their own communities.”
In addition to “Try Harder!,” which offers an up-close look at the competitive college admissions process for a...
“This spring we’re focusing on stories that shine light on a spectrum of youth perspectives, from ambitious high school students in San Francisco striving to navigate the college admissions system that feels stacked against them to Indigenous students in Utah’s Navajo Nation balancing universal teenage trials with issues in their community,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of “Independent Lens.” “We hope viewers are inspired to think about new systems and practices in education, criminal justice reform, and representation that are needed within their own communities.”
In addition to “Try Harder!,” which offers an up-close look at the competitive college admissions process for a...
- 4/6/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
Debbie Lum’s heartfelt documentary “Try Harder!” follows the stories of four students at the prestigious Lowell High School, each of whom is extraordinarily talented — but faces immense pressure to enroll in a top-tier university. As these mostly Asian-American students struggle against corrosive stereotypes, Lum observes their resilience: academic, generational, but mental as well.
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and released this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
What was the inspiration...
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and released this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
What was the inspiration...
- 3/12/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Picture the most popular person in your high school. The image your conscious conjures may look like the star player of the local sports team, or maybe they look like the class clown, the fashionista, the model, or the bad boy. Walk into Lowell, a Californian public high school with a majority Asian-American student body, and the most popular person at school is the person with the highest-grade point average. It’s the prodigy violin player. Or the president of the debate society. At Lowell, there’s nothing more valuable among students than high achieving. And everyone wants a piece of the “pi”.
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
“Try Harder!” is screening at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
- 3/11/2022
- by Luke Georgiades
- AsianMoviePulse
Who were the big winners at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards, presented on Sunday, March 6, at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California? Scroll down for the complete list of results in all categories, updated throughout the ceremony as the awards were handed out.
SEE2022 Oscars guild awards scorecard: ‘King Richard’ reigns over SAG and Ace Eddies to grab early lead
These awards are unique in that they are limited to American films made for under $20 million; films made outside the United States are eligible for Best International Feature. And the awards are decided in two stages. In the first round, committees of film professionals, experts, and critics choose the nominees. In the second round, the entire Film Independent membership gets to vote for the winners. Members include industry insiders, but also anyone in the general public who wish to pay yearly dues starting at $95 per year.
The Oscars...
SEE2022 Oscars guild awards scorecard: ‘King Richard’ reigns over SAG and Ace Eddies to grab early lead
These awards are unique in that they are limited to American films made for under $20 million; films made outside the United States are eligible for Best International Feature. And the awards are decided in two stages. In the first round, committees of film professionals, experts, and critics choose the nominees. In the second round, the entire Film Independent membership gets to vote for the winners. Members include industry insiders, but also anyone in the general public who wish to pay yearly dues starting at $95 per year.
The Oscars...
- 3/7/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Three awards ceremonies are taking place the weekend of March 5. On Saturday, a double dose of the Art Directors Guild (Adg) and American Cinema Editors Awards (Ace Eddies), and on Sunday, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, airing on IFC.
Paying special attention to Adg and Ace Eddies since there’s Oscar crossover, we’re expecting a couple of surprises at both. On the Adg side, “Dune” and “Nightmare Alley” should reign triumphant, but “Don’t Look Up” may overcome fellow Netflix property “The Lost Daughter.”
At Ace Eddies, there’s a possible upset on the drama side in the favor of “King Richard’s” Pamela Martin, besting Joe Walker for “Dune.” On the other hand, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” is expected to sneak past “Licorice Pizza.”
What’s most interesting is that there is very little to no presence of the presumed Oscar frontrunners this weekend, including Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,...
Paying special attention to Adg and Ace Eddies since there’s Oscar crossover, we’re expecting a couple of surprises at both. On the Adg side, “Dune” and “Nightmare Alley” should reign triumphant, but “Don’t Look Up” may overcome fellow Netflix property “The Lost Daughter.”
At Ace Eddies, there’s a possible upset on the drama side in the favor of “King Richard’s” Pamela Martin, besting Joe Walker for “Dune.” On the other hand, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” is expected to sneak past “Licorice Pizza.”
What’s most interesting is that there is very little to no presence of the presumed Oscar frontrunners this weekend, including Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,...
- 3/5/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Film Independent has set Alex Camilleri (Luzzu), Lizzie Shapiro (Shiva Baby) and Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi) as the winners of its Emerging Filmmaker Awards, with each now earning an unrestricted $25,000 Spirit Awards cash grant.
Camilleri received the Someone to Watch Award, spotlighting talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition, with finalists for the prize including Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society).
Shapiro nabbed the Producers Award, honoring emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The finalists for this second award were Brad Becker-Parton and Pin-Chun Liu.
Thursday’s final grant recipient, Beshir, received the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, besting finalists including Angelo Madsen Minax (North By Current) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder!).
“We are...
Camilleri received the Someone to Watch Award, spotlighting talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition, with finalists for the prize including Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society).
Shapiro nabbed the Producers Award, honoring emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The finalists for this second award were Brad Becker-Parton and Pin-Chun Liu.
Thursday’s final grant recipient, Beshir, received the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, besting finalists including Angelo Madsen Minax (North By Current) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder!).
“We are...
- 2/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Alex Camilleri, Lizzie Shapiro and Jessica Beshir have received Film Independent’s $25,000 Spirit Awards cash grants for emerging filmmakers. The announcements were made by Ekwa Msangi (“Farewell Amor”), Gerry Kim (“I’m No Longer Here”) and Elegance Bratton (“Pier Kids”), who received the grants last year.
Camilleri, director of “Luzzu,” received the Someone to Watch Award. The prize is in its 28th year and recognizes talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition. Finalists for the award were Michael Sarnoski, director of “Pig,” and Gillian Wallace Horvat, director of “I Blame Society.”
Shapiro, producer of “Shiva Baby,” received the Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award is in its 25th year. Finalists included Brad Becker-Parton, who produced “Italian Studies,” and Pin-Chun Liu, who produced “Test Pattern.”
Beshir, director of “Faya Dayi,...
Camilleri, director of “Luzzu,” received the Someone to Watch Award. The prize is in its 28th year and recognizes talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition. Finalists for the award were Michael Sarnoski, director of “Pig,” and Gillian Wallace Horvat, director of “I Blame Society.”
Shapiro, producer of “Shiva Baby,” received the Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award is in its 25th year. Finalists included Brad Becker-Parton, who produced “Italian Studies,” and Pin-Chun Liu, who produced “Test Pattern.”
Beshir, director of “Faya Dayi,...
- 2/10/2022
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
The BBC’s Storyville strand, which sets out to showcase the world’s best international documentaries, has picked up a new slate of eight films.
They will be screened on BBC Four and iPlayer over eight weeks starting Jan. 26.
“We’re excited to offer U.K. audiences this eclectic range of documentaries from around the globe,” Philippa Kowarsky, commissioning editor of Storyville, said in a statement.
“These stories deal with the issues of our times, from mistrust of political systems to the challenges of educational attainment, and from class and racial discrimination to the fight for women’s rights. They shine a light on some truly inspirational, and some controversial, characters, as well as some appealing canines!”
Check out the full slate below:
“Final Account” [Pictured above]
About the last living generation of everyday people to participate in the Third Reich
Filmed and Directed by Luke Holland
Produced by John Battsek, Luke Holland,...
