In what could be best described as a slideshow formatted collection of smartly composed frames moving from apocalyptic awe to a grounded retrogress, Kantarama Gahigiri‘s Terra Mater – Mother Land boldly goes where no human being aught to go. Adhering to issue-orientated cinema, the Swiss-Rwandan filmmaker offers some striking visuals but makes a poetically rendered argument for instrumental changes in big issue problem like waste management. With Neptune Frost actress Cheryl Isheja in electronic trash warrior garb, the short is a summation also invites several other artists to contribute to the visual and sound poetry and makes for an evocatively illustrated message film about the world’s disconnect with how we consume and larger issues such as capitalism, colonialism and environmental destruction in Africa.…...
- 2/10/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
At first glance, “Omen” appears to be another entry in the long tradition of immigrant narratives dedicated to the old adage that you can’t go home again. Returning to the country of his birth, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgian resident Koffi (Marc Zinga) finds himself not just a stranger in a strange land, but a pariah in his own family. But things are more nuanced than that in this hazy, head-turning first feature from Belgian-Congolese rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji: The deeper it delves into and across Koffi’s tortured family history, the clearer it becomes that his homeland was never a home to him at all. In “Omen,” cultural tradition is as much a force in dividing families as the gentrifying pull of the west, though Baloji lets viewers draw their own political conclusions amid a mist of vividly realized folklore.
A boldly outward-looking pick from Belgium as...
A boldly outward-looking pick from Belgium as...
- 12/8/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
"There will be people who may seek to misuse it. To abuse it." Check this out! The very first science fiction film ever from the African country of Tanzania is called Eonii, the feature debut of Tanzanian filmmaker Eddie Mzale. Even though it has been playing at fests since the summer, we're only catching up with it now - thanks to a tip from Akoroko about its European unveiling. Set in a near future when Tanzania has advanced technologically but is also facing the devastation of climate change, the plot revolves around a lone scientist who makes a groundbreaking discovery known as Eonii, which has the potential to save the nation & the continent. However, this discovery also sets off a series of events involving shadowy forces, lies, betrayal, politics, and war, all centered around the pivotal question of: who should control the power of Eonii. The film presents a fusion...
- 11/8/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
On the final weekend of a bustling 18-day event, the in-person edition of this year’s Melbourne Film Festival has drawn to a close with an awards ceremony that saw a whopping $300,000 Aud in prize money handed out across six categories. The biggest individual award of $140,000 Aud was presented to the winner of the fest’s international Bright Horizons competition: “Banel & Adama,” an arresting debut feature by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy.
It’s a notable coup for a small-scale rural love story that turned heads — but won no prizes — when it premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and is still seeking distribution in the U.S. and other major territories. Reviewing the film out of Cannes, Variety critic Jessica Kiang commended the “subtly seductive power” of a “striking debut [that] revolves with graceful poetry around the inner experiences of a curious, unknowable woman.”
Its win came...
It’s a notable coup for a small-scale rural love story that turned heads — but won no prizes — when it premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and is still seeking distribution in the U.S. and other major territories. Reviewing the film out of Cannes, Variety critic Jessica Kiang commended the “subtly seductive power” of a “striking debut [that] revolves with graceful poetry around the inner experiences of a curious, unknowable woman.”
Its win came...
- 8/19/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Melbourne International Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 2023 edition, with “Shayda,” by Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari, set as the opening title.
The festival will run as a live event August 3-20, at venues around the city and its suburbs, and online Aug 18 – 27. The hybrid format was developed during the Covid pandemic and Miff found it useful as a tool to reach further away audiences and wider demographics than a strictly in-theater edition.
The ‘Bright Horizons’ competition section open to films by first- or second-time feature directors contains an 11-title mix of new and recently-debuted works.
As well as opening the festival, “Shayda” will play in competition. The competition’s other Australian-made title was announced as “The Rooster,” from actor turned writer-director Mark Leonard Winter.
International titles in competition include “Banel & Adama,” by Franco-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, which played in competition in Cannes; “How to Have Sex,...
The festival will run as a live event August 3-20, at venues around the city and its suburbs, and online Aug 18 – 27. The hybrid format was developed during the Covid pandemic and Miff found it useful as a tool to reach further away audiences and wider demographics than a strictly in-theater edition.
The ‘Bright Horizons’ competition section open to films by first- or second-time feature directors contains an 11-title mix of new and recently-debuted works.
As well as opening the festival, “Shayda” will play in competition. The competition’s other Australian-made title was announced as “The Rooster,” from actor turned writer-director Mark Leonard Winter.
International titles in competition include “Banel & Adama,” by Franco-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, which played in competition in Cannes; “How to Have Sex,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Editor’s Note: This review originally published during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Utopia will release “Omen” in theaters Friday, April 12.
One of the innumerable tragedies that have resulted from the decades-long strife in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the suffocation of any kind of national cinema. For most of this century, the nation’s capital, Kinshasa, has not even had a film theater; due to chronic funding difficulties and the instability that plagues much of the country, the handful of non-documentary features about Congo that emerge are largely financed by foreign players.
“Omen,” the feature debut by hip-hopper-turned-filmmaker Baloji, is a Belgian, Dutch, and Congolese co-production, and even as it offers a deeply felt look at Congolese customs, sensibilities, and family dynamics, it foregrounds its own European perspective. What results is an intriguingly ambivalent reckoning with Baloji’s mother country, a genre-hopping, beautifully slippery exploration of Congolese belief systems...
One of the innumerable tragedies that have resulted from the decades-long strife in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the suffocation of any kind of national cinema. For most of this century, the nation’s capital, Kinshasa, has not even had a film theater; due to chronic funding difficulties and the instability that plagues much of the country, the handful of non-documentary features about Congo that emerge are largely financed by foreign players.
“Omen,” the feature debut by hip-hopper-turned-filmmaker Baloji, is a Belgian, Dutch, and Congolese co-production, and even as it offers a deeply felt look at Congolese customs, sensibilities, and family dynamics, it foregrounds its own European perspective. What results is an intriguingly ambivalent reckoning with Baloji’s mother country, a genre-hopping, beautifully slippery exploration of Congolese belief systems...
- 5/22/2023
- by Arjun Sajip
- Indiewire
A new report has found that Hollywood’s representation of most marginalised groups remains poor.
The film and TV industry has, however, improved its production of intersectional content, according to a report released by data company Luminate.
The Entertainment Diversity Progress Report, released on Monday (17 April) at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, found that Hollywood’s creators are increasingly considering how individuals are defined by multiple identities across race, gender, sexuality and other areas.
