In her debut feature, Jazmin Jones and collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross are looking for answers. They turn to the divine, the public, and, of course, the Internet for guidance. Their holy grail is Mavis Beacon, the virtual instructor who led one of the most popular learning games of all time. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is a font of nostalgia for those who played it in its heyday, and Black fans like Jones saw Mavis as an especially important pioneer for their digital representation.
Seeking Mavis Beacon is a more artistic and conceptual film than investigative, though Jones and Ross uncover some intriguing context about Renée L’Espérance, the model who first portrayed Beacon. As the game’s first face––and thus the blueprint for Mavis, who was henceforth a Black, female character––L’Espérance played a key role in the birth of the blockbuster game. But what does it mean...
Seeking Mavis Beacon is a more artistic and conceptual film than investigative, though Jones and Ross uncover some intriguing context about Renée L’Espérance, the model who first portrayed Beacon. As the game’s first face––and thus the blueprint for Mavis, who was henceforth a Black, female character––L’Espérance played a key role in the birth of the blockbuster game. But what does it mean...
- 1/30/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Mubi has recently wrapped production on Zia Anger’s feature film debut, My First Film, starring Odessa Young and Devon Ross.
The film is an adaptation of Anger’s critically acclaimed live cinema performance piece of the same name.
Related Story Park Chan-wook On How A Language Barrier Became "Central Element" Of His Film – Contenders L.A. Related Story Mubi Founder Efe Çakarel Talks Strategy Behind 'Decision To Leave' Acquisition – Toronto Industry Talk Related Story Canadian Director Patricia Rozema's Early Films Enjoy Revival As Kino Lorber, Mubi Take Rights To 4K Restorations
The movie is a deeply personal examination of cinema, body, truth and storytelling, centering on a young filmmaker (Odessa Young) as she recounts the story of struggling to make her first feature. Fact bleeds into fiction, and the past, present, and future converge to create a modern myth that redefines and expands the very act of creation.
The film is an adaptation of Anger’s critically acclaimed live cinema performance piece of the same name.
Related Story Park Chan-wook On How A Language Barrier Became "Central Element" Of His Film – Contenders L.A. Related Story Mubi Founder Efe Çakarel Talks Strategy Behind 'Decision To Leave' Acquisition – Toronto Industry Talk Related Story Canadian Director Patricia Rozema's Early Films Enjoy Revival As Kino Lorber, Mubi Take Rights To 4K Restorations
The movie is a deeply personal examination of cinema, body, truth and storytelling, centering on a young filmmaker (Odessa Young) as she recounts the story of struggling to make her first feature. Fact bleeds into fiction, and the past, present, and future converge to create a modern myth that redefines and expands the very act of creation.
- 11/21/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
IDFA is one of many festivals to have strong Ukrainian line-up - but can this continue?
While hundreds of filmmakers, sales agents and distributors were descending on Amsterdam for IDFA’s industry event The Forum over the weekend, another documentary festival was taking place far away in war-torn Ukraine.
The Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival was held in Kyiv, lasting only from 11-13 November, with few international guests in attendance and no industry events.
Films screening included Oleksiy Radynski’s Infinity: According To Florian, Pawel Lozinski’s The Balcony and Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere.
The...
While hundreds of filmmakers, sales agents and distributors were descending on Amsterdam for IDFA’s industry event The Forum over the weekend, another documentary festival was taking place far away in war-torn Ukraine.
The Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival was held in Kyiv, lasting only from 11-13 November, with few international guests in attendance and no industry events.
Films screening included Oleksiy Radynski’s Infinity: According To Florian, Pawel Lozinski’s The Balcony and Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere.
The...
- 11/17/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
US premiere set for New York Film Festival.
Neon’s boutique label Super has acquired US rights to Alice Diop’s Venice Silver Lion winner and Toronto selection Saint Omer, one of five films shortlisted for France’s international feature film Oscar submission.
‘Saint Omer’: Venice Review
Diop’s fiction feature debut is inspired by a true story and plays on the Medea mythology about the mother who kills her child. It follows Rama, a young novellist researching her next book, who reflects on her relationship with her mother as she attends the trial of a woman accused of infanticide.
Neon’s boutique label Super has acquired US rights to Alice Diop’s Venice Silver Lion winner and Toronto selection Saint Omer, one of five films shortlisted for France’s international feature film Oscar submission.
‘Saint Omer’: Venice Review
Diop’s fiction feature debut is inspired by a true story and plays on the Medea mythology about the mother who kills her child. It follows Rama, a young novellist researching her next book, who reflects on her relationship with her mother as she attends the trial of a woman accused of infanticide.
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jodie Sweetin (Full House), Tilky Jones (The Guardian), George Wendt (Cheers) and Alexander James Rodriguez (Replica) will star in the romantic drama Love’s Second Act from director Sam Irvin, which is filming in Los Angeles this month.
The film follows Jamie Leoni (Sweetin), a struggling filmmaker in Hollywood, who is faced with an ultimatum when her producer tells her that her pitch has been sold, but she only has one week to deliver the script. Having practically grown up in her hometown movie theater, she hopes to find inspiration to write the screenplay there. But upon returning, she finds Nick (Jones), her old boyfriend who broke her heart, and now owns the theater. While Nick is dealing with trying to prevent his father from selling the theater, Jamie discovers she is falling for him all over again. But can she balance her new career opportunity with giving Nick a second chance?...
The film follows Jamie Leoni (Sweetin), a struggling filmmaker in Hollywood, who is faced with an ultimatum when her producer tells her that her pitch has been sold, but she only has one week to deliver the script. Having practically grown up in her hometown movie theater, she hopes to find inspiration to write the screenplay there. But upon returning, she finds Nick (Jones), her old boyfriend who broke her heart, and now owns the theater. While Nick is dealing with trying to prevent his father from selling the theater, Jamie discovers she is falling for him all over again. But can she balance her new career opportunity with giving Nick a second chance?...
- 8/12/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Further titles include Pathe’s ‘Notre Dame On Fire’, Vertigo’s ‘She Will’.
Sony thriller Where The Crawdads Sing receives the biggest-ever release for any film directed by a woman at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, opening in 691 locations.
Directed by Olivia Newman, the film’s total tops the 673-site release for 2019’s Frozen 2, which was directed by Jennifer Lee, alongside Chris Buck; as well as the 650-site release of Cate Shortland’s Black Widow from last year – the previous widest release by a film solely directed by a woman.
Adapted by Lucy Alibar from Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name,...
Sony thriller Where The Crawdads Sing receives the biggest-ever release for any film directed by a woman at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, opening in 691 locations.
Directed by Olivia Newman, the film’s total tops the 673-site release for 2019’s Frozen 2, which was directed by Jennifer Lee, alongside Chris Buck; as well as the 650-site release of Cate Shortland’s Black Widow from last year – the previous widest release by a film solely directed by a woman.
