What’s a film without distribution? The Popcorn List sets out to make sure that doesn’t happen to the best indies.
Founded by Lela Meadow-Conner and Barbara Twist, the inaugural annual survey spotlights 20 features that debuted at major or regional film festivals this past year and come highly recommended by festival programmers. Nineteen out of the 20 movies have reviews on Letterboxd, despite not yet having theatrical or digital distribution in the U.S. All 20 have won awards — including Audience Awards and Jury Awards — at festivals like Sundance and SXSW.
Billed as being The Black List for undistributed films, the 2024 Popcorn List highlights independent films that are currently still without domestic U.S. distribution, like the documentary “Chasing Chasing Amy” about the making of Kevin Smith’s comedy.
The other 18 are: “Ajoomma,” “American Pot Story: Oaksterdam,” “Art for Everybody,” “Asog,” “Blood Sweat & Beers,” “Caterpillar,” “Citizen Sleuth,” “City of Wind,” “Crows Are White,...
Founded by Lela Meadow-Conner and Barbara Twist, the inaugural annual survey spotlights 20 features that debuted at major or regional film festivals this past year and come highly recommended by festival programmers. Nineteen out of the 20 movies have reviews on Letterboxd, despite not yet having theatrical or digital distribution in the U.S. All 20 have won awards — including Audience Awards and Jury Awards — at festivals like Sundance and SXSW.
Billed as being The Black List for undistributed films, the 2024 Popcorn List highlights independent films that are currently still without domestic U.S. distribution, like the documentary “Chasing Chasing Amy” about the making of Kevin Smith’s comedy.
The other 18 are: “Ajoomma,” “American Pot Story: Oaksterdam,” “Art for Everybody,” “Asog,” “Blood Sweat & Beers,” “Caterpillar,” “Citizen Sleuth,” “City of Wind,” “Crows Are White,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“It’s very much like having a kid out there in the world doing its own thing,” said writer/director Rose Troche last month as she was finishing the restoration of her debut feature Go Fish, which screened as part of Sundance’s 40th Edition programming this week, three decades after its original premiere at the festival. “It’s one of those films that has never gone out of the conversation, this funky movie made for $17,000 that launched these careers.” Troche is right —while many films from Sundance in the ’90s never made the leap to digital distribution, the lesbian drama Go Fish […]
The post In Full Frame: Director Rose Troche and Sundance Institute’s John Nein on Restoring the Lesbian Classic Go Fish first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post In Full Frame: Director Rose Troche and Sundance Institute’s John Nein on Restoring the Lesbian Classic Go Fish first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
“It’s very much like having a kid out there in the world doing its own thing,” said writer/director Rose Troche last month as she was finishing the restoration of her debut feature Go Fish, which screened as part of Sundance’s 40th Edition programming this week, three decades after its original premiere at the festival. “It’s one of those films that has never gone out of the conversation, this funky movie made for $17,000 that launched these careers.” Troche is right —while many films from Sundance in the ’90s never made the leap to digital distribution, the lesbian drama Go Fish […]
The post In Full Frame: Director Rose Troche and Sundance Institute’s John Nein on Restoring the Lesbian Classic Go Fish first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post In Full Frame: Director Rose Troche and Sundance Institute’s John Nein on Restoring the Lesbian Classic Go Fish first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
For four decades, Sundance has maintained a reputation as one of the most important film festivals in America for independent filmmakers from around the globe. To commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2024 and the enormity (and reciprocity) of that cultural footprint, festival leadership set a series of restoration screenings to highlight many of the most memorable films programmed throughout its history.
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
- 1/16/2024
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
On the website for Mubi, the international cinema platform describes itself in several ways: “A streaming service? A curator? A publisher? A distributor? A cinema lover? Yes.”
Yet in a recent online conversation hosted by Sundance Collab, the Sundance Institute’s educational service, Mubi Chief Content Officer Jason Ropell added another facet to Mubi’s motives: Netflix alternative.
Ropell, the former head of Amazon Studio’s film division, said in a revealing conversation with Sundance programmer John Nein that, while Mubi takes SVOD rights for both films it buys and produces in-house, it takes a more expansive approach to other revenue streams, from theatrical to PVOD.
“In contrast, Netflix will create or buy a film and it will only be on Netflix,” Ropell said. “It’s the exclusive access to the platform that’s their value proposition. Our job is to support films through every facet of the distribution chain.
Yet in a recent online conversation hosted by Sundance Collab, the Sundance Institute’s educational service, Mubi Chief Content Officer Jason Ropell added another facet to Mubi’s motives: Netflix alternative.
Ropell, the former head of Amazon Studio’s film division, said in a revealing conversation with Sundance programmer John Nein that, while Mubi takes SVOD rights for both films it buys and produces in-house, it takes a more expansive approach to other revenue streams, from theatrical to PVOD.
“In contrast, Netflix will create or buy a film and it will only be on Netflix,” Ropell said. “It’s the exclusive access to the platform that’s their value proposition. Our job is to support films through every facet of the distribution chain.
- 8/17/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival organization has announced winners from the 2023 event, with the Bulgaria/Germany co-production “Blaga’s Lessons” (“Urotcite na Blaga”) and the Germany/Iran co-production “Empty Nets” (“Toorhaye khali”) taking home top honors.
“Blaga’s lessons” won the Grand Prix Award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize for director Stephan Komandarev, to be split with the film’s producer.
Meanwhile, “Empty Nets” won the Special Jury Prize, securing a $15,00 prize for its director, Behrooz Karamizade, also to be split with the film’s producer.
Other winners include Best Director for Babak Jalali for the American production “Fremont,” and the French entry, “The Edge of the Blade,” directed by Vincent Perez, which won the The Pravo Audience Award.
Read on for the complete winner’s list.
Also Read:
‘We Have Never Been Modern’ Review: Czech Drama Looks at Sexuality Through the Lens of 1937
Crystal Globe Competition
Jury members:
Dora Bouchoucha,...
“Blaga’s lessons” won the Grand Prix Award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize for director Stephan Komandarev, to be split with the film’s producer.
Meanwhile, “Empty Nets” won the Special Jury Prize, securing a $15,00 prize for its director, Behrooz Karamizade, also to be split with the film’s producer.
Other winners include Best Director for Babak Jalali for the American production “Fremont,” and the French entry, “The Edge of the Blade,” directed by Vincent Perez, which won the The Pravo Audience Award.
Read on for the complete winner’s list.
Also Read:
‘We Have Never Been Modern’ Review: Czech Drama Looks at Sexuality Through the Lens of 1937
Crystal Globe Competition
Jury members:
Dora Bouchoucha,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) by director Stephan Komandarev.
The third film in the director’s trilogy about his country’s social ills focuses on an old woman duped by a telephone scam.
Also among winners on the night were Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade (Une Affaire D’honneur), which took home the audience award, and filmmaker Babak Jalali, who took home the best director prize for the film Fremont.
There were two prizes on the night for Ernst De Geer’s The Hypnosis (Hypnosen) while the top industry award of 90,000 euros went to Czech film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, which is currently in post.
As previously revealed, Russell Crowe...
The third film in the director’s trilogy about his country’s social ills focuses on an old woman duped by a telephone scam.
Also among winners on the night were Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade (Une Affaire D’honneur), which took home the audience award, and filmmaker Babak Jalali, who took home the best director prize for the film Fremont.
There were two prizes on the night for Ernst De Geer’s The Hypnosis (Hypnosen) while the top industry award of 90,000 euros went to Czech film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be, which is currently in post.
As previously revealed, Russell Crowe...
- 7/8/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Stephan Komandarev’s Blaga’s Lessons, a Bulgarian/German co-production, has been chosen as the winner of the top prize — the Crystal Globe, which comes with a $25,000 prize — of the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The festival announced the winners during its closing ceremony on Saturday. The film’s star, Eli Skorcheva, was named best actress. (See THR‘s review of the film here.)
Meanwhile, the top Czech festival’s special jury prize, which comes with a $15,000 check, was awarded to Behrooz Karamizade’s German-Iranian co-production Empty Nets (see THR’s review). Its audience award went to Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade, a French film (see THR’s interview with Perez), and a special jury mention was designated for Cyril Aris’ Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a German-Lebanese entry (see THR’s review).
Babak Jalali was honored as best director for the American film Fremont,...
Meanwhile, the top Czech festival’s special jury prize, which comes with a $15,000 check, was awarded to Behrooz Karamizade’s German-Iranian co-production Empty Nets (see THR’s review). Its audience award went to Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade, a French film (see THR’s interview with Perez), and a special jury mention was designated for Cyril Aris’ Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a German-Lebanese entry (see THR’s review).
Babak Jalali was honored as best director for the American film Fremont,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Georg Szalai and Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opened Friday with a spirited musical performance from Russell Crowe, and the energy remained high Saturday evening with actor Ewan McGregor in town to receive the fest’s honorary President’s Award.
McGregor accepted the honor during an overflowing ceremony in the festival’s Grand Hall, where he was joined by his daughter Clara McGregor; his mother; and partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
“Thank you so much for being here tonight. It means the world to me,” he said as he picked up the award. “I believe so much in what we do as actors. I’m so fortunate to do what I love and I love what I do.”
The crowd inside the room was lively. Czech audiences are notoriously welcoming to the stars they receive here in Karlovy Vary and McGregor played to the crowd.
“I was gonna say something in Czech...
McGregor accepted the honor during an overflowing ceremony in the festival’s Grand Hall, where he was joined by his daughter Clara McGregor; his mother; and partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
“Thank you so much for being here tonight. It means the world to me,” he said as he picked up the award. “I believe so much in what we do as actors. I’m so fortunate to do what I love and I love what I do.”
The crowd inside the room was lively. Czech audiences are notoriously welcoming to the stars they receive here in Karlovy Vary and McGregor played to the crowd.
“I was gonna say something in Czech...
- 7/1/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
As tensions rise in Hollywood over an imminent update on SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations with the studios, thousands of miles east, the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary is gearing up for its annual influx of industry insiders, curious film fans, and stars.
Clocking its 57th annual edition, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) opens this evening. The prominent Central European event is one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It was founded in July 1946, a month before Locarno launched its first festival and a few months before the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its first edition in September of that same year.
This year’s edition opens with the Cannes Competition title Firebrand, starring Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. The pic is the fictionalized story of Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of the tyrannical English King Henry VIII. Vikander plays Parr in the piece alongside an unrecognizable Jude Law,...
Clocking its 57th annual edition, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) opens this evening. The prominent Central European event is one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It was founded in July 1946, a month before Locarno launched its first festival and a few months before the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its first edition in September of that same year.
