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: Sandbox Films (Fire of Love) and Xtr (Ascension) have teamed to produce feature doc A Life Illuminated, exploring the life and legacy of pioneering marine biologist Edie Widder, in association with ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX.
Set to direct the pic is Tasha Van Zandt, the filmmaker behind such award-winning documentaries as After Antarctica, about legendary polar explorer Will Steger, and One Thousand Stories, about renowned artist Jr.
A Life Illuminated watches as Widder undertakes an extraordinary journey into the magical world of bioluminescence, through which she decodes the language of light that allows deep-sea life to communicate in complete darkness. It’s Widder’s unceasing need to understand and communicate with the most enigmatic forms of life on Earth that leads her to dive into the unknown, exploring the profound mysteries hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.
The film will draw upon Widder’s vast archive, from her earliest dives in deep sea submersibles,...
Set to direct the pic is Tasha Van Zandt, the filmmaker behind such award-winning documentaries as After Antarctica, about legendary polar explorer Will Steger, and One Thousand Stories, about renowned artist Jr.
A Life Illuminated watches as Widder undertakes an extraordinary journey into the magical world of bioluminescence, through which she decodes the language of light that allows deep-sea life to communicate in complete darkness. It’s Widder’s unceasing need to understand and communicate with the most enigmatic forms of life on Earth that leads her to dive into the unknown, exploring the profound mysteries hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.
The film will draw upon Widder’s vast archive, from her earliest dives in deep sea submersibles,...
- 12/19/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"That's what entertainment's supposed to do!" Keep our minds off of how bad things are. An early promo trailer is available for a documentary film playing on the festival circuit titled Fantastic Machine, made by two Swedish filmmakers - Axel Danielson and Maximilien van Aertryck. The full title is actually And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, which is a reference to an old quote that appears in the film. A visually exuberant documentary that uses powerful collages edited out of archive footage, home videos, live-streaming material and private documentation to offer a glimpse at what (or who) is at work when an image of our reality is arranged. Similar in many ways to Sundance 2021's doc All Light, Everywhere. This film is an examination of the history of the camera, taking us through time up to the current day, showing how bad everything has become thanks to manipulation...
- 2/24/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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
The Oscar-nominated “Flee” took home the top prize at the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors on Tuesday evening at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
- 3/2/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed the 276 feature films that are eligible for consideration at the 94rd Oscars, which are set to air live March 27 on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The number is 90 fewer than last year’s 366, but this year’s eligibility period was only 10 months.
To be eligible for Best Picture consideration, films must have submitted a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards entry as part of the submission requirements. Nominations voting begins January 27 and concludes on February 1. The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Tuesday, February 8.
Today’s news comes about a month after the Academy released its shortlists in the International Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Sound and the Live-Action, Documentary and Animated Shorts categories.
Here is the full list of films eligible for Best Picture at the 94rd annual Academy Awards,...
The number is 90 fewer than last year’s 366, but this year’s eligibility period was only 10 months.
To be eligible for Best Picture consideration, films must have submitted a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards entry as part of the submission requirements. Nominations voting begins January 27 and concludes on February 1. The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Tuesday, February 8.
Today’s news comes about a month after the Academy released its shortlists in the International Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Sound and the Live-Action, Documentary and Animated Shorts categories.
Here is the full list of films eligible for Best Picture at the 94rd annual Academy Awards,...
- 1/20/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
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
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
The Cinema Eye Honors has announced the nominations for its 15th annual awards. “Flee” leads the field with seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
- 11/10/2021
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking, today announced the full slate of nominees for its 15th Annual Awards Ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. Leading the pack of nominees are two Sundance premieres: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated “Flee” and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul,” which was nominated for six awards.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
- 11/10/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s singular animated doc Flee and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Summer of Soul will head into the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors as the leaders in nominations, Cinema Eye announced today.
Flee led all films with seven nominations, with Summer of Soul claiming six. Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, Jessica Beshir’s Faya Dayi and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s The Rescue followed with five noms apiece, with Todd Haynes’ Apple pic The Velvet Underground claiming four. HBO led all distributors with 16 nominations, with Hulu notching 12. Nat Geo and Neon followed with 11 each.