While content that recognises the intersections of these identities allows films and series “to better explore and reflect the nuances of the human experience”, diversity within representation remains an ongoing issue.
When it comes to Indigenous talent, opportunities behind the camera were described as “almost non-existent”, with just three Indigenous film directors named in 2021, and only four in 2022. On screen, only eight per cent of films had at least one Indigenous main title cast member,...
The film and TV industry has, however, improved its production of intersectional content, according to a report released by data company Luminate.
The Entertainment Diversity Progress Report, released on Monday (17 April) at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, found that Hollywood’s creators are increasingly considering how individuals are defined by multiple identities across race, gender, sexuality and other areas.
While content that recognises the intersections of these identities allows films and series “to better explore and reflect the nuances of the human experience”, diversity within representation remains an ongoing issue.
When it comes to Indigenous talent, opportunities behind the camera were described as “almost non-existent”, with just three Indigenous film directors named in 2021, and only four in 2022. On screen, only eight per cent of films had at least one Indigenous main title cast member,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Meg Warren-Lister
- The Independent - Film
The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by Hasan Minhaj, took place on Saturday, live from the beach in Santa Monica, California. The annual awards ceremony was live-streamed on IMDb’s YouTube page, plus additional social platforms, including Film Independent’s YouTube channel.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” led this year’s nominations with a total of eight and swept up seven awards. Following close behind was Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” with seven nods and “Aftersun” with five. Meanwhile, “The Bear” topped the television categories.
Read More: Before Oscars, ‘Everything Everywhere’ Sweeps Spirit Awards
The 2023 Spirit Awards marks the show’s first time highlighting gender-neutral categories. In other words, Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh were up against Paul Mescal for lead performance. This year’s recipient of the Robert Altman award went to “Women Talking”, in which the award was given to the film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” led this year’s nominations with a total of eight and swept up seven awards. Following close behind was Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” with seven nods and “Aftersun” with five. Meanwhile, “The Bear” topped the television categories.
Read More: Before Oscars, ‘Everything Everywhere’ Sweeps Spirit Awards
The 2023 Spirit Awards marks the show’s first time highlighting gender-neutral categories. In other words, Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh were up against Paul Mescal for lead performance. This year’s recipient of the Robert Altman award went to “Women Talking”, in which the award was given to the film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
- 3/5/2023
- by Melissa Romualdi
- ET Canada
The blue carpet has been rolled up, and now we know who are the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards winners. The list of nominees recognized the best among films made for under $30 million in 2023 — that’s an increase from the previous budget cap, in recognition of ever-increasing production costs.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” earned pretty much a clean sweep: winning all seven of the categories in which it was nominated, including Best Feature, and seven of its eight nominees winning overall — Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis were competing against each other in one category, Supporting Performance, with the former winning.
Yes, the 38th edition of the awards put on by Film Independent have made a change previously adopted by the Gotham Awards: to have gender-neutral performance categories. That means Cate Blanchett was not just competing against Michelle Yeoh for Best Lead Performance (who ultimately won), but also Paul Mescal...
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” earned pretty much a clean sweep: winning all seven of the categories in which it was nominated, including Best Feature, and seven of its eight nominees winning overall — Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis were competing against each other in one category, Supporting Performance, with the former winning.
Yes, the 38th edition of the awards put on by Film Independent have made a change previously adopted by the Gotham Awards: to have gender-neutral performance categories. That means Cate Blanchett was not just competing against Michelle Yeoh for Best Lead Performance (who ultimately won), but also Paul Mescal...
- 3/5/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards were dominated by the Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which led all films this year with eight nominations and a won a total of seven prizes, including best feature. Close behind were Todd Field’s “Tár” with seven noms (it won for best cinematography) and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” with five (it won for best first feature). All three movies picked up Oscar nominations this year, with “Everything Everywhere” also leading the Academy Awards pack with a total of 11 nominations.
While last year’s Spirit Award winner for best feature, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” did not go on to land an Oscar nomination in the same category, the 2021 winner, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” repeated at the Oscars and took home the best picture prize.
This year’s Spirit Award nominees were highlighted by gender neutral categories, meaning Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh faced off...
While last year’s Spirit Award winner for best feature, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” did not go on to land an Oscar nomination in the same category, the 2021 winner, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” repeated at the Oscars and took home the best picture prize.
This year’s Spirit Award nominees were highlighted by gender neutral categories, meaning Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh faced off...
- 3/4/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards are being handed out Saturday, March 4, from Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, CA in a show hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj. Much as it paced the Oscar nominations, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” leads the way among all film nominees with eight Independent Spirit noms, including Best Feature and honors for director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), lead performance (Michelle Yeoh), supporting performance (Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan) and breakthrough performance (Stephanie Hsu). Todd Field’s “TÁR” earned seven nominations, including director and screenplay (Field), lead performance (Cate Blanchett) and supporting (Nina Hoss). “Aftersun” scored five bids.
Scroll down to see the Indie Spirit Awards winners list live as it happens today. We’ve also included the complete roster of nominees in every category.
Besides “Everything Everywhere” and “TÁR,” the film competing for top feature are “Our Father, the Devil,” “”Bones and All” and “Women Talking.
Scroll down to see the Indie Spirit Awards winners list live as it happens today. We’ve also included the complete roster of nominees in every category.
Besides “Everything Everywhere” and “TÁR,” the film competing for top feature are “Our Father, the Devil,” “”Bones and All” and “Women Talking.
- 3/4/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards are being held on Saturday afternoon, March 4, streamed live on IMDb’s YouTube channel, as well as Film Independent’s YouTube and Twitter accounts. The event will be hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj, but who will win when prizes are handed out? Thousands of Gold Derby users have placed their bets here in our predictions center. Those predictions were combined to generate our official racetrack odds. Scroll down to see the odds below, with our projected winners highlighted in gold.
SEE2023 Gold Derby Film Awards ceremony: Watch 20 exciting acceptance speeches by Michelle Yeoh, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler …
The nominees for the Spirit Awards are chosen by committees of film industry insiders, including critics, programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, and actors, past Spirit Award nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s board of directors. But winners are decided by Film Independent members at large.
SEE2023 Gold Derby Film Awards ceremony: Watch 20 exciting acceptance speeches by Michelle Yeoh, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler …
The nominees for the Spirit Awards are chosen by committees of film industry insiders, including critics, programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, and actors, past Spirit Award nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s board of directors. But winners are decided by Film Independent members at large.