Adapted by Lucy Alibar from Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name,...
- 7/22/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
A stylised exploration of how cameras have served the police state, from inventions in the early years of cinema to modern gadgets
‘Seeing is believing,” goes the old adage, and yet, for a film that investigates the intimate relationship between surveillance and the police state, Theo Anthony’s absorbing documentary chooses to begin with an eerie, unseeing image. The lens turned on the director’s own eyeballs, it inspects the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain but itself holds no visual information. Like the neurology of human perception, the recording devices used by police forces also sit on the edge of seeing and not seeing. By virtue of being mechanical, cameras – and the images they record – promise an unbiased visual access to truth, their representations of reality eliminating the fallibility of human emotions and prejudices.
Editing together a tour around Axon, a Taser company now specialising in body cameras,...
‘Seeing is believing,” goes the old adage, and yet, for a film that investigates the intimate relationship between surveillance and the police state, Theo Anthony’s absorbing documentary chooses to begin with an eerie, unseeing image. The lens turned on the director’s own eyeballs, it inspects the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain but itself holds no visual information. Like the neurology of human perception, the recording devices used by police forces also sit on the edge of seeing and not seeing. By virtue of being mechanical, cameras – and the images they record – promise an unbiased visual access to truth, their representations of reality eliminating the fallibility of human emotions and prejudices.
Editing together a tour around Axon, a Taser company now specialising in body cameras,...
- 7/18/2022
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
Considering many films premiering at the Locarno Film Festival can take years to get a release here in the United States—should they get any at all—Locarno in Los Angeles has been a welcome addition to the festival scene. Now in its fifth edition, the series (curated by Jordan Cronk and Robert Koehler) highlights the best of Locarno over four days, and kicks off this Thursday at 2220 Arts + Archives. Check out our recommendations for what to seek out this year below.
Belle (Mamoru Hosoda)
If a name can trigger nostalgia, don’t be surprised when the occasional sense of deja vu sets in while watching Belle, a dazzling near-future tech fantasia wrapped around a tale, yes, as old as time. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda and mostly set in a vast online world of sweeping musical numbers and weightless action sequences, it tells of Suzu, an awkward teenager (as if...
Belle (Mamoru Hosoda)
If a name can trigger nostalgia, don’t be surprised when the occasional sense of deja vu sets in while watching Belle, a dazzling near-future tech fantasia wrapped around a tale, yes, as old as time. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda and mostly set in a vast online world of sweeping musical numbers and weightless action sequences, it tells of Suzu, an awkward teenager (as if...
- 3/15/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Burgeoning documentary production company Sandbox Films has hired Patrick Hurley to fill the newly created position of Distribution Producer, also announcing today that it has launched construction on a new headquarters in New York City.
As Distribution Producer, Hurley will take the lead on distribution strategy, developing bespoke plans and campaigns for each production and working closely with release partners worldwide to maximize each film’s impact and audience. He comes to Sandbox with a decade of experience in connecting documentaries with release partners and audiences, having previously served as Industry Director at Sheffield DocFest and Distribution Manager at Dogwoof.
“Patrick uniquely understands the needs of independent filmmakers, as well as the nuances of a changing industry landscape,” said Sandbox’s Head of Production & Development, Jessica Harrop. “As an impact-minded company, we hope our films connect with large audiences to inspire critical thinking and expand minds. But this can...
As Distribution Producer, Hurley will take the lead on distribution strategy, developing bespoke plans and campaigns for each production and working closely with release partners worldwide to maximize each film’s impact and audience. He comes to Sandbox with a decade of experience in connecting documentaries with release partners and audiences, having previously served as Industry Director at Sheffield DocFest and Distribution Manager at Dogwoof.
“Patrick uniquely understands the needs of independent filmmakers, as well as the nuances of a changing industry landscape,” said Sandbox’s Head of Production & Development, Jessica Harrop. “As an impact-minded company, we hope our films connect with large audiences to inspire critical thinking and expand minds. But this can...
- 1/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2021, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
After over 14 months of no cinema-going, 2021 finally marked a return to theaters. The first film back––something every cinephile will forever have etched in their memory––was not a movie I heavily anticipated but one that thoroughly entertained: Guy Ritchie’s delightfully nasty B-movie Wrath of Man.
While the rest of the movie-going year had its ups and downs (the uncertain future of the arthouse marketplace as they attempt to find a footing in Disneyfied world), 2021’s cinematic output certainly wasn’t lacking for quality.
Looking back at the new releases, there’s a number of films that narrowly missed my top 15, including The French Dispatch, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, Days, The Beatles: Get Back, Annette, West Side Story, Siberia, Procession,...
After over 14 months of no cinema-going, 2021 finally marked a return to theaters. The first film back––something every cinephile will forever have etched in their memory––was not a movie I heavily anticipated but one that thoroughly entertained: Guy Ritchie’s delightfully nasty B-movie Wrath of Man.
While the rest of the movie-going year had its ups and downs (the uncertain future of the arthouse marketplace as they attempt to find a footing in Disneyfied world), 2021’s cinematic output certainly wasn’t lacking for quality.
Looking back at the new releases, there’s a number of films that narrowly missed my top 15, including The French Dispatch, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, Days, The Beatles: Get Back, Annette, West Side Story, Siberia, Procession,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The state of surveillance, intimate music celebrations, Helen Keller’s socialist ethos, refugee tales, examining the scars of abuse in the Catholic Church, and living a life solely through cinema—just a few of the subjects and stories this year’s documentaries brought us. With 2021 wrapping up, we’ve selected 16 features in the field that left us most impressed. If you’re looking for where to stream them, check out our handy guide here.
All Light, Everywhere (Theo Anthony)
Seemingly birthed from some kind of virtuosic computer algorithm or beamed directly from outer space, Theo Anthony’s debut feature Rat Film was a peculiarly engaging, wholly fascinating documentary. Using the population of rats to chart the history of classism and systemic racism throughout Baltimore over decades, it heralded an original new voice in nonfiction filmmaking. When it comes to his follow-up All Light, Everywhere, Anthony casts a wider focus while...
All Light, Everywhere (Theo Anthony)
Seemingly birthed from some kind of virtuosic computer algorithm or beamed directly from outer space, Theo Anthony’s debut feature Rat Film was a peculiarly engaging, wholly fascinating documentary. Using the population of rats to chart the history of classism and systemic racism throughout Baltimore over decades, it heralded an original new voice in nonfiction filmmaking. When it comes to his follow-up All Light, Everywhere, Anthony casts a wider focus while...
- 12/15/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
“Rat Film” director Theo Anthony wowed Sundance (and distributor Neon) earlier this year with his latest documentary, “All Light, Everywhere,” the winner of the festival’s Special Jury Prize. The film explores the history of surveillance — drawing a lineage from the camera to the gun — and how it’s killing society while upholding narratives of power. As announced exclusively on IndieWire, the new interactive online companion “All Light, Expanded” uncovers the connections, research, and ideas that inspired the film. Check out a trailer below and visit the website here.
