Alexandre Rockwell’s Sweet Thing could be pulled from any era. Shot in striking 16mm black-and-white, the coming-of-age film—Rockwell’s first feature since 2013—is an intimate story about childhood, connection, freedom, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Starring Rockwell’s own children Lana and Nico as, respectively, Billie and Nico, Sweet Thing keeps its lens on two children maturing before they should and forced into situations of adulthood.
Billie and Nico live with their alcoholic father (a tremendous WIll Patton). They see their mother (Rockwell’s wife Karyn Parsons) sparingly, as she’ll even brush them aside on Christmas. They bounce around life, taking care of their parents and each other, Billie shouldering the majority of that load and the excessive brunt of the consequences. Each scene exists through the eyes of Billie and Nico, almost moving in slow motion, the utter smallness and closeness of their lives on display.
Billie and Nico live with their alcoholic father (a tremendous WIll Patton). They see their mother (Rockwell’s wife Karyn Parsons) sparingly, as she’ll even brush them aside on Christmas. They bounce around life, taking care of their parents and each other, Billie shouldering the majority of that load and the excessive brunt of the consequences. Each scene exists through the eyes of Billie and Nico, almost moving in slow motion, the utter smallness and closeness of their lives on display.
- 6/18/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
"Run away with us..." Film Movement has released the official trailer for a low key indie drama titled Sweet Thing, made by Massachusetts native filmmaker Alexandre Rockwell. This initially premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Tokyo Film Festival. The story revolves around two siblings and their struggle to find solid ground in the homes of their alcoholic father and negligent mother. The three children ultimately run away and make up a temporary life for themselves. They discover freedom and enchantment among New Bedford's boats and railway tracks. They fantasize about a life of luxury when they break into a posh home, and are able to carry the taste of affluence into their adventures. The film celebrates their ability to make poetry and a joyful life out of hardship. Starring Lana Rockwell, Nico Rockwell, Will Patton, Karyn Parsons, Jabari Watkins, M.L. Josepher, & Steven Randazzo.
- 6/15/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to Alexandre Rockwell’s “Sweet Thing,” which won the Berlin Film Festival’s Crystal Bear in 2020.
The movie is slated for a theatrical release this summer, followed by a rollout on all digital and home entertainment platforms. An ode to childhood, “Sweet Thing” marks Rockwell’s directorial comeback since his 2013 movie “Little Feet.”
“Sweet Thing,” which stars Lana and Nico Rockwell, Karyn Parsons and Will Patton, follows two children in contemporary New Bedford, Mass., who spend an eventful summer in a beach house with their mother and her boyfriend. They soon meet up with another adolescent, who’s run away from home, and together roam the area free from their parents’ watchful gaze, discovering freedom and enchantment among New Bedford’s boats and railway tracks.
After world-premiering at the Berlinale, the movie went on to play at the Tribeca, Mill Valley and Tokyo film festivals.
The movie is slated for a theatrical release this summer, followed by a rollout on all digital and home entertainment platforms. An ode to childhood, “Sweet Thing” marks Rockwell’s directorial comeback since his 2013 movie “Little Feet.”
“Sweet Thing,” which stars Lana and Nico Rockwell, Karyn Parsons and Will Patton, follows two children in contemporary New Bedford, Mass., who spend an eventful summer in a beach house with their mother and her boyfriend. They soon meet up with another adolescent, who’s run away from home, and together roam the area free from their parents’ watchful gaze, discovering freedom and enchantment among New Bedford’s boats and railway tracks.
After world-premiering at the Berlinale, the movie went on to play at the Tribeca, Mill Valley and Tokyo film festivals.
- 4/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Time tugs strangely on the sleeve of “Sweet Thing,” a heartfelt, hopeful yet slightly hollow black-and-white coming-of-ager from American indie stalwart Alexandre Rockwell. A lively, bittersweet meditation on an impoverished childhood that is still rich in innocence and imagination, it feels old-fashioned in a way that does not quite gel with its bid for contemporary grit. In form too, it feels more like a quaint reminder of Rockwell’s early-’90s heyday than a product of our modern times. With verve and vitality it pays a dreamy-eyed retrospective debt to films past, and largely due to the beguiling performance from Rockwell’s own daughter Lana, ultimately delivers a moving, tousled journey of discovery — but it’s through an America that has not existed for decades, if it ever did.
Lana Rockwell plays Billie, the daughter of unreliable, alcoholic but loving Adam (a terrific Will Patton) and older sister to Nico.
Lana Rockwell plays Billie, the daughter of unreliable, alcoholic but loving Adam (a terrific Will Patton) and older sister to Nico.
- 3/27/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Tucked away from the limelight at the Berlinale is the diverse and well-attended Generation section, themed on films devoted to depicting children. This, it is clear, is not the same thing as movies for children, though the two categories certainly and frequently joyfully overlap. Here, naivety, wonder, play, and confusion can be pursued in a way that might seem foolish in the so-called adult cinema found elsewhere at the festival. Polina Gumiela’s nearly feature-length Blue Eyes and Colorful My Dress shows how radical children’s cinema can be, following the wandering play of Zhana, a three-year-old girl (the director's daughter), around chunky, labyrinthine apartment blocks in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. Plotless in so far as the start-and-stop nature of a child’s play is plotless, and characterized by the several other self-minded children and animals—cats and dogs are half friends and half foes—Zhana encounters during her freedom,...
- 3/1/2020
- MUBI
Paris-based company unveils new team’s first Berlinale world sales acquisition.
Paris-based film company Urban Distribution International (Udi) has revamped its team following the departure of former sales and acquisitions chief Delphyne Besse in December to focus on personal projects.
Louise Ronzet, who worked with Besse as a sales executive, has been promoted to head of sales. She will be assisted by international sales and marketing executive Jennyfer Gautier.
Udi has also hired Agathe Corbin as acquisition manager. She arrives from Paris-based sales company WTFilms where she was an acquisitions and production executive.
Irène Cadavid has also joined the company as festivals manager.
Paris-based film company Urban Distribution International (Udi) has revamped its team following the departure of former sales and acquisitions chief Delphyne Besse in December to focus on personal projects.
Louise Ronzet, who worked with Besse as a sales executive, has been promoted to head of sales. She will be assisted by international sales and marketing executive Jennyfer Gautier.
Udi has also hired Agathe Corbin as acquisition manager. She arrives from Paris-based sales company WTFilms where she was an acquisitions and production executive.
Irène Cadavid has also joined the company as festivals manager.
- 1/30/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Toronto -- Vimeo last September offered producers of 150 world premiere movies at the Toronto Film Festival a $10,000 advance to digitally launch their titles on its Vimeo on Demand platform. It turns out, the filmmakers behind 13 movies took the site up on its offer, and their titles will debut on the streaming site. The first film to launch via Vimeo on Demand is U.S. indie director's Alexandre Rockwell's Little Feet, starring Lana Rockwell and Nico Rockwell, which is now available for pre-order on Vimeo and will debut on March 21. Other films that will be available
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- 1/13/2014
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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