The new season of Sound! Euphonium is upon us; and to celebrate, watch maker Seiko is teaming up with the beloved series to release a pair of stylish new timepieces inspired by the characters' iconic uniforms. Kitauji High School's summer and winter uniforms inspire these limited-edition watches. The Summer Model is a pale sky blue with a metal band, while the Winter Model is a deep brown with a matching leather band. Both models feature accents of musical instruments, notes, and the school's initial: Related: Sound! Euphonium Anime Travels Through the Year in Season 3 Creditless Opening, Ending Each model is limited to 2,000 pieces, and the back casing is engraved with the show's logo and each watch's number in the series. Watches arrive in a collector's box with the new season's key art on the inside lid. Related: Sound! Euphonium Season 3 TV Anime Enters the Stage With First Creditless Opening Watches...
- 4/28/2024
- Crunchyroll
Alongside the broadcast of the second episode of Kyoto Animation’s Sound! Euphonium third season today, the anime studio once again brought the magic by releasing the series creditless opening and ending videos on their YouTube channel. Opening - “ReCoda” by True Ending - “Onshoku no Kanata” by Kitauji Quartet Related: Sound! Euphonium Season 3 TV Anime Enters the Stage With First Creditless Opening For the third season , Sound! Euphonium will broadcast on Japan’s public broadcaster Nhk-e from April 7 with Crunchyroll streaming the series shortly after its Japanese broadcast. The staff and cast from the latest Ova return for the third season with Tatsuya Ishihara directing at Kyoto Animation. All the series and films are streaming on Crunchyroll, which describes the series as such: Spring in the first year of high school. Kumiko, a member of the brass band in junior high school, visits the high school brass band club with classmates Hazuki and Sapphire.
- 4/14/2024
- by Daryl Harding
- Crunchyroll
Houses around the world are once again being filled with the sweet sound of music produced at North Uji High with the third season of Kyoto Animation’s Sound! Euphonium premiered last weekend. Ahead of the second episode this weekend, Kyoto Animation released the creditless opening video for the first episode of the series, featuring the popular Japanese orchestral piece “Disco Kid.” Related: Sound! Euphonium Season 3 TV Anime Preps for Next Performance in New Trailer For the third season, Sound! Euphonium will broadcast on Japan’s public broadcaster Nhk-e from April 7 with Crunchyroll streaming the series shortly after its Japanese broadcast. The staff and cast from the latest Ova return for the third season with Tatsuya Ishihara directing at Kyoto Animation. All the series and films are streaming on Crunchyroll, which describes the series as such: Spring in the first year of high school. Kumiko, a member of the brass band in junior high school,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Daryl Harding
- Crunchyroll
Shojo anime don’t always get the same visibility as shonen, so when studios announced reboots of beloved classics like Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You and long-overdue adaptations of popular shojo manga like A Sign of Affection , shojo fans like myself no longer felt like we were inside an echo chamber. Lately, it feels like the industry is finally acknowledging the demand for women-targeted content. Seeing an influx of shojo anime adapted from newer manga and light novels in the last year has been a treat. We’re already off to a strong start in 2024 with A Sign of Affection and The Demon Prince of Momochi House , so witnessing what’s been dubbed in the community as “The Shojo Renaissance” fills me with excitement for what else may follow after these shows’ success. As we celebrate our wins, we should look back at the beginning and understand why...
- 3/29/2024
- by Deanna Nguyen
- Crunchyroll
Kumiko and the rest of the Kitauji High School Concert Band return in less than a month in the third season of Kyoto Animation’s hit anime series Sound! Euphonium . The series celebrated its return tonight at AnimeJapan 2024 with a new trailer for the upcoming season following the floof in her third year. The trailer previews the opening theme song “ReCoda” by True. Related: Sound! Euphonium Season 3 TV Anime Shares New Key Visual, Casts Four First-Year Students For the third season, Sound! Euphonium will broadcast on Japan’s public broadcaster Nhk-e from April 7 with Crunchyroll streaming the series shortly after its Japanese broadcast. The staff and cast from the latest Ova return for the third season with Tatsuya Ishihara directing at Kyoto Animation. All the series and films are streaming on Crunchyroll, which describes the series as such: Spring in the first year of high school. Kumiko, a member of...
- 3/23/2024
- by Daryl Harding
- Crunchyroll
From Sabrina’s Magical World, Bloody Disgusting has learned this afternoon that Archie Comics will be releasing brand new one-shot comic The Wicked Trinity this coming June.
You’ll be able to meet The Wicked Trinity in the 32-page comic on June 12, 2024.
In The Wicked Trinity, “Sabrina’s magical nemesis Amber Nightstone and her sidekicks, Jade Kazane and Sapphire Gill, are intent on becoming the most powerful witches in the world. Isolated from so many around them, the three have formed a coven based on their individual needs for vengeance and true freedom.
“But when there is some dissent among the ranks, their small coven is threatened to be obliterated from within.”
The Wicked Trinity features a script by Sam Maggs, art by Lisa Sterle, colors by Ellie Wright, letters by Jack Morelli, main cover by Lisa Sterle, and variant cover by Soo Lee.
Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L.
You’ll be able to meet The Wicked Trinity in the 32-page comic on June 12, 2024.
In The Wicked Trinity, “Sabrina’s magical nemesis Amber Nightstone and her sidekicks, Jade Kazane and Sapphire Gill, are intent on becoming the most powerful witches in the world. Isolated from so many around them, the three have formed a coven based on their individual needs for vengeance and true freedom.
“But when there is some dissent among the ranks, their small coven is threatened to be obliterated from within.”
The Wicked Trinity features a script by Sam Maggs, art by Lisa Sterle, colors by Ellie Wright, letters by Jack Morelli, main cover by Lisa Sterle, and variant cover by Soo Lee.
Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L.
- 3/19/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
As we found out late last year, the band is getting back together for a third season of Sound! Euphonium is on the way. Today we get a glimpse of Kumiko's return in a new character trailer, as well as a solid release date for the new season. Check out Kumiko's vertically-aligned character video: Related: Sound! Euphonium’s Song Continues in 1st Season 3 Trailer New character trailers will be debuting every weekend leading up to the new season's premiere—which we now know is April 7 . But fans in Japan have a chance to see a special edited version of the first two episodes next month. Screenings will be held March 16th at Tokyo's Shinjuku Piccadilly and March 17 at Movix Kyoto. Related: Sound! Euphonium Anime Reveals New Season 3 Visual Alongside Mayu’s Voice Actor The Sound! Euphonium anime is directed by Tatsuya Ishihara at Kyoto Animation with Naoko Yamada chief directing...
- 2/3/2024
- by Kara Dennison
- Crunchyroll
“Mamma Mia!” star Dominic Cooper has joined the second season of U.K. police drama “Suspect.”
Fronted by Anne-Marie Duff (“Bad Sisters”), “Suspect” tells the story of bereaved psychotherapist Dr Susannah Newman (Duff) as she tries to track down a serial killer before he strikes again. The Channel 4 show is an adaptation of Danish series Forhøret (“Face to Face”) created by Christoffer Boe.
Cooper joins as a mysterious new client, Jon Fallow, who claims under hypnosis to be a murderer. When he reveals his plan to kill again, Susannah knows he must be stopped. Before the police arrive Jon escapes and Susannah sets out on a deadly mission to save his next victim’s life.
“I’m so pleased to be returning to ‘Suspect’ to be able to dig deeper into the character of Dr Susannah Newman,” said Duff. “Expect lots of twists, turns and revelations alongside more questions to be answered.
Fronted by Anne-Marie Duff (“Bad Sisters”), “Suspect” tells the story of bereaved psychotherapist Dr Susannah Newman (Duff) as she tries to track down a serial killer before he strikes again. The Channel 4 show is an adaptation of Danish series Forhøret (“Face to Face”) created by Christoffer Boe.
Cooper joins as a mysterious new client, Jon Fallow, who claims under hypnosis to be a murderer. When he reveals his plan to kill again, Susannah knows he must be stopped. Before the police arrive Jon escapes and Susannah sets out on a deadly mission to save his next victim’s life.
“I’m so pleased to be returning to ‘Suspect’ to be able to dig deeper into the character of Dr Susannah Newman,” said Duff. “Expect lots of twists, turns and revelations alongside more questions to be answered.
- 11/15/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
In the upcoming episode of “The Ghost Town Terror,” airing on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at 9:00 Pm on Travel, the ghost-hunting team faces a critical juncture. In “Prey,” tensions run high as the team confronts a challenging decision. Tim and Scott believe it’s necessary to summon a demon, a choice that Sarah and Sapphire vehemently oppose.
This division within the team threatens to tear them apart, but a startling revelation changes everything. The demon-summoning experiment exposes a new, ominous threat directly linked to Karen. Now, the team must put their differences aside and unite to combat the encroaching darkness that threatens them all.
“The Ghost Town Terror” promises an episode filled with suspense and supernatural intrigue. Viewers can anticipate a riveting showdown as the team grapples with their internal conflicts and the external forces that seek to prey on their vulnerabilities. Don’t miss “Prey” as the team faces their...
This division within the team threatens to tear them apart, but a startling revelation changes everything. The demon-summoning experiment exposes a new, ominous threat directly linked to Karen. Now, the team must put their differences aside and unite to combat the encroaching darkness that threatens them all.
“The Ghost Town Terror” promises an episode filled with suspense and supernatural intrigue. Viewers can anticipate a riveting showdown as the team grapples with their internal conflicts and the external forces that seek to prey on their vulnerabilities. Don’t miss “Prey” as the team faces their...
- 10/19/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
On Thursday, October 12, 2023, Travel Channel takes viewers on another spine-tingling adventure with “The Ghost Town Terror” in its Season 2 Episode 3, titled “I Am the Darkness.”
In this episode, paranormal investigators Tim and Sapphire are joined by Scott Di Lalla as they dive into the eerie mysteries of the Broussard family’s past. Using hypnosis, they attempt to unearth long-buried secrets, but their efforts are hindered by a sinister spirit attachment, adding a layer of tension to their exploration.
Frustrated by the challenges they face, the team decides to confront the darkness head-on by venturing into two abandoned hospitals. As they navigate these desolate and haunted locations, they hope to uncover more clues and encounters that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
Join them at 9:00 Pm on Travel Channel for an episode filled with suspense, as they delve deeper into the enigmatic world of the supernatural in “The Ghost Town Terror.
In this episode, paranormal investigators Tim and Sapphire are joined by Scott Di Lalla as they dive into the eerie mysteries of the Broussard family’s past. Using hypnosis, they attempt to unearth long-buried secrets, but their efforts are hindered by a sinister spirit attachment, adding a layer of tension to their exploration.
Frustrated by the challenges they face, the team decides to confront the darkness head-on by venturing into two abandoned hospitals. As they navigate these desolate and haunted locations, they hope to uncover more clues and encounters that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
Join them at 9:00 Pm on Travel Channel for an episode filled with suspense, as they delve deeper into the enigmatic world of the supernatural in “The Ghost Town Terror.
- 10/5/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Travel Channel’s “The Ghost Town Terror” is back with its second episode of the season, titled “A Debt to be Paid,” airing on Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 9:00 Pm.