They will be screened on BBC Four and iPlayer over eight weeks starting Jan. 26.
“We’re excited to offer U.K. audiences this eclectic range of documentaries from around the globe,” Philippa Kowarsky, commissioning editor of Storyville, said in a statement.
“These stories deal with the issues of our times, from mistrust of political systems to the challenges of educational attainment, and from class and racial discrimination to the fight for women’s rights. They shine a light on some truly inspirational, and some controversial, characters, as well as some appealing canines!”
Check out the full slate below:
“Final Account” [Pictured above]
About the last living generation of everyday people to participate in the Third Reich
Filmed and Directed by Luke Holland
Produced by John Battsek, Luke Holland,...
- 1/21/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
The 2022 Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced Tuesday, December 14. So who made the cut at these kudos, which celebrate the best in American independent films? Scroll down to see the full 2022 Indie Spirits nominations list. Remember, only American-made movies with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration.
These Spirit contenders were decided by nominating committees that included film critics, film programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, actors, past nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s Board of Directors. Winners will be chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who sign up for membership starting at $95 per year.
These awards have come to be a significant preview of the Oscars as the motion picture academy embraces more independent films. Six of the last 10 Spirit champs for Best Feature went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture including last year’s double dipper “Nomadland,...
These Spirit contenders were decided by nominating committees that included film critics, film programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, actors, past nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s Board of Directors. Winners will be chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who sign up for membership starting at $95 per year.
These awards have come to be a significant preview of the Oscars as the motion picture academy embraces more independent films. Six of the last 10 Spirit champs for Best Feature went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture including last year’s double dipper “Nomadland,...
- 12/14/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Neon and Participant opened animated documentary Flee to a $25,033 debut in four locations. That makes for a strong per-theater average of $6,258 ahead of a rollout early next year for the much-decorated Danish film ahead of Academy Award nominations Feb. 8.
It’s one of a few rather particular offerings, including Drive My Car, that distributors are tending to carefully with slow platform releasing to best capitalize on growing word of mouth as the films continue to accumulate awards and word of mouth.
A rep for Neon called Flee, Denmark’s foreign film Oscar entry, “an amazing cinematic unicorn” given its rare shot at nods in three Oscar categories — documentary, animated and foreign language film. The distributor is “very happy with the opening and looking forward to expanding the movie in late January,” he said. Meanwhile it stays small, focused in NY and LA, giving the super-specialized film by Jonas Poher Rasmussen a long runway to accumulate critical buzz. It’s at 98% with critics with an 83% audience score so far on Rotten Tomatoes.
Flee took the Sundance Grand Jury Word Cinema prize for documentary and continues to gather accolades, most recently a Gotham Best Documentary win, the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression award, and Best Non-Fiction Film from the New York Film Critics Circle. It’s the story of an Afghan refugee boy who makes a home in Denmark but carries scars and a secret that haunts him. He shares his story for the first time with a close childhood friend, the filmmaker. The use of animation, unique in a documentary, masks his identity.
Fresh off its Gotham Award for Best International Feature and its New York Film Critics Circle win for Best Film, the Sideshow and Janus Films’ release of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car grossed an estimated $27,300 in four theaters in its second weekend for a PTA of $6,825 and a cume of $58,879. The film had a $13,000 weekend at Landmark’s Nuart in LA, which its distributors said is the theater’s highest post-pandemic weekend to date. In NYC, it had a strong hold, increasing 7% at Film Forum and down10% at Lincoln Center due to capacity constraints with two of the three Saturday shows sold out.
Japan’ submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature is three hour long, necessitating a careful rollout. It will be adding about 15-20 theaters a week through Jan. 15, said a rep for the distributors. Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s short story, it follows a renowned stage actor and director invited to helm a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima and a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. It took three prizes in Cannes including Best Screenplay. The film is 100% Certified Fresh by critics with an 81% Rotten Tomatoes audience score.
Elsewhere in specialty Focus Features Wolf opened in 308 locations, the widest specialty release this weekend, to a disappointing cume of $80K and a PTA of $261. The R-rated drama by first-time director Nathalie Biancheri stars George Mackay as boy who believes he is a wolf trapped in a human body. Marketing was limited for the film, which has a 44% critics and 33% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
(Belfast, also from Focus, crossed the $5 million mark last week in 1,255 theaters before hitting PVOD Friday. The Kenneth Branagh pic’s estimated take is $500,000 this weekend for a total cume of $5.9 million.)
IFC Films opened Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta in 202 theaters for an estimated weekend gross of $145,000 and a per theater average of $718. The latest film from the master filmmaker about a 17th-century nun in Italy who suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions, had its world premiere at Cannes and North American premiere at NYFF.
From Utopia, Dasha Nekrasova’s debut feature The Scary of Sixty-First scared up $8,108 at one theater in LA — the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3. The polarizing satire about the spirit of Jeffery Epstein possessing a young woman who unwittingly moves into an apartment he used to own, won Best First Feature in Berlin. It opened exclusively on 35mm with 10 pm showtimes only including a preview Thursday. It expands to the Quad in NYC on 12/17 ahead of a continued late-night expansion into 2022.
Debbie Lum’s Try Harder from Greenwich Entertainment grossed $25,232 in five locations in NY, LA and Sf for a PTA of $5,046. Greenwich said the doc will have the highest or second-highest grosses in all its theaters and should eclipse a $10,000 PTA at the Union Square in NYC and the Regal Stonestown in Sf. About a senior class at a high achieving high school in San Francisco navigates the college application process, it premiered at Sundance earlier this year and has glowing review (at 97% with Rotten Tomatoes critics).
Circle Collective opened Michael Bilandic’s Project Space 13 this weekend at the Roxy Cinema in NYC tied to a retrospective of his previous three films to $3,000 debut. The Roxy programmed single nightly showtimes for the new satire from the NYC underground filmmaker and his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Sean Price Williams.
Specialty films, which can run one in one theater or 1,000, have been in slow Covid recovery mode but there have been green shoots recently and good news this weekend is that the Omicron variant doesn’t appear to be stomping them down — or not yet. “The market is still in recovery, but if there is an impact, we haven’t seen it,” said one specialty exec. “Everyone’s wary and keeping an eye out, but no,” said another.
Take Fathom’s alternative engagement Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers. Released Wednesday, it surged to a weekend gross of $4.1M in 1,700 locations for a PTA of $2,412 and a cume through Sunday of $9M – making it the top grossing and highest attended event in Fathom’s history.
“We knew we had something special with this title,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events. “We are grateful for the passionate fans of The Chosen and our exhibitor partners who accommodated demand by adding showtimes and locations.”
The event also set a Fathom record for fastest out-of-the-gate sales with $1.5 million in its first 12 hours of availability, indicating “people will indeed go to the theater for a project they’re passionate about,” said Chosen creator, writer and director Dallas Jenkins.
The title is produced by Angel Studios based on its crowd-funded hit streaming series, The Chosen, that follows the events surrounding the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Mary and Joseph. Fathom Events initially planned it as a two day release on 12/1-12/2 but the title performed so well it’s been extended through 12/13 with a wider run.