The website introduces a new medium to unpack cinema embedded in the language of the internet and the nonlinear ways audiences experience documentaries, research, and the web. It features a custom interface that allows users to scrub through a thumbnail view of the film, alongside corresponding articles, quotes, links, and archival materials.
A collaboration of Memory Studio and A Lot of Moving Parts,...
The website introduces a new medium to unpack cinema embedded in the language of the internet and the nonlinear ways audiences experience documentaries, research, and the web. It features a custom interface that allows users to scrub through a thumbnail view of the film, alongside corresponding articles, quotes, links, and archival materials.
A collaboration of Memory Studio and A Lot of Moving Parts,...
- 12/14/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
See our comprehensive guide to where to stream the best films of 2021.
Agnes (Mickey Reece)
Agnes begins how any other possession film might––with the discovery of a demonic presence. When the convent of Saint Theresa fear there’s evil inhabiting the body of one of their young nuns, they outsource help from the diocese. Things quickly, expectedly start to unravel from there. But director Mickey Reece wants you to forget everything you know about possession and exorcism in film––or, well, maybe not. Because part of what makes his new feature Agnes work so beautifully is its very upending of expectations for that particular horror subgenre. With over twenty-five feature films thus far, spanning his career since 2008 as a lower-budget indie...
See our comprehensive guide to where to stream the best films of 2021.
Agnes (Mickey Reece)
Agnes begins how any other possession film might––with the discovery of a demonic presence. When the convent of Saint Theresa fear there’s evil inhabiting the body of one of their young nuns, they outsource help from the diocese. Things quickly, expectedly start to unravel from there. But director Mickey Reece wants you to forget everything you know about possession and exorcism in film––or, well, maybe not. Because part of what makes his new feature Agnes work so beautifully is its very upending of expectations for that particular horror subgenre. With over twenty-five feature films thus far, spanning his career since 2008 as a lower-budget indie...
- 12/10/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The feature documentary is by UK filmmaker Victoria Mapplebeck
Austrian documentary specialist Autlook Filmsales has picked up international rights to Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard, one of the most talked about feature projects at this week’s IDFA Forum pitching event in Amsterdam.
Shot on a smartphone, Motherboard has been 18 years in the making. Mapplebeck turned the camera on herself when she found herself single, pregnant and broke. Unable to combine the life of a freelancer with raising a child alone, the filmmaker let go of her career in TV. But she never gave up filming, and collected a vast archive of photos and videos,...
Austrian documentary specialist Autlook Filmsales has picked up international rights to Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard, one of the most talked about feature projects at this week’s IDFA Forum pitching event in Amsterdam.
Shot on a smartphone, Motherboard has been 18 years in the making. Mapplebeck turned the camera on herself when she found herself single, pregnant and broke. Unable to combine the life of a freelancer with raising a child alone, the filmmaker let go of her career in TV. But she never gave up filming, and collected a vast archive of photos and videos,...
- 11/24/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
As 2021 winds down, like most cinephiles, we’re looking to get our eyes on titles that may have slipped under the radar or simply gone unseen, so—as we do each year—we’re sharing a rundown of the best titles available to watch at home.
Curated from the Best Films of 2021 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up with. While our year-end coverage is still to come, including our staff’s top 50 films of 2021, this streaming guide will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to find notable, perhaps underseen, titles of late.
Note that we’re going by U.S. releases and that streaming services are limited solely to the territory as well. If you want to stay up-to-date with new titles being made available,...
Curated from the Best Films of 2021 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up with. While our year-end coverage is still to come, including our staff’s top 50 films of 2021, this streaming guide will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to find notable, perhaps underseen, titles of late.
Note that we’re going by U.S. releases and that streaming services are limited solely to the territory as well. If you want to stay up-to-date with new titles being made available,...
- 11/23/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Super Ltd has acquired North American rights to Bianca Stigter’s Three Minutes — A Lengthening, a Holocaust documentary co-produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown). The doc will be released in theaters next year.
Stigter’s first feature-length doc centers on a three-minute home movie shot by David Kurtz on a European holiday in 1938, in a Jewish town in Poland. The amateur footage— discovered by Kurtz’s grandson, writer Glenn Kurtz, in his parents’ Florida home—captures the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk just one year before the Nazis invaded. Most were eventually killed in the Treblinka extermination camp.
Family Affairs Films’ Floor Onrust produced Stigter’s meditation on history and memory with Lammas Park, with the support of The Netherlands Film Fund and Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival...
Stigter’s first feature-length doc centers on a three-minute home movie shot by David Kurtz on a European holiday in 1938, in a Jewish town in Poland. The amateur footage— discovered by Kurtz’s grandson, writer Glenn Kurtz, in his parents’ Florida home—captures the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk just one year before the Nazis invaded. Most were eventually killed in the Treblinka extermination camp.
Family Affairs Films’ Floor Onrust produced Stigter’s meditation on history and memory with Lammas Park, with the support of The Netherlands Film Fund and Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival...
- 10/19/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The 17th Zurich Film Festival concluded Saturday with wins for Jonas Carpignano‘s “A Chiara” and Fred Baillif’s “La Mif,” with Renato Borrayo Serrano’s “Life of Ivanna” named best documentary.
The jury, led by Daniel Brühl, and featuring director Stéphanie Chuat, former Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick and producer Andrea Cornwell, decided to award “A Chiara” with the prize for the best film of the Feature Film Competition. The Italian-French-Swedish-Danish co-production sees a teenage girl in a Calabrian town discovering her father’s criminal involvement.
“We were swept away by the modern take on the Italian neorealist tradition, the exceptional use of music and sound design and the outstanding performances by Swami Rotolo and her family, all making their film debuts. This film is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece,” argued the jury, calling the decision “unanimous.”
Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” – praised for “an incredible performance” by Clifton Collins Jr.,...
The jury, led by Daniel Brühl, and featuring director Stéphanie Chuat, former Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick and producer Andrea Cornwell, decided to award “A Chiara” with the prize for the best film of the Feature Film Competition. The Italian-French-Swedish-Danish co-production sees a teenage girl in a Calabrian town discovering her father’s criminal involvement.
“We were swept away by the modern take on the Italian neorealist tradition, the exceptional use of music and sound design and the outstanding performances by Swami Rotolo and her family, all making their film debuts. This film is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece,” argued the jury, calling the decision “unanimous.”
Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” – praised for “an incredible performance” by Clifton Collins Jr.,...
- 10/2/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Autlook is doing brisk sales on its Cannes slate.
Scandinavia’s Non-Stop Entertainment has bought Theo Anthony’s Sundance documentary All Light, Everywhere from Austria’s Autlook following its release by Neon in North America this month.