In this spine-tingling episode, paranormal investigators Sarah Lemos and Sapphire delve into the mysteries surrounding a desolate ghost town. Sarah starts by experiencing eerie visions related to a nearby cave, hinting at a dark secret hidden within.
Meanwhile, Sapphire uncovers a grim connection between the town and a tragic suicide that raises more questions than answers. The team’s mission takes an emotional turn when they encounter Karen, a resident haunted by her traumatic past.
A significant breakthrough occurs when a ring reveals a deceptive spirit with a sinister agenda, leaving the investigators racing against time to sever Karen from her traumatic history.
Prepare for a night of chilling discoveries and intense paranormal investigations as “The Ghost Town Terror” continues its journey into the unknown.
In this spine-tingling episode, paranormal investigators Sarah Lemos and Sapphire delve into the mysteries surrounding a desolate ghost town. Sarah starts by experiencing eerie visions related to a nearby cave, hinting at a dark secret hidden within.
Meanwhile, Sapphire uncovers a grim connection between the town and a tragic suicide that raises more questions than answers. The team’s mission takes an emotional turn when they encounter Karen, a resident haunted by her traumatic past.
A significant breakthrough occurs when a ring reveals a deceptive spirit with a sinister agenda, leaving the investigators racing against time to sever Karen from her traumatic history.
Prepare for a night of chilling discoveries and intense paranormal investigations as “The Ghost Town Terror” continues its journey into the unknown.
- 9/30/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
On Thursday, September 28, 2023, at 9:00 Pm, Travel Channel will premiere Season 2, Episode 1 of “The Ghost Town Terror” titled “Firestorm.” This episode promises to take viewers on a thrilling journey into the world of paranormal investigation.
In “Firestorm,” Karen, Tim, and Sapphire return to the eerie Gunslinger Gulch to investigate a shocking and mysterious omen – a fire-branded symbol that defies explanation. As Tim bravely descends deeper into an area known as The Pit, seeking answers, he finds himself in a spine-chilling confrontation with a dark nemesis from his past.
The episode is sure to deliver both suspense and revelations about the living and the dead as the team delves into the unknown to uncover the truth behind the ghostly occurrences in Gunslinger Gulch.
Fans of paranormal investigations and mysteries won’t want to miss this intriguing episode of “The Ghost Town Terror.” Tune in to Travel Channel on the specified date...
In “Firestorm,” Karen, Tim, and Sapphire return to the eerie Gunslinger Gulch to investigate a shocking and mysterious omen – a fire-branded symbol that defies explanation. As Tim bravely descends deeper into an area known as The Pit, seeking answers, he finds himself in a spine-chilling confrontation with a dark nemesis from his past.
The episode is sure to deliver both suspense and revelations about the living and the dead as the team delves into the unknown to uncover the truth behind the ghostly occurrences in Gunslinger Gulch.
Fans of paranormal investigations and mysteries won’t want to miss this intriguing episode of “The Ghost Town Terror.” Tune in to Travel Channel on the specified date...
- 9/23/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Travel Channel’s The Ghost Town Terror returns for season two on September 28, 2023 with episodes that find the Broussard family under attack by supernatural entities. New episodes of the six-episode season will air on Thursdays at 9pm Et/Pt.
Travel Channel released the following description of the upcoming season:
“On the outskirts of Anaconda, Montana sits Gunslinger Gulch – a sprawling ghost town and guest ranch. When the Broussard family answered the beckoning call of a new life in Big Sky Country, they soon discovered the ranch offered anything but the serene Montana lifestyle. Instead of peace, menacing supernatural activity plagued the family.
This season, a home chimney fire becomes a catalyst for new, threatening, dark activity, and the paranormal team is called back into action. Paranormal investigator Tim Wood and paranormal researcher Sapphire Sandalo return to Gunslinger Gulch to embark upon a two-fronted war: simultaneously battling sinister energies threatening both...
Travel Channel released the following description of the upcoming season:
“On the outskirts of Anaconda, Montana sits Gunslinger Gulch – a sprawling ghost town and guest ranch. When the Broussard family answered the beckoning call of a new life in Big Sky Country, they soon discovered the ranch offered anything but the serene Montana lifestyle. Instead of peace, menacing supernatural activity plagued the family.
This season, a home chimney fire becomes a catalyst for new, threatening, dark activity, and the paranormal team is called back into action. Paranormal investigator Tim Wood and paranormal researcher Sapphire Sandalo return to Gunslinger Gulch to embark upon a two-fronted war: simultaneously battling sinister energies threatening both...
- 9/19/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Amazon Studios MGM releases the film in theaters on Friday, December 15 with expansion to follow on Friday, December 22.
In “American Fiction,” the comic and tragic go hand in hand. Each moment is layered with meaning, socially, politically, and emotionally. The film, based on the novel “Erasure” by writer and professor Percival Everett, is part satire, part romantic comedy, all combined with thoughtful family drama. With an all-star cast and talented writer at the helm, “American Fiction” is poised to become an audience favorite.
The film tells the story of Thelonious Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), an English professor and unsuccessful author suffering from writer’s block and explosive bouts of rage that alienate him from other people. After making one of his students cry, he’s forced to take a break from teaching and return to Boston to...
In “American Fiction,” the comic and tragic go hand in hand. Each moment is layered with meaning, socially, politically, and emotionally. The film, based on the novel “Erasure” by writer and professor Percival Everett, is part satire, part romantic comedy, all combined with thoughtful family drama. With an all-star cast and talented writer at the helm, “American Fiction” is poised to become an audience favorite.
The film tells the story of Thelonious Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), an English professor and unsuccessful author suffering from writer’s block and explosive bouts of rage that alienate him from other people. After making one of his students cry, he’s forced to take a break from teaching and return to Boston to...
- 9/11/2023
- by Jourdain Searles
- Indiewire
Murder, treachery and political intrigue are the juicy ingredients of Zhang Yimou’s “Full River Red,” an entertaining if overlong mystery-comedy set in the narrow passageways and dark chambers of a Song dynasty military compound in 1146. With a twist-packed plot to match its labyrinthine location, Zhang’s fast-paced film motors along nicely as an engaging “Knives Out”-style whodunnit before stumbling a little in the protracted final act. A Lunar New Year smash hit in China, “Full River Red” will be released on 150 North American screens by specialty distributor Niu Vision Media on March 17.
The biggest commercial success of Zhang’s distinguished 35-year career, “Full River Red” has already grossed a whopping $671 million at home since Jan. 22. The 157-minute blockbuster continues the string of hits he’s delivered since big-budget international co-production misfire “The Great Wall” in 2016. Much less ornately decorated and colorfully photographed than Zhang’s famous wuxia epics...
The biggest commercial success of Zhang’s distinguished 35-year career, “Full River Red” has already grossed a whopping $671 million at home since Jan. 22. The 157-minute blockbuster continues the string of hits he’s delivered since big-budget international co-production misfire “The Great Wall” in 2016. Much less ornately decorated and colorfully photographed than Zhang’s famous wuxia epics...
- 3/14/2023
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
C.J. Cooke’s The Lighthouse Witches, released by Penguin Random House in 2021, is next becoming a TV series from Studiocanal and The Picture Company, and Deadline reports today that Vera Miao (“Two Sentence Horror Stories”) has come on board as showrunner.
Here’s the full plot synopsis for The Lighthouse Witches…
“The book follows young mother Liv and her three daughters who arrive on a mysterious Scottish island to run a decrepit lighthouse.
“When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge.
Here’s the full plot synopsis for The Lighthouse Witches…
“The book follows young mother Liv and her three daughters who arrive on a mysterious Scottish island to run a decrepit lighthouse.
“When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge.
- 2/2/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Exclusive: The series adaptation of C.J. Cooke’s supernatural family novel The Lighthouse Witches has moved a step closer to fruition after Two Sentence Horror Stories creator Vera Miao boarded the project.
Miao, who created The CW drama series, which ran for three seasons, will create and serve as showrunner on the series, which comes from The Picture Company and Studiocanal.
It is the latest television project for The Picture Company, which is behind feature films including Gunpowder Milkshake and Sam Taylor-Johnson’s A Million Little Pieces. The company is also working with Studiocanal and Entertainment 360 on a scripted series adaptation of art documentary The Lost Leonardo.
Published in 2021 by Penguin Random House, the book follows young mother Liv and her three daughters who arrive on a mysterious Scottish island to run a decrepit lighthouse.
When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island,...
Miao, who created The CW drama series, which ran for three seasons, will create and serve as showrunner on the series, which comes from The Picture Company and Studiocanal.
It is the latest television project for The Picture Company, which is behind feature films including Gunpowder Milkshake and Sam Taylor-Johnson’s A Million Little Pieces. The company is also working with Studiocanal and Entertainment 360 on a scripted series adaptation of art documentary The Lost Leonardo.
Published in 2021 by Penguin Random House, the book follows young mother Liv and her three daughters who arrive on a mysterious Scottish island to run a decrepit lighthouse.
When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island,...
- 2/2/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The FBI is reportedly in contact with a disabled veteran who alleges that Rep. George Santos (R-n.Y.) took more than 3,000 in funds raised to pay for his dog’s surgery.
According to Politico, federal authorities are now probing Santos’ involvement in the alleged GoFundMe scheme, which allegedly defrauded disabled Navy veteran Richard Osthoff from money collected for treatment for his service dog Sapphire. Osthoff claimed to Politico that two FBI agents contacted him on behalf of the Eastern District of New York’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I...
According to Politico, federal authorities are now probing Santos’ involvement in the alleged GoFundMe scheme, which allegedly defrauded disabled Navy veteran Richard Osthoff from money collected for treatment for his service dog Sapphire. Osthoff claimed to Politico that two FBI agents contacted him on behalf of the Eastern District of New York’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I...
- 2/2/2023
- by Tomás Mier and Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Writer/director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical 2000 film "Almost Famous" captures the magical allure of the music industry, complete with the diehard artists and fans who dedicate their lives to it. Kate Hudson stars in the movie as Penny Lane, a young blonde woman who bewitches the up-and-coming band Stillwater, along with the wide-eyed, impressionable young reporter covering their journey (Patrick Fugit's William Miller), while the band is on tour in 1973. In the film, she explains that she isn't a groupie. Lane clarifies, "Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We are here because of the music, we inspire the music. We are band-aides."
The traditionally judgmental perspective of what a groupie entails is explored through Lane's passion for the music, freedom of living on the road, and learning to love without commitment despite still facing heartbreak. She's a complicated character with complicated beliefs,...
The traditionally judgmental perspective of what a groupie entails is explored through Lane's passion for the music, freedom of living on the road, and learning to love without commitment despite still facing heartbreak. She's a complicated character with complicated beliefs,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Marisa Mirabal
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Tyler Perry might be a first-time writer-director at Toronto, presenting his film A Jazzman’s Blues on Sunday before it hits Netflix on Sept. 23, but he’s no TIFF newbie. Thirteen years ago, Perry attended the fest with Precious, on which he and Oprah Winfrey served as executive producers.
Directed by Lee Daniels and starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, Precious was based on Sapphire’s novel Push about a 16-year-old (Sidibe) who is twice impregnated by her father and seeks a fresh start at a new school. The film first screened at Sundance, where it won the audience award and grand jury prize for drama, plus a special jury prize for Mo’Nique as Precious’ abusive mother. Lionsgate execs called Perry from Park City to ask him to board as a producer.