Even Wall Street took note. “These numbers seem notable considering very little traditional marketing for The Chosen – which may suggest a willingness to come out to theaters for the right content,” said Meghan Durkin, an analyst with Credit Suisse. The film was also “a much-needed surprise” hit to kick off December in the midst of a traditional lull before key holiday releases. Durkin sees the The Chosen as the second positive indication — the first being massive ticket presales for Spider Man: No Way Home — that holiday moviegoing may slip by Omicron.
Faith Media Distribution’s True To The Game 3, the third installment of the series based on the Teri Woods novel, grossed an estimated $623,529 for the weekend with a PTA of $1,417 in 440 theaters. Directed by David Wolfgang.
Another notable holdover includes United Artists Releasing’s Licorice Pizza from Paul Thomas Anderson, grossing an estimated $223,328 in week two in four theaters for a PTA of $55,832 and a cume through Sunday of $761k. Film follows Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1970s. Staring Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie.
It’s one of a few rather particular offerings, including Drive My Car, that distributors are tending to carefully with slow platform releasing to best capitalize on growing word of mouth as the films continue to accumulate awards and word of mouth.
A rep for Neon called Flee, Denmark’s foreign film Oscar entry, “an amazing cinematic unicorn” given its rare shot at nods in three Oscar categories — documentary, animated and foreign language film. The distributor is “very happy with the opening and looking forward to expanding the movie in late January,” he said. Meanwhile it stays small, focused in NY and LA, giving the super-specialized film by Jonas Poher Rasmussen a long runway to accumulate critical buzz. It’s at 98% with critics with an 83% audience score so far on Rotten Tomatoes.
Flee took the Sundance Grand Jury Word Cinema prize for documentary and continues to gather accolades, most recently a Gotham Best Documentary win, the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression award, and Best Non-Fiction Film from the New York Film Critics Circle. It’s the story of an Afghan refugee boy who makes a home in Denmark but carries scars and a secret that haunts him. He shares his story for the first time with a close childhood friend, the filmmaker. The use of animation, unique in a documentary, masks his identity.
Fresh off its Gotham Award for Best International Feature and its New York Film Critics Circle win for Best Film, the Sideshow and Janus Films’ release of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car grossed an estimated $27,300 in four theaters in its second weekend for a PTA of $6,825 and a cume of $58,879. The film had a $13,000 weekend at Landmark’s Nuart in LA, which its distributors said is the theater’s highest post-pandemic weekend to date. In NYC, it had a strong hold, increasing 7% at Film Forum and down10% at Lincoln Center due to capacity constraints with two of the three Saturday shows sold out.
Japan’ submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature is three hour long, necessitating a careful rollout. It will be adding about 15-20 theaters a week through Jan. 15, said a rep for the distributors. Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s short story, it follows a renowned stage actor and director invited to helm a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima and a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. It took three prizes in Cannes including Best Screenplay. The film is 100% Certified Fresh by critics with an 81% Rotten Tomatoes audience score.
Elsewhere in specialty Focus Features Wolf opened in 308 locations, the widest specialty release this weekend, to a disappointing cume of $80K and a PTA of $261. The R-rated drama by first-time director Nathalie Biancheri stars George Mackay as boy who believes he is a wolf trapped in a human body. Marketing was limited for the film, which has a 44% critics and 33% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
(Belfast, also from Focus, crossed the $5 million mark last week in 1,255 theaters before hitting PVOD Friday. The Kenneth Branagh pic’s estimated take is $500,000 this weekend for a total cume of $5.9 million.)
IFC Films opened Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta in 202 theaters for an estimated weekend gross of $145,000 and a per theater average of $718. The latest film from the master filmmaker about a 17th-century nun in Italy who suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions, had its world premiere at Cannes and North American premiere at NYFF.
From Utopia, Dasha Nekrasova’s debut feature The Scary of Sixty-First scared up $8,108 at one theater in LA — the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3. The polarizing satire about the spirit of Jeffery Epstein possessing a young woman who unwittingly moves into an apartment he used to own, won Best First Feature in Berlin. It opened exclusively on 35mm with 10 pm showtimes only including a preview Thursday. It expands to the Quad in NYC on 12/17 ahead of a continued late-night expansion into 2022.
Debbie Lum’s Try Harder from Greenwich Entertainment grossed $25,232 in five locations in NY, LA and Sf for a PTA of $5,046. Greenwich said the doc will have the highest or second-highest grosses in all its theaters and should eclipse a $10,000 PTA at the Union Square in NYC and the Regal Stonestown in Sf. About a senior class at a high achieving high school in San Francisco navigates the college application process, it premiered at Sundance earlier this year and has glowing review (at 97% with Rotten Tomatoes critics).
Circle Collective opened Michael Bilandic’s Project Space 13 this weekend at the Roxy Cinema in NYC tied to a retrospective of his previous three films to $3,000 debut. The Roxy programmed single nightly showtimes for the new satire from the NYC underground filmmaker and his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Sean Price Williams.
Specialty films, which can run one in one theater or 1,000, have been in slow Covid recovery mode but there have been green shoots recently and good news this weekend is that the Omicron variant doesn’t appear to be stomping them down — or not yet. “The market is still in recovery, but if there is an impact, we haven’t seen it,” said one specialty exec. “Everyone’s wary and keeping an eye out, but no,” said another.
Take Fathom’s alternative engagement Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers. Released Wednesday, it surged to a weekend gross of $4.1M in 1,700 locations for a PTA of $2,412 and a cume through Sunday of $9M – making it the top grossing and highest attended event in Fathom’s history.
“We knew we had something special with this title,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events. “We are grateful for the passionate fans of The Chosen and our exhibitor partners who accommodated demand by adding showtimes and locations.”
The event also set a Fathom record for fastest out-of-the-gate sales with $1.5 million in its first 12 hours of availability, indicating “people will indeed go to the theater for a project they’re passionate about,” said Chosen creator, writer and director Dallas Jenkins.
The title is produced by Angel Studios based on its crowd-funded hit streaming series, The Chosen, that follows the events surrounding the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Mary and Joseph. Fathom Events initially planned it as a two day release on 12/1-12/2 but the title performed so well it’s been extended through 12/13 with a wider run.
Even Wall Street took note. “These numbers seem notable considering very little traditional marketing for The Chosen – which may suggest a willingness to come out to theaters for the right content,” said Meghan Durkin, an analyst with Credit Suisse. The film was also “a much-needed surprise” hit to kick off December in the midst of a traditional lull before key holiday releases. Durkin sees the The Chosen as the second positive indication — the first being massive ticket presales for Spider Man: No Way Home — that holiday moviegoing may slip by Omicron.
Faith Media Distribution’s True To The Game 3, the third installment of the series based on the Teri Woods novel, grossed an estimated $623,529 for the weekend with a PTA of $1,417 in 440 theaters. Directed by David Wolfgang.
Another notable holdover includes United Artists Releasing’s Licorice Pizza from Paul Thomas Anderson, grossing an estimated $223,328 in week two in four theaters for a PTA of $55,832 and a cume through Sunday of $761k. Film follows Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1970s. Staring Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie.
- 12/5/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Debbie Lum’s Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body … as well as its notorious pressure-cooker environment.
The beauty of Lum’s film is her ability to gain her subjects’ trust: these kids bare fears, hopes, and dreams—and, in the process, they confront race, mental health, class and financial status. Watching this film is cathartic. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…
Continue reading.