This year’s edition opens with the Cannes Competition title Firebrand, starring Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. The pic is the fictionalized story of Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of the tyrannical English King Henry VIII. Vikander plays Parr in the piece alongside an unrecognizable Jude Law,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The 57th edition includes new films by directors Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its 57th edition, including new features by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev and Tinatin Kajrishvili.
The festival, which runs from June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, has nine world premieres and two international premieres in its main Crystal Globe Competition.
Canadian director Plante, whose Nadia Butterfly was in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2020 and Fake Tattoos played in the Berlinale’s Generation strand in 2018, world premieres arthouse thriller Red Rooms about a woman...
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its 57th edition, including new features by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev and Tinatin Kajrishvili.
The festival, which runs from June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, has nine world premieres and two international premieres in its main Crystal Globe Competition.
Canadian director Plante, whose Nadia Butterfly was in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2020 and Fake Tattoos played in the Berlinale’s Generation strand in 2018, world premieres arthouse thriller Red Rooms about a woman...
- 5/30/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar-nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members.
The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.
Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...
The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.
Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled its competition lineup for its 57th edition, set to run in the bucolic Czech spa town from June 30 to July 8.
Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.
Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.
Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...
Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.
Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.
Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...
- 5/30/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its upcoming 57th edition. The lineup comprises 31 films across three sections and a host of world and international premieres. Scroll down for the full list.
Among the lineup is Les chambres rouges (Red Rooms), the latest pic from Canadian filmmaker Pascal Plante, who will compete alongside Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali and Swedish director Ernst De Geer, who will also debut new works in competition.
The Czech festival’s Crystal Globe competition will feature nine world and two international premieres, while the Proxima Competition for young filmmakers and auteurs with films that defy categorization will screen ten world and two international premieres.
The jury for this year’s Crystal Globe competition will feature actress Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects), who will join producer Dora Bouchoucha, Sundance senior programmer John Nein, filmmaker Olmo Omerzu, and Irish actor Barry Ward.
“It has been...
Among the lineup is Les chambres rouges (Red Rooms), the latest pic from Canadian filmmaker Pascal Plante, who will compete alongside Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali and Swedish director Ernst De Geer, who will also debut new works in competition.
The Czech festival’s Crystal Globe competition will feature nine world and two international premieres, while the Proxima Competition for young filmmakers and auteurs with films that defy categorization will screen ten world and two international premieres.
The jury for this year’s Crystal Globe competition will feature actress Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects), who will join producer Dora Bouchoucha, Sundance senior programmer John Nein, filmmaker Olmo Omerzu, and Irish actor Barry Ward.
“It has been...
- 5/30/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Priya Kansara stars as Ria Khan in director Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 Focus Features LLC.
The highly anticipated film Polite Society had a rousing world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival last weekend. Directed by Nida Manzoor, her debut feature, the action comedy Polite Society, is a merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action.
Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan, who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Featuring a cast led by and introducing Priya Kansara, it also stars Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), Shobu Kapoor (We Are Lady Parts), Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife), Seraphina Beh (Top Boy), Shona Babayemi, Jeff Mirza...
Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 Focus Features LLC.
The highly anticipated film Polite Society had a rousing world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival last weekend. Directed by Nida Manzoor, her debut feature, the action comedy Polite Society, is a merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action.
Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan, who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Featuring a cast led by and introducing Priya Kansara, it also stars Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), Shobu Kapoor (We Are Lady Parts), Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife), Seraphina Beh (Top Boy), Shona Babayemi, Jeff Mirza...
- 1/27/2023
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
“I remember thinking, ‘I am going to see something so terrifying that I am going to die.’”
Temperatures may be low but the mood is high in Park City, Utah this weekend, as the in-person Sundance Film Festival returns to the town for the first time since 2020.
The festival kicked off on Thursday (January 19) with a discussion between senior Sundance top brass Joana Vicente, Kim Yutani, John Nein and Eugene Hernandez, who will assume the reins as festival director for the 2024 edition. This was followed by the Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance event attended by guests including honorary awardees Luca Guadagnino,...
Temperatures may be low but the mood is high in Park City, Utah this weekend, as the in-person Sundance Film Festival returns to the town for the first time since 2020.
The festival kicked off on Thursday (January 19) with a discussion between senior Sundance top brass Joana Vicente, Kim Yutani, John Nein and Eugene Hernandez, who will assume the reins as festival director for the 2024 edition. This was followed by the Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance event attended by guests including honorary awardees Luca Guadagnino,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Ben Dalton¬Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“We saw it practically yesterday,” says Sundance director of programming Kim Yutani.
Sundance has added the world premiere of Doug Liman’s documentary Justice, about the allegations against United States Supreme Court associate justice Brett Kavanaugh, as a surprise title as the 2023 festival gets underway.
“We saw it practically yesterday,” said director of programming Kim Yutani, speaking at the festival’s first in-person press conference since 2020. “It’s a film that challenges existing narratives – I think it asks tough questions.” The film will play as a Special Screening, premiering at 20.30 Mt tomorrow (January 20).
Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court...
Sundance has added the world premiere of Doug Liman’s documentary Justice, about the allegations against United States Supreme Court associate justice Brett Kavanaugh, as a surprise title as the 2023 festival gets underway.
“We saw it practically yesterday,” said director of programming Kim Yutani, speaking at the festival’s first in-person press conference since 2020. “It’s a film that challenges existing narratives – I think it asks tough questions.” The film will play as a Special Screening, premiering at 20.30 Mt tomorrow (January 20).
Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court...
- 1/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
At Thursday’s opening-day Sundance Film Festival press conference, director of programming Kim Yutani announced the addition of Doug Liman’s first documentary, Justice, about Brett Kavanaugh. It was the first in-person press conference since Sundance went virtual over the last two years.
Related Story Will A Return To In-Person Sundance Fire Up The Indie Film Biz? Related Story Ryan Coogler On Sundance & 'Fruitvale Station' A Decade Later & How 'Creed' May Be The Most Park City Franchise Ever Related Story Netflix Hops On 'Run Rabbit Run', Acquires XYZ Films Sundance Midnight Title Starring Sarah Snook
Yutani, who marveled about the festival’s overall doc lineup for this year’s 39th edition, said Justice “focuses on the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh and the investigation that ensued. It’s a very powerful documentary, we felt it was important to add. We saw it practically yesterday. It challenges existing narratives and asks tough questions.
Related Story Will A Return To In-Person Sundance Fire Up The Indie Film Biz? Related Story Ryan Coogler On Sundance & 'Fruitvale Station' A Decade Later & How 'Creed' May Be The Most Park City Franchise Ever Related Story Netflix Hops On 'Run Rabbit Run', Acquires XYZ Films Sundance Midnight Title Starring Sarah Snook
Yutani, who marveled about the festival’s overall doc lineup for this year’s 39th edition, said Justice “focuses on the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh and the investigation that ensued. It’s a very powerful documentary, we felt it was important to add. We saw it practically yesterday. It challenges existing narratives and asks tough questions.
- 1/19/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
After two years of hosting an online festival due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sundance Film Festival returns to Park City this year for its 2023 edition from Jan. 19-29. Film lovers, filmmakers, industry insiders, actors, artists and more are expected to return en masse for the festivities that will also include a packed calendar of parties, panels, concerts, gatherings and networking opportunities in addition to all the big-screen screenings.
Below is a roundup of all of the intel The Hollywood Reporter has gathered thus far, featuring events in Park City. All times listed are local.
Thursday, Jan. 19
Sundance Scoop – Day One
Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St., 1:30-2:30 p.m.
A conversation and Q&a for media featuring Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, Sundance director of programming Kim Yutani, senior programmer and strategic initiatives director John Nein with moderator Eugene Hernandez, incoming Sundance festival director and head of public programming.
Below is a roundup of all of the intel The Hollywood Reporter has gathered thus far, featuring events in Park City. All times listed are local.
Thursday, Jan. 19
Sundance Scoop – Day One
Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St., 1:30-2:30 p.m.
A conversation and Q&a for media featuring Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, Sundance director of programming Kim Yutani, senior programmer and strategic initiatives director John Nein with moderator Eugene Hernandez, incoming Sundance festival director and head of public programming.
- 1/12/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
The Sundance Film Festival is heading back to Park City with a recently announced line-up that includes the latest feature from directors Nicole Holofcener and Ira Sachs, biodocs about Brooke Shields and Little Ricahrd, and adaptations of titles Cat Person and Eileen.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, director of programming Kim Yutani, and senior programmer John Nein talked to The Hollywood Reporter about this year’s fest, from Covid contingencies to lessons learned from Jihad Rehab.
Heading into the fest this year, how did you all come to the decision of a hybrid model?
Vicente This seems to be the running question. We have two years of a digital festival. Last year we had designed a hybrid festival, but ended up having to pivot to online due to the rise of the Omicron. We felt that while we’re gonna prioritize in person,...
The Sundance Film Festival is heading back to Park City with a recently announced line-up that includes the latest feature from directors Nicole Holofcener and Ira Sachs, biodocs about Brooke Shields and Little Ricahrd, and adaptations of titles Cat Person and Eileen.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, director of programming Kim Yutani, and senior programmer John Nein talked to The Hollywood Reporter about this year’s fest, from Covid contingencies to lessons learned from Jihad Rehab.
Heading into the fest this year, how did you all come to the decision of a hybrid model?
Vicente This seems to be the running question. We have two years of a digital festival. Last year we had designed a hybrid festival, but ended up having to pivot to online due to the rise of the Omicron. We felt that while we’re gonna prioritize in person,...
- 12/7/2022
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival lineup landed with week with a lot of potential — and not only because of the 110 features expected to premiere in Park City next month. The first in-person Sundance in 2020 (knock on wood) finds America’s most prominent festival returning to a radically different lineup, as distribution models keep shifting and the future of the movies is a bigger question mark than ever before.
However, in an interview with IndieWire this week, Sundance program director Kim Yutani, senior programmer John Nein, and Sundance Institute CEO Joanna Vicente projected confidence about the caliber of the selection and the continuing importance of Sundance to provide a launchpad for filmmakers at the start of the year. (New Sundance director Eugene Hernandez started in November and did not participate in the selection process.)
Here, the trio highlight some of the intriguing titles from this year’s lineup and what to expect from the marketplace.
However, in an interview with IndieWire this week, Sundance program director Kim Yutani, senior programmer John Nein, and Sundance Institute CEO Joanna Vicente projected confidence about the caliber of the selection and the continuing importance of Sundance to provide a launchpad for filmmakers at the start of the year. (New Sundance director Eugene Hernandez started in November and did not participate in the selection process.)
Here, the trio highlight some of the intriguing titles from this year’s lineup and what to expect from the marketplace.