“They brought it to me and...
Tyler Perry might be a first-time writer-director at Toronto, presenting his film A Jazzman’s Blues on Sunday before it hits Netflix on Sept. 23, but he’s no TIFF newbie. Thirteen years ago, Perry attended the fest with Precious, on which he and Oprah Winfrey served as executive producers.
Directed by Lee Daniels and starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, Precious was based on Sapphire’s novel Push about a 16-year-old (Sidibe) who is twice impregnated by her father and seeks a fresh start at a new school. The film first screened at Sundance, where it won the audience award and grand jury prize for drama, plus a special jury prize for Mo’Nique as Precious’ abusive mother. Lionsgate execs called Perry from Park City to ask him to board as a producer.
“They brought it to me and...
- 9/11/2022
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Naomie Lapointe didn’t even have to dress up as Eddie for the anti-Eddie Munson wave currently sweeping TikTok to find her account. The 24-year-old thought it would be fun to post clips of a Stranger Things meetup that recently took place at a Chicago comic expo. Her cosplay was of Steve Harrington, the fan-favorite babysitter — complete with a denim vest, masculine makeup, full chest bind, and an Upside Down level of blood and gore. She appeared in multiple clips singing and dancing alongside a crowd of Eddies.
Less than...
Less than...
- 8/30/2022
- by CT Jones
- Rollingstone.com
It's a wonderful week for diversity! In the festival world, at least. The American and International Dramatic Competition lineup for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival was announced and it includes narratives representing people of all kinds from all over the world. This year's lineup also features exciting film directorial debuts from familiar (Idris Elba! Paul Dano!) and new visionaries.
In the past, major films like Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and this year's awards darling Call Me By Your Name premiered under this category. Check out this year's contenders to gauge who critics and audiences will still be talking about months after the festival's run.
In the past, major films like Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and this year's awards darling Call Me By Your Name premiered under this category. Check out this year's contenders to gauge who critics and audiences will still be talking about months after the festival's run.
- 12/1/2017
- by Ilich Mejia
- FilmExperience
Lee Daniels’ show “Empire,” about the drama among the members of a hip hop mogul’s family as they fight for control of the company, has found a large audience ever since its premiere in 2015. Soon, his new show “Star” will premiere on Fox, and in honor of the new series, the New York Times has run a profile of the producer and director. In it, he expresses his negative opinion about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy over representation and diversity at the Academy Awards.
Read More: ‘Star’ Review: Lee Daniels Descends Into Poverty Porn With ‘Empire’ Follow-Up (Spoilers)
“Go out and do the work,” he says. “Oscars so white! So what? Do your work. Let your legacy speak and stop complaining, man. Are we really in this for the awards?”
“If I had thought that way — that the world was against me — I wouldn’t be here now,” he continues. “These...
Read More: ‘Star’ Review: Lee Daniels Descends Into Poverty Porn With ‘Empire’ Follow-Up (Spoilers)
“Go out and do the work,” he says. “Oscars so white! So what? Do your work. Let your legacy speak and stop complaining, man. Are we really in this for the awards?”
“If I had thought that way — that the world was against me — I wouldn’t be here now,” he continues. “These...
- 12/29/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Sundance Film Festival just gave attendees 68 new reasons to look forward to the January event with the announcement of their short films program that features several titles for genre fans to keep an eye on, including the creature short feature Kaiju Bunraku, the suburban satanic cult-centric Fucking Bunnies, and the post-apocalyptic Dawn of the Deaf.
We have the official press release below with full details, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival.
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Sixty-eight short films, announced today, will complement the lineup of longer fare at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The short film slate aligns thematically with other Festival categories, including Midnight and The New Climate, the Festival’s new programming strand highlighting climate change and the environment. The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort January 19-29.
The Institute’s support for...
We have the official press release below with full details, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival.
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Sixty-eight short films, announced today, will complement the lineup of longer fare at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The short film slate aligns thematically with other Festival categories, including Midnight and The New Climate, the Festival’s new programming strand highlighting climate change and the environment. The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort January 19-29.
The Institute’s support for...
- 12/6/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Organisers have announced the second round of featured speakers at the festival in Austin, Texas.
Daniels is best known for The Butler, Precious: Based On The Novel By Sapphire and the hit TV series Empire. His new television series, Star, will premiere on Fox early next year.
Featured speakers include Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, academic Kate Crawford, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford and car technology expert and journalist Doug Newcomb, author Peggy Orenstein, music supervisor Randall Poster and businessman and engineer Vivek Ranadivé.
The Featured session, Product Mavericks: Top Tips from Women Who Build, will give audiences a chance to hear from Merci Grace, who leads the growth team at Slack, Hillary For America Cto Stephanie Hannon, Lyft vp of product Tali Rapaport, and director of product at Facebook, Fidji Simo.
“The SXSW Conference is designed to give creatives the tools they need to achieve their goals, and what better way than bringing together a diverse...
Daniels is best known for The Butler, Precious: Based On The Novel By Sapphire and the hit TV series Empire. His new television series, Star, will premiere on Fox early next year.
Featured speakers include Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, academic Kate Crawford, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford and car technology expert and journalist Doug Newcomb, author Peggy Orenstein, music supervisor Randall Poster and businessman and engineer Vivek Ranadivé.
The Featured session, Product Mavericks: Top Tips from Women Who Build, will give audiences a chance to hear from Merci Grace, who leads the growth team at Slack, Hillary For America Cto Stephanie Hannon, Lyft vp of product Tali Rapaport, and director of product at Facebook, Fidji Simo.
“The SXSW Conference is designed to give creatives the tools they need to achieve their goals, and what better way than bringing together a diverse...
- 9/6/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Today, South by Southwest has announced its second wave of Keynote and Featured speakers for its 2017 event. The Film Keynote this year is Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels, best known for his films “Precious,” “The Butler,” and the hit Fox TV series “Empire.” The two other previously announced Keynote speakers are Jill Soloway, creator of Amazon series “Transparent,” and Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of Crispr-Cas9, a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes.
Read More: South By Southwest Announces Select Speakers For 2017
“We are particularly excited about Lee Daniels as Film Keynote for his unparalleled talent, passion, continued experimentation, and career evolution,” says Janet Pierson, Head of Film. “He’s been the driving force behind so much extraordinary work in a number of ways. His artistic leaps and risk-taking are exactly what we love to celebrate at SXSW.”
The other 2017 Featured speakers are from many fields, including tech, music, film, television, business, and journalism.
Read More: South By Southwest Announces Select Speakers For 2017
“We are particularly excited about Lee Daniels as Film Keynote for his unparalleled talent, passion, continued experimentation, and career evolution,” says Janet Pierson, Head of Film. “He’s been the driving force behind so much extraordinary work in a number of ways. His artistic leaps and risk-taking are exactly what we love to celebrate at SXSW.”
The other 2017 Featured speakers are from many fields, including tech, music, film, television, business, and journalism.
- 9/6/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Sundance Institute has revealed over 70 short films to premiere at Sundance 2016 Film Festival, which begins on January 21st. Also: details on Double Take's free Ultimate Night of the Living Dead comic, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 livestream, Fright Rags' holiday horror sweaters, and Voices from the Grave release details.
Sundance 2016's Midnight Shorts: Press Release: "Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today its full lineup of 72 short films that will leave a lasting impact on audiences long after the lights go up at their screenings at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Sundance and Ogden, Utah. Among the short films the Festival has shown in recent years are World of Tomorrow, Whiplash, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom and Fishing Without Nets. This year’s short film lineup will include both a Midnight and a New Frontier section, tying into the Festival’s other programmatic strands.
Sundance 2016's Midnight Shorts: Press Release: "Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today its full lineup of 72 short films that will leave a lasting impact on audiences long after the lights go up at their screenings at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Sundance and Ogden, Utah. Among the short films the Festival has shown in recent years are World of Tomorrow, Whiplash, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom and Fishing Without Nets. This year’s short film lineup will include both a Midnight and a New Frontier section, tying into the Festival’s other programmatic strands.
- 12/9/2015
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
This January, Sundance Film Festival attendees will have the chance to witness the mania of Murder World, as the festival announced today that Rob Zombie's Halloween-set horror film 31 will be part of its special Midnight section, along with Kevin Smith's Yoga Hosers, The Greasy Strangler, and more.
To celebrate the Sundance screening announcement, a new image from 31 has been released, along with a video of Rob Zombie's on-the-go reaction to the news. For more details, we have the official press release:
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Adrenaline junkies and genre film-lovers know the real fun at the Sundance Film Festival starts at midnight. Sundance Institute tonight offers a first look at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival by announcing the nine feature films that will screen in its iconic Midnight section, which has launched films including The Blair Witch Project, Saw, Super Troopers, The Babadook, Black Dynamite, What We Do In The Shadows,...
To celebrate the Sundance screening announcement, a new image from 31 has been released, along with a video of Rob Zombie's on-the-go reaction to the news. For more details, we have the official press release:
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Adrenaline junkies and genre film-lovers know the real fun at the Sundance Film Festival starts at midnight. Sundance Institute tonight offers a first look at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival by announcing the nine feature films that will screen in its iconic Midnight section, which has launched films including The Blair Witch Project, Saw, Super Troopers, The Babadook, Black Dynamite, What We Do In The Shadows,...
- 11/23/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Update: Borys Kit from The Hollywood Reporter says Carey will actually be playing the mayor of Gotham City, not Commissioner Gordon as Deadline originally reported. Bummer. That makes things considerably less interesting. Oh well. Original article follows.
This just in: Mariah Carey is Not playing Commissioner Gordon but rather Gotham's mayor.
— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) November 9, 2015
If that headline [formerly "Mariah Carey to Play Commissioner Gordon in The Lego Batman Movie...Wait, What?"] has you scratching your head, you aren't the only one. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is in talks with Mariah Carey to provide the voice for Commissioner Gordon in The Lego Batman Movie. No word on whether she'll sing in the film or not, but it seems unlikely that they'd cast her just for her speaking voice alone; this could be one of the most interesting interpretations of a Batman character in history.
Carey has acted before, notably in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Lee Daniels' The Butler,...
This just in: Mariah Carey is Not playing Commissioner Gordon but rather Gotham's mayor.
— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) November 9, 2015
If that headline [formerly "Mariah Carey to Play Commissioner Gordon in The Lego Batman Movie...Wait, What?"] has you scratching your head, you aren't the only one. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is in talks with Mariah Carey to provide the voice for Commissioner Gordon in The Lego Batman Movie. No word on whether she'll sing in the film or not, but it seems unlikely that they'd cast her just for her speaking voice alone; this could be one of the most interesting interpretations of a Batman character in history.
Carey has acted before, notably in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Lee Daniels' The Butler,...
- 11/9/2015
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
Movies that slip under the radar are nothing new. Just last year the press thought so little of "Still Alice" that only HitFix and the entertainment trades were on hand to review its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. We all know how silly that must have seemed when Julianne Moore was taking home Oscar gold five months later. In 2009 "Precious" (then known as "Push: A Novel by Sapphire") debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to an rapturous audience filled with few members of the media because some "other" film was the hot ticket at the same time (a movie that was so hot no one remembers what it was now). "Precious" starred Mariah Carey and Mo'Nique. How good could it be? Well, quite amazing it turns out. While there will no doubt be a surprise or two amongst the deluge of new films screening at Venice,...