The beauty of Lum’s film is her ability to gain her subjects’ trust: these kids bare fears, hopes, and dreams—and, in the process, they confront race, mental health, class and financial status. Watching this film is cathartic. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…
Continue reading.
- 12/1/2021
- by Dylan Kai Dempsey
- IONCINEMA.com
A Dream Deferred: Debbie Lum’s Masterclass in Self-Esteem
Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Docu-helmer Debbie Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body, plus its notorious pressure-cooker environment. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…...
Try Harder! is a supremely moving documentary about high schoolers in the throes of their college application process. Docu-helmer Debbie Lum’s focus is on upperclassmen at Lowell, the top public high school in San Francisco—known for its universally talented and overwhelmingly Asian-American student body, plus its notorious pressure-cooker environment. We root for these students, we feel their pain, we exorcise our own lingering demons … and we wind up with important reminders: that we’re not just a race or a test score; that self-actualization matters more than fitting a mold; that acceptance isn’t the only thing determining our fate and value.…...
- 12/1/2021
- by Dylan Kai Dempsey
- IONCINEMA.com
"It's hard to have a strong sense of self-esteem... because you're always comparing yourself to other people." Greenwich Entertainment has unveiled an official trailer for an indie documentary film titled Try Harder!, the second feature from filmmaker Debbie Lum. This originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and also stopped by other fests including Full Frame, AFI Docs, and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. A profile of education pressure: "At Lowell High School, the top public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. At Lowell—where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and most of the student body is Asian-American—things that usually make a person stand out can feel commonplace.
- 11/17/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Ilinca Calugareanu’s documentary A Cops and Robbers Story, with plans for a day-and-date release January 14.
The film’s subject is Corey Pegues, who in the 1990s found himself embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death incident forces Pegues away from the streets, he unexpectedly emerges as a rising star in the NYPD. But when his former life is revealed, Pegues’s police career is threatened, raising the perennial question of who deserves – and who doesn’t deserve – a second chance in life.
The feature which made its world premiere at Doc NYC 2020 was produced by Mara Adina, Calugareanu’s collaborator on the 2015 doc Chuck Norris vs. Communism. Brenda Robinson exec produced with Julie Parker Benello, Erika Olde, Nion McEvoy, Sam Roseme, Tanja Tawadjoh, John Battsek,...
The film’s subject is Corey Pegues, who in the 1990s found himself embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death incident forces Pegues away from the streets, he unexpectedly emerges as a rising star in the NYPD. But when his former life is revealed, Pegues’s police career is threatened, raising the perennial question of who deserves – and who doesn’t deserve – a second chance in life.
The feature which made its world premiere at Doc NYC 2020 was produced by Mara Adina, Calugareanu’s collaborator on the 2015 doc Chuck Norris vs. Communism. Brenda Robinson exec produced with Julie Parker Benello, Erika Olde, Nion McEvoy, Sam Roseme, Tanja Tawadjoh, John Battsek,...
- 11/4/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment and levelFILM have struck a multi-year partnership for the Canadian distributor to handle all of Greenwich’s films in Canada starting with the upcoming release of Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes, which explores the explosive unpublished novel Answered Prayers by Truman Capote.
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, its U.S. premiere at Doc NYC and Greenwich is releasing the film in theaters on September 10.
Founded in 2017, Greenwich is led by Co-Presidents Ed Arentz and Andy Bohn and has grown into one of the leading U.S. distributors of arthouse films and documentaries.
Greenwich handled the record-setting theatrical release of Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s Academy Award-Winning documentary Free Solo, which grossed more thhan $17M at the North American box office.
Other Greenwich releases include Andrew Slater’s Echo in the Canyon, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My...
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, its U.S. premiere at Doc NYC and Greenwich is releasing the film in theaters on September 10.
Founded in 2017, Greenwich is led by Co-Presidents Ed Arentz and Andy Bohn and has grown into one of the leading U.S. distributors of arthouse films and documentaries.
Greenwich handled the record-setting theatrical release of Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s Academy Award-Winning documentary Free Solo, which grossed more thhan $17M at the North American box office.
Other Greenwich releases include Andrew Slater’s Echo in the Canyon, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My...
- 9/10/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Just in time for the start of a new school year, Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to Try Harder!, a documentary set within San Francisco’s most competitive public high school.
The film directed by Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female), follows five seniors at Lowell High “as they try to get into the elite college of their dreams,” as Lum explained in a video for the Sundance Film Festival, where Try Harder! premiered in January.
It’s tough to earn admission to Lowell—“Only the city’s best and brightest qualify to get in,” observes producer Lou Nakasako—and once inside the doors students face enormous pressure to succeed.
“Getting into college has never been harder than it is today. High school has really changed,” Lum notes. “So many students are under much more stress. We really wanted to capture the students’ story.”
The filmmakers recorded one religious high schooler,...
The film directed by Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female), follows five seniors at Lowell High “as they try to get into the elite college of their dreams,” as Lum explained in a video for the Sundance Film Festival, where Try Harder! premiered in January.
It’s tough to earn admission to Lowell—“Only the city’s best and brightest qualify to get in,” observes producer Lou Nakasako—and once inside the doors students face enormous pressure to succeed.
“Getting into college has never been harder than it is today. High school has really changed,” Lum notes. “So many students are under much more stress. We really wanted to capture the students’ story.”
The filmmakers recorded one religious high schooler,...
- 8/19/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Center for Asian American Media (Caam) wrapped up this year’s festival, CAAMFest 2021, with 11 days featuring drive-in, live online screenings, and on-demand programs. CAAMFest 2021 presented a diverse slate of over 50 events, complete with an opening weekend of drive-ins at Fort Mason Flix, high energy filmmaker summits, and virtual programs. With over 10,000 attendees, the festival gave an expansive look into the multitude of Asian and Asian American experiences.
Surprisingly, no one film won multiple accolades. SXSW premieres featured prominently in this year’s selection. Debbie Lum‘s “Try Harder!” — a documentary featuring Sf’s most prestigious high school, Lowell High — opened this year’s CAAMFest. “Inbetween Girl” by Mei Makino and “See You Then” by Mari Walker also returned from Texas to sweep the narrative awards in San Francisco. Festival-appointed highlights did not go unnoticed either. Centerpiece presentation documentary “Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” took home the Jury Mention...
Surprisingly, no one film won multiple accolades. SXSW premieres featured prominently in this year’s selection. Debbie Lum‘s “Try Harder!” — a documentary featuring Sf’s most prestigious high school, Lowell High — opened this year’s CAAMFest. “Inbetween Girl” by Mei Makino and “See You Then” by Mari Walker also returned from Texas to sweep the narrative awards in San Francisco. Festival-appointed highlights did not go unnoticed either. Centerpiece presentation documentary “Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” took home the Jury Mention...
- 6/7/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
CAAMFest 2021, the spring festival showcase of the Center for Asian American Media (Caam), presents many Chinese and Chinese diaspora works. From the Opening Night drive-in screening of director Debbie Lum’s Try Harder! at Fort Mason Flix on Thursday, May 13 and the Hong Kong Cinema Showcase drive-in on Saturday, May 15 to virtual and on-demand events, the festival is proud to celebrate the dynamism of the Chinese and Chinese diaspora experience. Several films from CAAMFest 2021 include representation from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Opening Night
Try Harder!, directed by Debbie Lum
Thursday, May 13, 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at Fort Mason Flix
At San Francisco’s Lowell High School—where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and the majority of the student body is Asian American—the things that usually make a person stand out can feel not good enough, even commonplace.