- 3/3/2023
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The 23rd annual Black Reel Awards took place Monday, February 6th, with “The Woman King” leading the field, snagging six awards including Best Picture. BAFTA nominee Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s historical epic is inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was close behind with five wins.
Special honorary award winners were Angela Bassett (Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award), Effie T. Brown (Vanguard Award), Debra Martin Chase (Oscar Micheaux Impact Award) and Kerry Washington (Ruby Dee Humanitarian Award).
The Black Reel Awards, or the “Bolt”, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (Faaaf) to recognize the excellence of African-Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the Foundation’s voting membership.
Special honorary award winners were Angela Bassett (Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award), Effie T. Brown (Vanguard Award), Debra Martin Chase (Oscar Micheaux Impact Award) and Kerry Washington (Ruby Dee Humanitarian Award).
The Black Reel Awards, or the “Bolt”, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (Faaaf) to recognize the excellence of African-Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the Foundation’s voting membership.
- 2/7/2023
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s ’Munnel’ and Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan’s ‘New Strains’ also won awards.
Cyrielle Raingou’s Le Spectre De Boko Haram has triumphed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), taking home the main prize, the €40,000 Tiger award, at the ceremony which unfolded tonight (February 3), held in-person for the first time since 2020.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Raingou’s debut feature is a documentary following a group of children living under the threat of terrorist organisation Boko Haram in the far north region of Cameroon – the region Raingou herself is from.
The winner was...
Cyrielle Raingou’s Le Spectre De Boko Haram has triumphed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), taking home the main prize, the €40,000 Tiger award, at the ceremony which unfolded tonight (February 3), held in-person for the first time since 2020.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Raingou’s debut feature is a documentary following a group of children living under the threat of terrorist organisation Boko Haram in the far north region of Cameroon – the region Raingou herself is from.
The winner was...
- 2/3/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The Black Reel Awards has revealed its nominations for their 23rd Annual ceremony.
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, about the warrior women of the country of Dahomey, and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, about a superhero from the fictional African nation of Wakanda and a memorial to Chadwick Boseman, are tied at 14 nominations.
Two other films joined the ranks of double-digit nominations: MGM’s Till and A24’s The Inspection.
Independent studio A24 garnered 11 nominations across all categories. However, Amazon Studios landed a record three nominations in the Outstanding Independent Film category for Master, Nanny, and Emergency. Perennial powerhouse, Disney Studios nabbed the most nominations for a studio with 15.
Viola Davis landed her sixth Outstanding Actress nomination for her work in The Woman King, becoming the most recognized individual in the Actress category in Black Reel Award (Bolts) history. At the same time, director Elegance Bratton received...
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, about the warrior women of the country of Dahomey, and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, about a superhero from the fictional African nation of Wakanda and a memorial to Chadwick Boseman, are tied at 14 nominations.
Two other films joined the ranks of double-digit nominations: MGM’s Till and A24’s The Inspection.
Independent studio A24 garnered 11 nominations across all categories. However, Amazon Studios landed a record three nominations in the Outstanding Independent Film category for Master, Nanny, and Emergency. Perennial powerhouse, Disney Studios nabbed the most nominations for a studio with 15.
Viola Davis landed her sixth Outstanding Actress nomination for her work in The Woman King, becoming the most recognized individual in the Actress category in Black Reel Award (Bolts) history. At the same time, director Elegance Bratton received...
- 12/16/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Filmmaker is hosting four conversations next week at The Gotham’s Gotham Week Conference, all with filmmakers who have recent films we love and have covered extensively at Filmmaker. And, these talks are free to public. Three are in person at Brooklyn Navy Yards, and the fourth is on Zoom. RSVP by clicking on the links below. On Monday at 10:30 Am, I’ll be speaking with Dedza founder Kate Gondwe, one of our 25 New Faces last year, about the distribution of Saul Williams’s and Anisia Uzeyman’s Neptune Frost, and particularly about the specialized techniques used to broaden the reach of this […]
The post Filmmaker Hosts Conversations During Gotham Week Conference first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Filmmaker Hosts Conversations During Gotham Week Conference first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 9/16/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Finland’s leading film festival Love & Anarchy is ready to celebrate its 35th edition, free of Covid restrictions and finally able to focus on the films and the audience, says executive director Anna Möttölä in Helsinki. But it has been a bittersweet time, marked by the loss of Jean-Luc Godard and Lina Wertmüller back in December, whose 1973 film gave the event its name.
While Wertmüller will be celebrated with a screening of “Seven Beauties,” another tragedy is on the team’s mind: the sudden death of Charlbi Dean, the star of Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner – and the festival’s opening film – “Triangle of Sadness.”
“It will be a memorial screening,” says artistic director Pekka Lanerva. Dean’s co-star, Zlatko Burić, is expected to attend.
Anna Möttölä, Pekka Lanerva
“All our thoughts go to her family and to the cast and crew. To have such a promising career,...
While Wertmüller will be celebrated with a screening of “Seven Beauties,” another tragedy is on the team’s mind: the sudden death of Charlbi Dean, the star of Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner – and the festival’s opening film – “Triangle of Sadness.”
“It will be a memorial screening,” says artistic director Pekka Lanerva. Dean’s co-star, Zlatko Burić, is expected to attend.
Anna Möttölä, Pekka Lanerva
“All our thoughts go to her family and to the cast and crew. To have such a promising career,...
- 9/15/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Indie Film Site Network (Ifsn), a collaboration between well-respected media outlets covering the most essential developments in independent and international cinema. Ifsn, which represents The Film Stage, Hammer to Nail, Ioncinema.com, RogerEbert.com, and Screen Anarchy, was created with a mission to support film criticism and foster an ever-growing community of indie film lovers.
In the evolving landscape of filmmaking and film criticism, the very definition of “independent” is shifting and it is our mission to work with sites and distributors that still retain that singular focus on the best in cinema. With Indie Film Site Network, we’re delighted to offer a destination for distributors and filmmakers where they know they will truly be reaching the most passionate fans of independent movies.
Through reviews, interviews, podcasts, news, special features, and extensive coverage from film festivals across the world to theatrical,...
In the evolving landscape of filmmaking and film criticism, the very definition of “independent” is shifting and it is our mission to work with sites and distributors that still retain that singular focus on the best in cinema. With Indie Film Site Network, we’re delighted to offer a destination for distributors and filmmakers where they know they will truly be reaching the most passionate fans of independent movies.
Through reviews, interviews, podcasts, news, special features, and extensive coverage from film festivals across the world to theatrical,...