- 7/30/2015
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
-Michael Arceneaux
Sadly, we have reached the end of Empire’s highly entertaining and historic first season. While I know what I’ll be doing in its seasonal break to at least try to fill the void in my life – talking to Black aunties at various fish fry spots in Harlem, men with Lucious Lyon styled conks on the street, and ignoring the people emailing me their mixtapes – I am already envisioning how I would like season two to go. It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday, which means I hope Fox decides go through with plans to bring the show back in the fall as opposed to making me wait until January 2016. I don’t feel like waiting that long. Here’s what needs to happen next season:
Oprah has to play a fledgling R&B Diva
No, not like some of the people you’ve never...
Sadly, we have reached the end of Empire’s highly entertaining and historic first season. While I know what I’ll be doing in its seasonal break to at least try to fill the void in my life – talking to Black aunties at various fish fry spots in Harlem, men with Lucious Lyon styled conks on the street, and ignoring the people emailing me their mixtapes – I am already envisioning how I would like season two to go. It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday, which means I hope Fox decides go through with plans to bring the show back in the fall as opposed to making me wait until January 2016. I don’t feel like waiting that long. Here’s what needs to happen next season:
Oprah has to play a fledgling R&B Diva
No, not like some of the people you’ve never...
- 3/19/2015
- by VH1
- VH1.com
-Michael Arceneaux
Sadly, we have reached the end of Empire’s highly entertaining and historic first season. While I know what I’ll be doing in its seasonal break to at least try to fill the void in my life – talking to Black aunties at various fish fry spots in Harlem, men with Lucious Lyon styled conks on the street, and ignoring the people emailing me their mixtapes – I am already envisioning how I would like season two to go. It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday, which means I hope Fox decides go through with plans to bring the show back in the fall as opposed to making me wait until January 2016. I don’t feel like waiting that long. Here’s what needs to happen next season:
Oprah has to play a fledgling R&B Diva
No, not like some of the people you’ve never...
Sadly, we have reached the end of Empire’s highly entertaining and historic first season. While I know what I’ll be doing in its seasonal break to at least try to fill the void in my life – talking to Black aunties at various fish fry spots in Harlem, men with Lucious Lyon styled conks on the street, and ignoring the people emailing me their mixtapes – I am already envisioning how I would like season two to go. It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday, which means I hope Fox decides go through with plans to bring the show back in the fall as opposed to making me wait until January 2016. I don’t feel like waiting that long. Here’s what needs to happen next season:
Oprah has to play a fledgling R&B Diva
No, not like some of the people you’ve never...
- 3/19/2015
- by VH1
- TheFabLife - Movies
When Mo'Nique accepted the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2010 for her performance in Lee Daniels' "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," she opened with a pointed remark. "I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics," she said. Well, according to Daniels anyway, that might have been giving them too much credit. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress reveals that Daniels told her recently she had been "blackballed" by the industry as a result of not playing the "game." As in, Mo'Nique refused to be a circus act on the circuit, turning down a number of opportunities to campaign for the performance and for the film, and she ruffled a lot of feathers as a result. "Mo'Nique is a creative force to be reckoned with," Daniels said in a statement to the outlet.
- 2/19/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Only one of this year’s adapted screenplay nominees isn’t adapted from a book, and that’s Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, which is adapted from his short film of the same name that took home the jury prize for short film from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The other four adaptations all come from books, three non-fiction and one fiction.
American Sniper is based on Chris Kyle’s (portrayed in the film by Bradley Cooper) autobiography of the same name, which he wrote with Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice.
The Imitation Game is adapted from Alan Turing: The Enigma, written by Andrew Hodges, a mathematician and author. Turing is played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film.
Adapted from Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking by Jane Hawking, The Theory of Everything explores Stephen Hawking’s relationship with his ex-wife. The couple is played...
Managing Editor
Only one of this year’s adapted screenplay nominees isn’t adapted from a book, and that’s Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, which is adapted from his short film of the same name that took home the jury prize for short film from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The other four adaptations all come from books, three non-fiction and one fiction.
American Sniper is based on Chris Kyle’s (portrayed in the film by Bradley Cooper) autobiography of the same name, which he wrote with Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice.
The Imitation Game is adapted from Alan Turing: The Enigma, written by Andrew Hodges, a mathematician and author. Turing is played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film.
Adapted from Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking by Jane Hawking, The Theory of Everything explores Stephen Hawking’s relationship with his ex-wife. The couple is played...
- 1/28/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
The HBO movie “The Normal Heart” will receive the 2015 Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America, the PGA announced on Friday.
The film, directed by Ryan Murphy and produced by Scott Ferguson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Jason Blum, Dede Gardner, Dante Di Loreto, Ryan Murphy and Brad Pitt, was based on Larry Kramer’s play chronicling the early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York City.
Also read: Why Mark Ruffalo Didn’t Want to Play Larry Kramer in ‘The Normal Heart’ at First
The Stanley Kramer Award was established by the PGA in 2002 to honor films or...
The film, directed by Ryan Murphy and produced by Scott Ferguson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Jason Blum, Dede Gardner, Dante Di Loreto, Ryan Murphy and Brad Pitt, was based on Larry Kramer’s play chronicling the early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York City.
Also read: Why Mark Ruffalo Didn’t Want to Play Larry Kramer in ‘The Normal Heart’ at First
The Stanley Kramer Award was established by the PGA in 2002 to honor films or...
- 12/19/2014
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival has been slowly unveiling the films that will screen in Park City, Ut from January 22-February 1. We’ve already listed the midnight line up as well as the list of films in competition. Now, the Premieres have been revealed and the event is looking more and more promising. The entire slate include films directed by Noah Baumbach, James Ponsoldt, Paul Weitz, Jared Hess, Joe Swanberg, Charles Stone III and others. Here is the full list.
Premieres
A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.
Brooklyn / United Kingdom (Director: John Crowley, Screenwriter: Nick Hornby, based on the book by Colm Tóibín) — 1950s Ireland: Eilis must confront a terrible dilemma — a heartbreaking choice between two men and two countries, between duty and true love. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent.
Digging for Fire / U.
Premieres
A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.
Brooklyn / United Kingdom (Director: John Crowley, Screenwriter: Nick Hornby, based on the book by Colm Tóibín) — 1950s Ireland: Eilis must confront a terrible dilemma — a heartbreaking choice between two men and two countries, between duty and true love. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent.
Digging for Fire / U.
- 12/9/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
John Nein was not always a Senior Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival — it’s only been eight years. When he began at Sundance in 2002 he was always watching movies of course. More than that, like John Cooper said, he just didn’t shut up when he was in the room; he was opinionated and spoke his opinions. He also always liked international cinema as he was born in Ireland and grew up in The Netherlands, Belgium and London where his father worked for international companies. When he was 12 he came to the U.S.
The programmers at Sundance do not have a strict formal assignment of areas they program; they see all the films of all the sections, but like his father, international was always of great interest. The same is true for myself, although out of the 118 feature films selected out of 4,105 feature length submissions, many of the U.S. films look great to me as well. For instance, I am so happy that Matt Sobel’s “ Take Me To The River ” which won the prize at Us in Progress this past November in Wroclaw, Poland at The American Film Festival is in the Next section.
John: This year on Day One, January 22, 2015, the Festival will feature one of each type of film shown at the Festival: one shorts program, a U.S. documentary, a U.S. dramatic, an international documentary and an international dramatic which will be the first ever Lithuanian film in Competition, a lesbian love story that is stylish and smartly directed by Alanté Kavaïté with two fantastic actors, Julija Steponaitytė and Aistė Diržiūtė. Actually " The Summer of Sangaile” is a coproduction of Lithuania, France, and Holland . I think Alanté lives in France.
There ares 29 countries represented and 45 first-time filmmakers.
Sydney: I know the Chileans love Sundance. Last year Alejandro Fernández Almendras said in our interview about “To Kill a Man” that Sundance is very important for Chile. I am also a longtime fan of Sebastian Silva since “The Maid”. Two years ago he had two films, “Crystal Fairy” and “Magic, Magic” in Sundance, so why is this Chilean film not in World Competition but in Next?
John: I’m glad Alejandro said that. Yes we like Chile too. They make many good films. But “Nasty Baby” by Sebastian Silva is a U.S. film, about people living in Brooklyn.
He lives in U.S. and has spent a lot of time here. He knows Brooklyn and yet his curiosity and his view of it is that of an outsider. He knows these people because he watches and listens so well. “
Sydney: “Bridesmaids” star and co-writer Kristen Wiig stars. A short promo of “Nasty Baby” was shown to buyers while it was in post-production in Cannes and Toronto. The Chilean production company of Juan de Dios Larrain and Pablo Larrain, Fabula, produced “No” as well as Sebastian’s later films. Papi Boye and Violaine Pichon’s production and international sales agent Versatile out of France along with the film’s international sales agent Funny Balloons — also based in France – helped finance this U.S. Production.
John: World Cinema is now 10 years old. Overall, the Competition sections have evolved over the years. We have a sense of emerging directors here. We have come of age.
All our films are of emerging filmmakers. Either first time directors or highly anticipated second or third features. Of all the festivals worldwide, Sundance has the strongest program of emerging talent. Watch these filmmakers over the next years. Like “Homesick” by Anna Sewitsky. Her previous film “Happy, Happy” showed at Sundance in 2011 and took the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. “Happy, Happy” also became the Norwegian Official entry for the Academy Awards® .
Sydney: TrustNordisk sold “Happy, Happy” to more than 50 countries, so they must be poised to sell this one as well.
John: But not all the second and third films are from filmmakers whose first films were at Sundance, although Canada’s “ Chorus” director Francois Delisle showed “The Meteor” at Sundance two years ago.
And “Glassland”, was a very anticipated second film. The first film by director and screenwriter, Gerard Barrett, "Pilgrim Hill” won the Galway Film Festival and was very sought after and was signed with a U.S. agent then. “Sangaile" is also a second feature.
Look at the international films in the Premieres section and you will see some international filmmakers there, like “ Brooklyn” which is an immigrant story directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby whose film “Wild” is now playing .
Sydney: I see from IMDbPro that Hanway has already sold Middle Eastern rights to Front Row Entertainment who must have pre-bought “Brooklyn” in Cannes or Toronto.
John: Of the 12 films in World Cinema the less expected films come from Turkey, “Ivy” by the talented director Tolga Karacelik. This is his second film. His first was “Toll Booth” which Global Initiative distributed in the U.S. The Dp on this was Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter’s Sleep”)’s Dp on “Winter’s Sleep”, Gökhan Tiryaki. It is about guys stuck on a freighter whose company goes bankrupt. Power dynamics play out.
Sydney: Have there been Oscar nominated films in Sundance (Aside from “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”)?
John: Yes, “Man on Wire” was not last year but it was foreign. “Ida” was in Spotlight last year and maybe Sundance increased its visibility. Three others were in Sundance last year:
“To Kill a Man” is Chile’s submission, “Difret” which won the Audience Award is Ethiopia’s submission this year and “Liar’s Dice” from India was in World Competition last year. It is a very artful film. We knew it would do well with the critics, but it did extremely well with the audience too. A couple of films in Spotlight will probably be nominated next year. Watch for them.