- 12/7/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Director Gregg Araki’s 1995 comedy-thriller “The Doom Generation” first debuted at that year’s Sundance Film Festival, setting in motion the film’s successful trajectory toward the distinction of being a cult classic. Almost three decades later, the film — now remastered in 4K and presented as an uncensored director’s cut — will be enjoyed by audiences again at the 2023 iteration of the Utah-based festival.
Also being screened for audiences is a digital restoration of “Slam,” the 1998 urban crime drama from director Marc Levin that took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival that same year. “Slam” and “The Doom Generation” were announced by the nonprofit Sundance Institute as the first two films in this year’s From the Collection screening line-up.
“The two restorations certainly celebrate how groundbreaking so many independent works from the 90s were, but they also remind us of how collaborative, fierce and transformative...
Also being screened for audiences is a digital restoration of “Slam,” the 1998 urban crime drama from director Marc Levin that took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival that same year. “Slam” and “The Doom Generation” were announced by the nonprofit Sundance Institute as the first two films in this year’s From the Collection screening line-up.
“The two restorations certainly celebrate how groundbreaking so many independent works from the 90s were, but they also remind us of how collaborative, fierce and transformative...
- 10/12/2022
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
Before the full slate is announced for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the Park City, Utah event has already teed up two movies: the 25th Anniversary and digital restoration screening of Marc Levin’s Slam and the uncensored director’s cut and restoration of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation.
Both titles are showing in the fest’s From the Collection section.
“Before we announce the full slate for the upcoming Festival, we are taking a moment to honor our past in anticipation of what is to come,” said Kim Yutani, Director of Programming. “Sundance has always been a place for discovery, inspired conversations, and critical reflection, all thanks to the independent storytellers we are so fortunate to encounter each year. These screenings are our opportunity to present newly restored films From the Collection, reemphasize our commitment to artists throughout their careers, and find new ways to recontextualize the work that...
Both titles are showing in the fest’s From the Collection section.
“Before we announce the full slate for the upcoming Festival, we are taking a moment to honor our past in anticipation of what is to come,” said Kim Yutani, Director of Programming. “Sundance has always been a place for discovery, inspired conversations, and critical reflection, all thanks to the independent storytellers we are so fortunate to encounter each year. These screenings are our opportunity to present newly restored films From the Collection, reemphasize our commitment to artists throughout their careers, and find new ways to recontextualize the work that...
- 10/12/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The inaugural launch was held at The Groucho Club, London
Screen celebrated the launch of the first Rising Stars Scotland with a party at The Groucho Club, London on Tuesday, September 27.
The 2022 cohort were in full attendance alongside guests including the BFI’s Mia Bays; former Amazon Studios exec Georgia Brown; Sundance Film Festival’s John Nein; and casting director Des Hamilton.
Rising Stars Scotland is a major new talent spotlight for Scottish filmmakers and actors and is an offshoot of Screen’s UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow programme. It was curated by Screen’s executive editor Fionnuala Halligan in association with Screen Scotland.
Screen celebrated the launch of the first Rising Stars Scotland with a party at The Groucho Club, London on Tuesday, September 27.
The 2022 cohort were in full attendance alongside guests including the BFI’s Mia Bays; former Amazon Studios exec Georgia Brown; Sundance Film Festival’s John Nein; and casting director Des Hamilton.
Rising Stars Scotland is a major new talent spotlight for Scottish filmmakers and actors and is an offshoot of Screen’s UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow programme. It was curated by Screen’s executive editor Fionnuala Halligan in association with Screen Scotland.
- 9/28/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
The Sundance Film Festival has outlined some of the specific details for how it intends to go hybrid for the 2023 event, announcing Tuesday that the festival will begin exclusively in person in Utah for its first few days before opening up its online component.
Sundance 2023 runs Jan. 19-29, but the online component of the festival will then become available beginning on Jan. 24. Audiences will be able to view select films from the official selection online, though that includes all competition titles playing at the festival — including in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary and Next sections — as well as others across the film, episodic and shorts programs. Finally, on Jan. 28-29, the award-winning films from the year’s festival will be available both at in-person screenings and online.
In in an additional tweak, Sundance is requiring masks in all Sundance Film Festival spaces,...
Sundance 2023 runs Jan. 19-29, but the online component of the festival will then become available beginning on Jan. 24. Audiences will be able to view select films from the official selection online, though that includes all competition titles playing at the festival — including in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary and Next sections — as well as others across the film, episodic and shorts programs. Finally, on Jan. 28-29, the award-winning films from the year’s festival will be available both at in-person screenings and online.
In in an additional tweak, Sundance is requiring masks in all Sundance Film Festival spaces,...
- 8/30/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
In-person attendance to be prioritised with limited number of online P&i badges available.
Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 19-29, 2023, as an in-person event in Utah and will expand online on January 24.
In the first details to emerge on next year’s festival, Sundance Institute hierarchy said the digital offering will present an on-demand, curated selection of features. This will comprise all competition titles from the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and Next strands, as well as other work from the overall selection.
The 2023 festival will take place in-person in Park City,...
Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 19-29, 2023, as an in-person event in Utah and will expand online on January 24.
In the first details to emerge on next year’s festival, Sundance Institute hierarchy said the digital offering will present an on-demand, curated selection of features. This will comprise all competition titles from the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and Next strands, as well as other work from the overall selection.
The 2023 festival will take place in-person in Park City,...
- 8/30/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Tabitha Jackson, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, will be leaving the Sundance Institute.
At the same time, Director of Programming Kim Yutani will join the senior leadership team of the Institute.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente made the announcement today.
Jackson will depart the Institute shortly after the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: London. A public search led by Vicente is underway for the Festival’s next director.
Yutani joined the Festival in 2006, and this year marks her fifth leading the Festival’s programming. In addition to this work, she will now manage Festival industry and artist relations, and work closely with Vicente in the planning of the next Festival alongside senior programmers, John Nein, who also leads Strategic Initiatives, and Shari Frilot, who is also the Chief Curator, New Frontier.
Jackson joined the Institute in 2013 as the Director of the Documentary Film Program, where she oversaw the creation...
At the same time, Director of Programming Kim Yutani will join the senior leadership team of the Institute.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente made the announcement today.
Jackson will depart the Institute shortly after the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: London. A public search led by Vicente is underway for the Festival’s next director.
Yutani joined the Festival in 2006, and this year marks her fifth leading the Festival’s programming. In addition to this work, she will now manage Festival industry and artist relations, and work closely with Vicente in the planning of the next Festival alongside senior programmers, John Nein, who also leads Strategic Initiatives, and Shari Frilot, who is also the Chief Curator, New Frontier.
Jackson joined the Institute in 2013 as the Director of the Documentary Film Program, where she oversaw the creation...
- 6/7/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente to lead interim fest planning, search for replacement.
Tabitha Jackson is stepping down as Sundance Film Festival director after leading the event for two editions and will depart Sundance Institute after the imminent Sundance London (June 9-12).
No reason was given for Jackson’s departure following her short tenure as festival director, although there had been some talk of internal disharmony. Nonetheless the announcement by Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente comes as a surprise.
The British-born industry veteran joined the Institute in 2013. She became the first woman, the first person of colour and the first...
Tabitha Jackson is stepping down as Sundance Film Festival director after leading the event for two editions and will depart Sundance Institute after the imminent Sundance London (June 9-12).
No reason was given for Jackson’s departure following her short tenure as festival director, although there had been some talk of internal disharmony. Nonetheless the announcement by Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente comes as a surprise.
The British-born industry veteran joined the Institute in 2013. She became the first woman, the first person of colour and the first...
- 6/7/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Tabitha Jackson, the director of the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, will exit from her role at the Sundance Institute, the non-profit’s CEO Joana Vicente announced Tuesday, while also elevating Kim Yutani to a senior leadership role.
Jackson was named director of the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and has been with the Institute since 2013, and she will depart shortly after the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: London, which takes place later this week.
Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, will now join the Sundance Institute senior leadership team and for the interim lead the development and planning of the festival. Vicente is now leading a public search for the festival’s next director.
Yutani, who joined the festival in 2006 and has led programming for five years, will also now manage festival industry and artist relations. Yutani will work closely with Vicente in the planning of the next festival alongside senior programmers John Nein,...
Jackson was named director of the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and has been with the Institute since 2013, and she will depart shortly after the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: London, which takes place later this week.
Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, will now join the Sundance Institute senior leadership team and for the interim lead the development and planning of the festival. Vicente is now leading a public search for the festival’s next director.
Yutani, who joined the festival in 2006 and has led programming for five years, will also now manage festival industry and artist relations. Yutani will work closely with Vicente in the planning of the next festival alongside senior programmers John Nein,...
- 6/7/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
“Let’s keep moving forward,” Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson said Thursday in the middle of the virtual opening-day virtual press conference for the near-40-year-old event.
The expression was meant as a segue, but organically took on a greater meaning for the premier global indie festival, which was forced to cancel its live Park City portion 15 days ago due to the Omicron surge: Let’s deal with the now, and continue to wave the flag for independent cinema.
With an introduction made by new Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, Jackson was joined by her fellow programmers — Director Kim Yutani; Chief Curator, New Frontier Shari Frilot; and Senior Programmer and Director of Strategic Initiatives, John Nein — the gist of the 2022 presser was to convey that there’s only one way forward as the festival settles into being online for a second consecutive year. And that is through.
“’Pivot’ is...
The expression was meant as a segue, but organically took on a greater meaning for the premier global indie festival, which was forced to cancel its live Park City portion 15 days ago due to the Omicron surge: Let’s deal with the now, and continue to wave the flag for independent cinema.
With an introduction made by new Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente, Jackson was joined by her fellow programmers — Director Kim Yutani; Chief Curator, New Frontier Shari Frilot; and Senior Programmer and Director of Strategic Initiatives, John Nein — the gist of the 2022 presser was to convey that there’s only one way forward as the festival settles into being online for a second consecutive year. And that is through.
“’Pivot’ is...
- 1/20/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ begins production in February.
US-based streaming platform Roku is bringing a biopic of US comedy rapper ’Weird Al’ Yankovic to screens, with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role.
The feature, titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, is directed by Eric Appel and written by Al Yankovic himself, alongside Appel. Yankovic produces, along with Mike Farah, Joe Farrell and Whitney Hodack for Funny Or Die, and Tim Headington, Lia Buman and Max Silva for Tango.
Production is set to begin in Los Angeles in early February. The feature will be available only to stream on Roku.
US-based streaming platform Roku is bringing a biopic of US comedy rapper ’Weird Al’ Yankovic to screens, with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role.
The feature, titled Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, is directed by Eric Appel and written by Al Yankovic himself, alongside Appel. Yankovic produces, along with Mike Farah, Joe Farrell and Whitney Hodack for Funny Or Die, and Tim Headington, Lia Buman and Max Silva for Tango.