- 8/31/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Cinematography retrospectives are the way to go—more than a thorough display of talent, it exposes the vast expanse a Dp will travel, like an education in form and business all the same. Accordingly I’m happy to see the Criterion Channel give a 25-film tribute to James Wong Howe, whose career spanned silent cinema to the ’70s, populated with work by Howard Hawks, Michael Curtz, Samuel Fuller, Alexander Mackendrick, Sydney Pollack, John Frankenheimer, and Raoul Walsh.
Further retrospectives are granted to Romy Schneider (recent repertory sensation La piscine among them), Carlos Saura (finally a chance to see Peppermint frappe!), the British New Wave, and groundbreaking distributor Cinema 5, who brought to U.S. shores everything from The Man Who Fell to Earth and Putney Swope to Pumping Iron and Scenes from a Marriage.
September also yields streaming premieres for the recently restored Bronco Bullfrog, Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands,...
Further retrospectives are granted to Romy Schneider (recent repertory sensation La piscine among them), Carlos Saura (finally a chance to see Peppermint frappe!), the British New Wave, and groundbreaking distributor Cinema 5, who brought to U.S. shores everything from The Man Who Fell to Earth and Putney Swope to Pumping Iron and Scenes from a Marriage.
September also yields streaming premieres for the recently restored Bronco Bullfrog, Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands,...
- 8/22/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Prizes handed out at 70th anniversary edition of the Australian festival.
Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost, directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, won the inaugural 96,500 Bright Horizons Award at the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) on Saturday (August 20).
Jub Clerc’s direction in her ovation-inducing coming-of-age debut drama Sweet As took home the 48,000 Innovation Award, open only to Australians.
US-Rwanda co-production Neptune Frost premiered in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight in 2021 and went on to screen at TIFF, Sundance and the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber has international rights.
The jury, led by Australian actor/director Shareena Clanton, said the feature...
Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost, directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, won the inaugural 96,500 Bright Horizons Award at the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) on Saturday (August 20).
Jub Clerc’s direction in her ovation-inducing coming-of-age debut drama Sweet As took home the 48,000 Innovation Award, open only to Australians.
US-Rwanda co-production Neptune Frost premiered in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight in 2021 and went on to screen at TIFF, Sundance and the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber has international rights.
The jury, led by Australian actor/director Shareena Clanton, said the feature...
- 8/22/2022
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
After 18 days of in-person screenings, over 370 movies and the allocation of a new prize fund totaling 210,000 Aud the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) has to be one of the lengthiest, liveliest and now most lucrative film festivals in the world. The winning films were announced at Saturday evening’s closing gala, with Afrofuturist sci-fi musical “Neptune Frost,” a U.S.-Rwandan co-production directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, taking the Bright Horizons top prize of 140,000 Aud. Jub Clerc, the Indigenous Australian director of coming-of-age road movie “Sweet As,” scooped the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award of 70,000 Aud.
This is the first year of the Bright Horizons competition. After being selected from an exceptionally strong 11-film lineup, which included festival favourites like Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” Laura Wandel’s “Playground” and Natalia López Gallardo’s “Robe of Gems,” Williams and Uzeyman were clearly moved while accepting the award via Zoom.
“It...
This is the first year of the Bright Horizons competition. After being selected from an exceptionally strong 11-film lineup, which included festival favourites like Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” Laura Wandel’s “Playground” and Natalia López Gallardo’s “Robe of Gems,” Williams and Uzeyman were clearly moved while accepting the award via Zoom.
“It...
- 8/20/2022
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
A New Zealand-based platform where fans track, review and share lists of movies old and new is an increasingly influential marketing tool for specialty film with budgets tight and audiences harder to reach.
Letterboxd, founded as a passion project by Auckland tech entrepreneurs Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow just over a decade ago, recently passed 6.5 million members, with 40-50 in North America followed by the U.K., Europe and breakout markets including Brazil, India, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It has 4.4 million monthly visitors and 800 million monthly page views.
Since launch, users have logged a whopping 1 billion films they’ve seen, put 300 million films on watchlists and posted 76.8 million reviews. Average time spent per visitor per month across web and app is about 40 minutes.
Letterboxd has been profitable since 2019, which is “source of immense pride,” Buchanan tells Deadline. The founders early on declined venture capital backing, he said, to...
Letterboxd, founded as a passion project by Auckland tech entrepreneurs Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow just over a decade ago, recently passed 6.5 million members, with 40-50 in North America followed by the U.K., Europe and breakout markets including Brazil, India, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It has 4.4 million monthly visitors and 800 million monthly page views.
Since launch, users have logged a whopping 1 billion films they’ve seen, put 300 million films on watchlists and posted 76.8 million reviews. Average time spent per visitor per month across web and app is about 40 minutes.
Letterboxd has been profitable since 2019, which is “source of immense pride,” Buchanan tells Deadline. The founders early on declined venture capital backing, he said, to...
- 8/5/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The Afrofuturist musical is exec produced by Lin-Mauel Miranda.
UK distributor Anti-Worlds has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost from Kino Lorber. The film premiered in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight in 2021 and was nominated for the Queer Palm award.
Set in a Rwandan village made of computer parts, the sci-fi musical follows an intersex African hacker and a coltan miner who, along with their love child, trigger a revolution against the authoritarian regime. The cast is made up of newcomers Elvis Ngabo, Cheryl Isheja and Kaya Free.
The film will be...
UK distributor Anti-Worlds has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost from Kino Lorber. The film premiered in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight in 2021 and was nominated for the Queer Palm award.
Set in a Rwandan village made of computer parts, the sci-fi musical follows an intersex African hacker and a coltan miner who, along with their love child, trigger a revolution against the authoritarian regime. The cast is made up of newcomers Elvis Ngabo, Cheryl Isheja and Kaya Free.
The film will be...
- 8/3/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
New Release Wall
David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.
Also available:
“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...
David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.
Also available:
“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...
- 8/2/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Fall season buzz is alive with celebrations of movie magic, from Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical “The Fabelmans” to “Empire of Light,” Sam Mendes’ romantic ode to old cinemas. But the most trenchant statement about the state of movies is here already.
It comes from Jordan Peele’s “Nope,” which confirms the filmmaker’s ability to generate suspense and awe from some seriously unpredictable places — but this Western sci-fi showdown also doubles as a meditation on the way film history marginalizes key figures and more crucially, assesses how the industry continues to alienate key voices. And, intentional or not, it’s also a window into the need to diversify arthouse audiences.
I won’t get into “Nope” spoilers, but it’s a brilliant conceit for Peele to envision the Hollywood horse-wranglers who are at the center of the movie as grandchildren of the Black jockey who sat astride the horse in...