Non-Stop has also pre-bought all Scandinavian and Baltic rights to Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s The Meaning Of Hitler, exploring the influence Hitler continues to have in contemporary culture.
Ahead of Cannes, the film was picked up by Just Wanted (Italy), Against Gravity (Poland), Jiff Films (Australia), Film Europe (Czech and Slovak Republic).
IFC Films is releasing the film in North America this summer.
Scandinavia’s Non-Stop Entertainment has bought Theo Anthony’s Sundance documentary All Light, Everywhere from Austria’s Autlook following its release by Neon in North America this month.
Non-Stop has also pre-bought all Scandinavian and Baltic rights to Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s The Meaning Of Hitler, exploring the influence Hitler continues to have in contemporary culture.
Ahead of Cannes, the film was picked up by Just Wanted (Italy), Against Gravity (Poland), Jiff Films (Australia), Film Europe (Czech and Slovak Republic).
IFC Films is releasing the film in North America this summer.
- 7/7/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
As the film industry attempts to regain its footing from a tumultuous year, it seems many of our most-anticipated (some long-delayed) titles will be arriving in the back half of 2021. But the midway point still has plenty to recommend. As we do each year, we’ve rounded up our favorite films thus far.
While year’s end will bring personal favorites from all our writers, think of the below entries (and honorable mentions) as a comprehensive rundown of what should be seen before heading forward. As a note: this feature is based solely on U.S. theatrical and digital releases from 2021, with the majority widely available, where listed.
We should also note a number of films that premiered on the festival circuit last year also had a qualifying award, therefore making them 2020 films by our standards—including I Carry You With Me, Minari, The Truffle Hunters, and The Father. Check out our picks below,...
While year’s end will bring personal favorites from all our writers, think of the below entries (and honorable mentions) as a comprehensive rundown of what should be seen before heading forward. As a note: this feature is based solely on U.S. theatrical and digital releases from 2021, with the majority widely available, where listed.
We should also note a number of films that premiered on the festival circuit last year also had a qualifying award, therefore making them 2020 films by our standards—including I Carry You With Me, Minari, The Truffle Hunters, and The Father. Check out our picks below,...
- 6/23/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
All Light, Everywhere
Theo Anthony’s brilliant doc confronts the permeating presence in our lives of automated surveillance, zeroing in on a focus group wearing hard-to-believe tracking devices; a leading U.S. body camera manufacturer; a classroom where Baltimore police are trained to use those cameras; and a company that specializes in aerial surveillance. The result is chilling. — Sheri Linden
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Kristen Wiig reteams with Bridesmaids co-scribe Annie Mumolo in this sweet, screwy comedy about two Nebraskan pals who hit up a Florida resort for midlife singles. The result, an unapologetically delirious frolic in which friendship ...
Theo Anthony’s brilliant doc confronts the permeating presence in our lives of automated surveillance, zeroing in on a focus group wearing hard-to-believe tracking devices; a leading U.S. body camera manufacturer; a classroom where Baltimore police are trained to use those cameras; and a company that specializes in aerial surveillance. The result is chilling. — Sheri Linden
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Kristen Wiig reteams with Bridesmaids co-scribe Annie Mumolo in this sweet, screwy comedy about two Nebraskan pals who hit up a Florida resort for midlife singles. The result, an unapologetically delirious frolic in which friendship ...
- 6/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
All Light, Everywhere
Theo Anthony’s brilliant doc confronts the permeating presence in our lives of automated surveillance, zeroing in on a focus group wearing hard-to-believe tracking devices; a leading U.S. body camera manufacturer; a classroom where Baltimore police are trained to use those cameras; and a company that specializes in aerial surveillance. The result is chilling. — Sheri Linden
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Kristen Wiig reteams with Bridesmaids co-scribe Annie Mumolo in this sweet, screwy comedy about two Nebraskan pals who hit up a Florida resort for midlife singles. The result, an unapologetically delirious frolic in which friendship ...
Theo Anthony’s brilliant doc confronts the permeating presence in our lives of automated surveillance, zeroing in on a focus group wearing hard-to-believe tracking devices; a leading U.S. body camera manufacturer; a classroom where Baltimore police are trained to use those cameras; and a company that specializes in aerial surveillance. The result is chilling. — Sheri Linden
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Kristen Wiig reteams with Bridesmaids co-scribe Annie Mumolo in this sweet, screwy comedy about two Nebraskan pals who hit up a Florida resort for midlife singles. The result, an unapologetically delirious frolic in which friendship ...
- 6/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With this year’s French Open recently concluding, it’s the opportune time to watch one of cinema’s greatest sports documentaries. Capturing the annual tennis event 40 years ago, Muhammed Ali, the Greatest director William Klein’s The Open takes an intimate look at the 1981 French Open with John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Yannick Noah, Arthur Ashe, Martina Navratilova, and Björn Borg. Set to open virtually at Metrograph starting this Friday, we’re pleased to present the exclusive trailer.
As the official synopsis reads, “In 1981, Klein and three camera crews were given exclusive, unprecedented access to the tournament for the first time in its 90-year history, and using that doorway into locker rooms, TV studios, and players’ boxes, he shot the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the 1981 French Open. With Klein’s customary eagle eye and whirlwind energy, The French showcases the noisy bedlam that accompanies any major sporting event, while also...
As the official synopsis reads, “In 1981, Klein and three camera crews were given exclusive, unprecedented access to the tournament for the first time in its 90-year history, and using that doorway into locker rooms, TV studios, and players’ boxes, he shot the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the 1981 French Open. With Klein’s customary eagle eye and whirlwind energy, The French showcases the noisy bedlam that accompanies any major sporting event, while also...
- 6/15/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Theo Anthony’s movies are meticulously researched but, in his opinion, if he’s done his job you won’t know it. His new project All Light, Everywhere is broken into chapters and an epilogue that goes back and forth between the origins of moving image cameras and the use of body cameras on police today. It could be heady, but Anthony places these publicly available facts about both in a reflexive sequence that allows viewers to come to their own conclusion.
In the form-bending documentary Anthony explores Axon, a manufacturer of police body cameras, and for the sake of transparency in a film about understanding the things we view via camera, the director and his team appear on-screen periodically. If we’re to question police footage, Anthony found it only fair to allow us to question him as a filmmaker; this reflexive transparency is All Light, Everywhere is its illuminating strength.
In the form-bending documentary Anthony explores Axon, a manufacturer of police body cameras, and for the sake of transparency in a film about understanding the things we view via camera, the director and his team appear on-screen periodically. If we’re to question police footage, Anthony found it only fair to allow us to question him as a filmmaker; this reflexive transparency is All Light, Everywhere is its illuminating strength.
- 6/10/2021
- by Joshua Encinias
- The Film Stage
With a slimmer lineup and much of the action taking place online rather than in Park City, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be anything but normal. But if early sales activity is any indication, the hybrid virtual/in-person festival will still serve as a key acquisitions market for distributors.