Production is set to begin in Los Angeles in early February. The feature will be available only to stream on Roku.
- 1/18/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Screen analyses the hot topics of the ongoing awards season.
In the latest episode of The Screen Podcast, the team discusses the latest awards season developments including the Bafta longlists, the SAG award nominations and the Golden Globes. Plus, Sundance senior programmer John Nein offers his insights into this year’s festival.
The Screen International Podcast · The Bafta longlists plus senior programmer John Nein on Sundance 2022
Screen International editor Matt Mueller, chief film critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan, and awards and box office editor Charles Gant take the temperature of the ongoing awards season. The Screen trio considers key...
In the latest episode of The Screen Podcast, the team discusses the latest awards season developments including the Bafta longlists, the SAG award nominations and the Golden Globes. Plus, Sundance senior programmer John Nein offers his insights into this year’s festival.
The Screen International Podcast · The Bafta longlists plus senior programmer John Nein on Sundance 2022
Screen International editor Matt Mueller, chief film critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan, and awards and box office editor Charles Gant take the temperature of the ongoing awards season. The Screen trio considers key...
- 1/18/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Inaugural programme runs during festival from January 29-31.
Sundance Institute on Tuesday (15) unveiled the programme for the inaugural Talent Forum that comprises projects from all stages of development, as well as a roster of special events that includes a keynote interview with Ryan Coogler.
From January 29-31, emerging talent from the Institute’s artist development Labs and Fellowships will present new work to industry attendees at the festival, alongside an artist-only schedule of keynotes, screenings, gatherings and seminars.
The Forum will welcome 47 filmmaking teams comprised of directors, writers, producers, and other creatives with work in the festival, 17 Fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development programmes,...
Sundance Institute on Tuesday (15) unveiled the programme for the inaugural Talent Forum that comprises projects from all stages of development, as well as a roster of special events that includes a keynote interview with Ryan Coogler.
From January 29-31, emerging talent from the Institute’s artist development Labs and Fellowships will present new work to industry attendees at the festival, alongside an artist-only schedule of keynotes, screenings, gatherings and seminars.
The Forum will welcome 47 filmmaking teams comprised of directors, writers, producers, and other creatives with work in the festival, 17 Fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development programmes,...
- 1/15/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Inaugural programme runs during festival from January 29-31.
Sundance Institute on Tuesday (15) unveiled the programme for the inaugural Talent Forum that comprises projects from all stages of development, as well as a roster of special events that includes a keynote interview with Ryan Coogler.
From January 29-31, emerging talent from the Institute’s artist development Labs and Fellowships will present new work to industry attendees at the festival, alongside an artist-only schedule of keynotes, screenings, gatherings and seminars.
The Forum will welcome 47 filmmaking teams comprised of directors, writers, producers, and other creatives with work in the festival, 17 Fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development programmes,...
Sundance Institute on Tuesday (15) unveiled the programme for the inaugural Talent Forum that comprises projects from all stages of development, as well as a roster of special events that includes a keynote interview with Ryan Coogler.
From January 29-31, emerging talent from the Institute’s artist development Labs and Fellowships will present new work to industry attendees at the festival, alongside an artist-only schedule of keynotes, screenings, gatherings and seminars.
The Forum will welcome 47 filmmaking teams comprised of directors, writers, producers, and other creatives with work in the festival, 17 Fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development programmes,...
- 1/15/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Sundance Film Festival is launching a new program to offer industry mentoring to under-represented and indie creators, the festival announced Tuesday.
Based out of Park City, Utah’s Kimball Art Center, the program will include focused mentoring for filmmakers, writers, producers, and beyond, as well as keynote events with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler and a conversation with top nonfiction filmmakers about a banner 2018 for docs.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” said the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco, and John Nein in a joint statement.
The forum is an expansion of programming at the nonprofit institute. Members of the group’s signature artist development labs and fellowships will showcase new work to industry attendees,...
Based out of Park City, Utah’s Kimball Art Center, the program will include focused mentoring for filmmakers, writers, producers, and beyond, as well as keynote events with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler and a conversation with top nonfiction filmmakers about a banner 2018 for docs.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” said the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco, and John Nein in a joint statement.
The forum is an expansion of programming at the nonprofit institute. Members of the group’s signature artist development labs and fellowships will showcase new work to industry attendees,...
- 1/15/2019
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is among those set to participate in the Sundance Film Festival's inaugural Talent Forum, which is meant to facilitate meetings with filmmakers and a variety of collaborators.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco and John Nein said Tuesday in a joint statement.
Seventeen fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development ...
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco and John Nein said Tuesday in a joint statement.
Seventeen fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development ...
- 1/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is among those set to participate in the Sundance Film Festival's inaugural Talent Forum, which is meant to facilitate meetings with filmmakers and a variety of collaborators.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco and John Nein said Tuesday in a joint statement.
Seventeen fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development ...
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco and John Nein said Tuesday in a joint statement.
Seventeen fellows selected from Sundance Institute’s artist-development ...
- 1/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
After hiring veteran festival programmer Kim Yutani to lead its programming team, the Sundance Film Festival has now announced a brand new batch of further programming hires. Yutani, who was previously a senior programmer for the festival and has worked at Sundance since 2006, was hired in May for the Director of Programming job left vacant by long-time programming head Trevor Groth earlier this year. The long-time programmer has now rounded out her team with a number of fresh faces, while also elevating some Sundance stalwarts.
Yutani commented in an official statement, “This year’s record-breaking number of submissions are phenomenally strong: we’re invigorated and inspired by the work we’ve been seeing. Our incredible — and growing! — programming team has refined our curation processes, ensuring that the conversations we have as we program continue to center, as always, on a Festival that represents a wide range of filmmakers and on-screen experiences.
Yutani commented in an official statement, “This year’s record-breaking number of submissions are phenomenally strong: we’re invigorated and inspired by the work we’ve been seeing. Our incredible — and growing! — programming team has refined our curation processes, ensuring that the conversations we have as we program continue to center, as always, on a Festival that represents a wide range of filmmakers and on-screen experiences.
- 11/19/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Festival to run in Utah from January 24-February 3.
Sundance Institute announced changes to its programming team less than two weeks before it unveils the 2019 festival programme, and unveiled several broad innovations under its inclusion policy, as well as the inaugural Sundance Institute Talent Forum.
Introducing new members to its programming team, the festival said it had expanded and refined the team “with an eye towards fresh perspectives and varied decision-making voices”.
Dilcia Barrera joins as programmer, Stephanie Owens as associate programmer, and Sudeep Sharma as shorts programmer. Ana Souza, formerly a programming coordinator, is promoted to manager, programming / associate programmer.
Sundance Institute announced changes to its programming team less than two weeks before it unveils the 2019 festival programme, and unveiled several broad innovations under its inclusion policy, as well as the inaugural Sundance Institute Talent Forum.
Introducing new members to its programming team, the festival said it had expanded and refined the team “with an eye towards fresh perspectives and varied decision-making voices”.
Dilcia Barrera joins as programmer, Stephanie Owens as associate programmer, and Sudeep Sharma as shorts programmer. Ana Souza, formerly a programming coordinator, is promoted to manager, programming / associate programmer.
- 11/19/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“Sand Storm” director Elite Zexer and actress Lamis Ammar spoke with me about the Lives of Bedouin Women in Israel this year in Sundance.Sand Storm’s Lamis Ammar
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university — a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family.
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university — a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family.
- 9/28/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has announced the juries and additional programming for the upcoming 14th edition, which runs April 6-10 in Hollywood.
Three films have been added to the line-up on April 10, including Lena Khan’s feature debut The Tiger Hunter, and a community screening of Sami Khan’s Khoya.
A restored version of Sujata, provided by the National Film Archive Of India, will screen as a tribute to director Bimal Roy on the 50th anniversary of his death.
The jury for the 2016 Narrative Film Competition includes:
· Shonali Bose, film-maker (Margarita, With A Straw & Amu);
· Shalini Dore, Variety; and
· Alesia Weston, international consultant to independent film-makers and film festivals.
The jury for the 2016 Short Film Competition includes:
· Rizwan Manji, actor (Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming Paterson);
· Aldo Velasco, director and editor (Chittagong); and
· Laura Nix, documentary film-maker (The Yes Men Are Revolting).
As previously announced, the festival will open with Angry Indian Goddesses (pictured) and the...
Three films have been added to the line-up on April 10, including Lena Khan’s feature debut The Tiger Hunter, and a community screening of Sami Khan’s Khoya.
A restored version of Sujata, provided by the National Film Archive Of India, will screen as a tribute to director Bimal Roy on the 50th anniversary of his death.
The jury for the 2016 Narrative Film Competition includes:
· Shonali Bose, film-maker (Margarita, With A Straw & Amu);
· Shalini Dore, Variety; and
· Alesia Weston, international consultant to independent film-makers and film festivals.
The jury for the 2016 Short Film Competition includes:
· Rizwan Manji, actor (Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming Paterson);
· Aldo Velasco, director and editor (Chittagong); and
· Laura Nix, documentary film-maker (The Yes Men Are Revolting).
As previously announced, the festival will open with Angry Indian Goddesses (pictured) and the...
- 3/31/2016
- ScreenDaily
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university—a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. As she tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, her daughter, possessed of a boundless spirit, sees a different life for herself thereby causing chaos and strife within the family.
Sydney Levine: How did you come up with this story?
Elite Zexer: My mother is a photographer and shot Bedouin villages for several years and brought me along with her. We also became very good friends with some of the Bedouins, visiting each other at our homes. About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college. She said, “For my daughter, it will be different.”
When I made a short about a different culture (Bedouin) I liked the process and the Bedouins asked me when I would make another film.
What film background do you have?
Elite Zexer: I have two degrees in film. I graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bfa in film and an Mfa in film directing. I made a short “Take Note” which won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and “Tasnin” which went to over 120 film festivals around the world and won several international awards. I also directed the documentary “Fire Department Bnei Brak” before I directed “Sand Storm”, my first feature.
How did you put this film together?
Elite Zexer: Four years ago I wrote a script trying to write from the Bedouin point of view as much as possible, of course knowing my own pov would also be there. I applied to the two public film funds in Israel and to two private funds. It happened so quickly that only one year ago, in January 2015 I was already in pre-production. The rough cut was done by August. We went to First Look at Locarno and we won the prize. John Nein from Sundance was a juror there, and so we have now come to Sundance.
It all felt like it was blessed from the sky. Everything fell into place all the time. It was always just right. Even when we ran out of time and had only 5 minutes to shoot the last scene, that turned out to be the best and strongest scene in the film.
We thought, “It just has to work!” and it did!