It comes from Jordan Peele’s “Nope,” which confirms the filmmaker’s ability to generate suspense and awe from some seriously unpredictable places — but this Western sci-fi showdown also doubles as a meditation on the way film history marginalizes key figures and more crucially, assesses how the industry continues to alienate key voices. And, intentional or not, it’s also a window into the need to diversify arthouse audiences.
I won’t get into “Nope” spoilers, but it’s a brilliant conceit for Peele to envision the Hollywood horse-wranglers who are at the center of the movie as grandchildren of the Black jockey who sat astride the horse in...
- 7/30/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It’s astounding: “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount), then everything else.
Most box-office reporting this weekend focuses on the unquestionably stunning results for Tom Cruise’s sequel. Through 10 days of domestic play, it’s grossed 190 million (357 million worldwide). A second-weekend drop of only 32 percent portends that it will go much, much higher and has the potential to become the highest-grossing 2022 release.
Its performance deserves all the accolades — but without the misleading reporting. “Maverick” will likely be Cruise’s biggest hit, and among Paramount’s 10 top performers. But unless one thinks ticket prices remained unchanged for the last 40 years — or ever — it’s getting undue credit for box-office records.
Its second-weekend fall is indeed very small, but not the smallest; “Avatar” (which would have grossed 100 million adjusted in its second weekend) fell less than two percent.
“Maverick” has an advantage that made this more likely. Most films that open over 100 million are sequels,...
Most box-office reporting this weekend focuses on the unquestionably stunning results for Tom Cruise’s sequel. Through 10 days of domestic play, it’s grossed 190 million (357 million worldwide). A second-weekend drop of only 32 percent portends that it will go much, much higher and has the potential to become the highest-grossing 2022 release.
Its performance deserves all the accolades — but without the misleading reporting. “Maverick” will likely be Cruise’s biggest hit, and among Paramount’s 10 top performers. But unless one thinks ticket prices remained unchanged for the last 40 years — or ever — it’s getting undue credit for box-office records.
Its second-weekend fall is indeed very small, but not the smallest; “Avatar” (which would have grossed 100 million adjusted in its second weekend) fell less than two percent.
“Maverick” has an advantage that made this more likely. Most films that open over 100 million are sequels,...
- 6/5/2022
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Chloe Okuno’s feature debut Watcher recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label on 764 U.S. screens — also one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.
The genre thriller that world premiered at Sundance then SXSW reported an estimated weekend gross of 815,000 and a PSA of 1,067.
“Watcher is one of the best feature debuts we have ever screened out of Sundance and with it, Chloe Okuno has proven without a doubt that she is a leading new voice in horror,” said IFC Film president Arianna Bocco. “We are thrilled to have been her partner on the release of Watcher and remain committed to finding the best new voices working in film today.”
Witten by Zack Ford and Okuno, Watcher stars Maika Monroe as Julia, a young American actress who moves with her half-Romanian husband (played by Karl Glusman) from the States...
The genre thriller that world premiered at Sundance then SXSW reported an estimated weekend gross of 815,000 and a PSA of 1,067.
“Watcher is one of the best feature debuts we have ever screened out of Sundance and with it, Chloe Okuno has proven without a doubt that she is a leading new voice in horror,” said IFC Film president Arianna Bocco. “We are thrilled to have been her partner on the release of Watcher and remain committed to finding the best new voices working in film today.”
Witten by Zack Ford and Okuno, Watcher stars Maika Monroe as Julia, a young American actress who moves with her half-Romanian husband (played by Karl Glusman) from the States...
- 6/5/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Indie distributors, grabbing a frame between Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion, are out with a handful of decently wide releases for the specialty space including Neon’s Cannes title Crimes of the Future (127 screes), IFC Midnight thriller Watcher (764) and Roadside Attractions’ WWI period piece Benediction (87). Sony Pictures Classics launches Phantom of the Open in four theaters in NY and LA.
Netflix is taking Hustle to 275 screens as the industry looks for signs that big streamers are warming to theatrical.
Yash Raj Films opens historical Bollywood epic Prithviraj in over 400 theaters as the steady flow of Indian fare remains a bulwark for U.S. cinemas.
The David Cronenberg written and directed dystopian sci-fi body-parts drama Crimes of the Future with Léa Seydoux, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart debuts fresh off a six-minute standing ovation in Cannes, As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, bodies undergoes transformations and mutation.
Netflix is taking Hustle to 275 screens as the industry looks for signs that big streamers are warming to theatrical.
Yash Raj Films opens historical Bollywood epic Prithviraj in over 400 theaters as the steady flow of Indian fare remains a bulwark for U.S. cinemas.
The David Cronenberg written and directed dystopian sci-fi body-parts drama Crimes of the Future with Léa Seydoux, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart debuts fresh off a six-minute standing ovation in Cannes, As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, bodies undergoes transformations and mutation.
- 6/3/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Summer blockbusters are here with the likes of Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10), Lightyear, and Elvis (June 24) bowing this month. The power of their box office estimates seems so high that Disney decided to just put all its Searchlight titles on Hulu instead of taking their own screens away from Buzz’s origin story. We’re living in a brand-new time of monopoly math.
Thankfully the independent studios are chugging along to provide the type of counter-programming cinephiles need to get out of the sun. And, as per usual, those are the ones sporting the creativity that carries the poster art form away from floating head collage towards aesthetic ingenuity.
Heading out
Iconarts Creative’s Fire Island shows that you can still create excitement and motion with a film still. All it takes is a slight tilt of the frame, an image of characters on the move, and an impeccable font...
Thankfully the independent studios are chugging along to provide the type of counter-programming cinephiles need to get out of the sun. And, as per usual, those are the ones sporting the creativity that carries the poster art form away from floating head collage towards aesthetic ingenuity.
Heading out
Iconarts Creative’s Fire Island shows that you can still create excitement and motion with a film still. All it takes is a slight tilt of the frame, an image of characters on the move, and an impeccable font...
- 6/3/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The long-awaited return of beloved auteurs, new discoveries, decades-in-the-works passion projects, festival winners, and beyond are among June’s major offerings. Check out our picks for what to see below.
15. Watcher (Chloe Okuno; June 3)
Slipping back into a genre she knows well, Maika Monroe leads Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, a slow-burn thriller with a sense of paranoia seeping into every frame. Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “Ever since It Follows, the 2014 horror movie about a spectral grim reaper stalking a teenage girl, Maika Monroe has become her generation’s avatar of fear and paranoia. Throughout her filmography, she boasts an inner world of melancholy that begins in a delicate register and then multiplies into a feverish anguish the farther her characters tumble down their own rabbit holes. It’s the kind of psychological spiraling that gives oxygen to director Chloe Okuno’s feature debut, Watcher, a chamber piece...