Spotlight: Evan Jackson Leong
Centerpiece Presentation,...
Opening Night
Try Harder!, directed by Debbie Lum
Thursday, May 13, 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at Fort Mason Flix
At San Francisco’s Lowell High School—where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and the majority of the student body is Asian American—the things that usually make a person stand out can feel not good enough, even commonplace.
Spotlight: Evan Jackson Leong
Centerpiece Presentation,...
- 4/30/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Debbie Lum’s heartfelt documentary “Try Harder!” follows the stories of four students at the prestigious Lowell High School, each of whom is extraordinarily talented — but faces immense pressure to enroll in a top-tier university. As these mostly Asian-American students struggle against corrosive stereotypes, Lum observes their resilience: academic, generational, but mental as well.
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and now release this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
What was the inspiration behind “Try Harder!”?
Debbie Lum: My eldest was still...
We first sat down with Lum over Zoom to discuss her entry in the Sundance US Documentary Competition, and now release this interview in time for its opening act at CAAMFest 2021 in mid-May. Lum is an open book; she tells us she has three kids, the eldest still far from high school. We hear the lowdown of what it takes to make a film about Asian-American students as an Asian-American mother, and discuss the mental health stakes of today’s ultra-competitive high schools.
What was the inspiration behind “Try Harder!”?
Debbie Lum: My eldest was still...
- 4/26/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Picture the most popular person in your high school. The image your conscious conjures may look like the star player of the local sports team, or maybe they look like the class clown, the fashionista, the model, or the bad boy. Walk into Lowell, a Californian public high school with a majority Asian-American student body, and the most popular person at school is the person with the highest-grade point average. It’s the prodigy violin player. Or the president of the debate society. At Lowell, there’s nothing more valuable among students than high achieving. And everyone wants a piece of the “pi”
“Try Harder” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
“Try Harder” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
This is the world we’re introduced to in the first few minutes of Debbie Lum’s sharp, moving, anxiety-inducing documentary “Try Harder!”, a detour through the lives of a handful of seniors at the Lowell, the...
- 4/24/2021
- by Luke Georgiades
- AsianMoviePulse
CAAMFest, the largest showcase of Asian American stories from May 13-23, is announcing its opening weekend featuring drive-in screenings at Fort Mason Flix. Opening with two screenings of the timely Lowell High School documentary “Try Harder!” directed by Debbie Lum, the weekend also highlights the diverse Filipino American experience, with two Bay Area premieres: Dante Basco feature film directorial debut “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers” and “Lumpia with a Vengeance” directed by Patricio Ginelsa. The final drive-in program will present the Hong Kong films: a look back screening of Wong Kar-Wai’s “Happy Together” and “The Way We Keep Dancing” by Adam Wong.
Opening Night
Try Harder!, directed by Debbie Lum
Thursday, May 13, 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at Fort Mason Flix
As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges in this feature-length documentary.
Opening Night
Try Harder!, directed by Debbie Lum
Thursday, May 13, 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at Fort Mason Flix
As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges in this feature-length documentary.
- 4/17/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
In a 15-film collection, Pacific Art Movement’s 10th San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sdaff) Spring Showcase will celebrate Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander identity while highlighting stories from communities whose experiences are often unrecognized. In light of current events, the festival will honor the lives of Asian elders by sharing their candid stories of love and pain, happiness and sadness, history and culture in order to remind viewers that there was a time when we were just like them. The festival will take place virtually from April 23 through May 2 — the beginning of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month — and will include a variety of live and pre-recorded Q&a’s from filmmakers.
The 10th Sdaff Spring Showcase strives to uplift Asian voices especially during this time of crisis. The film line-up this year reflects on the current events that have been impacting the Asian and Pacific Islander community. The...
The 10th Sdaff Spring Showcase strives to uplift Asian voices especially during this time of crisis. The film line-up this year reflects on the current events that have been impacting the Asian and Pacific Islander community. The...
- 4/10/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Lowell High School, whose student population is predominantly Asian American, is different from most US high schools portrayed on film. Director Debbie Lum came to the nationally ranked school to portray Lowell’s students, particularly so called “tiger cubs” in the heat of the college admissions process for her Sundance 2021 doc Try Harder!. Of course, not all of the Asian American students shown in the film have stereotypical “tiger moms,” and it’s refreshing to see an array of Asian American parents and students shown in communities where they feel comfortable, rather than shrinking in the minority. But the pressure on […]
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/5/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Lowell High School, whose student population is predominantly Asian American, is different from most US high schools portrayed on film. Director Debbie Lum came to the nationally ranked school to portray Lowell’s students, particularly so called “tiger cubs” in the heat of the college admissions process for her Sundance 2021 doc Try Harder!. Of course, not all of the Asian American students shown in the film have stereotypical “tiger moms,” and it’s refreshing to see an array of Asian American parents and students shown in communities where they feel comfortable, rather than shrinking in the minority. But the pressure on […]
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Looking At Diversity Through A Different Lens": Debbie Lum on Try Harder! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/5/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
‘Try Harder!’ Review: Endearing, Alarming Doc on Senior-Year College-Application Hope and Heartbreak
“You get used to feeling mediocre,” says one of the merely very bright students in a school full of what he considers “geniuses.” “Try Harder,” Debbie Lum’s simultaneously charming and chastening documentary on the senior class in Lowell High — the majority Asian-American, top-ranked school in San Francisco — takes its cue from its lovable, dorky, high-achieving subjects and mostly remains in a cheerful register, heroizing a group rarely celebrated in high school movies: the good kids.
But underneath the goofiness and gallows humor, there is a darker point being made about the impossible cycle of heightened expectations, cultural stereotyping and ever-shrinking admissions quotas for top-flight colleges. The racial profile of the high-performance Lowell is not a coincidence, but nor is it an uncomplicated advantage for any attendee, Asian or otherwise.
Lum gets pithy observations from students, teachers and administrators, but mainly follows five teenagers embarking on their preternaturally fraught college application process.
But underneath the goofiness and gallows humor, there is a darker point being made about the impossible cycle of heightened expectations, cultural stereotyping and ever-shrinking admissions quotas for top-flight colleges. The racial profile of the high-performance Lowell is not a coincidence, but nor is it an uncomplicated advantage for any attendee, Asian or otherwise.
Lum gets pithy observations from students, teachers and administrators, but mainly follows five teenagers embarking on their preternaturally fraught college application process.
- 1/30/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
ACTs, SATs, early admission deadlines: the lead-up to high school graduation is a rat race with an endlessly competitive edge, and it gets an affectionate treatment in Debbie Lum’s documentary “Try Harder!” Centering on San Francisco’s Lowell Public High School, one of the best in the nation, this breezy portrait has the crowd-pleasing affability of a movie like 2002’s “Spellbound,” while not shying away from some of the more maddening aspects of the journey to college. It’s brimming with the outsize personalities of the high school students, and offers a — instead, here, they’re just big-hearted nerds.