News of the first deals broke on December 16, the day after Sundance revealed its full slate of 72 features. That’s when Bleecker Street announced it has acquired North American rights to Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together” and Magnolia Pictures revealed it has nabbed Rodney Ascher’s Midnight section pick “A Glitch in the Matrix.”
While those two movies come from established filmmakers, over half of the festival lineup comes from first-time feature directors. Over 90 percent of the slate are world premieres.
That suggests there is plenty of opportunity for the discovery of hidden gems. But with streaming — coupled with satellite screenings...
News of the first deals broke on December 16, the day after Sundance revealed its full slate of 72 features. That’s when Bleecker Street announced it has acquired North American rights to Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together” and Magnolia Pictures revealed it has nabbed Rodney Ascher’s Midnight section pick “A Glitch in the Matrix.”
While those two movies come from established filmmakers, over half of the festival lineup comes from first-time feature directors. Over 90 percent of the slate are world premieres.
That suggests there is plenty of opportunity for the discovery of hidden gems. But with streaming — coupled with satellite screenings...
- 6/8/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Photo: ‘All Light, Everywhere'/Super Ltd Documentarian Theo Anthony’s newest masterpiece ‘All Light, Everywhere’ is a thoughtful exploration of the gray area between videos and the truths surrounding them. One of the first things that are said by the narrator is that we need to cautiously interpret the things we’re about to see, because we don't know what is fabricated and what’s real. With documentaries, it’s easy to believe everything we’re shown just because there are pictures or videos to support the filmmaker’s statement. Take true crime for example, often with unsolved mysteries viewers are so quick to believe they’ve solved something. People usually don’t take into account that there are multiple perspectives being presented in documentaries, and sometimes statements are edited to support the director’s perspective. Anthony’s newest film, ‘All Light, Everywhere’ brings attention to the bias often...
- 6/5/2021
- by Jordan Qin
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
This interview with Theo Anthony about his documentary, All Light, Everywhere, was originally published alongside the film’s premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It is being reposted today as the film premieres in theaters, including, in New York, at the IFC Center, where Anthony will do Q&As moderated by Brenda Coughlin and Sierra Pettengill. In All Light, Everywhere’s opening shot, filmmaker Theo Anthony turns the camera lens on his optic nerve, as text narration explains that we’re blind at the point where the optic nerve and retina connect—there’s a fundamental hole in our ability to view the world that, Anthony […]
The post “Not Addressing the Core Exploitations of Capitalism is Essential to Capitalism’s Survival”: Theo Anthony on His Surveillance Doc, All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Not Addressing the Core Exploitations of Capitalism is Essential to Capitalism’s Survival”: Theo Anthony on His Surveillance Doc, All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/4/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This interview with Theo Anthony about his documentary, All Light, Everywhere, was originally published alongside the film’s premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It is being reposted today as the film premieres in theaters, including, in New York, at the IFC Center, where Anthony will do Q&As moderated by Brenda Coughlin and Sierra Pettengill. In All Light, Everywhere’s opening shot, filmmaker Theo Anthony turns the camera lens on his optic nerve, as text narration explains that we’re blind at the point where the optic nerve and retina connect—there’s a fundamental hole in our ability to view the world that, Anthony […]
The post “Not Addressing the Core Exploitations of Capitalism is Essential to Capitalism’s Survival”: Theo Anthony on His Surveillance Doc, All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Not Addressing the Core Exploitations of Capitalism is Essential to Capitalism’s Survival”: Theo Anthony on His Surveillance Doc, All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/4/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In Sundance-wowing documentary All Light, Everywhere, the biases and dangers involved with surveillance and body cams are investigated
In the summer of 2019, Theo Anthony had a strange couple of weeks. ThenPresident Donald Trump provoked a spat with Baltimore-born congressman Elijah Cummings by calling his city a “disgusting, rat-and-rodent-infested mess”, which led to Anthony’s 2017 documentary Rat Film getting “algorithmically thrown into the mix”, as the director puts it. Viewers of the quasi-experimental examination of how the city’s redistricting affects and oppresses its people understand that Anthony primarily takes the constantly shuffled-around rats as a metaphor for the local government’s callous treatment of its least powerful citizens. Nonetheless, it was adopted as a Republican talking point from bots to influencers to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr, and rebranded as an indictment of Democratic leadership’s filthy, vermin-infested failure.
Related: ‘Stranger than anything dreamed up by sci-fi’: will we ever understand black holes?...
In the summer of 2019, Theo Anthony had a strange couple of weeks. ThenPresident Donald Trump provoked a spat with Baltimore-born congressman Elijah Cummings by calling his city a “disgusting, rat-and-rodent-infested mess”, which led to Anthony’s 2017 documentary Rat Film getting “algorithmically thrown into the mix”, as the director puts it. Viewers of the quasi-experimental examination of how the city’s redistricting affects and oppresses its people understand that Anthony primarily takes the constantly shuffled-around rats as a metaphor for the local government’s callous treatment of its least powerful citizens. Nonetheless, it was adopted as a Republican talking point from bots to influencers to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr, and rebranded as an indictment of Democratic leadership’s filthy, vermin-infested failure.
Related: ‘Stranger than anything dreamed up by sci-fi’: will we ever understand black holes?...
- 6/3/2021
- by Charles Bramesco
- The Guardian - Film News
By Glenn Dunks
For an essay film, it makes a lot of sense for All Light, Everywhere to be full of ideas. It’s been a long time since my essay writing days, but I generally think that a lot of ideas is a good place to start. But also like an essay, it could probably have used another go around the editing block. There are a lot of promising threads in Theo Anthony’s film, but the director of Rat Film can’t quite weave them together into something that transcends its (very smart in theory) concept.
In many ways, Anthony’s film comes across as a traditional documentary about the rise of technology in community policing—predominantly bodycams and surveillance drones. At least initially. This segment, the doc’s most prominent through-line, is often very interesting if maybe a little repetitive...
For an essay film, it makes a lot of sense for All Light, Everywhere to be full of ideas. It’s been a long time since my essay writing days, but I generally think that a lot of ideas is a good place to start. But also like an essay, it could probably have used another go around the editing block. There are a lot of promising threads in Theo Anthony’s film, but the director of Rat Film can’t quite weave them together into something that transcends its (very smart in theory) concept.
In many ways, Anthony’s film comes across as a traditional documentary about the rise of technology in community policing—predominantly bodycams and surveillance drones. At least initially. This segment, the doc’s most prominent through-line, is often very interesting if maybe a little repetitive...