And how about you, Lamis?
Lamis Ammar: This was my first feature. I studied theater in Haifa and I like cinema. This is the most interesting and challenging role I have played. I met the woman and seeing the finished film on the screen confirmed in a real and truthful way what my heart told me when I met her.
What do you think about the film?
I just saw it yesterday for the first time and I must see it again to understand all the details.
I knew before about the Bedouin in the south, but I am a Palestinian from Haifa so while there are some similarities, there are also many differences. It was a big process just to learn the accent even though we share a language.
Every time I see the Bedouin and learn more about them, I feel I want to be a part of them and to help in any way I can. This strong young teenage university student is different from the others in her community. Her father treats her as a liberated Bedouin but, for a female, the situation is very complicated.
As the writer of this interview, I want to point out certain background issues which, though they seem to have no direct connection to the story, are key to how the politics and policies of the Israeli government have created a marginal society for the Bedouins in spite of all the past support the Bedouins have given to the state of Israel. It is easy to say “just look at the culture” as if it bore no relation to the larger societal and political realities.
In my experience speaking with people from Israel/ Palestine I find the Bedouin and Palestinian stories to be international. Even as far away as Cuba, Cubans refer to people from the east of their island as “Palestinians” because of their outsider status in Havana.
The fact that Layla is a student in the university is very unusual in the Palestinian Bedouin society. It’s not acceptable -- not because the men don’t allow it, but because the Bedouin themselves refuse to be part of the Israeli society. They often do not know Hebrew, the official language of Israel. This reminds me of U.S. Native Americans whose languages have never been recognized officially by our government. Many Navajo (I don’t know about other tribes) do not speak English and their marginalization is astounding to anyone who visits the “reservations”; it is truly visiting another nation as far removed from the U.S.A. as the Bedouin are from the U.S.A.
To attend an Israeli University, everyone must speak and study in Hebrew. The Israeli occupation of the Bedouin ancestral lands influences everyone’s social knowledge and lifestyle. The Bedouin used to live freely in their own land until they were forced to leave for other places or to the city. Some Bedouin stay put, but the act of staying makes them more conservative than previously.
Some of their villages are unrecognized by the Israeli authorities and are under permanent threat of being demolished in order to create new Israeli settlements. Bedouin teenagers have been shot by the Israel police forces and there have been no trials for the police action. This is a story that we in the U.S. have been hearing daily about our own citizens who happen to be African-American. We also hear about it in France with their North African-French youth. We call it police brutality but although the Palestinian Bedouins demonstrate daily, but no one hears them.
This film takes one by surprise. The mother’s controlled passion and impatience seethe through her. You can see it in the set of her mouth and in the way she moves. Her daughters share her passion for life and one feels the pain of their predicament. Their incredible strength sustains them and a glimmering light of hope shines through the storm.
The situation described above is the underlying and unspoken theme of the movie. It seeps through everything, one's clothing and household and in the very grittiness of one's teeth, like sand in a sand storm.
Director/Writer Elite Zexer
Cast member Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Haitham Omari, Khadija Alakel, Jalal Masarwa
Producers Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg
Director of Photography Shai Peleg
Editor Ronit Porat
Total Running Time: 87 Minutes
International Sales: Beta Cinema...
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university—a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. As she tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, her daughter, possessed of a boundless spirit, sees a different life for herself thereby causing chaos and strife within the family.
Sydney Levine: How did you come up with this story?
Elite Zexer: My mother is a photographer and shot Bedouin villages for several years and brought me along with her. We also became very good friends with some of the Bedouins, visiting each other at our homes. About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college. She said, “For my daughter, it will be different.”
When I made a short about a different culture (Bedouin) I liked the process and the Bedouins asked me when I would make another film.
What film background do you have?
Elite Zexer: I have two degrees in film. I graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bfa in film and an Mfa in film directing. I made a short “Take Note” which won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and “Tasnin” which went to over 120 film festivals around the world and won several international awards. I also directed the documentary “Fire Department Bnei Brak” before I directed “Sand Storm”, my first feature.
How did you put this film together?
Elite Zexer: Four years ago I wrote a script trying to write from the Bedouin point of view as much as possible, of course knowing my own pov would also be there. I applied to the two public film funds in Israel and to two private funds. It happened so quickly that only one year ago, in January 2015 I was already in pre-production. The rough cut was done by August. We went to First Look at Locarno and we won the prize. John Nein from Sundance was a juror there, and so we have now come to Sundance.
It all felt like it was blessed from the sky. Everything fell into place all the time. It was always just right. Even when we ran out of time and had only 5 minutes to shoot the last scene, that turned out to be the best and strongest scene in the film.
We thought, “It just has to work!” and it did!
And how about you, Lamis?
Lamis Ammar: This was my first feature. I studied theater in Haifa and I like cinema. This is the most interesting and challenging role I have played. I met the woman and seeing the finished film on the screen confirmed in a real and truthful way what my heart told me when I met her.
What do you think about the film?
I just saw it yesterday for the first time and I must see it again to understand all the details.
I knew before about the Bedouin in the south, but I am a Palestinian from Haifa so while there are some similarities, there are also many differences. It was a big process just to learn the accent even though we share a language.
Every time I see the Bedouin and learn more about them, I feel I want to be a part of them and to help in any way I can. This strong young teenage university student is different from the others in her community. Her father treats her as a liberated Bedouin but, for a female, the situation is very complicated.
As the writer of this interview, I want to point out certain background issues which, though they seem to have no direct connection to the story, are key to how the politics and policies of the Israeli government have created a marginal society for the Bedouins in spite of all the past support the Bedouins have given to the state of Israel. It is easy to say “just look at the culture” as if it bore no relation to the larger societal and political realities.
In my experience speaking with people from Israel/ Palestine I find the Bedouin and Palestinian stories to be international. Even as far away as Cuba, Cubans refer to people from the east of their island as “Palestinians” because of their outsider status in Havana.
The fact that Layla is a student in the university is very unusual in the Palestinian Bedouin society. It’s not acceptable -- not because the men don’t allow it, but because the Bedouin themselves refuse to be part of the Israeli society. They often do not know Hebrew, the official language of Israel. This reminds me of U.S. Native Americans whose languages have never been recognized officially by our government. Many Navajo (I don’t know about other tribes) do not speak English and their marginalization is astounding to anyone who visits the “reservations”; it is truly visiting another nation as far removed from the U.S.A. as the Bedouin are from the U.S.A.
To attend an Israeli University, everyone must speak and study in Hebrew. The Israeli occupation of the Bedouin ancestral lands influences everyone’s social knowledge and lifestyle. The Bedouin used to live freely in their own land until they were forced to leave for other places or to the city. Some Bedouin stay put, but the act of staying makes them more conservative than previously.
Some of their villages are unrecognized by the Israeli authorities and are under permanent threat of being demolished in order to create new Israeli settlements. Bedouin teenagers have been shot by the Israel police forces and there have been no trials for the police action. This is a story that we in the U.S. have been hearing daily about our own citizens who happen to be African-American. We also hear about it in France with their North African-French youth. We call it police brutality but although the Palestinian Bedouins demonstrate daily, but no one hears them.
This film takes one by surprise. The mother’s controlled passion and impatience seethe through her. You can see it in the set of her mouth and in the way she moves. Her daughters share her passion for life and one feels the pain of their predicament. Their incredible strength sustains them and a glimmering light of hope shines through the storm.
The situation described above is the underlying and unspoken theme of the movie. It seeps through everything, one's clothing and household and in the very grittiness of one's teeth, like sand in a sand storm.
Director/Writer Elite Zexer
Cast member Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Haitham Omari, Khadija Alakel, Jalal Masarwa
Producers Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg
Director of Photography Shai Peleg
Editor Ronit Porat
Total Running Time: 87 Minutes
International Sales: Beta Cinema...
- 2/2/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Film about female empowement in a conservative Bedouin community wins showcase.
Elite Zexer’s first feature Sand Storm and Eitan Anner’s A Quiet Heart have won the First Look Award in Locarno’s showcase, which was dedicated this year to selected Israeli films in post-production.
Jury member Karel Och, director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, presented the first prize of $66,000 (€60,000) worth of picture post-production services sponsored by Rotor Film to Sand Storm’s producers Haim Mecklberg and Estee Yacov-Mecklberg for its “mature, deeply observant storytelling and courageous depiction of the layered struggles of several generations of women”.
Sand Storm centres on a Bedouin mother and daughter testing the limits of their conservative community.
Fellow jury member, Sundance programming director John Nein handed over the second prize - $6,000 (€5,500) worth of advertising donated by the French trade magazine Le Film Francais - to A Quiet Heart’s producer Gal Greenspan of Green Productions for its “urgency...
Elite Zexer’s first feature Sand Storm and Eitan Anner’s A Quiet Heart have won the First Look Award in Locarno’s showcase, which was dedicated this year to selected Israeli films in post-production.
Jury member Karel Och, director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, presented the first prize of $66,000 (€60,000) worth of picture post-production services sponsored by Rotor Film to Sand Storm’s producers Haim Mecklberg and Estee Yacov-Mecklberg for its “mature, deeply observant storytelling and courageous depiction of the layered struggles of several generations of women”.
Sand Storm centres on a Bedouin mother and daughter testing the limits of their conservative community.
Fellow jury member, Sundance programming director John Nein handed over the second prize - $6,000 (€5,500) worth of advertising donated by the French trade magazine Le Film Francais - to A Quiet Heart’s producer Gal Greenspan of Green Productions for its “urgency...
- 8/11/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Written and directed by Alanté Kavaïté, "The Summer of Sangaile" has the unique distinction of being the first-ever Lithuanian feature to be selected for the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Read More: Interview with John Nein on International Films at the Sundance Film Festival Inspired by the writer/director's own adolescence spent summering in Lithuania, "The Summer of Sanguile" tells the story of a young woman named Sangaile, whose fascination for stunt planes is matched only by her fear of heights. Sangaile finds a friend in Auste, a vivacious young woman who encourages Sangaile to take risks. As the two grow closer, love blossoms. In this clip from the film, featured exclusively on Indiewire, we are given a brief glimpse into a tender moment between the two women. "The Summer of Sangaile" will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. You can check out the clip below for a sneak.
- 1/16/2015
- by Rosie Narasaki
- Indiewire
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
The Irish Film Board and the Galway Film Fleadh have announced details for the 2014 Real Deal Film Conference, which will consider the future of the industry.
This year’s theme - Where Do We Go From Here? - will focus on shifts in trends in audience content consumption, the rise of high-end TV drama and the popularity of event cinema, as well as the decline of DVD and pre-pay TV sales.