Sydney : We haven’t even discussed the World documentaries.
John : Are there any that stand out for you?
Sydney: Yes, “Chuck Norris vs. Communism”, from U.K., Romania and Germany. Chuck Norris?
John: How interesting it is that something like Chuck Norris means something very different to others. It is a sign of cultural differences between us. Chuck Norris shows how independent films built a community of counter culture against an authoritarian government.
Sydney: I also notice that there are six docs from the U.K. Out of 12 films.
John: Yes we noticed and discussed that. U.K. really supports documentary filmmaking. Great work is coming out of the U.K. And many of the films are about different countries, so it doesn’t fit so simply into a U.K. pigeon hole.
Sydney : Yes I see “Chuck Norris” is about Romania, “Dreamcatcher” is about teenage prostitution, “How to Change the World” is about Greenpeace, “Listen to Me Marlon” is about a famous U.S. actor, “The Russian Woodpecker” is about a Ukrainian survivor of Chernobyl.
Thank you John for your insights. I think we have a lot to look at here. Thank you for taking this time to talk with me. See you at Sundance!
For a full list thus far of Sundance films, see below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.
The Bronze / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status.Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. Day One Film
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he's changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the Sat. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
I Smile Back / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, Rj Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Overnight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — Alex, Emily, and their son, Rj, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family "playdate" becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche.
People, Places, Things / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby.
Results / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao) — This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore Hendricks.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith) — A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky.
Unexpected / U.S.A. (Director: Kris Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.
The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Z for Zachariah / U.S.A. (Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
U.S. Documentary Competition
Sixteen world-premiere American documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people, and events that shape the present day.
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan's tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert "Evel" Knievel and his legacy.
Best of Enemies / U.S.A. (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — Best of Enemies is a behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation.
Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
City of Gold / U.S.A. (Director: Laura Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.
Finders Keepers / U.S.A. (Directors: Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be his rightful property.
Hot Girls Wanted / U.S.A. (Directors: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.
How to Dance in Ohio / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12 weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in preparation for the dance.
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A. (Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.
Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Racing Extinction / U.S.A. (Director: Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass extinction. Whether infiltrating notorious black markets or exploring humans' effect on the environment, Racing Extinction will change the way you see the world.
(T)Error / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — (T)Error is the first film to document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds. Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics, and the murky justifications behind them.
Welcome to Leith / U.S.A. (Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.
Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Chlorine / Italy (Director: Lamberto Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) — Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti, Andrea Vergoni. World Premiere
Chorus / Canada (Director and screenwriter: François Delisle) — A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation. Cast: Sébastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre Curzi, Genevieve Bujold. World Premiere
Glassland / Ireland (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley. International Premiere
Homesick / Norway (Director: Anne Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don't know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before?Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad. World Premiere. Isa: TrustNordisk
Ivy / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when the ship's owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş, Seyithan Özdemiroğlu. World Premiere
Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori's idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara. World Premiere
Princess / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz. International Premiere
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother's slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli. World Premiere
Slow West / New Zealand (Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius. World Premiere
Strangerland / Australia, Ireland (Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons) — When Catherine and Matthew Parker's two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple's relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown. World Premiere
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė. World Premiere. Isa: Films Distribution.
Umrika / India (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.
The Amina Profile / Canada (Director: Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World Premiere
Censored Voices / Israel, Germany (Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War, renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the conversations to be published. Censored Voices reveals these recordings for the first time. World Premiere
The Chinese Mayor / China (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city. World Premiere
Chuck Norris vs Communism / United Kingdom, Romania, Germany (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A black market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution. World Premiere. Producers Rep: UTA
Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman's club who decide to take on the elite "sport of kings" and breed themselves a racehorse. World Premiere
Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom (Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. World Premiere
How to Change the World / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. World Premiere. Day One Film
Listen to Me Marlon / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui) — With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in Marlon’s own voice. World Premiere
Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed. International Premiere
The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war. World Premiere
Sembene! / U.S.A., Senegal (Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice. World Premiere
The Visit / Denmark, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Norway (Director: Michael Madsen) — “This film documents an event that has never taken place…” With unprecedented access to the United Nations' Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit explores humans' first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. "Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival." World Premiere
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity promises that the films in this section will shape a “greater” next wave in American cinema. Presented by Adobe.
Bob and the Trees / U.S.A., France (Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere
Christmas, Again / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him. He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift, until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche. North American Premiere
Cronies / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn’t know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski. World Premiere
Entertainment / U.S.A. (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. World Premiere
James White / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O'Hare. World Premiere
The Strongest Man / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes. World Premiere
" Take Me To The River " / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. World Premiere. Producer rep: Cinetic Media
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World Premiere
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
6 Desires: Dh Lawrence and Sardinia / United Kingdom, Italy (Director: Mark Cousins) — In winter 1921, Dh Lawrence and his wife journeyed to Sardinia, and he chronicled their experiences in Sea and Sardinia. Now, Mark Cousins retraces Lawrence’s footsteps. The film is conceived partly as a letter to Lawrence — or “Bert” — a detail that’s typical of the film’s inviting sense of conversational intimacy.International Premiere
'71 / United Kingdom (Director: Yann Demange, Screenwriter: Gregory Burke) — ‘71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Cast: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann.
99 Homes / U.S.A. (Director: Ramin Bahrani, Screenwriters: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi) — A father struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration. Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, Cullen Moss, J.D. Evermore.
Aloft / Spain, France, Canada (Director and screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) — Aloft tells the story of a struggling mother, Nana, and her evolution to becoming a renowned healer. When a young artist tracks down Nana's son 20 years after she abandoned him, she sets in motion an encounter between the two that will bring the meaning of their lives into question. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell. North American Premiere
Eden / France (Director: Mia Hansen-løve, Screenwriters: Mia Hansen-løve, Sven Hansen-løve) — Mia Hansen-løve's electronic-dance-music epic follows the rise and fall of a DJ (based on her brother, Sven, a contemporary of Daft Punk) who gets into the rave scene in 1994 and spends the next 20 years navigating the French club scene. Cast: Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Arsinee Khanjian, Vincent Macaigne.
Girlhood / France (Director and screenwriter: Céline Sciamma) — Oppressed by her family, dead-end school prospects, and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of free-spirited girls. She changes her name and dress, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping to find a way to freedom. Cast: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré, Idrissa Diabaté, Simina Soumaré.
The Tribe / Ukraine (Director and screenwriter: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy) — Set at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, the film’s narrative unfolds purely through sign language without the need for employing subtitles or voiceover, resulting in a unique, never-before-seen cinematic experience that engages the audience on a new level. Cast: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich.
White God / Hungary (Director: Kornél Mundruczó, Screenwriters: Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi) — When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog, Hagen, because its mixed-breed heritage is deemed “unfit” by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back toward each other. Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Sandor Zsótér, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, László Gálffi, Lili Horváth. U.S. Premiere
Wild Tales / Argentina, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Damián Szifrón) — Inequality, injustice, and the demands of the world cause stress and depression for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This is a movie about those people. Vulnerable in the face of an unpredictable reality, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line dividing civilization and barbarism. Cast: Ricardo Darín, Julieta Zyberberg, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Darío Grandinetti, Erica Rivas, Oscar Martínez.
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim. World Premiere
The Hallow / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Corin Hardy, Screenwriters: Corin Hardy, Felipe Marino) — When a London-based conservationist is sent to Ireland to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground, he unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. Cast: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael Smiley. World Premiere
Hellions / Canada (Director: Bruce McDonald, Screenwriter: Pascal Trottier) — Teenage Dora Vogel must survive a Halloween night from hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Peter DaCunha, Luke Bilyk. World Premiere
It Follows / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell) — After a strange sexual encounter, a teenager finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her. Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe.
Knock Knock / U.S.A. (Director: Eli Roth, Screenwriters: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez, Guillermo Amoedo) — Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man's life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, Colleen Camp. World Premiere
The Nightmare / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — A documentary-horror film exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis through the eyes of eight people. They (and a surprisingly large number of others) often find themselves trapped between the sleeping and awake realms, unable to move but aware of their surroundings while subject to disturbing sights and sounds. World Premiere
Reversal / U.S.A. (Director: J.M Cravioto, Screenwriters: Rock Shaink, Keith Kjornes) — A gritty psychological thriller about a young woman chained in a basement of a sexual predator and manages to escape. However, right when she has a chance for freedom, she unravels a hard truth and decides to turn the tables on her captor. Cast: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson, Bianca Malinowski. World Premiere
Turbo Kid / Canada, New Zealand (Directors: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell, Screenwriters: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell) — In a post-apocalyptic future, The Kid, an orphaned outcast, meets a mysterious girl. They become friends until Zeus, the sadistic leader of the Wasteland, kidnaps her. The Kid must face his fears, and journey to rid the Wasteland of evil and save the girl. Cast: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Aaron Jeffery, Edwin Wright. World Premiere
New Frontier Films
The Forbidden Room / Canada (Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Screenwriters: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk) — A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love. Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Dhavernas, Roy Dupuis, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse. World Premiere
Liveforever / Colombia, Mexico (Director: Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters: Alberto Ferreras, Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno) — Driven by the music and dancing she finds along the way, a teenager leaves home willing to try anything her provocative and tolerant city has to offer, even if she burns out in the process. Inspired by the best-selling novel "Que viva la música" by Andres Caicedo. Cast: Paulina Davila, Alejandra Avila, Luis Arrieta, Juan Pablo Barragan, Nelson Camayo, Christian Tappan. World Premiere
The Royal Road / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Olson) — This cinematic essay, a defense of remembering, offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes. Cast: Jenni Olson, Tony Kushner. World Premiere
Sam Klemke's Time Machine / Australia (Director: Matthew Bate) — Sam Klemke has filmed and narrated 50 years of his life, creating a strange and intimate portrait of what it means to be human. World Premiere
Station to Station / U.S.A. (Director: Doug Aitken) — Station to Station is composed of 60 individual one-minute films featuring different artists, musicians, places, and perspectives. This revolutionary feature-length film reveals a larger narrative about modern creativity. World Premiere
Things of the Aimless Wanderer / Rwanda, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Kivu Ruhorahoza) — A white man meets a black girl, then she disappears. The white man tries to understand what happened to her while also trying to finish a travelogue. Things of the Aimless Wanderer is a film about the sensitive topic of relations between “locals” and Westerners, about paranoia, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Cast: Justin Mullikin, Grace Nikuze, Ramadhan Bizimana, Eliane Umuhire, Wesley Ruzibiza, Matt Ray Brown. World Premiere
New Frontier Installations
1979 Revolution Game
Artists: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari
1979 Revolution Game presents an innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling. Designed to engage players with an immersive "on the ground" experience of the Iranian Revolution, the game integrates an emotionally impactful narrative with interactive moral choices and intuitive touchscreen gameplay while remaining true to history.
Assent
Artist: Oscar Raby
This immersive documentary uses virtual reality technology to put the user in the footsteps of Director Oscar Raby's father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment.
Birdly
Artist: Max Rheiner
Flying is one of the oldest dreams of humankind. Birdly is an experiment to capture this dream, to simulate the experience of being a bird from a first-person perspective. This embodiment is conducted through a full-body virtual reality setup.