15. Watcher (Chloe Okuno; June 3)
Slipping back into a genre she knows well, Maika Monroe leads Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, a slow-burn thriller with a sense of paranoia seeping into every frame. Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “Ever since It Follows, the 2014 horror movie about a spectral grim reaper stalking a teenage girl, Maika Monroe has become her generation’s avatar of fear and paranoia. Throughout her filmography, she boasts an inner world of melancholy that begins in a delicate register and then multiplies into a feverish anguish the farther her characters tumble down their own rabbit holes. It’s the kind of psychological spiraling that gives oxygen to director Chloe Okuno’s feature debut, Watcher, a chamber piece...
- 6/1/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The coltan mines in the hills of Burundi supply minerals that makes tantalum capacitors used in most of world's electronic devices. Multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams (Slam) and Rwandan artist Anisa Uzeyman use the mines as a springboard to embark on an ambitious DIY sci-fi musical, Neptune Frost. Expansive in theme -- shedding light on the continuing exploitation of the raw materials and Black bodies in the globalist economy, providing a non-binary look at current society in a continent riddled with anti-gay laws sowed by American evangelical missionaries, examining the vast network of internet warriors against hostile authoritarian regimes -- the film is an amalgamation of the Afrofuturists' utopian version of what's to come. Matalusa (Bertrand Ninteretse) works at a coltan mine, enduring harsh, inhumane treatment...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/1/2022
- Screen Anarchy
Neptune Frost, an Afrofuturist musical directed by multidisciplinary American artist Saul Williams and Rwandan visual artist Anisia Uzeyman, is a stunning film that defies conventions in both content and form. When I saw it in a packed theater at the New York Film Festival last year, I was enraptured by its sheer beauty: the DIY aesthetic, from the costume design to production, and its languid visual language. Then I was impressed by its very progressive politics, a non-binary superhero emerging amidst a resistance movement against neo-colonialism. I am very happy to see the film getting a theatrical release, thanks to the good folks at KinoLorber, because Neptune Frost needs to be experienced visually and aurally on the big screen and talked about in the years...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/1/2022
- Screen Anarchy
Even as Netflix stock struggles, the streamer proved that it can still put on a good show. Except for the guy who jumped Dave Chappelle, last weekend’s Netflix is a Joke Festival was a win: Multiple standups satisfied LA audiences over 11 nights, and that catalyzed a promotional cycle that will drive Netflix subscribers to watch those performances nationwide.
As the international film industry prepares for Cannes — which takes place over roughly the same amount of time — the implications are clear: a physical event, one that teases future content more people want to see! Yes, the Netflix Is a Joke Fest hints at a model that could address one of the biggest challenges in the arthouse distribution landscape.
This column seeks big swings and this one hides in plain sight. Festivals have flirted with taking more active roles in film distribution, but few have cracked the potential to leverage the hype they create.
As the international film industry prepares for Cannes — which takes place over roughly the same amount of time — the implications are clear: a physical event, one that teases future content more people want to see! Yes, the Netflix Is a Joke Fest hints at a model that could address one of the biggest challenges in the arthouse distribution landscape.
This column seeks big swings and this one hides in plain sight. Festivals have flirted with taking more active roles in film distribution, but few have cracked the potential to leverage the hype they create.
- 5/14/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe Mother and the Whore (1972).The lineup for this year's Cannes Classics boasts a 4k digital restoration of Jean Eustache's The Mother and the Whore, a rare screening of Satyajit Ray’s newly restored Pratidwandi, films by Vittorio de Sica, Orson Welles, Mike De Leon, and much more. After recently making Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going! available for free online, Martin Scorsese is set to narrate and executive produce a documentary about the filmmaking duo. Directed by David Hinton, the documentary follows Scorsese's personal journey with and relationship to Powell & Pressburger's films. David Cronenberg has announced his follow-up to Crimes of the Future: Starring Vincent Cassel and produced by Saïd Ben Saïd, Shrouds is about grieving widower whose technologically innovative (and controversial) cemetery is vandalized. Recommended VIEWINGThe trailer...
- 5/11/2022
- MUBI
Following a major festival tour that included Cannes, TIFF, NYFF, BFI London, and Sundance, Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Neptune Frost is finally arriving in theaters next month and we named it one of the summer’s must-see films. A sci-fi punk musical that introduces an Afrofuturist world of wonder, the story centers on an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective that attempts to take over an authoritarian regime. Ahead of a June 3 release via Kino Lorber, a new trailer has now arrived.
Michael Frank said in his NYFF review, “Neptune Frost uses music as energy, drifting in and out of its melodic elements as easily as its composer drifts between spoken word, hip-hop, rap, and electronica. These hackers sing about ignorance, binary crime theory, social media popularity, and the currency of all items. Williams and Uzeyman construct a world where people greet one another with the phrase “unanimous goldmine” in...
Michael Frank said in his NYFF review, “Neptune Frost uses music as energy, drifting in and out of its melodic elements as easily as its composer drifts between spoken word, hip-hop, rap, and electronica. These hackers sing about ignorance, binary crime theory, social media popularity, and the currency of all items. Williams and Uzeyman construct a world where people greet one another with the phrase “unanimous goldmine” in...
- 5/4/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
A fantastic new sci-fi musical is on the horizon from Saul Williams, who co-directs alongside cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman and brings an Afrofuturist vision to the big screen with the sci-fi musical “Neptune Frost.” It will be executive produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda (“In The Heights“) and Stephen Hendel (“Finding Fela“) and features all-original music from Williams.
Continue reading ‘Neptune Frost’ Trailer: Saul Williams’ Acclaimed Visually Striking Afrofuturist Sci-Fi Musical Is Coming This Summer at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Neptune Frost’ Trailer: Saul Williams’ Acclaimed Visually Striking Afrofuturist Sci-Fi Musical Is Coming This Summer at The Playlist.