Speakers at the conference include Sundance Film Festival’s John Nein, the British Film Institute’s Alex Stolz and Magnolia Pictures’ Eamonn Bowles, who will collectively present the key address on the international film landscape.
A conversation about the new challenges and local landscape of distribution will also take place, featuring speakers from Wildcard Distribution, Element Distribution, movies@ and eOne.
The Real Deal Film Conference will take place on July 10 in Galway and will be moderated by Angus Finney.
This year’s theme - Where Do We Go From Here? - will focus on shifts in trends in audience content consumption, the rise of high-end TV drama and the popularity of event cinema, as well as the decline of DVD and pre-pay TV sales.
Speakers at the conference include Sundance Film Festival’s John Nein, the British Film Institute’s Alex Stolz and Magnolia Pictures’ Eamonn Bowles, who will collectively present the key address on the international film landscape.
A conversation about the new challenges and local landscape of distribution will also take place, featuring speakers from Wildcard Distribution, Element Distribution, movies@ and eOne.
The Real Deal Film Conference will take place on July 10 in Galway and will be moderated by Angus Finney.
- 7/1/2014
- ScreenDaily
Festival top brass will mark the 20th anniversary of Steve James’ celebrated basketball documentary with a screening in From The Collection.
Hoop Dreams premiered in Park City in 1994 where it won the audience award for best documentary.
The film has been restored under the auspices of the Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films.
Film-makers James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A following the January 20 screening.
“Hoop Dreams completely changed the way we experience documentary films and the stories they tell,” said Sundance senior programmer John Nein. “And that profound impact is still being felt 20 years later.”...
Hoop Dreams premiered in Park City in 1994 where it won the audience award for best documentary.
The film has been restored under the auspices of the Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films.
Film-makers James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A following the January 20 screening.
“Hoop Dreams completely changed the way we experience documentary films and the stories they tell,” said Sundance senior programmer John Nein. “And that profound impact is still being felt 20 years later.”...
- 12/11/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
I had planned to see Circles (Serbia, directed by Srdan Golubovic) because my visits over the past 2 years to Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo) have increased my interest in Central and Eastern Europe where the people are looking up (vs. in Western Europe where they are looking down). Now it has been submitted for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and so I reprint my interview here which I did during Sundance earlier this year.
Sarajevo itself is especially remarkable as the only place in Europe where there has been a war since I was born. From 1991 to 1999 Serbia was involved in the Yugoslav Wars - the war in Slovenia, the war in Croatia, the war in Bosnia and the war in Kosovo. During this period, Slobodan Milošević was the authoritarian leader of Serbia, which was in turn part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This was was a war between people who spoke a common language but were split along religious lines, the Serbs being Eastern Orthodox and the Bosnians, Kosovians and Croations being Muslim.
The country known as Yugoslavia had been unified from 1918 to 1991-- first under a king as The Kingdom of Yugoslavia until 1941 and then as the Social Republic of Yugoslavia. Even as the Social Republic of Yugoslavia, it was a country more liberal then the other communist countries. It was a socialist republic open to west; its people could travel, the people had good jobs, it was more an example of socialism than of communism. Its geographical location was also at a true crossroad between east and west, formerly Ottomon and Muslim and at the same time very Eastern Orthodox and Catholic.
When the Ussr collapsed, Sarajevo, situated in the break-off nation Bosnia and Herzogovina was surrounded by Christian Serbs who bombarded the cities of the nation which they saw more as Muslim than as Christian in order to annex the land.
My dear Berlin friend, Geno Lechner from Berlin asked me to see it because she is in it. She plays the German wife of the protagonist. And my good friend Mickey Cottrell, of Inclusive PR is the publicist for Circles from the time it was in Sundance 2013's World Dramatic Competition and has also asked me to revise and repost what I wrote in Sundance.
So here it is:
Circles ripples out as a stone dropped in a placid lake, concentrically creating moral complexities for a group of people as their story strands emerge from one fateful moment.
Marco, a Serbian soldier on leave from the Serbo-Croatian War in 1993, returns to his Bosnian hometown. When three fellow soldiers accost Haris, a Muslim kiosk vendor, Marco intervenes, and it costs him his life.
Twelve years later, the war is over but the wounds remain open. Marco's father is rebuilding a church when the son of one of Marco's killers appears looking for work. Meanwhile, in Belgrade, Marco's friend Nabobs, a renowned surgeon, debates whether or not to operate on another of Marco's killers. And in Germany, Haris, now married with a family (Geno Lechner and her two daughters) strives to repay his debt to Marco's widow who arrives at his door seeking refuge.
John Nein, Sundance Senior Programmer says, "Srdan Golubovic's third feature employs a multifaceted, yet simple, structure that contemplates revenge, redemption, and reconciliation. Aware of how easily hatred and violence can create life-shattering ripples, he looks at the consequences of moral courage and asks whether a heroic act can generate ripples of another kind."
Circles was financed with funds from Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its international sales agent is Memento. Circles also screened in the Berlin Film Festival's Forum.
It is very important for the film’s director, Srdan Golubovic, that Circles receive wide distribution. It is based upon the true story of Srdjan Aleksic, a Serbian soldier who saved the life of his neighbor. When Golubovic read the story some years ago, he was against the war but on the sidelines watching, occasionally demonstrating against it, but not a part of it. He chose not to remake the story of the man then but to make it contemporary in order to close the book of his own private feelings about the war.
The man is universal in that he is saving a man, not "an enemy". The escaped man moved into a German world, which at the time looked very much like his own world, sparse, unattractively Soviet in style. However, he found his fortune there and created a life. The actor, Aleksandar Bercek, says that when he met the real Srdjan Aleksic, he said to him, "Now I am walking; it could have been different. I could have been lying down." You will see in a Google search that the memory of Srdjan is very much alive today. The real man's grave is visited yearly by the survivor he saved and by all the former Yugoslavians in the area of Serbia, Bosnia, Herzogovina, Croatia and Slovenia. He has received a posthumous medal of honor and has streets named after him in several cities.
This is one of the rare films which unites everybody; it is about forgiveness and reconciliation. And as such it deserves very wide distribution. And as a work of heroic art, it deserves to be seen by many people. We hope you will visit Memento during Berlin and place your orders. For those of you who are not distributors going to market to acquire films, we hope you will have a chance to see this film in your local theaters or homes.
Srdan Golubovic’s earlier film from 2007, The Trap, garnered great acclaim and was Serbia’s submission for an Academy Award nomination.
When director Srdan Golubovic and producer Jelena Mitrovic and I spoke during Sundance, they spoke of what a great surprise Sundance was to them. They found the people very warm. The audiences were totally open, very curious and emotionally connected. It is very rare for Srdan to find an audience that is not afraid to ask questions and eager to talk about the film. And, unlike at most film festivals, at Sundance, they saw the programmers every day and were always able to speak to them. As there were not too many films in competition — 12 in World Cinema section as opposed to 16 last year — the attention they received from the Sundance personnel and volunteers was very special.
Read the praise received by The Hollywood Reporter
Further information:
Serbian with English subtitles, 2012, 112 minutes, color, Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia, World Dramatic Competiton at Sundance, Forum at the Berlinale
Cast and Credits
Director: Srdan Golubovic
Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic
Producers: Jelena Mitrovic, Alexander Ris, Emilie Georges, Boris T. Matic, Danijel Hocevar
Cinematographer: Alexsander Ilic
Production Designer: Goran Joksimovic
Composer: Mario Schneider
Sound Designer: Julij Zornik
Costume Designer: Ljiljana Petrovic
Principal Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Geno Lechner, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic...
Sarajevo itself is especially remarkable as the only place in Europe where there has been a war since I was born. From 1991 to 1999 Serbia was involved in the Yugoslav Wars - the war in Slovenia, the war in Croatia, the war in Bosnia and the war in Kosovo. During this period, Slobodan Milošević was the authoritarian leader of Serbia, which was in turn part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This was was a war between people who spoke a common language but were split along religious lines, the Serbs being Eastern Orthodox and the Bosnians, Kosovians and Croations being Muslim.
The country known as Yugoslavia had been unified from 1918 to 1991-- first under a king as The Kingdom of Yugoslavia until 1941 and then as the Social Republic of Yugoslavia. Even as the Social Republic of Yugoslavia, it was a country more liberal then the other communist countries. It was a socialist republic open to west; its people could travel, the people had good jobs, it was more an example of socialism than of communism. Its geographical location was also at a true crossroad between east and west, formerly Ottomon and Muslim and at the same time very Eastern Orthodox and Catholic.
When the Ussr collapsed, Sarajevo, situated in the break-off nation Bosnia and Herzogovina was surrounded by Christian Serbs who bombarded the cities of the nation which they saw more as Muslim than as Christian in order to annex the land.
My dear Berlin friend, Geno Lechner from Berlin asked me to see it because she is in it. She plays the German wife of the protagonist. And my good friend Mickey Cottrell, of Inclusive PR is the publicist for Circles from the time it was in Sundance 2013's World Dramatic Competition and has also asked me to revise and repost what I wrote in Sundance.
So here it is:
Circles ripples out as a stone dropped in a placid lake, concentrically creating moral complexities for a group of people as their story strands emerge from one fateful moment.
Marco, a Serbian soldier on leave from the Serbo-Croatian War in 1993, returns to his Bosnian hometown. When three fellow soldiers accost Haris, a Muslim kiosk vendor, Marco intervenes, and it costs him his life.
Twelve years later, the war is over but the wounds remain open. Marco's father is rebuilding a church when the son of one of Marco's killers appears looking for work. Meanwhile, in Belgrade, Marco's friend Nabobs, a renowned surgeon, debates whether or not to operate on another of Marco's killers. And in Germany, Haris, now married with a family (Geno Lechner and her two daughters) strives to repay his debt to Marco's widow who arrives at his door seeking refuge.
John Nein, Sundance Senior Programmer says, "Srdan Golubovic's third feature employs a multifaceted, yet simple, structure that contemplates revenge, redemption, and reconciliation. Aware of how easily hatred and violence can create life-shattering ripples, he looks at the consequences of moral courage and asks whether a heroic act can generate ripples of another kind."
Circles was financed with funds from Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its international sales agent is Memento. Circles also screened in the Berlin Film Festival's Forum.
It is very important for the film’s director, Srdan Golubovic, that Circles receive wide distribution. It is based upon the true story of Srdjan Aleksic, a Serbian soldier who saved the life of his neighbor. When Golubovic read the story some years ago, he was against the war but on the sidelines watching, occasionally demonstrating against it, but not a part of it. He chose not to remake the story of the man then but to make it contemporary in order to close the book of his own private feelings about the war.