Of particular note with regard to the noms list was a newly introduced category for Outstanding Sound Design, which will see All Light, Everywhere contending alongside Faya Dayi, Flee, Summer of Soul and The Velvet Underground.
The award ceremony recognizing...
Flee led all films with seven nominations, with Summer of Soul claiming six. Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, Jessica Beshir’s Faya Dayi and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s The Rescue followed with five noms apiece, with Todd Haynes’ Apple pic The Velvet Underground claiming four. HBO led all distributors with 16 nominations, with Hulu notching 12. Nat Geo and Neon followed with 11 each.
Of particular note with regard to the noms list was a newly introduced category for Outstanding Sound Design, which will see All Light, Everywhere contending alongside Faya Dayi, Flee, Summer of Soul and The Velvet Underground.
The award ceremony recognizing...
- 11/10/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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
In a sad blow, the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) has announced it will cancel its in-cinema screenings given the current Covid situation in the city.
The festival, always designed as a hybrid event, will continue nationally on Miff Play, with the festival securing an additional 30 titles for the platform. These include some direct-from-Cannes titles such as The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, La Civil, Rehana Maryam Noor and Babi Yar, and Australian films Ablaze, Chef Antonio’s Recipes for Revolution, Little Tornadoes and Paper City.
However, some of the festival most anticipated films, including local films such as Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, intended as the Opening Night Gala, and Justin Kurzel’s Nitram are not available on the service.
As regional Victoria is no longer in lockdown, the festival’s regional season will proceed, with required changes to the line-up to be advised through local operators.
The festival, always designed as a hybrid event, will continue nationally on Miff Play, with the festival securing an additional 30 titles for the platform. These include some direct-from-Cannes titles such as The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, La Civil, Rehana Maryam Noor and Babi Yar, and Australian films Ablaze, Chef Antonio’s Recipes for Revolution, Little Tornadoes and Paper City.
However, some of the festival most anticipated films, including local films such as Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, intended as the Opening Night Gala, and Justin Kurzel’s Nitram are not available on the service.
As regional Victoria is no longer in lockdown, the festival’s regional season will proceed, with required changes to the line-up to be advised through local operators.
- 8/10/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
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
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
From “The Painter and the Thief” to “Apollo 11” and “Gunda,” Neon is proving to be a rich home to documentary film. The latest entry from the distributor is Jamila Wignot’s “Ailey,” a documentary about multi-hyphenate dancer, choreographer, director, and activist Alvin Ailey, who up until his death in 1989 inspired generations of dancers and founded the towering Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. “Ailey,” which first premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, releases on July 23 in theaters. Watch the official trailer for the film below.
Here’s the official synopsis, courtesy of Neon: “Many know the name Alvin Ailey, but how many know the man? Ailey’s commitment to searching for truth in movement resulted in pioneering and enduring choreography that centers on African American experiences. Director Jamila Wignot’s resonant biography grants artful access to the elusive visionary who founded one of the world’s most renowned dance companies,...
Here’s the official synopsis, courtesy of Neon: “Many know the name Alvin Ailey, but how many know the man? Ailey’s commitment to searching for truth in movement resulted in pioneering and enduring choreography that centers on African American experiences. Director Jamila Wignot’s resonant biography grants artful access to the elusive visionary who founded one of the world’s most renowned dance companies,...
- 5/27/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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
"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
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
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
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
Theo Anthony’s documentary All Light, Everywhere, which took home the Special Jury Prize for Non-Fiction Experimentation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has been picked by Neon’s boutique division Super Ltd. The distributor has taken the pic’s North American rights.
Written, directed and edited by Anthony, All Light, Everywhere explores 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.
All Light, Everywhere reps Anthony’s second feature after Rat Film, which received critical acclaim following its premiere at the Locarno and True/ False Film Festivals, and was nominated for a 2017 Gotham Award for Best Documentary Feature film as well as Cinema Eye Honors for Best Debut Feature.
Ayo Kepher-Maat and Jeff Deutchman negotiated the deal...
Written, directed and edited by Anthony, All Light, Everywhere explores 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.
All Light, Everywhere reps Anthony’s second feature after Rat Film, which received critical acclaim following its premiere at the Locarno and True/ False Film Festivals, and was nominated for a 2017 Gotham Award for Best Documentary Feature film as well as Cinema Eye Honors for Best Debut Feature.
