Even with just a 75-minute runtime, watching writer-director Phillip Youmans’ feature film debut, “Burning Cane,” a meditation on compromised faith among black Southerners, is an arduous experience. It’s dark (both narratively and visually), sluggish, and relentlessly bleak. But this all seems to be the filmmaker’s intention.
Inspired by his own upbringing in the Southern Baptist church, Youmans offers an unfiltered look at black protestant life in the hollows of Louisiana. Just as he does with each character, Youmans launches the film by dropping the audience into Helen Wayne’s (Karen Kaia Livers) story already in progress. From her lengthy opening monologue, we gather that her dog is very sick and covered with rashes, but she refuses to give up faith in his recovery.
She’s frustrated that professionals want her to put him down, or “shoot him between the eyes” as she echoes with disgust. We listen to...
Inspired by his own upbringing in the Southern Baptist church, Youmans offers an unfiltered look at black protestant life in the hollows of Louisiana. Just as he does with each character, Youmans launches the film by dropping the audience into Helen Wayne’s (Karen Kaia Livers) story already in progress. From her lengthy opening monologue, we gather that her dog is very sick and covered with rashes, but she refuses to give up faith in his recovery.
She’s frustrated that professionals want her to put him down, or “shoot him between the eyes” as she echoes with disgust. We listen to...
- 11/5/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
If it’s a Saturday after a busy week, that can only mean one thing, right? Yes, it’s time for another review round-up to help catch us all up on some of the smaller releases hitting theaters this weekend. As per the usual, we have three very different films to look at. This time, it’s the drama Burning Cane, as well as two different science fiction outings, one being the high concept Paradise Hills, while the other sci-fi offering is the anthology tale Portals. Are any of these worth your time? Are all of them? Read on to find out what I thought… Burning Cane Marvel at this fact for a moment. Phillip Youmans, the filmmaker behind Burning Cane, is a teenager. Yes, for real. He’s nineteen years old. Consider for a moment how unwatchable most teenagers’ attempts at cinema would be. Even with the greats, many...
- 10/26/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Helen Wayne (Karen Kaia Livers) can’t cure her dog of mange. Everyone tells her their surefire remedies and she attempts them all—one month with borax, another vegetable oil. Sometimes the dog gets better and other times he gets worse. She won’t give up on him, though. Her love for his kind soul that doesn’t deserve the pain and suffering he’s endured keeps her looking for another solution. She’ll do anything but go to the doctor because she knows he’ll simply tell her that the time has come to put him down. But that’s not true. It can’t be if God hasn’t done so already. This is therefore a test for Helen and her pet to prove their righteousness. They’ll withstand this hardship and pray for better days.
That doesn’t necessarily guarantee better days are coming as much as...
That doesn’t necessarily guarantee better days are coming as much as...
- 10/21/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
"It's hard to dance with the devil..." Array has debuted an official trailer for an indie drama titled Burning Cane, the feature directorial debut of talented filmmaker Phillip Youmans. This premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, where it won Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Narrative Feature awards. Set amongst the cane fields of rural Louisiana, an aging mother struggles between her religious convictions and the love of her son. Starring Karen Kaia Livers as Helen Wayne, exploring the relationships within a southern black protestant community. The cast includes Wendell Pierce (who won the award in Tribeca), Dominique McClellan, and Braelyn Kelly. Ava DuVernary's Array has been scooping up and releasing some of the finest under-the-radar indie films out there, and this looks like another gem in their selection. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Phillip Youmans' Burning Cane, direct from Array's YouTube: Burning Cane tells the...
- 10/1/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival has revealed its lineup of 103 feature films.
Standout titles include world premieres of a hybrid narrative-documentary film about John DeLorean (starring Alec Baldwin); an Antoine Fuqua-directed documentary about Muhammad Ali; and a portrait of Chelsea Manning; and films starring Margot Robbie, Elijah Wood and Billy Crystal. Christoph Waltz’s directorial debut, Georgetown, offers a cast including Annette Bening, Vanessa Redgrave and Corey Hawkins, in a world premiere.