The man is universal in that he is saving a man, not "an enemy". The escaped man moved into a German world, which at the time looked very much like his own world, sparse, unattractively Soviet in style. However, he found his fortune there and created a life. The actor, Aleksandar Bercek, says that when he met the real Srdjan Aleksic, he said to him, "Now I am walking; it could have been different. I could have been lying down." You will see in a Google search that the memory of Srdjan is very much alive today. The real man's grave is visited yearly by the survivor he saved and by all the former Yugoslavians in the area of Serbia, Bosnia, Herzogovina, Croatia and Slovenia. He has received a posthumous medal of honor and has streets named after him in several cities.
This is one of the rare films which unites everybody; it is about forgiveness and reconciliation. And as such it deserves very wide distribution. And as a work of heroic art, it deserves to be seen by many people. We hope you will visit Memento during Berlin and place your orders. For those of you who are not distributors going to market to acquire films, we hope you will have a chance to see this film in your local theaters or homes.
Srdan Golubovic’s earlier film from 2007, The Trap, garnered great acclaim and was Serbia’s submission for an Academy Award nomination.
When director Srdan Golubovic and producer Jelena Mitrovic and I spoke during Sundance, they spoke of what a great surprise Sundance was to them. They found the people very warm. The audiences were totally open, very curious and emotionally connected. It is very rare for Srdan to find an audience that is not afraid to ask questions and eager to talk about the film. And, unlike at most film festivals, at Sundance, they saw the programmers every day and were always able to speak to them. As there were not too many films in competition — 12 in World Cinema section as opposed to 16 last year — the attention they received from the Sundance personnel and volunteers was very special.
Read the praise received by The Hollywood Reporter
Further information:
Serbian with English subtitles, 2012, 112 minutes, color, Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia, World Dramatic Competiton at Sundance, Forum at the Berlinale
Cast and Credits
Director: Srdan Golubovic
Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic
Producers: Jelena Mitrovic, Alexander Ris, Emilie Georges, Boris T. Matic, Danijel Hocevar
Cinematographer: Alexsander Ilic
Production Designer: Goran Joksimovic
Composer: Mario Schneider
Sound Designer: Julij Zornik
Costume Designer: Ljiljana Petrovic
Principal Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Geno Lechner, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic...
- 11/21/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Rosie graduated film school and worked briefly with a small film production company for 3 years where she learned the basics of creative and commerce on the studio side and TV side of the business. Big studio fare was not exactly the kind of films she favored, and she wanted to be involved with the sort of films she wanted to see herself.
You can see her credits on short films were more in line with her next job at Sundance Institute where she was recruited by festival programmers Caroline Libresco and John Nein. She began in 2004 as Geoff Gilmore’s assistant. John Cooper had joined Sundance in 1989 and in 2001 he initiated the idea for someone be a liaison/consultant to help industry folks during the Festival. By 2006, that idea became more official and the Sundance Industry Office (Sio) was born. The Sio became a one-stop-shop for the sales and industry representatives who had been attending Sundance for years and offered a members-only access to purchase passes and ticket packages. In addition, screenings and attendance were going up so Press and Industry Screenings were introduced as well.
Space at Sundance Film Festival is however always at a premium. Screening rooms are limited (unlike Toronto which also had to face this issue earlier in its own history). The trade can be quite demanding as we in the industry well know. We get anxious and we want instant help when we are pressed for time to see and do all me must during these top festivals. I remember a time when Sam Kitt and others were shut out of a screening in Toronto and we caused such a fuss that then next year they started the Sales and Industry Office. But Sundance resisted our attempts to “label” the festival as a trade event. It was a festival; it did not cater to “the trade”; it catered to filmmakers whose independence from the studios, from the trade was prized by Robert Redford himself.
However, as we all know, trade is essential if filmmakers want to recoup their investments. In 1989 when Sex, Lies and Videotape hit Sundance, the trade was alerted that not only were there great films that could supplement the new video industry but there were careers to be made.
In Rosie’s early days running the Sio, seven years ago, there were 800 to 900 industry attendees. Today there are 1,300 and there are many reasons for their attending Sundance. Back in the early 90s, primarily buyers were there looking for new acquisitions for theatrical and home video. Most films did not even have international sales agents. Now, there are festival people, especially regional programmers looking beyond the Competition and Premieres for highlighting new talent or more focused on their regional audience desires; there are distributors also looking for new digital platforms, there are casting agents looking for talent, agents looking for talent, post-production houses looking for business from directors and producers, film commissions – especially during these days of runaway production – offering tax credits, non-profits looking for films or making films to hit their cause-oriented constituencies. There are even TV executives looking at shorts for future TV directors. Having international sales agents standing at the theater entrance noting which distributors are attending needs to be explained to the theater operators.
With such a broad range of industry sites, Rosie and her staff of 3 (they just hired a 3rd), still must hold the limit on passes (without spare room, there is a limited number of passes available). Their first duty is to help the filmmakers with films needing to be seen by those who can help the filmmaker the most. Calming stressed out executives is key to smooth operations too, and both the volunteers and the industry folk have commented on a marked improvement in their mutual dealings with one another over the past few years.
(Now if we could just get the “townies” to stop referring to us as “the people in black”, we would have an even better time in Sundance.)
One of Rosie’s favorite activities is getting to know each person in the trade, many of whom are her heroes, and educating key staff, whether the “carnie lifestyle” seasonal workers or the volunteers, so that they can meet the demands which industry sites will make. Speaking of this “carnie lifestyle”, Rosie’s new Associate Manager who was hired two weeks ago, was at Telluride.
Another interesting activity is educating the new filmmakers on the importance of international distribution. Debuting filmmakers often do not understand that if a film does not get a U.S. distribution deal, it does not mean there is no audience for that film. Understanding that international market and understanding that international sales can make a huge difference for their films and fir their careers. Understanding “splitting rights” between U.S. and international is a concept that often does not occur to them.
I asked Rosie how the Next Weekend expansion of Sundance worked this past summer in L.A. Out of 10 features, all but four had already shown at Sundance. Those world premiering films had no U.S. or international sales agents attached, so there was something for the trade to watch. However 8 of them had distribution and were being shown locally in L.A. to introduce local audiences to the next generation of indie filmmakers. This brain child of John Cooper and Trevor Groth was more of a community oriented affair.
Sundance does have some interesting alliances, for instance, with Cinando. Last year Rosie and Jerome Paillard the director of the Cannes Market met at Afm and she saw the value of filmmakers having the option to show their films online on the Cannes website, Cinando, to the international film trade. Filmmakers can choose how, when and to whom to show their films – whether after Sundance, or after Berlin where they are also invited to screen, thanks to Caroline Libresco and other programmers. They can show only to international sales agents or to distributors or only to festival programmers. The choice is theirs or, if they have an international sales agent, it is often left to them to decide. Sundance filmmakers can also show on Festivalscope, which is a B2B internet platform for film professionals worldwide that has partnered with more than 80 international film festivals.
This international trade-only online platform is important because attending Sundance for the international crowd is cost-prohibitive. There is a core group which comes every year like Michael Weber of The Match Factory, or sales agents like Fortissimo whose films show in the festival, distribution executives Karin Beyens of Diaphana, an important French distributor, and a few others, but most of them would prefer to see films online through Cinando which is market connected.
Filmmakers need to know that once producers are on Cinando, they can use phone apps as well and have access to the P&I screening schedules of other Tiff as well as other top festivals, like Berlin, Cannes Festival and Cannes Market, Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, Ventana Sur, etc. with its 2,500 films on offer. Sundance’s own P&I (Press and Industry) schedule is only available on Cinando. It also shows who in the industry is where…both online and on iphone.
Cooper (John Cooper) also came up with the idea of the Art House Project, which now has blossomed into the now quite important Art House Convergence, held just before Sundance, where art house theater owners can discuss common issues, often with the art house distributors who now attend as well.
Rosie’s industry office needs to stay aware of all these aspects of the industry to serve them so that Sundance can continue to serve a broad and ever growing community!
You can see her credits on short films were more in line with her next job at Sundance Institute where she was recruited by festival programmers Caroline Libresco and John Nein. She began in 2004 as Geoff Gilmore’s assistant. John Cooper had joined Sundance in 1989 and in 2001 he initiated the idea for someone be a liaison/consultant to help industry folks during the Festival. By 2006, that idea became more official and the Sundance Industry Office (Sio) was born. The Sio became a one-stop-shop for the sales and industry representatives who had been attending Sundance for years and offered a members-only access to purchase passes and ticket packages. In addition, screenings and attendance were going up so Press and Industry Screenings were introduced as well.
Space at Sundance Film Festival is however always at a premium. Screening rooms are limited (unlike Toronto which also had to face this issue earlier in its own history). The trade can be quite demanding as we in the industry well know. We get anxious and we want instant help when we are pressed for time to see and do all me must during these top festivals. I remember a time when Sam Kitt and others were shut out of a screening in Toronto and we caused such a fuss that then next year they started the Sales and Industry Office. But Sundance resisted our attempts to “label” the festival as a trade event. It was a festival; it did not cater to “the trade”; it catered to filmmakers whose independence from the studios, from the trade was prized by Robert Redford himself.
However, as we all know, trade is essential if filmmakers want to recoup their investments. In 1989 when Sex, Lies and Videotape hit Sundance, the trade was alerted that not only were there great films that could supplement the new video industry but there were careers to be made.
In Rosie’s early days running the Sio, seven years ago, there were 800 to 900 industry attendees. Today there are 1,300 and there are many reasons for their attending Sundance. Back in the early 90s, primarily buyers were there looking for new acquisitions for theatrical and home video. Most films did not even have international sales agents. Now, there are festival people, especially regional programmers looking beyond the Competition and Premieres for highlighting new talent or more focused on their regional audience desires; there are distributors also looking for new digital platforms, there are casting agents looking for talent, agents looking for talent, post-production houses looking for business from directors and producers, film commissions – especially during these days of runaway production – offering tax credits, non-profits looking for films or making films to hit their cause-oriented constituencies. There are even TV executives looking at shorts for future TV directors. Having international sales agents standing at the theater entrance noting which distributors are attending needs to be explained to the theater operators.
With such a broad range of industry sites, Rosie and her staff of 3 (they just hired a 3rd), still must hold the limit on passes (without spare room, there is a limited number of passes available). Their first duty is to help the filmmakers with films needing to be seen by those who can help the filmmaker the most. Calming stressed out executives is key to smooth operations too, and both the volunteers and the industry folk have commented on a marked improvement in their mutual dealings with one another over the past few years.
(Now if we could just get the “townies” to stop referring to us as “the people in black”, we would have an even better time in Sundance.)
One of Rosie’s favorite activities is getting to know each person in the trade, many of whom are her heroes, and educating key staff, whether the “carnie lifestyle” seasonal workers or the volunteers, so that they can meet the demands which industry sites will make. Speaking of this “carnie lifestyle”, Rosie’s new Associate Manager who was hired two weeks ago, was at Telluride.