- 5/4/2022
- by Christopher Marc
- The Playlist
"One just algorithm. One little Black girl algorithm brings it to life." Kino Lorber has unveiled an official US trailer for the acclaimed, one-of-a-kind creation from Africa called Neptune Frost - a must watch film for anyone that is a fan of international cinema. This premiered at last year's 2021 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar, and it also played at the Toronto, New York, London, and Sundance Film Festivals. Neptune Frost is the love story between an African intersex runaway and a coltan miner, and the virtual marvel born as a result of their union. The anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist feature is a radical, neon-drenched techno musical creation unlike any other, utilizing old parts and various found items as props and costume pieces. The film features Cheryl Isheja, Bertrand Ninteretse, Eliane Umuhire, and Dorcy Rugamba. I saw this last year and proclaimed it to be an instant cult classic, raving...
- 5/4/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Summer is around the corner, which means Rooftop Films is almost back. New York cinephiles can look forward to another season of film screenings from the longtime nonprofit, which screens independent films in a variety of outdoor locations throughout New York City. Over time, Rooftop Films has become an essential institution in the indie film world, helping top directors get their work seen while connecting undiscovered artists to the resources that they need.
Notable films on the year’s lineup include Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher,” a Sundance horror hit in the tradition of paranoid classics like “Rosemary’s Baby;” James Morosini’s “I Love My Dad,” a comedy that took the top prizes in the Narrative category at SXSW; and Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection,” a psychological thriller that earned high marks from critics and fans alike at Sundance this year.
Tickets for select upcoming screenings are on sale now via the Rooftop Films website,...
Notable films on the year’s lineup include Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher,” a Sundance horror hit in the tradition of paranoid classics like “Rosemary’s Baby;” James Morosini’s “I Love My Dad,” a comedy that took the top prizes in the Narrative category at SXSW; and Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection,” a psychological thriller that earned high marks from critics and fans alike at Sundance this year.
Tickets for select upcoming screenings are on sale now via the Rooftop Films website,...
- 5/2/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Ah, summer at the movies. While the movie-going experience has shifted dramatically over the past couple of years — the days of big-bucket-of-popcorn multiplex-going still exist, but they are no longer the primary option for enjoying massive blockbusters or high-brow hits and everything in between — the thrill of a season spent soaking up a wide variety of new films has not abated. The coming months feature the kind of fare long associated with the summer season, from a brand-new Marvel joint to a long-awaited “Top Gun” sequel, the latest entry into the “Jurassic World” franchise and even a new Pixar outing, but there’s even more to find among the bombastic and just plain big titles.
We’re talking about new films from Jordan Peele, Baz Luhrmann, Claire Denis, Alex Garland, Jeremiah Zagar, Peter Strickland, and Quinn Shephard, and that’s just the start. There are festival hits in the mix,...
We’re talking about new films from Jordan Peele, Baz Luhrmann, Claire Denis, Alex Garland, Jeremiah Zagar, Peter Strickland, and Quinn Shephard, and that’s just the start. There are festival hits in the mix,...
- 4/20/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Hauntingly beautiful and deeply enigmatic, “Neptune Frost” has enjoyed perhaps the most coveted festival run of 2021. Blending science fiction, dance and allegorical elements, the striking Afrofuturist feature debuted at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. It has since been invited to screen at some of the top showcases: Toronto, New York, London, Sundance, Rotterdam and Gothenburg — all venues where African cinema, especially experimental, formally ambitious work, remains relatively uncommon.
The opening scenes of this curious film hint at the poetic paths it intends to take. Past and future, dreams and realities, mourning and possibility, death and other dimensions comprise the terrain. And if you think that sounds vague or thrilling or frustrating, you’d be right on all counts. Directed by Saul Williams and his partner Anisia Uzeyman, this debut feature rebuffs the easy comforts of storytelling.
Shot and set in Rwanda, “Neptune Frost” takes on war, capitalism, identity and liberation. It begins with an unseen narrator.
The opening scenes of this curious film hint at the poetic paths it intends to take. Past and future, dreams and realities, mourning and possibility, death and other dimensions comprise the terrain. And if you think that sounds vague or thrilling or frustrating, you’d be right on all counts. Directed by Saul Williams and his partner Anisia Uzeyman, this debut feature rebuffs the easy comforts of storytelling.
Shot and set in Rwanda, “Neptune Frost” takes on war, capitalism, identity and liberation. It begins with an unseen narrator.
- 2/5/2022
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
The Miami Film Festival returns this year with a hybrid event that includes nine premieres from March 4-13 in the Florida city. The festival had previously announced that “The Good Boss” would open the event while “Plaza Catedral” would be the closer. In total, 120 films from more than 35 countries will unspool next month.
The festival, organized by Miami Dade College, will bestow its Precious Gems Awards on Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”), while Dp Ari Wegner and composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer will receive the Art of Light Awards.
“The collective spirit of joy and gratitude that we felt from patrons and filmmakers at last year’s shared in-person theatrical screenings strengthened the always mighty creative heart of Miami Film Festival,” said executive director Jaie Laplante. “As we take all necessary precautions to ensure the continued safety of our patrons, we look forward to...
The festival, organized by Miami Dade College, will bestow its Precious Gems Awards on Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”), while Dp Ari Wegner and composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer will receive the Art of Light Awards.
“The collective spirit of joy and gratitude that we felt from patrons and filmmakers at last year’s shared in-person theatrical screenings strengthened the always mighty creative heart of Miami Film Festival,” said executive director Jaie Laplante. “As we take all necessary precautions to ensure the continued safety of our patrons, we look forward to...
- 2/1/2022
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Following the lead of the Sundance Film Festival itself, the ASCAP Music Cafe that usually takes place during the festival will be going virtual for a second consecutive year. ASCAP’s web offerings for the 2022 fest will feature performances by Brandy Clark, John Doe and the teaming of Evan Rachel Wood and Zane Carney, among others, along with panels including composers who scored films premiering as part of Sundance.
The 24th annual edition of the performing rights organization’s Music Cafe will go down in the online Sundance Film Festival Village over a period of four days. The performances will take place Jan. 21-22, followed by panel discussions Jan. 23-24 billed as part of “ASCAP Screen Time,” the org’s ongoing interview series about the art and business of film composing.
Evan Rachel Wood has already made Sundance news with the announcement Wednesday that a two-part documentary about the singer-actor,...
The 24th annual edition of the performing rights organization’s Music Cafe will go down in the online Sundance Film Festival Village over a period of four days. The performances will take place Jan. 21-22, followed by panel discussions Jan. 23-24 billed as part of “ASCAP Screen Time,” the org’s ongoing interview series about the art and business of film composing.
Evan Rachel Wood has already made Sundance news with the announcement Wednesday that a two-part documentary about the singer-actor,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Documentaries about Kanye West, Sinead O’Connor and the Middle East’s first female metal band are set to premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
The Utah fest announced its programming slate Thursday, with the O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares set to make its debut as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition. The film, directed by Irish filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson, boasts archive footage — much of it unseen — from the period of O’Connor’s career stretching from 1987 to 1993, as well as new interviews with the singer herself.