The largely Asian American student body of Lowell High School also means that the kids are woke without it being obnoxious, and don’t view race as a barrier to success. “Try Harder!” charts the course of a senior year in high school, as a handful of overachieving students endure...
The largely Asian American student body of Lowell High School also means that the kids are woke without it being obnoxious, and don’t view race as a barrier to success. “Try Harder!” charts the course of a senior year in high school, as a handful of overachieving students endure...
- 1/30/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Asian-American cinematic milestones tend to challenge the model-minority myth. The over-achievers in Better Luck Tomorrow turn to crime, Harold and Kumar seek stoner munchies and the gay young protagonist at the center of Spa Night finds both academic accomplishment and the American Dream hopelessly out of reach. There’s a defensiveness inherent to those films, which seem to assert, “We’re not all dutiful, high-achieving rule-followers.” And to be fair, doing hours of math problems or complying with parental whims isn’t exactly movie material.
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Asian-American cinematic milestones tend to challenge the model-minority myth. The over-achievers in Better Luck Tomorrow turn to crime, Harold and Kumar seek stoner munchies and the gay young protagonist at the center of Spa Night finds both academic accomplishment and the American Dream hopelessly out of reach. There’s a defensiveness inherent to those films, which seem to assert, “We’re not all dutiful, high-achieving rule-followers.” And to be fair, doing hours of math problems or complying with parental whims isn’t exactly movie material.
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
Or maybe we’re wrong. As director Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female) illustrates with her new film Try Harder!, which competes in ...
- 1/30/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Against the backdrop of a pandemic, maybe diversity at Sundance shouldn’t be at the fore. Then again, it’s well documented that Covid-19 has predominantly affected Black and brown people across the country, and it’s been particularly hard on filmmakers from marginalized communities, especially those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.
At Sundance 2021, the organization continues to support its mission to be consistently inclusive, especially in its competitive sections. In this year’s slate of 72 feature-length films, 27 are directed by a filmmaker of color and/or tell stories about people of color — about 38 percent. It almost reflects the country’s general population, which, according to the United States Census Bureau, is comprised roughly of 42 percent people of color.
Among the 40 films in the four main competition categories, 14 titles, or 35 percent, were directed by people of color. That compares to 44 percent last year, which was an all-time high for the festival.
At Sundance 2021, the organization continues to support its mission to be consistently inclusive, especially in its competitive sections. In this year’s slate of 72 feature-length films, 27 are directed by a filmmaker of color and/or tell stories about people of color — about 38 percent. It almost reflects the country’s general population, which, according to the United States Census Bureau, is comprised roughly of 42 percent people of color.
Among the 40 films in the four main competition categories, 14 titles, or 35 percent, were directed by people of color. That compares to 44 percent last year, which was an all-time high for the festival.
- 1/28/2021
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
The St. Louis International Film Festival has announced the films nominated for the Awfj Eda Awards.
Awfj will partner once again with Sliff to recognize the Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature and Best Female-Directed Documentary. The 24th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival will be held Nov. 5-15, 2015. Check out the full lineup here.
Here’s a glimpse of the films that have been selected:
Narratives
Fidelio: Alice’S Odyssey – Lucie Borleteau (France)
A rare woman in the man’s world of seafaring, 30-year-old Alice signs on as a replacement engineer on the freighter Fidélio. Although she loves her job and does it well, Alice remains a woman even when wearing greasy blue overalls, and there’s some doubt that the all-male crew will remain totally insensitive to her charms. The situation has further complications: Alice has a fiancé back on shore, but when she discovers that the Fidélio is captained by Gaël,...
Awfj will partner once again with Sliff to recognize the Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature and Best Female-Directed Documentary. The 24th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival will be held Nov. 5-15, 2015. Check out the full lineup here.
Here’s a glimpse of the films that have been selected:
Narratives
Fidelio: Alice’S Odyssey – Lucie Borleteau (France)
A rare woman in the man’s world of seafaring, 30-year-old Alice signs on as a replacement engineer on the freighter Fidélio. Although she loves her job and does it well, Alice remains a woman even when wearing greasy blue overalls, and there’s some doubt that the all-male crew will remain totally insensitive to her charms. The situation has further complications: Alice has a fiancé back on shore, but when she discovers that the Fidélio is captained by Gaël,...
- 10/27/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 7th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival, which runs this year on September 5-8 at the Factory Theatre, opens with a real bang when they will screen cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s latest cinematic odyssey, The Dance of Reality. This is Jodorowsky’s first film in over twenty years and is an imaginative and playful quasi-autobiography.
The rest of the four-day celebration is packed with more film oddities and excursions into surreal and transgressive territory. One particular highlight that is not to be missed is Don Swaynos’ incredibly crowd-pleasing comedy Pictures of Superheroes, about a slacker cleaning woman’s descent into an absurd world she can’t escape. Read the Underground Film Journal’s review of Pictures of Superheroes here.
Other twisted fiction films screening include Drew Tobias’s sick and twisted See You Next Tuesday, Cody Calahan’s apocalyptic Antisocial and Lloyd Kaufman’s highly-anticipated sequel Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol.
The rest of the four-day celebration is packed with more film oddities and excursions into surreal and transgressive territory. One particular highlight that is not to be missed is Don Swaynos’ incredibly crowd-pleasing comedy Pictures of Superheroes, about a slacker cleaning woman’s descent into an absurd world she can’t escape. Read the Underground Film Journal’s review of Pictures of Superheroes here.
Other twisted fiction films screening include Drew Tobias’s sick and twisted See You Next Tuesday, Cody Calahan’s apocalyptic Antisocial and Lloyd Kaufman’s highly-anticipated sequel Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol.
- 8/15/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In the documentary “Seeking Asian Female," filmmaker Debbie Lum follows a 60-year-old white parking attendant named Steven as he eventually persuades Sandy -- a 30-year-old office worker from China -- to come to the U.S. to be his wife.
Filmmaker Lum, a fourth-generation Chinese-American, found Steven on the online matchmaking site Asian Friend Finder, where he had been searching for and corresponding with potential Chinese brides for years.
The film -- which aired Monday evening as a part of the PBS “Independent Lens” series -- looks at Caucasian men's infatuation with Asian women and explores the stereotypes that paint Asian women as sexual and submissive creatures. It also investigates the complexities of Steven and Sandy's relationship as they navigate married life, dealing with a language barrier in addition to typical relationship issues such as jealousy.
According to a 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek article, arrangements like Steven and Sandy's are becoming more and more popular.
Filmmaker Lum, a fourth-generation Chinese-American, found Steven on the online matchmaking site Asian Friend Finder, where he had been searching for and corresponding with potential Chinese brides for years.
The film -- which aired Monday evening as a part of the PBS “Independent Lens” series -- looks at Caucasian men's infatuation with Asian women and explores the stereotypes that paint Asian women as sexual and submissive creatures. It also investigates the complexities of Steven and Sandy's relationship as they navigate married life, dealing with a language barrier in addition to typical relationship issues such as jealousy.
According to a 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek article, arrangements like Steven and Sandy's are becoming more and more popular.