Another interesting activity is educating the new filmmakers on the importance of international distribution. Debuting filmmakers often do not understand that if a film does not get a U.S. distribution deal, it does not mean there is no audience for that film. Understanding that international market and understanding that international sales can make a huge difference for their films and fir their careers. Understanding “splitting rights” between U.S. and international is a concept that often does not occur to them.
I asked Rosie how the Next Weekend expansion of Sundance worked this past summer in L.A. Out of 10 features, all but four had already shown at Sundance. Those world premiering films had no U.S. or international sales agents attached, so there was something for the trade to watch. However 8 of them had distribution and were being shown locally in L.A. to introduce local audiences to the next generation of indie filmmakers. This brain child of John Cooper and Trevor Groth was more of a community oriented affair.
Sundance does have some interesting alliances, for instance, with Cinando. Last year Rosie and Jerome Paillard the director of the Cannes Market met at Afm and she saw the value of filmmakers having the option to show their films online on the Cannes website, Cinando, to the international film trade. Filmmakers can choose how, when and to whom to show their films – whether after Sundance, or after Berlin where they are also invited to screen, thanks to Caroline Libresco and other programmers. They can show only to international sales agents or to distributors or only to festival programmers. The choice is theirs or, if they have an international sales agent, it is often left to them to decide. Sundance filmmakers can also show on Festivalscope, which is a B2B internet platform for film professionals worldwide that has partnered with more than 80 international film festivals.
This international trade-only online platform is important because attending Sundance for the international crowd is cost-prohibitive. There is a core group which comes every year like Michael Weber of The Match Factory, or sales agents like Fortissimo whose films show in the festival, distribution executives Karin Beyens of Diaphana, an important French distributor, and a few others, but most of them would prefer to see films online through Cinando which is market connected.
Filmmakers need to know that once producers are on Cinando, they can use phone apps as well and have access to the P&I screening schedules of other Tiff as well as other top festivals, like Berlin, Cannes Festival and Cannes Market, Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, Ventana Sur, etc. with its 2,500 films on offer. Sundance’s own P&I (Press and Industry) schedule is only available on Cinando. It also shows who in the industry is where…both online and on iphone.
Cooper (John Cooper) also came up with the idea of the Art House Project, which now has blossomed into the now quite important Art House Convergence, held just before Sundance, where art house theater owners can discuss common issues, often with the art house distributors who now attend as well.
Rosie’s industry office needs to stay aware of all these aspects of the industry to serve them so that Sundance can continue to serve a broad and ever growing community!
- 9/19/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Lasting (Nieulotne) by Jacek Borcuch
Lasting (aka Nieulotne) by Jacek Borcuch from Poland (Isa: AP Mañana) is a Polish-Spanish co-produciton produced by Piotr Kobus and Agnieszka Drewno of Mañana Producitons. It is an emotional love story about a pair of Polish students who meet and fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare brutally breaks into their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. The film premiered in Sundance where it won the World Cinema Cinematography Award and is screening on February 8 and 11 at the European Film Market in Berlin. The half hour Q&A at Sundance gave him a view of the audience reaction which made him realize the second part about life and death, abortion as an option which is illegal in Poland, elicits a universal questioning. In his films, everyone sees a different story; discussions grow as more people watch the film and different themes come to the fore of discussions. An example is a discussion that took place about the motorcycle which the young man brings to life and which dies along the way.
This film in constructed in two parts. This was risky he knows, but Jacek made a conscious decision not to make it a classic narrative. Because it is a character study of a relationship, the first part is the male's story and the second is the female part, dealing with life and death in an existential way. It is not just the story of a man. It is the woman who must look for answers to her questions of living with the man, becoming a mother and her answers must be made in a brief period of time. The man does not ask her about herself and she does not tell him her dilemma, so she also must decide how to act with him. They never had time to talk during the first luscious moments of their coming together; youth with emotions, black and white turn into thoughtful issues with many shades of gray. This is a story of two young people with no life experience shaping stories of unknown futures. This is Borcuch's fourth feature. It got its start at the Rotterdam Cinemart.
Jacek Borcuch's third feature, All That I Love, was the Polish Oscar contender in the early 80s. It played for 3 months in Poland and then went to Pusan. That was an autobiographical story in the time of Solidarity, a Romeo and Juliet story of the son of a Communist aparachnik and the daughter of a Solidarity leader. His second feature, Tulips, was timeless in that the period is indefinable; it is a tribute to Claude Lelouch. Now Jacek is 43 years old and the time demands a realistic approach. Lasting is about today for the first time.
The film's Polish release is February 8 with 120 prints which is a large release for Poland, a country of over 38.5 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union. The actor, Jan Nowicki is a big star in Poland and last year was a Shooting Star, the Efp's Berlinale salute to the rising stars of Europe. He is perfect in English and German and could become a major actor. The actress, Magdalena Berus, is 19 years old. Her first film, Baby Blues, was done when she was 18. She was found in a casting call which brought 4,000 interviews. She's a natural in this role. Months before the film, her own brother died and her grief, internalized, shows itself true in this film. Magdalena has completed two films in one year with no prior acting experience.
This film is being represented for U.S. by Traction. Its European premiere is in Rotterdam. It is being sold in Berlin and Hong Kong by Mañana, the sales and production company of the film's producer, Piotr Kobus. No one has seen the film except in Sundance and now in Rotterdam. No screeners have been sent out. Starting his own company for selling his own films is a step toward further international coproductions, and his eye is on Latin America. He is smart in this regard.
This is the first time producer Piotr Kobus has worked with Jacek Borcuch, but it is not the last. They have two more projects. One is a Polish-Spanish coproduction about an Argentinian exiled writer who died in the 60s in France. It will shoot in Argentina in the period in the writer was just coming into prominence. It could go to U.S. Labs and Workshops in Sundance and New York. The next project is an English language project, a human story that takes place in the far, far future. It is not a technological sci-fi picture however. It is based upon two naked people on the beach 2,000 years in the future. They have been speaking with John Nein of Sundance about connecting U.S. and European sensibilities in this more abstract film, whose form has still not taken shape.
Piotr and Jacek are taking a long range approach to their ongoing projects. The working style of the company as well as of Piotr himself and Jacek are being defined carefully and with intelligence. For example for the past four years Piotr and Jacek have spent every Monday together to work out issues on the films. Lasting itself will be made available by invitation only for screening after Berlin on Cinando for those who missed it. Keeping it personal and controlled, with select invitations sent out, Mañana, a new international sales company will have all prospects lined up in a month. This company, looking to coproduce across cultures, is a company to keep watching as are the film's director and producer.
Lasting (aka Nieulotne) by Jacek Borcuch from Poland (Isa: AP Mañana) is a Polish-Spanish co-produciton produced by Piotr Kobus and Agnieszka Drewno of Mañana Producitons. It is an emotional love story about a pair of Polish students who meet and fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare brutally breaks into their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. The film premiered in Sundance where it won the World Cinema Cinematography Award and is screening on February 8 and 11 at the European Film Market in Berlin. The half hour Q&A at Sundance gave him a view of the audience reaction which made him realize the second part about life and death, abortion as an option which is illegal in Poland, elicits a universal questioning. In his films, everyone sees a different story; discussions grow as more people watch the film and different themes come to the fore of discussions. An example is a discussion that took place about the motorcycle which the young man brings to life and which dies along the way.
This film in constructed in two parts. This was risky he knows, but Jacek made a conscious decision not to make it a classic narrative. Because it is a character study of a relationship, the first part is the male's story and the second is the female part, dealing with life and death in an existential way. It is not just the story of a man. It is the woman who must look for answers to her questions of living with the man, becoming a mother and her answers must be made in a brief period of time. The man does not ask her about herself and she does not tell him her dilemma, so she also must decide how to act with him. They never had time to talk during the first luscious moments of their coming together; youth with emotions, black and white turn into thoughtful issues with many shades of gray. This is a story of two young people with no life experience shaping stories of unknown futures. This is Borcuch's fourth feature. It got its start at the Rotterdam Cinemart.
Jacek Borcuch's third feature, All That I Love, was the Polish Oscar contender in the early 80s. It played for 3 months in Poland and then went to Pusan. That was an autobiographical story in the time of Solidarity, a Romeo and Juliet story of the son of a Communist aparachnik and the daughter of a Solidarity leader. His second feature, Tulips, was timeless in that the period is indefinable; it is a tribute to Claude Lelouch. Now Jacek is 43 years old and the time demands a realistic approach. Lasting is about today for the first time.
The film's Polish release is February 8 with 120 prints which is a large release for Poland, a country of over 38.5 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union. The actor, Jan Nowicki is a big star in Poland and last year was a Shooting Star, the Efp's Berlinale salute to the rising stars of Europe. He is perfect in English and German and could become a major actor. The actress, Magdalena Berus, is 19 years old. Her first film, Baby Blues, was done when she was 18. She was found in a casting call which brought 4,000 interviews. She's a natural in this role. Months before the film, her own brother died and her grief, internalized, shows itself true in this film. Magdalena has completed two films in one year with no prior acting experience.
This film is being represented for U.S. by Traction. Its European premiere is in Rotterdam. It is being sold in Berlin and Hong Kong by Mañana, the sales and production company of the film's producer, Piotr Kobus. No one has seen the film except in Sundance and now in Rotterdam. No screeners have been sent out. Starting his own company for selling his own films is a step toward further international coproductions, and his eye is on Latin America. He is smart in this regard.
This is the first time producer Piotr Kobus has worked with Jacek Borcuch, but it is not the last. They have two more projects. One is a Polish-Spanish coproduction about an Argentinian exiled writer who died in the 60s in France. It will shoot in Argentina in the period in the writer was just coming into prominence. It could go to U.S. Labs and Workshops in Sundance and New York. The next project is an English language project, a human story that takes place in the far, far future. It is not a technological sci-fi picture however. It is based upon two naked people on the beach 2,000 years in the future. They have been speaking with John Nein of Sundance about connecting U.S. and European sensibilities in this more abstract film, whose form has still not taken shape.
Piotr and Jacek are taking a long range approach to their ongoing projects. The working style of the company as well as of Piotr himself and Jacek are being defined carefully and with intelligence. For example for the past four years Piotr and Jacek have spent every Monday together to work out issues on the films. Lasting itself will be made available by invitation only for screening after Berlin on Cinando for those who missed it. Keeping it personal and controlled, with select invitations sent out, Mañana, a new international sales company will have all prospects lined up in a month. This company, looking to coproduce across cultures, is a company to keep watching as are the film's director and producer.
- 2/10/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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