“As an Irish woman,...
The Utah fest announced its programming slate Thursday, with the O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares set to make its debut as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition. The film, directed by Irish filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson, boasts archive footage — much of it unseen — from the period of O’Connor’s career stretching from 1987 to 1993, as well as new interviews with the singer herself.
“As an Irish woman,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Directors Anisia Uzeyman and multi-talented Saul Williams deep dive into Afro-Futurism with the new film Neptune Frost. The film first premiered at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes, was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, and now at the New York Film Festival. Frost is a bold story about how the power of music, technology and dreams can profoundly impact human connection. The sensual visuals, coupled with an anti-capitalist theme that is somewhat bleak, this is a film about finding happiness in community and embracing the future.
Set in Rwanda, this cyber-musical follows Matalusa (Bertrand Ninteretse), a poverty-stricken miner, and an intersex hacker, Neptune (played by Elivs Ngabo and Cheryl Isheja), and who find one another through cyberspace. Their chemistry is instant, and love emancipates them from the physical and internal struggle they face. Williams creates a tender dynamic between the two characters. Witnessing Black joy in cinema isn...
Set in Rwanda, this cyber-musical follows Matalusa (Bertrand Ninteretse), a poverty-stricken miner, and an intersex hacker, Neptune (played by Elivs Ngabo and Cheryl Isheja), and who find one another through cyberspace. Their chemistry is instant, and love emancipates them from the physical and internal struggle they face. Williams creates a tender dynamic between the two characters. Witnessing Black joy in cinema isn...
- 10/12/2021
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
If the noblest aim of the artist is to become a vessel for divine connection to creative source, then Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman are truly touched. The sheer amount of hypnotic imagery and music on display in “Neptune Frost,” the film chapter in the multifaceted project “MartyrLoserKing” which includes three albums and a graphic novel, is
In this fantastical Afrofuturist universe, characters with names like Memory and Psychology traipse amongst whimsical sculptural sets, draped in art-piece costumes and makeup so eye-popping it makes the looks on “Euphoria” seem conventional. The music is alive and thrumming, tapped into a twin spirit of joy and protest. While these elements never fully cohere to form a discernible narrative in “Neptune Frost,” there is fun to be had in surrendering to the fluidity of its ingenuity.
Filmed in the hills of Burundi, the dreamlike tale loosely follows a group of gentle hackers building...
In this fantastical Afrofuturist universe, characters with names like Memory and Psychology traipse amongst whimsical sculptural sets, draped in art-piece costumes and makeup so eye-popping it makes the looks on “Euphoria” seem conventional. The music is alive and thrumming, tapped into a twin spirit of joy and protest. While these elements never fully cohere to form a discernible narrative in “Neptune Frost,” there is fun to be had in surrendering to the fluidity of its ingenuity.
Filmed in the hills of Burundi, the dreamlike tale loosely follows a group of gentle hackers building...
- 10/2/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
With his directorial debut, poet-musician-actor Saul Williams has no desire to hold back. Neptune Frost, a technology-focused musical set in Rwanda co-directed with Anisia Uzeyman, sees Williams put all of his previous artistic efforts into an unfocused, wholly singular work, one with splashy producers like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ezra Miller. Following the intense, dream-induced connection of a coltan miner, Matalusa (Bertrand “Kaya Free” Ninteretse), and intersex, on-the-run hacker Neptune (both Cheryl Isheja and Elvis Ngabo), Neptune Frost has ideas to spare, pursuing all in the form an anti-capitalist, pro-connectivity movement.
Beginning as a Kickstarter project that raised nearly $200,000 from 1,500 backers, the film wants to galvanize and embrace its characters and viewers. It has an appetite for justice, communion, and change in the farthest-reaching of places. In this case that’s a makeshift village constructed by technological scraps, existing amidst a never-ending war. Matalusa, mourning the death of his brother at the mines,...
Beginning as a Kickstarter project that raised nearly $200,000 from 1,500 backers, the film wants to galvanize and embrace its characters and viewers. It has an appetite for justice, communion, and change in the farthest-reaching of places. In this case that’s a makeshift village constructed by technological scraps, existing amidst a never-ending war. Matalusa, mourning the death of his brother at the mines,...
- 9/29/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Above: US release poster for Flee. Illustrations by Mikkel Sommer and Kenneth Ladekjaer; art direction by Martin Hultman.Since 2010, on the last Friday of every September, I have gathered all the posters for the films in the main slate of the New York Film Festival. Last year, six months into the pandemic, I didn’t do it. There was a New York Film Festival, and there was a main slate, but with most of the films only screening online, it just didn’t seem like the real thing and my heart wasn’t in it. This year the NYFF is back and entirely Irl and, although we’re still not out of the pandemic woods, I feel that the wonderful new poster for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee is emblematic of the moment: people, lots of them,, coming together. Aside from the Flee poster, the highlights of this year would...
- 9/24/2021
- MUBI
As Black cinema has moved to the centerpiece of conversation in the past decade, we have been treated to a glut of films that tell us where society is right now. The focus tends to be on white people, racism, the police, and the existential angst of being Black in the world. These films are valuable, pushing the world to consider a perspective that has been ignored in mainstream culture for a long time. But as we move through the next decade, it is worth interrogating what the future of Black film looks like. Yes, we are in pain and ...
- 9/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
"Stories about heroes travel faster than bullets." There are two new films from Africa playing film festivals this year that just so happen to be two of the most creative, unique, and entertaining discoveries in cinema all year. We're lucky we get to experience these films this year. The first is Neptune Frost, which initially premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar. I watched it in Cannes but didn't write about it on here yet, knowing I will be raving about it whenever it gets a release. The second is a film called Saloum, set in Senegal, and it just premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival this month. Both of these honestly deserve the "instant cult classic" label. Not only is it always exciting to have unique cinema from Africa playing at major festivals like Cannes & Toronto, both films are awesome creations with fun stories that...
- 9/20/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The crowds were gone — that was the first thing you noticed at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Normally, over the course of the 10 days that this annual gathering of film lovers and lookie-loos runs, you’ll find throngs of people outside the Princess of Wales Theatre or the Roy Thomson Hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever movie star is working the red carpet. The lines of ticketholders that snake around the block were M.I.A. You could see tumbleweeds blow through the usually bustling lobbies of...
- 9/18/2021
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
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