- 6/2/2021
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Next week my favorite documentary of the year thus far, Theo Anthony’s Rat Film follow-up All Light, Everywhere, will arrive. It’s a fascinating exploration connecting the early modes of photography to present-day use of surveillance and police body cameras, and we’ve now premiered the poster designed by Mark McGillivray, which prominently features the aforementioned technology that’s heavily dissected in the film. Following a Sundance premiere, where it picked up a Special Jury Award, and stops at True/False and New Directors/New Films, All Light, Everywhere arrive in theaters on June 4.
I said in my Sundance review, “More sprawling than the clearly delineated sections of Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere is split into three chapters and an epilogue, but its areas of focus are spread throughout the film. We get a executive-guided tour of the company Axon, who now have the vast market share when it...
I said in my Sundance review, “More sprawling than the clearly delineated sections of Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere is split into three chapters and an epilogue, but its areas of focus are spread throughout the film. We get a executive-guided tour of the company Axon, who now have the vast market share when it...
- 5/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Charles Grodin in Beethoven's 2nd (1993)Beloved actor Charles Grodin, known for his roles in The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, as well as the Beethoven films and The Great Muppet Caper, has died. Paul Schrader's The Card Counter has been slated for a release by Focus Features on September 10, after an extended delay during the early months of the pandemic. Written and directed by Schrader, the film follows a gambler who assists a young man in his revenge against a military colonel. Robert Eggers has also managed to complete his Viking epic The Northman after a long pause in 2020 due to the pandemic. Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Björk, the film will be released on April 8, 2022. Meanwhile, Wes Anderson, whose film The French Dispatch will be premiering at Cannes this July,...
- 5/19/2021
- MUBI
"Cameras don't take sides..." SuperLTD Films has released an official trailer for an acclaimed experimental documentary titled All Light, Everywhere, the latest doc feature from filmmaker Theo Anthony (also of Rat Film a few years ago). This originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won a Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation. All Light, Everywhere is an exploration of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice. As surveillance technologies become a fixture in everyday life, the film interrogates the complexity of an objective point of view, probing the biases inherent in both human perception and the lens. It examines the history of cameras, and breaks down the idea that they are objective, showing us how even modern police body cams are subjective and not as "unbiased" as we're supposed to believe. Many critics were raving about this film at Sundance as it's easily...
- 5/18/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The best documentary of the year thus far, Theo Anthony’s Rat Film follow-up All Light, Everywhere explores how technological breakthroughs (and pitfalls) in filmmaking have reverberated throughout history to both embolden and trick our perceptions of perspective––including how it pertains to surveillance and police body camera footage. Following a Sundance premiere and stops at True/False and New Directors/New Films, Neon’s Super Ltd will release the film on June 4. Ahead of the debut, the first trailer and poster have arrived.
I said in my Sundance review, “More sprawling than the clearly delineated sections of Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere is split into three chapters and an epilogue, but its areas of focus are spread throughout the film. We get a executive-guided tour of the company Axon, who now have the vast market share when it comes to police body cameras; a Baltimore Pd training session where...
I said in my Sundance review, “More sprawling than the clearly delineated sections of Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere is split into three chapters and an epilogue, but its areas of focus are spread throughout the film. We get a executive-guided tour of the company Axon, who now have the vast market share when it comes to police body cameras; a Baltimore Pd training session where...
- 5/18/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
All Light, Everywhere—Theo Anthony’s follow up to his feature debut Ratfilm—premiered during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now scheduled for theatrical release on June 4, All Light is a sweeping essay-film look at modes of surveillance and the ways they feed racism. Drone surveillance and police bodycams manufactured by Axon (formerly Taser) are just some of the subjects under consideration by Anthony (a 25 New Face of Film in 2015).
The post Trailer Watch: Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/18/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
All Light, Everywhere—Theo Anthony’s follow up to his feature debut Ratfilm—premiered during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now scheduled for theatrical release on June 4, All Light is a sweeping essay-film look at modes of surveillance and the ways they feed racism. Drone surveillance and police bodycams manufactured by Axon (formerly Taser) are just some of the subjects under consideration by Anthony (a 25 New Face of Film in 2015).
The post Trailer Watch: Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/18/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The Sheffield DocFest has unveiled its line-up for its 2021 programme that includes the World Premiere of the first instalment of Academy Award winner Steve McQueen’s new series for the BBC, ‘Uprising’.
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
- 5/17/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: HBO Max and U.S. distributor and sales firm Utopia have acquired rights to well-received Sundance Film Festival title We’re All Going To The World’s Fair.
The coming-of-age horror-drama follows teenager Casey who becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.
The film, which will have its NY premiere later this month at the New Directors/New Films festival, is the narrative feature debut of writer-director Jane Schoenbrun. Utopia will release the film in U.S. theaters early next year and also has international rights. HBO Max has licensed U.S. streaming rights.
With an original score by Alex G, the movie stars Anna Cobb and Michael J Rogers alongside a number of performers appearing in various real and staged YouTube videos, including Theo Anthony, Evan Santiago, and the Asmr content creator Slight Sounds.
The coming-of-age horror-drama follows teenager Casey who becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.
The film, which will have its NY premiere later this month at the New Directors/New Films festival, is the narrative feature debut of writer-director Jane Schoenbrun. Utopia will release the film in U.S. theaters early next year and also has international rights. HBO Max has licensed U.S. streaming rights.
With an original score by Alex G, the movie stars Anna Cobb and Michael J Rogers alongside a number of performers appearing in various real and staged YouTube videos, including Theo Anthony, Evan Santiago, and the Asmr content creator Slight Sounds.
- 5/4/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
A documentary that is as introspective and self-reflexive as it is revelatory, Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere inspects the very nature of looking and image-making by probing notions of objectivity and prejudice, neutrality and intent. Is it possible for a human being – or indeed artificial intelligence – to contemplate anything without judgement, preconception or ulterior motive? In an age of extraordinary technological advancement, is surveillance a tool for protection, manipulation or control?
And, in acknowledging that as much is cut off from outside a frame as appears within it, though a picture may paint a thousand words, does the real truth of an image lie outside its edges? High-minded, head-scratching questions of point of view and perspective abound from the outset. Adopting a remarkably broad field of vision, and a construction that is both provocative and informative, the American filmmaker opens the aperture of his investigative gaze high and...
And, in acknowledging that as much is cut off from outside a frame as appears within it, though a picture may paint a thousand words, does the real truth of an image lie outside its edges? High-minded, head-scratching questions of point of view and perspective abound from the outset. Adopting a remarkably broad field of vision, and a construction that is both provocative and informative, the American filmmaker opens the aperture of his investigative gaze high and...
- 5/2/2021
- by Matthew Anderson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Malian filmmaker Ousmane Samassekou’s “The Last Shelter” won the top prize in Danish doc fest Cph:dox’s main international competition on Friday, picking up the Dox:Award.
A total of 11 films garnered prizes in the festival’s six international competitions, including five special mentions.
“The Last Shelter” centers on the House of Migrants, located in the Malian city of Gao, on the edge of the Sahel desert, where the director meets travelers and migrants who find a temporary home there.