Dérive
Artist: François Quévillon
This interactive installation uses the audience’s body motions and positions to explore 3-D reconstructions of urban and natural spaces that are transformed according to live environmental data, including meteorological and astronomical phenomena.
Evolution of Verse
Artist: Chris Milk
Chris Milk, working with visual effects powerhouse Digital Domain and virtual reality production company Vrse.works, has created this photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from beginning to new beginning.
Kaiju Fury!
Artist: Ian Hunter
A dark energy experiment leads to a devastating attack by monstrous Kaiju, and you are standing at ground zero — all in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3-D cinematic virtual reality. You will "be there" as the beasts lay waste to a crumbling city and humanity makes its last stand. Cast: Susie Abromeit, Bill Lippincott, Daniel Martin, Brian Dodge, Vincient Chiantelli.
Paradise
Artist: Pleix
Paradise is certainly not paradisiacal if you look at it through our eyes. But neither is it totally devoid of humor, melancholy and absurdity. Perhaps it is first and foremost life as it is, and then a touch exaggerated in the digital overdrive.
Perspective; Chapter I: The Party
Artists: Rose Troche, Morris May
A young college woman attends a party with the intention of shedding her "shy girl" persona. At the same party, a young man is after a similar reinvention. They meet, drink, and misinterpreted signals turn into things that cannot be undone. Virtual reality simulators let viewers experience both characters. Cast: Tabitha Morella, Caleb Thomas, Zachary Zagoria, Anna Grace Barlow.
Possibilia
Artists: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
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The programmers at Sundance do not have a strict formal assignment of areas they program; they see all the films of all the sections, but like his father, international was always of great interest. The same is true for myself, although out of the 118 feature films selected out of 4,105 feature length submissions, many of the U.S. films look great to me as well. For instance, I am so happy that Matt Sobel’s “ Take Me To The River ” which won the prize at Us in Progress this past November in Wroclaw, Poland at The American Film Festival is in the Next section.
John: This year on Day One, January 22, 2015, the Festival will feature one of each type of film shown at the Festival: one shorts program, a U.S. documentary, a U.S. dramatic, an international documentary and an international dramatic which will be the first ever Lithuanian film in Competition, a lesbian love story that is stylish and smartly directed by Alanté Kavaïté with two fantastic actors, Julija Steponaitytė and Aistė Diržiūtė. Actually " The Summer of Sangaile” is a coproduction of Lithuania, France, and Holland . I think Alanté lives in France.
There ares 29 countries represented and 45 first-time filmmakers.
Sydney: I know the Chileans love Sundance. Last year Alejandro Fernández Almendras said in our interview about “To Kill a Man” that Sundance is very important for Chile. I am also a longtime fan of Sebastian Silva since “The Maid”. Two years ago he had two films, “Crystal Fairy” and “Magic, Magic” in Sundance, so why is this Chilean film not in World Competition but in Next?
John: I’m glad Alejandro said that. Yes we like Chile too. They make many good films. But “Nasty Baby” by Sebastian Silva is a U.S. film, about people living in Brooklyn.
He lives in U.S. and has spent a lot of time here. He knows Brooklyn and yet his curiosity and his view of it is that of an outsider. He knows these people because he watches and listens so well. “
Sydney: “Bridesmaids” star and co-writer Kristen Wiig stars. A short promo of “Nasty Baby” was shown to buyers while it was in post-production in Cannes and Toronto. The Chilean production company of Juan de Dios Larrain and Pablo Larrain, Fabula, produced “No” as well as Sebastian’s later films. Papi Boye and Violaine Pichon’s production and international sales agent Versatile out of France along with the film’s international sales agent Funny Balloons — also based in France – helped finance this U.S. Production.
John: World Cinema is now 10 years old. Overall, the Competition sections have evolved over the years. We have a sense of emerging directors here. We have come of age.
All our films are of emerging filmmakers. Either first time directors or highly anticipated second or third features. Of all the festivals worldwide, Sundance has the strongest program of emerging talent. Watch these filmmakers over the next years. Like “Homesick” by Anna Sewitsky. Her previous film “Happy, Happy” showed at Sundance in 2011 and took the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema. “Happy, Happy” also became the Norwegian Official entry for the Academy Awards® .
Sydney: TrustNordisk sold “Happy, Happy” to more than 50 countries, so they must be poised to sell this one as well.
John: But not all the second and third films are from filmmakers whose first films were at Sundance, although Canada’s “ Chorus” director Francois Delisle showed “The Meteor” at Sundance two years ago.
And “Glassland”, was a very anticipated second film. The first film by director and screenwriter, Gerard Barrett, "Pilgrim Hill” won the Galway Film Festival and was very sought after and was signed with a U.S. agent then. “Sangaile" is also a second feature.
Look at the international films in the Premieres section and you will see some international filmmakers there, like “ Brooklyn” which is an immigrant story directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby whose film “Wild” is now playing .
Sydney: I see from IMDbPro that Hanway has already sold Middle Eastern rights to Front Row Entertainment who must have pre-bought “Brooklyn” in Cannes or Toronto.
John: Of the 12 films in World Cinema the less expected films come from Turkey, “Ivy” by the talented director Tolga Karacelik. This is his second film. His first was “Toll Booth” which Global Initiative distributed in the U.S. The Dp on this was Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter’s Sleep”)’s Dp on “Winter’s Sleep”, Gökhan Tiryaki. It is about guys stuck on a freighter whose company goes bankrupt. Power dynamics play out.
Sydney: Have there been Oscar nominated films in Sundance (Aside from “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”)?
John: Yes, “Man on Wire” was not last year but it was foreign. “Ida” was in Spotlight last year and maybe Sundance increased its visibility. Three others were in Sundance last year:
“To Kill a Man” is Chile’s submission, “Difret” which won the Audience Award is Ethiopia’s submission this year and “Liar’s Dice” from India was in World Competition last year. It is a very artful film. We knew it would do well with the critics, but it did extremely well with the audience too. A couple of films in Spotlight will probably be nominated next year. Watch for them.
Sydney : We haven’t even discussed the World documentaries.
John : Are there any that stand out for you?
Sydney: Yes, “Chuck Norris vs. Communism”, from U.K., Romania and Germany. Chuck Norris?
John: How interesting it is that something like Chuck Norris means something very different to others. It is a sign of cultural differences between us. Chuck Norris shows how independent films built a community of counter culture against an authoritarian government.
Sydney: I also notice that there are six docs from the U.K. Out of 12 films.
John: Yes we noticed and discussed that. U.K. really supports documentary filmmaking. Great work is coming out of the U.K. And many of the films are about different countries, so it doesn’t fit so simply into a U.K. pigeon hole.
Sydney : Yes I see “Chuck Norris” is about Romania, “Dreamcatcher” is about teenage prostitution, “How to Change the World” is about Greenpeace, “Listen to Me Marlon” is about a famous U.S. actor, “The Russian Woodpecker” is about a Ukrainian survivor of Chernobyl.
Thank you John for your insights. I think we have a lot to look at here. Thank you for taking this time to talk with me. See you at Sundance!
For a full list thus far of Sundance films, see below.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.
The Bronze / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status.Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. Day One Film
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he's changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the Sat. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
I Smile Back / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, Rj Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Overnight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — Alex, Emily, and their son, Rj, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family "playdate" becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche.
People, Places, Things / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby.
Results / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao) — This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore Hendricks.
The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
Stockholm, Pennsylvania / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith) — A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky.
Unexpected / U.S.A. (Director: Kris Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.
The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Z for Zachariah / U.S.A. (Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
U.S. Documentary Competition
Sixteen world-premiere American documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people, and events that shape the present day.
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan's tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert "Evel" Knievel and his legacy.
Best of Enemies / U.S.A. (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — Best of Enemies is a behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation.
Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
City of Gold / U.S.A. (Director: Laura Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.
Finders Keepers / U.S.A. (Directors: Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be his rightful property.
Hot Girls Wanted / U.S.A. (Directors: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.
How to Dance in Ohio / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12 weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in preparation for the dance.
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A. (Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.
Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Racing Extinction / U.S.A. (Director: Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass extinction. Whether infiltrating notorious black markets or exploring humans' effect on the environment, Racing Extinction will change the way you see the world.
(T)Error / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — (T)Error is the first film to document on camera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds. Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics, and the murky justifications behind them.
Welcome to Leith / U.S.A. (Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.
Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Chlorine / Italy (Director: Lamberto Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) — Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti, Andrea Vergoni. World Premiere
Chorus / Canada (Director and screenwriter: François Delisle) — A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation. Cast: Sébastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre Curzi, Genevieve Bujold. World Premiere
Glassland / Ireland (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley. International Premiere
Homesick / Norway (Director: Anne Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don't know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before?Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad. World Premiere. Isa: TrustNordisk
Ivy / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when the ship's owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş, Seyithan Özdemiroğlu. World Premiere
Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori's idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara. World Premiere
Princess / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz. International Premiere
The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother's slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli. World Premiere
Slow West / New Zealand (Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius. World Premiere
Strangerland / Australia, Ireland (Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons) — When Catherine and Matthew Parker's two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple's relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown. World Premiere
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė. World Premiere. Isa: Films Distribution.
Umrika / India (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.
The Amina Profile / Canada (Director: Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World Premiere
Censored Voices / Israel, Germany (Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War, renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the conversations to be published. Censored Voices reveals these recordings for the first time. World Premiere
The Chinese Mayor / China (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city. World Premiere
Chuck Norris vs Communism / United Kingdom, Romania, Germany (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A black market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution. World Premiere. Producers Rep: UTA
Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman's club who decide to take on the elite "sport of kings" and breed themselves a racehorse. World Premiere
Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom (Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. World Premiere
How to Change the World / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. World Premiere. Day One Film
Listen to Me Marlon / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui) — With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, the film fully explores the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in Marlon’s own voice. World Premiere
Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed. International Premiere
The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war. World Premiere
Sembene! / U.S.A., Senegal (Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice. World Premiere
The Visit / Denmark, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Norway (Director: Michael Madsen) — “This film documents an event that has never taken place…” With unprecedented access to the United Nations' Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit explores humans' first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. "Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival." World Premiere
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity promises that the films in this section will shape a “greater” next wave in American cinema. Presented by Adobe.
Bob and the Trees / U.S.A., France (Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere
Christmas, Again / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him. He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift, until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche. North American Premiere
Cronies / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn’t know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski. World Premiere
Entertainment / U.S.A. (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
H. / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. World Premiere
James White / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call. World Premiere
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O'Hare. World Premiere
The Strongest Man / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes. World Premiere
" Take Me To The River " / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. World Premiere. Producer rep: Cinetic Media
Tangerine / U.S.A. (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone. World Premiere
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
6 Desires: Dh Lawrence and Sardinia / United Kingdom, Italy (Director: Mark Cousins) — In winter 1921, Dh Lawrence and his wife journeyed to Sardinia, and he chronicled their experiences in Sea and Sardinia. Now, Mark Cousins retraces Lawrence’s footsteps. The film is conceived partly as a letter to Lawrence — or “Bert” — a detail that’s typical of the film’s inviting sense of conversational intimacy.International Premiere
'71 / United Kingdom (Director: Yann Demange, Screenwriter: Gregory Burke) — ‘71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Cast: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann.