- 5/7/2013
- by Kelsey Borresen
- Huffington Post
Sure, Sunday tends to be overcrowded with high-end TV, including "Mad Men," "Veep," "The Borgias," "Game of Thrones," "Nurse Jackie" and more, but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week. "Independent Lens": "Seeking Asian Female" Monday, May 6 at 10pm on PBS Hoping to explore the idea of Asian fetishism, filmmaker Debbie Lum focused on twice-divorced sexagenarian Steven Bolstad, whose obsession with Chinese women leads him to a relationship with a mail-order bride from Anhui who doesn't speak English. The documentary, which premiered at SXSW last year, finds Lum getting increasingly involved in the domestic dramas of the couple as she ends up serving as translator and counselor in addition to filmmaker, eventually finding some of her own assumptions about the pair challenged. "Constitution USA with Peter Sagal": Series Premiere Tuesday, May...
- 5/6/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The Stella Artois poured freely (because it was free) at the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown St. Louis last night. It was the closing-night party for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival where the slate of audience-choice and juried-competition winners were announced to an attentive crowd.
Audience Choice Awards
Best Narrative Feature: .The Sapphires,. directed by Wayne Blair
Best International Narrative Feature: .Quartet,. directed by Dustin Hoffman Leon Award for Best Documentary Feature: .The Entertainers,. directed by Michael Zimmer Juried Competition Awards New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Filmmaker Award (The Bobbie) Winner ($500 cash prize): .Faith, Love and Whiskey,. directed by Kristina Nikolova Special Jury Citation: .Sun Don.t Shine,. directed by Amy Seimetz St. Louis Film Critics. Joe Pollack Awards
Best Narrative Feature: .Barbara,. directed by Christian Petzold Special Jury Citation for Acting in Narrative Feature: Rachel Mwanza, lead actress of .War Witch. Best Documentary Feature: .Uprising,...
Audience Choice Awards
Best Narrative Feature: .The Sapphires,. directed by Wayne Blair
Best International Narrative Feature: .Quartet,. directed by Dustin Hoffman Leon Award for Best Documentary Feature: .The Entertainers,. directed by Michael Zimmer Juried Competition Awards New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Filmmaker Award (The Bobbie) Winner ($500 cash prize): .Faith, Love and Whiskey,. directed by Kristina Nikolova Special Jury Citation: .Sun Don.t Shine,. directed by Amy Seimetz St. Louis Film Critics. Joe Pollack Awards
Best Narrative Feature: .Barbara,. directed by Christian Petzold Special Jury Citation for Acting in Narrative Feature: Rachel Mwanza, lead actress of .War Witch. Best Documentary Feature: .Uprising,...
- 11/19/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Adopt Films
After 11 days of glorious and galvanizing cinema-going, the 21st Annual St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) concluded on Sunday evening. At the closing ceremony the International Alliance of Women Film Journalists (Awfj) presented awards to four women filmmakers. Awfj President Jennifer Merin and myself were on hand to announce our winners – chosen by a panel of Awfj members.
Ursula Meier.s Sister received the Eda for Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature, while Debbie Lum.s Seeking Asian Female took the Eda for Best Female-Directed Documentary. The narrative feature Found Memories, directed by Julia Marat, and the documentary The World Before Her, directed by Nisha Pahuja, received Special Mentions from their respective juries.
Sliff Executive Director Cliff Froehlich said, .Dating back to the silent era, women have been vital contributors to film art, but they have long been underrepresented and underappreciated in the industry. Thankfully, that situation is changing, and...
After 11 days of glorious and galvanizing cinema-going, the 21st Annual St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) concluded on Sunday evening. At the closing ceremony the International Alliance of Women Film Journalists (Awfj) presented awards to four women filmmakers. Awfj President Jennifer Merin and myself were on hand to announce our winners – chosen by a panel of Awfj members.
Ursula Meier.s Sister received the Eda for Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature, while Debbie Lum.s Seeking Asian Female took the Eda for Best Female-Directed Documentary. The narrative feature Found Memories, directed by Julia Marat, and the documentary The World Before Her, directed by Nisha Pahuja, received Special Mentions from their respective juries.
Sliff Executive Director Cliff Froehlich said, .Dating back to the silent era, women have been vital contributors to film art, but they have long been underrepresented and underappreciated in the industry. Thankfully, that situation is changing, and...
- 11/19/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Wow, the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival already has been amazing!
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Thursday, November 15th
Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships
Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre
Shorts that give romance a twist.
Boo! (Rupert Reid, Australia, 2012, 5 min.): An aging married couple keep their love alive by staying one step ahead of each other. Coffees (Alex Beh, U.S., 2012, 11 min.): As a last-ditch effort, Mikey decides to go to his ex...
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Thursday, November 15th
Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships
Shorts Program 8: Quirky Relationships plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre
Shorts that give romance a twist.
Boo! (Rupert Reid, Australia, 2012, 5 min.): An aging married couple keep their love alive by staying one step ahead of each other. Coffees (Alex Beh, U.S., 2012, 11 min.): As a last-ditch effort, Mikey decides to go to his ex...
- 11/15/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Day three of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival promises more great films and an appearance at the Hi-Pointe by director Joe Dante. And there are still 8 days to go!
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Saturday, November 10th
Director Jennifer Lynch
A Fall From Grace Program is at 11:00 am at the Tivoli Theatre – A Free Event Sliff guest Jennifer Lynch (Chained.) has plans to shoot her next film, A Fall from Grace, in St. Louis. Post-Dispatch film critic Joe Williams leads a...
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Saturday, November 10th
Director Jennifer Lynch
A Fall From Grace Program is at 11:00 am at the Tivoli Theatre – A Free Event Sliff guest Jennifer Lynch (Chained.) has plans to shoot her next film, A Fall from Grace, in St. Louis. Post-Dispatch film critic Joe Williams leads a...
- 11/10/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Being a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, I’m pleased to announce that at the 2012 St. Louis International Film Festival, five documentaries are in competition for our Eda Award for Best Documentary Directed by a Women.
The Eda Award will be presented at the St Louis International Film Festival’s closing ceremonies on November 18, 2012, along with the Eda Award for Best Narrative Feature Directed by A Woman. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists members on the documentary award jury are Monika Bartyzel (Movies.com), Jeanne Wolf (Parade Magazine), Karen Krizanovich (Radio Times), Jette Kernion (Slackerwood.com) and myself. For more on the awards: http://cinemastlouis.org/2012-sliff-awards
The films are:
Her Master’s Voice - Directed by Nina Conti, UK – All about truth in ventriloquism! The Perfect Victim - Directed by Elizabeth Rohrbaugh (Us) – A film about women who were convicted of murdering their husbands, without being...
The Eda Award will be presented at the St Louis International Film Festival’s closing ceremonies on November 18, 2012, along with the Eda Award for Best Narrative Feature Directed by A Woman. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists members on the documentary award jury are Monika Bartyzel (Movies.com), Jeanne Wolf (Parade Magazine), Karen Krizanovich (Radio Times), Jette Kernion (Slackerwood.com) and myself. For more on the awards: http://cinemastlouis.org/2012-sliff-awards
The films are:
Her Master’s Voice - Directed by Nina Conti, UK – All about truth in ventriloquism! The Perfect Victim - Directed by Elizabeth Rohrbaugh (Us) – A film about women who were convicted of murdering their husbands, without being...