“The Dox:Award goes to a profound film which transports us to a vast landscape of questioning,” the jury said. “Through its tender portraiture it populates an epic vista with unforgettable individuals on the cusp of choosing whether they will risk being obliterated in search of a dream.”
The jury’s special mention in the category went to “Our Memory Belongs to Us,” by Rami Farah and Signe Byrge Sørensen, which...
A total of 11 films garnered prizes in the festival’s six international competitions, including five special mentions.
“The Last Shelter” centers on the House of Migrants, located in the Malian city of Gao, on the edge of the Sahel desert, where the director meets travelers and migrants who find a temporary home there.
“The Dox:Award goes to a profound film which transports us to a vast landscape of questioning,” the jury said. “Through its tender portraiture it populates an epic vista with unforgettable individuals on the cusp of choosing whether they will risk being obliterated in search of a dream.”
The jury’s special mention in the category went to “Our Memory Belongs to Us,” by Rami Farah and Signe Byrge Sørensen, which...
- 4/30/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Think of it as the boutique label’s boutique label.
Super Ltd., the distributor of the Oscar-nominated “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” is an offshoot of “Parasite” producer Neon, and was launched to handle more experimental work. It’s not that Neon, which has made a name for itself with indie hits like “I, Tonya” and “Border,” is in the business of backing franchise fare, but Darcy Heusel and Dan O’Meara, Super Ltd.’s founders, say the label’s small size has helped them provide a personalized touch for movies that might struggle to find an audience. In the case of “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” a searing drama about a U.N. translator who works to save a family during the Bosnian war, that meant conceiving a distribution plan and launching an awards season strategy within six weeks of the film being acquired.
“We’re lean and mean,” says O’Meara. “Because...
Super Ltd., the distributor of the Oscar-nominated “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” is an offshoot of “Parasite” producer Neon, and was launched to handle more experimental work. It’s not that Neon, which has made a name for itself with indie hits like “I, Tonya” and “Border,” is in the business of backing franchise fare, but Darcy Heusel and Dan O’Meara, Super Ltd.’s founders, say the label’s small size has helped them provide a personalized touch for movies that might struggle to find an audience. In the case of “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” a searing drama about a U.N. translator who works to save a family during the Bosnian war, that meant conceiving a distribution plan and launching an awards season strategy within six weeks of the film being acquired.
“We’re lean and mean,” says O’Meara. “Because...
- 4/21/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
A highly persuasive film about how we should be wary of film’s power to persuade, Theo Anthony’s discursive and disturbing “All Light, Everywhere” is a superb if sinister example of how the outwardly modest essay format can deploy arguments that challenge us to unpick our most basic assumptions. Here, it’s the idea that a thing and its recorded image can never have a 1:1 relationship: It’s not just that our eyes deceive us, it’s that we’re conditioned to accept the representations of those deceptions as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.
At the exact point where the optic nerve connects to the eye, there is a blind spot. This is likened, in the onscreen titles that carry much of the film’s factual information, to the world outside the frame of an image. It’s a...
At the exact point where the optic nerve connects to the eye, there is a blind spot. This is likened, in the onscreen titles that carry much of the film’s factual information, to the world outside the frame of an image. It’s a...
- 4/21/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Under the slogan “Film Goes On,” the 22nd Jeonju International Film Festival organizers announced its full lineup at a press conference on April 6, 2021. The press conference was held at the Jeonju Digital Independent Cinema and was streamed on Zoom. Kim Seung-su, the director of the organizing committee and Jeonju Mayor, festival director Lee Joondong and programmers Chun Jinsu, Moon Seok, and Sung Moon spoke at the conference.
The conference started with unveiling the full lineup for this year. The full lineup was announced via a YouTube video posted on the official YouTube channel. Remarks by the directors followed. After that, the programmers and actor Moon Choi talked about sections of the festival, introducing titles to be featured in each section. Special sections for this year’s edition include “Special Focus: Corona, New Normal” and “Special Focus: I am Independent.”
A hybrid online and off-line press conference took place with a Q&a session followed.
The conference started with unveiling the full lineup for this year. The full lineup was announced via a YouTube video posted on the official YouTube channel. Remarks by the directors followed. After that, the programmers and actor Moon Choi talked about sections of the festival, introducing titles to be featured in each section. Special sections for this year’s edition include “Special Focus: Corona, New Normal” and “Special Focus: I am Independent.”
A hybrid online and off-line press conference took place with a Q&a session followed.
- 4/12/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSFilmmaker Bertrand Mandico has illustrated the 70th anniversary cover of Cahier du Cinéma, entitled "Gloria, angel of the history of the cinema." The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have announced the lineup for the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films. Screenings will take place from April 28-May 8 through the MoMA and Flc virtual cinemas, and in-person screenings at Flc through May 13. The lineup of 27 features and 11 shorts includes Theo Anthony's All Light, Everywhere, Andreas Fontana's Azor, Alice Diop's We (Nous), and Jane Schoenbrun's We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Recommended VIEWINGAnother Gaze's free streaming project, Another Screen, has announced two new programmes: Hands Tied, about hands, and Eating the Other, about gendered notions of eating. The first official trailer for Mamoru Hosoda's Belle, which...
- 4/6/2021
- MUBI
Wim Wenders’ adaptation of Peter Handke’s The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick in the New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art’s 50th New Directors/New Films to include a retrospective with free virtual screenings of Chantal Akerman’s Les Rendez-vous d’Anna; Sara Driver’s Sleepwalk; Christopher Nolan’s Following; Eduardo Coutinho’s Twenty Years Later; Horace Ové’s Playing Away; Charles Burnett’s My Brother’s Wedding; Gregg Araki’s The Living End; Humberto Solás’s Lucía; Mani Kaul’s Duvidha; Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy, and Wim Wenders’ adaptation of Peter Handke’s The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick.
Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art’s 50th New Directors/New Films
Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta (Spain) will open the festival and Theo Anthony’s All Light,...
Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art’s 50th New Directors/New Films to include a retrospective with free virtual screenings of Chantal Akerman’s Les Rendez-vous d’Anna; Sara Driver’s Sleepwalk; Christopher Nolan’s Following; Eduardo Coutinho’s Twenty Years Later; Horace Ové’s Playing Away; Charles Burnett’s My Brother’s Wedding; Gregg Araki’s The Living End; Humberto Solás’s Lucía; Mani Kaul’s Duvidha; Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy, and Wim Wenders’ adaptation of Peter Handke’s The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick.
Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art’s 50th New Directors/New Films
Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta (Spain) will open the festival and Theo Anthony’s All Light,...