99 Homes / U.S.A. (Director: Ramin Bahrani, Screenwriters: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi) — A father struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration. Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, Cullen Moss, J.D. Evermore.
Aloft / Spain, France, Canada (Director and screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) — Aloft tells the story of a struggling mother, Nana, and her evolution to becoming a renowned healer. When a young artist tracks down Nana's son 20 years after she abandoned him, she sets in motion an encounter between the two that will bring the meaning of their lives into question. Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell. North American Premiere
Eden / France (Director: Mia Hansen-løve, Screenwriters: Mia Hansen-løve, Sven Hansen-løve) — Mia Hansen-løve's electronic-dance-music epic follows the rise and fall of a DJ (based on her brother, Sven, a contemporary of Daft Punk) who gets into the rave scene in 1994 and spends the next 20 years navigating the French club scene. Cast: Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Arsinee Khanjian, Vincent Macaigne.
Girlhood / France (Director and screenwriter: Céline Sciamma) — Oppressed by her family, dead-end school prospects, and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of free-spirited girls. She changes her name and dress, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping to find a way to freedom. Cast: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré, Idrissa Diabaté, Simina Soumaré.
The Tribe / Ukraine (Director and screenwriter: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy) — Set at a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, the film’s narrative unfolds purely through sign language without the need for employing subtitles or voiceover, resulting in a unique, never-before-seen cinematic experience that engages the audience on a new level. Cast: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich.
White God / Hungary (Director: Kornél Mundruczó, Screenwriters: Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi) — When young Lili is forced to give up her beloved dog, Hagen, because its mixed-breed heritage is deemed “unfit” by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back toward each other. Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Sandor Zsótér, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, László Gálffi, Lili Horváth. U.S. Premiere
Wild Tales / Argentina, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Damián Szifrón) — Inequality, injustice, and the demands of the world cause stress and depression for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This is a movie about those people. Vulnerable in the face of an unpredictable reality, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line dividing civilization and barbarism. Cast: Ricardo Darín, Julieta Zyberberg, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Darío Grandinetti, Erica Rivas, Oscar Martínez.
Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake.
Cop Car / U.S.A. (Director: Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts) — Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim. World Premiere
The Hallow / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Corin Hardy, Screenwriters: Corin Hardy, Felipe Marino) — When a London-based conservationist is sent to Ireland to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground, he unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. Cast: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael Smiley. World Premiere
Hellions / Canada (Director: Bruce McDonald, Screenwriter: Pascal Trottier) — Teenage Dora Vogel must survive a Halloween night from hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Peter DaCunha, Luke Bilyk. World Premiere
It Follows / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell) — After a strange sexual encounter, a teenager finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her. Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe.
Knock Knock / U.S.A. (Director: Eli Roth, Screenwriters: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez, Guillermo Amoedo) — Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man's life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, Colleen Camp. World Premiere
The Nightmare / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — A documentary-horror film exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis through the eyes of eight people. They (and a surprisingly large number of others) often find themselves trapped between the sleeping and awake realms, unable to move but aware of their surroundings while subject to disturbing sights and sounds. World Premiere
Reversal / U.S.A. (Director: J.M Cravioto, Screenwriters: Rock Shaink, Keith Kjornes) — A gritty psychological thriller about a young woman chained in a basement of a sexual predator and manages to escape. However, right when she has a chance for freedom, she unravels a hard truth and decides to turn the tables on her captor. Cast: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson, Bianca Malinowski. World Premiere
Turbo Kid / Canada, New Zealand (Directors: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell, Screenwriters: Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, Yoann-Karl Whissell) — In a post-apocalyptic future, The Kid, an orphaned outcast, meets a mysterious girl. They become friends until Zeus, the sadistic leader of the Wasteland, kidnaps her. The Kid must face his fears, and journey to rid the Wasteland of evil and save the girl. Cast: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Aaron Jeffery, Edwin Wright. World Premiere
New Frontier Films
The Forbidden Room / Canada (Directors: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Screenwriters: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk) — A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love. Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Dhavernas, Roy Dupuis, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse. World Premiere
Liveforever / Colombia, Mexico (Director: Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters: Alberto Ferreras, Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno) — Driven by the music and dancing she finds along the way, a teenager leaves home willing to try anything her provocative and tolerant city has to offer, even if she burns out in the process. Inspired by the best-selling novel "Que viva la música" by Andres Caicedo. Cast: Paulina Davila, Alejandra Avila, Luis Arrieta, Juan Pablo Barragan, Nelson Camayo, Christian Tappan. World Premiere
The Royal Road / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Olson) — This cinematic essay, a defense of remembering, offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes. Cast: Jenni Olson, Tony Kushner. World Premiere
Sam Klemke's Time Machine / Australia (Director: Matthew Bate) — Sam Klemke has filmed and narrated 50 years of his life, creating a strange and intimate portrait of what it means to be human. World Premiere
Station to Station / U.S.A. (Director: Doug Aitken) — Station to Station is composed of 60 individual one-minute films featuring different artists, musicians, places, and perspectives. This revolutionary feature-length film reveals a larger narrative about modern creativity. World Premiere
Things of the Aimless Wanderer / Rwanda, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Kivu Ruhorahoza) — A white man meets a black girl, then she disappears. The white man tries to understand what happened to her while also trying to finish a travelogue. Things of the Aimless Wanderer is a film about the sensitive topic of relations between “locals” and Westerners, about paranoia, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Cast: Justin Mullikin, Grace Nikuze, Ramadhan Bizimana, Eliane Umuhire, Wesley Ruzibiza, Matt Ray Brown. World Premiere
New Frontier Installations
1979 Revolution Game
Artists: Navid Khonsari, Vassiliki Khonsari
1979 Revolution Game presents an innovative approach to non-fiction storytelling. Designed to engage players with an immersive "on the ground" experience of the Iranian Revolution, the game integrates an emotionally impactful narrative with interactive moral choices and intuitive touchscreen gameplay while remaining true to history.
Assent
Artist: Oscar Raby
This immersive documentary uses virtual reality technology to put the user in the footsteps of Director Oscar Raby's father, who in 1973 was a 22-year-old army officer stationed in the north of Chile, on the day when the Caravan of Death came to his regiment.
Birdly
Artist: Max Rheiner
Flying is one of the oldest dreams of humankind. Birdly is an experiment to capture this dream, to simulate the experience of being a bird from a first-person perspective. This embodiment is conducted through a full-body virtual reality setup.
Dérive
Artist: François Quévillon
This interactive installation uses the audience’s body motions and positions to explore 3-D reconstructions of urban and natural spaces that are transformed according to live environmental data, including meteorological and astronomical phenomena.
Evolution of Verse
Artist: Chris Milk
Chris Milk, working with visual effects powerhouse Digital Domain and virtual reality production company Vrse.works, has created this photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from beginning to new beginning.
Kaiju Fury!
Artist: Ian Hunter
A dark energy experiment leads to a devastating attack by monstrous Kaiju, and you are standing at ground zero — all in 360-degree, stereoscopic 3-D cinematic virtual reality. You will "be there" as the beasts lay waste to a crumbling city and humanity makes its last stand. Cast: Susie Abromeit, Bill Lippincott, Daniel Martin, Brian Dodge, Vincient Chiantelli.
Paradise
Artist: Pleix
Paradise is certainly not paradisiacal if you look at it through our eyes. But neither is it totally devoid of humor, melancholy and absurdity. Perhaps it is first and foremost life as it is, and then a touch exaggerated in the digital overdrive.
Perspective; Chapter I: The Party
Artists: Rose Troche, Morris May
A young college woman attends a party with the intention of shedding her "shy girl" persona. At the same party, a young man is after a similar reinvention. They meet, drink, and misinterpreted signals turn into things that cannot be undone. Virtual reality simulators let viewers experience both characters. Cast: Tabitha Morella, Caleb Thomas, Zachary Zagoria, Anna Grace Barlow.
Possibilia
Artists: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
tt3694760 autoPossibil...
- 12/6/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Fans of writer/director Eli Roth have two very different films to look forward to: The Green Inferno, an homage to Italian cannibal movies, and Knock Knock, a home intrusion psychological thriller. While the theatrical release of the former is delayed, the latter, which stars Keanu Reeves, will make its world premiere as part of Sundance’s Park City at Midnight lineup, and the first batch of photos from the film have been unveiled.
“Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man’s life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare.”
Directed by Eli Roth off a script he wrote with Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoedo, Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, and Colleen Camp.
In addition to Knock Knock, the Park City at Midnight selections also include Hellions, It Follows, The Hallow, and more. The Sundance Film Festival...
“Two beautiful young girls walk into a married man’s life and turn a wild fantasy into his worst nightmare.”
Directed by Eli Roth off a script he wrote with Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoedo, Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, and Colleen Camp.
In addition to Knock Knock, the Park City at Midnight selections also include Hellions, It Follows, The Hallow, and more. The Sundance Film Festival...
- 12/5/2014
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
While some films in contention for the 87th Academy Awards in February are set in Los Angeles, such as Nightcrawler, a number of films are based in New York City. Begin Again features Mark Ruffalo as a New York City record label executive who records music around New York City with a songwriter played by Keira Knightley; Birdman, about a washed-up Hollywood actor trying to write, direct and act in a Broadway play; Whiplash, about a jazz drummer at a Manhattan school; Still Alice, about a professor from Columbia dealing with early-onset Alzheimer’s; and Love is Strange, about a same-sex couple from Manhattan.
Jessica Chastain stars in two different films that take place in New York: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, about a couple living in New York, and A Most Violent Year, about a couple living in New York during one of the city’s most violent years.
Managing Editor
While some films in contention for the 87th Academy Awards in February are set in Los Angeles, such as Nightcrawler, a number of films are based in New York City. Begin Again features Mark Ruffalo as a New York City record label executive who records music around New York City with a songwriter played by Keira Knightley; Birdman, about a washed-up Hollywood actor trying to write, direct and act in a Broadway play; Whiplash, about a jazz drummer at a Manhattan school; Still Alice, about a professor from Columbia dealing with early-onset Alzheimer’s; and Love is Strange, about a same-sex couple from Manhattan.
Jessica Chastain stars in two different films that take place in New York: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, about a couple living in New York, and A Most Violent Year, about a couple living in New York during one of the city’s most violent years.
- 11/3/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
We cover a lot of ground in today's podcast and yet it still fell just short of the two hour mark and we really tried. That said, today we hold the Fall Box Office Draft, we review Frank and Starred Up and revisit The Trip to Italy as Laremy caught it this week and had a few things to say. We also play our regular assortment of games including the longest "Buy or Sell" edition ever, plus clear out a backlog of "Watch This or Watch That". Also included is a conversation as to whether you can be too apologetic in reviews, a listen to the trailer for Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas and even a voicemail sneaks in. We hope you enjoy. If you are on Twitter, we have a Twitter account dedicated to the podcast at @bnlpod. Give us a follow won'tchac I want to remind you that...
- 8/29/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
From fizzy drink sizes to video nasties to employment law, we look at the films that had an impact on legislation as well as culture...