- 10/22/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Montreal’s Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (10.10 – 10.21) announced their line-up today for their 41st edition and among the smorgasbord of subtitle offerings dating back to this year’s Rotterdam, Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Tiff editions, we’re knee-deep in avant-garde world cinema from the established auteurs Assayas, Vinterberg, Ozon, Sang-Soo, Joao Pedro Rodriguez, Larrain, Loach, Reygadas, Ghobadi, Mungiu and Miguel Gomes. Heavy on offerings from Quebec and France, the fest also manages to offer a stellar snapshot of the up-and-comers from all corners of the globe. Among the notable titles in the (Competition category) International Selection we’ve got Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves, Ursula Meier’s Sister, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s Francine (which received its theatrical release earlier this month) and Rodrigo Plá’s La Demora. Loaded in Cannes items, the Special Presentations is the fest’s A-list selections (see filmmakers named above) and the one pic...
- 9/25/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Announces 188 Outstanding Films For 2012 Edition Presented By Visual Communications
Southern California.s Largest Asian Film Festival Runs May 10 . 20, 2012, Will Present 188 Films From
Over 20 Countries Featuring World Premieres, Sneak Previews; Showcasing Documentaries and Narratives
Focusing on the Voices of Asian Americans and Asian Peoples from Around the World.
The Launch of the C3: Project Market and the Vc Film Development Fund
Festival Opening Night Selection Shanghai Calling, Directed By Festival Alum Daniel Hsia, Starring: Daniel Henney, Eliza Coupe and Bill Paxton.
Centerpiece Presentations, SXSW favorite Sunset Stories, Directed by Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard; Sundance Winner Valley Of Saints directed by Musa Syeed. Saturday Night Gala Yes, We.Re Open, directed by Festival Alum Richard Wong.
Joyful Reunion Directed by Tsao Jui Yuan, Selected as Closing Night Gala Presentation.
Visual Communications (Vc), the nation.s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced its...
Southern California.s Largest Asian Film Festival Runs May 10 . 20, 2012, Will Present 188 Films From
Over 20 Countries Featuring World Premieres, Sneak Previews; Showcasing Documentaries and Narratives
Focusing on the Voices of Asian Americans and Asian Peoples from Around the World.
The Launch of the C3: Project Market and the Vc Film Development Fund
Festival Opening Night Selection Shanghai Calling, Directed By Festival Alum Daniel Hsia, Starring: Daniel Henney, Eliza Coupe and Bill Paxton.
Centerpiece Presentations, SXSW favorite Sunset Stories, Directed by Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard; Sundance Winner Valley Of Saints directed by Musa Syeed. Saturday Night Gala Yes, We.Re Open, directed by Festival Alum Richard Wong.
Joyful Reunion Directed by Tsao Jui Yuan, Selected as Closing Night Gala Presentation.
Visual Communications (Vc), the nation.s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced its...
- 4/6/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
As I mentioned when rounding up the Narrative Feature Competition, wrapping SXSW 2012 could take a while. That batch opened with comments from one of the jurors, J Hoberman, and this one will as well. First, though, let's mention that we already have roundups going on the award-winners, Beware of Mr Baker and Bay of All Saints.
So the Guardian's Catherine Shoard, jury member, found Jeffrey Kimball's The Central Park Effect to be "a sweet study of the birders who flock to Manhattan's thick strip of parkland each spring. It was pretty gentle, generic, even, but felt from a different planet from the rest in that it wasn't wholly human-focused. Sure, the warblers and the robins are red herrings, and it's really all about the cast of eccentrics who eyeball them – including celeb twitcher Jonathan Franzen, who pitches in with some unusually self-deprecating soundbites."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles...
So the Guardian's Catherine Shoard, jury member, found Jeffrey Kimball's The Central Park Effect to be "a sweet study of the birders who flock to Manhattan's thick strip of parkland each spring. It was pretty gentle, generic, even, but felt from a different planet from the rest in that it wasn't wholly human-focused. Sure, the warblers and the robins are red herrings, and it's really all about the cast of eccentrics who eyeball them – including celeb twitcher Jonathan Franzen, who pitches in with some unusually self-deprecating soundbites."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles...
- 3/27/2012
- MUBI
A documentary that becomes progressively more fascinating as it develops, Seeking Asian Female digs far beyond what its cringe-inducing title might imply. Filmmaker Debbie Lum, herself a Chinese-American woman, explains in her voice-over narration that the phenomena of Caucasian men who are attracted to Asian women purely on the basis of race is widespread, especially in California,. She decided to investigate, and the result surprised her as much as it will the audience. She reached out to men on dating or friendship sites who specified "seeking Asian female" or similar, and thus came across Steven, a 60-year-old single man who is unusually open about his life. Fortunately, it's not for annoying, attention-hungry reasons, like so many participants on reality shows, but, more basically, because...
- 3/15/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Debbie Lum Image from “Seeking Asian Female.”
Five years ago, Debbie Lum set out to investigate a phenomenon that she says has “haunted” her — and some other Asian women — her entire life.
“I’m talking about yellow fever!” she says. “If you’re Asian, you know exactly what I mean. It’s Asian American Issues 101.”
If you’re not Asian, what Lum is referring to is the targeted attraction that some non-Asian men have toward Asian women — an obsession, in some cases,...
Five years ago, Debbie Lum set out to investigate a phenomenon that she says has “haunted” her — and some other Asian women — her entire life.
“I’m talking about yellow fever!” she says. “If you’re Asian, you know exactly what I mean. It’s Asian American Issues 101.”
If you’re not Asian, what Lum is referring to is the targeted attraction that some non-Asian men have toward Asian women — an obsession, in some cases,...
- 3/12/2012
- by Jeff Yang
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
During her childhood in St. Louis, Debbie Lum lived behind one of the largest single screen movie theaters in town. She saw the blockbusters like "Star Wars" and "E.T.," but especially remembers the disappointment she felt after seeing "Sixteen Candles" with its foreign exchange student character Long Duk Dong. Lum has since set out to make films that better represent Chinese culture. She's bringing her documentary "Seeking Asian Female" to the South by Southwest Film Festival. What It's About: Two strangers, an aging American man obsessed with Asian women and a young woman from China half his age, meet online and become engaged. This intimate and quirky personal documentary is told from the director's Pov as a Chinese American woman who always wanted to know why so many Western men are obsessed with Asian women. As Lum films the two attempting to build a marriage from scratch in California, she become their translator and.
- 3/3/2012
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
- 2/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
- 2/1/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.
- 2/1/2012
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
SXSW has announced their complete 2012 feature film slate. Over 90 films will screen across the festival’s ten categories, including the already announced opening night premiere of Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and a special preview screening of Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls.
New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.
On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...
New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.
On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...
- 2/1/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Want to help a fellow filmmaker out? San Francisco-based filmmaker Debbie Lum will be at the Mandarin House Restaurant in Overland this Friday, September 24 for a fundraiser that includes a 10 course banquet, a silent auction, live music, and a preview and discussion of her upcoming documentary "Seeking Asian Female", which is slated for release in 2011.The fundraiser is to help Lum match her $30,000 grant from the California Council for the Humanities so she can finish the film. Dinner begins at 6:30 Pm and the screening starts at 8:30 Pm. ...
- 9/19/2010
- by katiecarter4208
- Examiner Movies Channel
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