- 4/2/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Celebrating its 50th anniversary edition this year, New Directors/New Films annually brings together the most promising new filmmaking voices. The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have now announced the lineup for this year’s slate, taking place April 28 – May 8 via virtual cinema, with in-person screenings extending through May 13 at Flc. The festival will also include a free retrospective looking back at previously selected work by Lee Chang-dong, Charles Burnett, Chantal Akerman, Christopher Nolan and more.
Check out the lineup below, along with links to reviews where available.
50th New Directors/New Films
Opening Night
El Planeta
Amalia Ulman, 2021, Spain, 80m
English and Spanish with English subtitles
With unforced deadpan humor, writer-director-star Amalia Ulman presents a captivating portrait in miniature of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town Gijón. Whether shoplifting, trying to get out of paying for an extravagant meal,...
Check out the lineup below, along with links to reviews where available.
50th New Directors/New Films
Opening Night
El Planeta
Amalia Ulman, 2021, Spain, 80m
English and Spanish with English subtitles
With unforced deadpan humor, writer-director-star Amalia Ulman presents a captivating portrait in miniature of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town Gijón. Whether shoplifting, trying to get out of paying for an extravagant meal,...
- 4/1/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center Thursday announces the complete lineup for the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films rolling out April 28 – May 8. The films will screen both virtually and at the Flc theater through May 13, making it the first NYC fest to return to the big screen.
Opening night will feature Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, a portrait of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town of Gijón. The event will close with All Light, Everywhere, director Theo Anthony’s winner of a Sundance Jury Prize for Experimentation in Nonfiction. Anthony’s follow-up to Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere uses U.S. law enforcement bodycam footage as a treatise on perception, power, and policing.
The fest will showcase 27 films and 11 shorts.
A free virtual retrospective celebrating 50 years of Nd/Nf will be available from April 16-28.
“From intimate,...
Opening night will feature Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, a portrait of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town of Gijón. The event will close with All Light, Everywhere, director Theo Anthony’s winner of a Sundance Jury Prize for Experimentation in Nonfiction. Anthony’s follow-up to Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere uses U.S. law enforcement bodycam footage as a treatise on perception, power, and policing.
The fest will showcase 27 films and 11 shorts.
A free virtual retrospective celebrating 50 years of Nd/Nf will be available from April 16-28.
“From intimate,...
- 4/1/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have today announced the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films (Nd/Nf), this year available in both virtual and in-theater settings, marking it as the first New York City festival to return to live screenings since the pandemic began. This year’s festival will introduce 27 features and 11 shorts to audiences nationwide in the MoMA and Flc virtual cinemas, and to New Yorkers at Film at Lincoln Center. The festival will open with Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta” and close with Theo Anthony’s “All Light, Everywhere,” both of which premiered at Sundance in January.
This year’s edition will mark the second time the festival has offered a virtual arm: the festival’s original March 2020 dates were postponed when pandemic shutdowns took hold, with the series eventually opting to go virtual for its 49th edition, rolling out last December.
This year’s edition will mark the second time the festival has offered a virtual arm: the festival’s original March 2020 dates were postponed when pandemic shutdowns took hold, with the series eventually opting to go virtual for its 49th edition, rolling out last December.
- 4/1/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have announced the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/ New Films.
The annual program will be held virtually on April 28 through May 8, with in-person screening extending through May 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
This year’s festival is introducing 27 features and 11 short films. Unique to the 2021 edition, there will be a free virtual retrospective to celebrate the past 50 years of New Directors/ New Films running from April 16 through April 28.
“From intimate, personal tales to political, metaphysical, and spiritual inquiries, the films in the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films embody an inexhaustible curiosity and a fearless desire for adventure,” said La Frances Hui, curator of Film at The Museum of Modern Art and 2021 New Directors/New Films co-chair. “They prove that cinema will continue to illuminate and inspire the way we live, and make art.”
Writer and director Amalia Ulman...
The annual program will be held virtually on April 28 through May 8, with in-person screening extending through May 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
This year’s festival is introducing 27 features and 11 short films. Unique to the 2021 edition, there will be a free virtual retrospective to celebrate the past 50 years of New Directors/ New Films running from April 16 through April 28.
“From intimate, personal tales to political, metaphysical, and spiritual inquiries, the films in the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films embody an inexhaustible curiosity and a fearless desire for adventure,” said La Frances Hui, curator of Film at The Museum of Modern Art and 2021 New Directors/New Films co-chair. “They prove that cinema will continue to illuminate and inspire the way we live, and make art.”
Writer and director Amalia Ulman...
- 4/1/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
If one is curious about the best in documentary filmmaking, there’s no better place to experience it each year than the True/False Film Fest, based in Columbia, Missouri. After last year’s edition was one of the final in-person festivals before the pandemic hit in full force, they are now returning a bit later this year, specifically from May 5-9, with a hybrid edition.
This year, there will be outdoor screenings in Columbia with four outdoor amphitheaters well as at a drive-in. Seven of the features will also screen virtually with a “Teleported” option, as noted with the Ttf designations below. Featuring work by Theo Anthony, Jessica Beshir, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and more, Check out the feature lineup below with a hat tip to Filmmaker Magazine, and see the shorts selections here.
All Light, Everywhere | Dir. Theo Anthony; 2021; 106 min (United States)
T/F alum Anthony continues his quest to destabilize the essay film,...
This year, there will be outdoor screenings in Columbia with four outdoor amphitheaters well as at a drive-in. Seven of the features will also screen virtually with a “Teleported” option, as noted with the Ttf designations below. Featuring work by Theo Anthony, Jessica Beshir, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and more, Check out the feature lineup below with a hat tip to Filmmaker Magazine, and see the shorts selections here.
All Light, Everywhere | Dir. Theo Anthony; 2021; 106 min (United States)
T/F alum Anthony continues his quest to destabilize the essay film,...
- 4/1/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Super Ltd, Neon’s boutique label, has acquired the North American rights to “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s official submission into the Oscar race.
The film made the shortlist for Best International Feature and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Jasmila Zbanic directed “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which first premiered at Venice and won three prizes out of the festival before next playing at Toronto.
The movie is based on real events and is set in the Bosnian summer of 1995 during the Serbian occupation of Srebrenica, declared to be safe zone by the United Nations. Aida works as a translator for the Un peacekeeping task force in charge of a camp where her husband and two sons are being held along with thousands of other Bosnian citizens. Aida quickly gains access to crucial information she needs to translate, while the Serbian army gets closer to overtaking the camp.
The film made the shortlist for Best International Feature and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Jasmila Zbanic directed “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which first premiered at Venice and won three prizes out of the festival before next playing at Toronto.
The movie is based on real events and is set in the Bosnian summer of 1995 during the Serbian occupation of Srebrenica, declared to be safe zone by the United Nations. Aida works as a translator for the Un peacekeeping task force in charge of a camp where her husband and two sons are being held along with thousands of other Bosnian citizens. Aida quickly gains access to crucial information she needs to translate, while the Serbian army gets closer to overtaking the camp.
- 2/19/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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