Some films appear in the cinema, entertain their audience, make their money, and then dutifully shuffle off into the mists of history, only to be wheeled out now and again on TV. But occasionally, one comes along that has a lasting impact, and every so often, a movie has at least some influence on an eventual change in the law.
Here, we're going to look at a few examples of that, as we examine a selection of films that have had an impact more lasting than how much they made at the box office...
Scum
Originally conceived as a BBC Play For Today, Alan Clarke's Scum was pulled by the corporation from its broadcast schedules. Undeterred, Clarke and writer Roy Minton reworked it as a film,...
Some films appear in the cinema, entertain their audience, make their money, and then dutifully shuffle off into the mists of history, only to be wheeled out now and again on TV. But occasionally, one comes along that has a lasting impact, and every so often, a movie has at least some influence on an eventual change in the law.
Here, we're going to look at a few examples of that, as we examine a selection of films that have had an impact more lasting than how much they made at the box office...
Scum
Originally conceived as a BBC Play For Today, Alan Clarke's Scum was pulled by the corporation from its broadcast schedules. Undeterred, Clarke and writer Roy Minton reworked it as a film,...
- 8/28/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
What’s new, what’s hot, and what you may have missed, now available to stream.
streaming now, before it’s on dvd
Pompeii: instantly forgettable but more than passable as a diversion; solid B-movie cheese that’s like Titanic-lite meets Gladiator-lite [my review] [iTunes UK]
new to stream
Ilo Ilo: lovely, intimate drama of family dynamics under stress, offering an intriguing peek into previously unseen Singaporean middle-class life [my review] [iTunes UK]
streaming now, before it’s on dvd
Pompeii: instantly forgettable but more than passable as a diversion; solid B-movie cheese that’s like Titanic-lite meets Gladiator-lite [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video]
new to Prime
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: a surprising, delightful success that reinjects life and energy and a magnificent mojo into a fusty historical figure [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video] Sherlock Holmes: the spirit of Holmes is thoroughly intact in Guy Ritchie’s dynamic, vigorous adaptation; fun performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video]
streaming now, before it’s on...
streaming now, before it’s on dvd
Pompeii: instantly forgettable but more than passable as a diversion; solid B-movie cheese that’s like Titanic-lite meets Gladiator-lite [my review] [iTunes UK]
new to stream
Ilo Ilo: lovely, intimate drama of family dynamics under stress, offering an intriguing peek into previously unseen Singaporean middle-class life [my review] [iTunes UK]
streaming now, before it’s on dvd
Pompeii: instantly forgettable but more than passable as a diversion; solid B-movie cheese that’s like Titanic-lite meets Gladiator-lite [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video]
new to Prime
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: a surprising, delightful success that reinjects life and energy and a magnificent mojo into a fusty historical figure [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video] Sherlock Holmes: the spirit of Holmes is thoroughly intact in Guy Ritchie’s dynamic, vigorous adaptation; fun performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law [my review] [Amazon UK Instant Video]
streaming now, before it’s on...
- 8/25/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
©A.M.P.A.S.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (August 5) by the organization’s Board of Governors.
Boone Isaacs is beginning her second term as president and her 22nd year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch.
Boone Isaacs currently heads Cbi Enterprises, Inc., where she has consulted on marketing efforts on such films as “The Call,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Tupac: Resurrection.” Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Rush Hour.”
Prior to joining New Line in 1997, she was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Forrest Gump” and “Braveheart.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (August 5) by the organization’s Board of Governors.
Boone Isaacs is beginning her second term as president and her 22nd year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch.
Boone Isaacs currently heads Cbi Enterprises, Inc., where she has consulted on marketing efforts on such films as “The Call,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Tupac: Resurrection.” Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Rush Hour.”
Prior to joining New Line in 1997, she was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Forrest Gump” and “Braveheart.
- 8/6/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Without the help of some brave investors, or the pockets of their makers, the following films would never have existed...
It's now a fairly common mantra that you'd be a fool to put up all of your own personal money into a feature film. By all means invest, but share the risk, or throw a few quid at Kickstarter.
Paying for the bulk of the negative/hard drive yourself, and leaving your own assets exposed? Utter lunacy.
Not that anyone told this lot...
The Passion Of The Christ Paid for by: Mel Gibson
For some time, Mel Gibson had, alongside his acting roles, been heavily invested in his production company, Icon. As such, he had two significant ways to earn money, and he needed both of them when it came to making The Passion Of The Christ.
This is the kind of film that studios run a mile from. All...
It's now a fairly common mantra that you'd be a fool to put up all of your own personal money into a feature film. By all means invest, but share the risk, or throw a few quid at Kickstarter.
Paying for the bulk of the negative/hard drive yourself, and leaving your own assets exposed? Utter lunacy.
Not that anyone told this lot...
The Passion Of The Christ Paid for by: Mel Gibson
For some time, Mel Gibson had, alongside his acting roles, been heavily invested in his production company, Icon. As such, he had two significant ways to earn money, and he needed both of them when it came to making The Passion Of The Christ.
This is the kind of film that studios run a mile from. All...
- 7/31/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The years 2008 and 2009 really weren’t that long ago. So it seems a bit odd to reflect on Breaking Bad—it just wrapped its final season in September and is an Emmys hopeful this year—or Lady Gaga when they are still relevant today. “Remember when” just doesn’t carry as much meaning here as it does with the earlier episodes in VH1′s I Love the 2000s series.
That being said, the show’s brilliant talking heads brought the last two installments in the series to life. (I certainly wasn’t sorry I spent my Saturday night watching them,...
That being said, the show’s brilliant talking heads brought the last two installments in the series to life. (I certainly wasn’t sorry I spent my Saturday night watching them,...
- 6/22/2014
- by C. Molly Smith
- EW.com - PopWatch
Mariah Carey, who is officially the Jayne Mansfield of R&B/pop, is releasing a new "melodic beverage" with the company Go N'Syde, which is apparently real. The ubiquitous chanteuse drank some of the swill from a champagne glass, even though I'm pretty sure it's a tea-type drink. Can you guess the drink's name? Think it over. You get one guess. While you mull that over, I'll post a whole bunch of incorrect guesses. -Fizzin' of Love -Yummy Mottola -We Oolong Together -One Sweet Drank -Thank God I Quaffed You -Don't Forget About Glugs -Dr. Glitter -Slake It Off -Nick Cannon Presents 'Wild 'N Ahhhh.' -Antioxidants Remix [feat. Da Brat] -Always Be My Bubbly -Precious Based on the Novel De-lish By Sapphire Nope, none of those. The correct answer is: Butterfly. Yep. It's 2014 and Mariah Carey's still naming things after Lisa Frank stickers. God bless this sacred, perfect celebrity.
- 6/10/2014
- by Louis Virtel
- Hitfix
Equipped with the most unwieldy title since Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire, Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has promised to be as violent, sexual, and stylized as its less wordy predecessor Sin City. This is borne out by a new batch of pictures (mostly screenshots) from the film, featuring Eva Green’s intense gaze, scantily clad women, and bloody men.
Times have not really changed in Sin City – it’s still a land of violent criminals, badass pole dancers, and men who are better than they should be. We have the return of Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba (for a moment at least), and we know that Mickey Rourke will be back to reprise his role as Marv (who I thought died in the last one, but whatever).
Most of these newly released pictures highlight newcomers to the franchise, including Eva Green as Ava Lord,...
Times have not really changed in Sin City – it’s still a land of violent criminals, badass pole dancers, and men who are better than they should be. We have the return of Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba (for a moment at least), and we know that Mickey Rourke will be back to reprise his role as Marv (who I thought died in the last one, but whatever).
Most of these newly released pictures highlight newcomers to the franchise, including Eva Green as Ava Lord,...
- 3/31/2014
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
It is with misty eyes and throbbing, blog-induced-rsi-plagued wrists that I say goodbye today after just over four years here at Vulture. It's amazing how much has changed since I started here: Back in November 2009, everyone was talking about Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, dancing to "Meet Me Halfway" by the Black Eyed Peas, and saying, "Hey, only three months until season six of Lost starts!" Were we ever so young? I'm off to new adventures at Yahoo, but I leave you in the safe, brilliant hands of the Vulture team, the smartest, funniest, most delightful buncha writers, editors, designers, and photo editors a guy could ever hope to surround himself with. Just know that as much fun as it is reading their work, it is even more fun listening to them mock you for your love of Cheers, Billy Joel, and America's Funniest Home Videos.
- 3/28/2014
- by Josh Wolk
- Vulture
View Photo Gallery
Ahead of the release of The Single Moms Club, a film written, directed, produced by and starring Tyler Perry, we thought it was worthwhile looking back on all the Tyler Perry Productions (Tpp) that came before it. In total, Perry has produced 16 films (including Smc) from the ongoing Madea franchise to stand-alones, such as Temptation and Why Did I Get Married? All of the films have been met with varying degrees of praise and success. But who has actually sat down and watched all of them? Inspired by that question, I decided to review all of Perry’s film in order to grade and rank each film.
To see how they fall in order (from worst to best), flip through the gallery above. For a more in-depth, critical analysis keep on reading!
(Warning: The films were not watched in order of release. In fact, if watched in...
Ahead of the release of The Single Moms Club, a film written, directed, produced by and starring Tyler Perry, we thought it was worthwhile looking back on all the Tyler Perry Productions (Tpp) that came before it. In total, Perry has produced 16 films (including Smc) from the ongoing Madea franchise to stand-alones, such as Temptation and Why Did I Get Married? All of the films have been met with varying degrees of praise and success. But who has actually sat down and watched all of them? Inspired by that question, I decided to review all of Perry’s film in order to grade and rank each film.
To see how they fall in order (from worst to best), flip through the gallery above. For a more in-depth, critical analysis keep on reading!
(Warning: The films were not watched in order of release. In fact, if watched in...
- 3/14/2014
- by Stacy Lambe
- TheFabLife - Movies
View Photo Gallery
In Hollywood, there’s a contingent of talented actors for whom awards and endless praise from the film community are expected. Meryl Streep competes for her fourth Academy Award on Sunday night, and it’s been scientifically proven that she gets thanked more than God at these things. Each year some permutation of the same crew is expected to receive nominations and each year we rack our brains trying to figure out which one is more deserving of the coveted golden statue. Except when there are wildcards.
Just like Mo’Nique traded in her standup and hosting duties to star as the chilling Mary Lee Johnston in Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire, Whoopi Goldberg‘s first steps towards Egot came with an award-winning turn in Ghost. Call it beginner’s luck if you want, but we’d like to think that this impressive group is so talented,...
In Hollywood, there’s a contingent of talented actors for whom awards and endless praise from the film community are expected. Meryl Streep competes for her fourth Academy Award on Sunday night, and it’s been scientifically proven that she gets thanked more than God at these things. Each year some permutation of the same crew is expected to receive nominations and each year we rack our brains trying to figure out which one is more deserving of the coveted golden statue. Except when there are wildcards.
Just like Mo’Nique traded in her standup and hosting duties to star as the chilling Mary Lee Johnston in Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire, Whoopi Goldberg‘s first steps towards Egot came with an award-winning turn in Ghost. Call it beginner’s luck if you want, but we’d like to think that this impressive group is so talented,...
- 2/26/2014
- by Emily Exton
- TheFabLife - Movies
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