Ayo Kepher-Maat and Jeff Deutchman negotiated the deal...
- 2/17/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Neon’s boutique division and incubator Super Ltd has acquired the North American rights to “All Lights, Everywhere,” a documentary that premiered at Sundance about the history of police body cameras and surveillance and their roles in justice.
The documentary directed by Theo Anthony won the Special Jury Prize for Non-Fiction Experimentation at this year’s Sundance. Anthony wrote, directed and edited the film, and “All Lights, Everywhere” is a production of Memory in association with Sandbox Films.
“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.
This is Anthony’s second feature following 2017’s “Rat Film” that was nominated for a Gotham Award and uses a rat problem in Baltimore in...
The documentary directed by Theo Anthony won the Special Jury Prize for Non-Fiction Experimentation at this year’s Sundance. Anthony wrote, directed and edited the film, and “All Lights, Everywhere” is a production of Memory in association with Sandbox Films.
“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.
This is Anthony’s second feature following 2017’s “Rat Film” that was nominated for a Gotham Award and uses a rat problem in Baltimore in...
- 2/17/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Autlook handles international sales.
All Light, Everywhere, the Sundance award-winning selection that premiered last month, has landed a North American deal with Neon’s boutique division and incubator Super Ltd.
Theo Anthony’s film debuted in U.S. Documentary Competition and won a special jury prize for non-fiction experimentation.
It explores of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice and questions the objectivity of point of view amid an explosion in surveillance technology.
All Light, Everywhere is a Memory production in association with Sandbox Films. Riel Roch-Decter and Sebastian Pardo produced for Memory, alongside Jonna McKone. Executive producers...
All Light, Everywhere, the Sundance award-winning selection that premiered last month, has landed a North American deal with Neon’s boutique division and incubator Super Ltd.
Theo Anthony’s film debuted in U.S. Documentary Competition and won a special jury prize for non-fiction experimentation.
It explores of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice and questions the objectivity of point of view amid an explosion in surveillance technology.
All Light, Everywhere is a Memory production in association with Sandbox Films. Riel Roch-Decter and Sebastian Pardo produced for Memory, alongside Jonna McKone. Executive producers...
- 2/17/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
With nearly every feature film at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival reviewed, it’s time to wrap up the first major cinema event of the year. We already got the official jury and audience winners here, and now it’s time to highlight our favorites.
One will find our picks (in alphabetical order) to keep on your radar, followed by the rest of our reviews. Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born...
One will find our picks (in alphabetical order) to keep on your radar, followed by the rest of our reviews. Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born...
- 2/8/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
It was a given that this year’s all-virtual, all-living-room-screenings-all-the-time Sundance was going to seem a little strange. Having experienced a few pandemic-corrective festivals already over the past 10 months, a lot of critics and journalists were already familiar with the drill: log on instead of line up, chat with your peers about recommendations via text and Twitter instead of live and in person, stroll to your bathroom between screenings instead of sprinting to catch shuttles. If you were on the east coast, the massive snow-dump helped create a weird Park City facsimile outside your door.
- 2/4/2021
- by K. Austin Collins and David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Within just a few years, Theo Anthony has proven himself a master of the cine-essay. He doesn’t neatly connect the dots for us, instead creating dynamic, synapse-sparking terrains, with particular focus on city life and social justice. Historical information and up-to-the-minute insights collide, intertwine and illuminate one another, inviting us to question power structures we might otherwise take for granted. Through a route of seeming detours, 2016’s Rat Film examined the dehumanizing assumptions of 20th-century urban planning. The Baltimore-based filmmaker’s new offering takes a similar but less diffuse approach, confronting the permeating presence in our lives of automated ...
In just over a half-decade’s time, Theo Anthony has established himself as one of the preeminent voices in nonfiction cinema. Following a pair of short films, the Baltimore-based filmmaker rose to prominence with his debut feature Rat Film (2016), an incendiary look at the relationship between his city’s history of racial segregation and its rampant rodent infestation, and the medium-length 30 for 30 documentary Subject to Review (2019), a dizzyingly inventive investigation into the use of instant replay technology in tennis. Anthony’s new feature, All Light, Everywhere, comes five years after his first, but, like Rat Film and Subject to Review before it, the director’s latest takes as its thesis the deficiencies of both the human eye and the moving image to properly account for the truth of the lived moment.Inspired by the unlawful murder of Freddie Gray, All Light, Everywhere takes up the use of surveillance technology at the civic and institutional level,...
- 2/3/2021
- MUBI
CodaU.S. – DRAMATICGrand Jury PrizeCoda (Siân Heder)Directing PrizeSiân Heder (Coda) Audience Award Coda (Siân Heder) Special Jury Award for Ensemble CastCoda (Siân Heder) Special Jury Award for Best ActorClifton Collins Jr. (Jockey)Waldo Salt Screenwriting AwardAri Katcher and Ryan Welch (On the Count of Three)Summer Of SoulU.S. – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury Prize Summer Of Soul (Questlove) Directing Prize Natalia Almada (Users) Audience Award Summer Of Soul (Questlove)Special Jury Award for EditingKristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno (Homeroom)Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction ExperimentationTheo AnthonySpecial Jury Award for Emerging FilmmakerParker Hill, Isabel Bethencourt (Cusp)HiveWORLD Cinema – DRAMATICGrand Jury Prize Hive (Blerta Basholli) Directing Prize Blerta Basholli (Hive) Audience Award Hive (Blerta Basholli)Special Jury Award for ActingJesmark Scicluna (Luzzu)Special Jury Award for Creative VisionBaz Poonpiriya (One for the Road)Writing With FireWORLD Cinema – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury Prize Writing With Fire (Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh)Directing Prize Hogir Hiror...
- 2/3/2021
- MUBI
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize.
Coda and Hive were the big winners at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday night (February 2), taking home four and three prizes, respectively.
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda – set up after producer Patrick Wachsberger took remake rights to French film La Famille Bélier with him when he left Lionsgate – won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic prizes.
The...
Coda and Hive were the big winners at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday night (February 2), taking home four and three prizes, respectively.
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda – set up after producer Patrick Wachsberger took remake rights to French film La Famille Bélier with him when he left Lionsgate – won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic prizes.
The...
- 2/3/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The mostly virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close. The festival announced awards winners Tuesday night, trading an in-person ceremony for one broadcast live and hosted by Patton Oswalt. The biggest winner was Sian Heder’s coming of age drama “Coda,” which earned four U.S. Dramatic Competition awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Other Big winners were “Summer of Soul,” which took home the two top U.S. Documentary awards.
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
“When we dreamed this idea, this is what we dreamed, but you all made it a reality,” said Sundance Festival Director Tabitha Jackson during the introduction to this evening’s 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony. Like the festival, the ceremony was a smoothly running virtual one, connecting the at-home Sundance directors and programmers with the filmmakers similarly ensconced around the world director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, All Light, Everywhere director Theo Anthony and Users director Natalia Almada, respectively, in a car on his way to […]
The post Coda, Summer of Soul Take Top Prizes at The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Coda, Summer of Soul Take Top Prizes at The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/3/2021
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“When we dreamed this idea, this is what we dreamed, but you all made it a reality,” said Sundance Festival Director Tabitha Jackson during the introduction to this evening’s 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony. Like the festival, the ceremony was a smoothly running virtual one, connecting the at-home Sundance directors and programmers with the filmmakers similarly ensconced around the world director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, All Light, Everywhere director Theo Anthony and Users director Natalia Almada, respectively, in a car on his way to […]
The post Coda, Summer of Soul Take Top Prizes at The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Coda, Summer of Soul Take Top Prizes at The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/3/2021
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The narrative feature “Coda” and the documentary “Summer of Soul” swept the top categories at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prizes and also taking the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
- 2/3/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
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 still retaining the same unique vision as he explores how technological breakthroughs (and pitfalls) in filmmaking have reverberated throughout history to both embolden and trick our perceptions of perspective. To thread these strands and see its modern-day effects, the majority of the film looks at the engineering behind police body cameras, and the extensive use of those devices and other surveillance equipment to support officers in cases where evidence might otherwise come down to only verbal testimonies.
More sprawling...
More sprawling...
- 1/31/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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