The always-comprehensive Tribeca offerings also include a must for film buffs and tech geeks, Making Waves: The Art of Sound in Films. The documentary features Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and Ryan Coogler. As with a large number of screenings at Tribeca, Making Waves will feature a conversation after the end credits, a master-class conversation featuring Burtt and Rydstrom.
The festival, which this year runs April 24 to May 5, also...
Standout titles include world premieres of a hybrid narrative-documentary film about John DeLorean (starring Alec Baldwin); an Antoine Fuqua-directed documentary about Muhammad Ali; and a portrait of Chelsea Manning; and films starring Margot Robbie, Elijah Wood and Billy Crystal. Christoph Waltz’s directorial debut, Georgetown, offers a cast including Annette Bening, Vanessa Redgrave and Corey Hawkins, in a world premiere.
The always-comprehensive Tribeca offerings also include a must for film buffs and tech geeks, Making Waves: The Art of Sound in Films. The documentary features Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and Ryan Coogler. As with a large number of screenings at Tribeca, Making Waves will feature a conversation after the end credits, a master-class conversation featuring Burtt and Rydstrom.
The festival, which this year runs April 24 to May 5, also...
- 3/5/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The 18th edition of Tribeca Film Festival will get underway next month, featuring 103 films from 124 filmmakers, with 50% women-directed films in the three competition sections. Highlights include world premieres directed by Abel Ferrara, Werner Herzog, Christoph Waltz, as well as films by Sebastian Schipper, Mary Harron, Peter Strickland, and Andrew Ahn.
Check out the lineup below for the festival taking place April 24 – May 5.
U.S. Narrative Competition
Tribeca’s U.S. Narrative Competition showcases extraordinary work from breakout independent voices and distinguished filmmaking talent. These ten world premieres will vie for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Last year, the award for Best Narrative Feature went to Kent Jones’ Diane while Jeffrey Wright was awarded Best Actor for his role in O.G. Other previous films from this section include Reed Morano’s Meadowland (2015), Ingrid Jungermann’s Women Who Kill (2016), and...
Check out the lineup below for the festival taking place April 24 – May 5.
U.S. Narrative Competition
Tribeca’s U.S. Narrative Competition showcases extraordinary work from breakout independent voices and distinguished filmmaking talent. These ten world premieres will vie for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Last year, the award for Best Narrative Feature went to Kent Jones’ Diane while Jeffrey Wright was awarded Best Actor for his role in O.G. Other previous films from this section include Reed Morano’s Meadowland (2015), Ingrid Jungermann’s Women Who Kill (2016), and...
- 3/5/2019
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival has announced its full feature film lineup for this year’s edition of the Manhattan festival, running April 24 – May 5. This year, the program has reached a new milestone: gender parity across its three competition sections. Standout offerings include new films from Lara Jean Gallagher, Mark Webber, Cindy Meehl, Lesley Chilcott, Cenk Erturk, and Anne Fontaine.
Fifty-two narratives and 51 documentaries will debut throughout the 12-day festival. The competition section features 12 documentaries, 10 U.S. narratives, and 10 international narratives. The event will also host 15 spotlight narratives, 16 spotlight documentaries, as well as five Midnight features, and 17 Viewpoints selections. Other highlights include Nanfu Wang’s Sundance winner “One Child Nation,” Mary Harron’s Charles Manson film “Charlie Says,” Joe Berlinger’s Ted Bundy courtroom drama “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” Guy Nattiv’s “Skin,” Dolly Wells’ “Good Posture,” and Christoph Waltz’s directorial debut “Georgetown.”
Across the entire feature film lineup,...
Fifty-two narratives and 51 documentaries will debut throughout the 12-day festival. The competition section features 12 documentaries, 10 U.S. narratives, and 10 international narratives. The event will also host 15 spotlight narratives, 16 spotlight documentaries, as well as five Midnight features, and 17 Viewpoints selections. Other highlights include Nanfu Wang’s Sundance winner “One Child Nation,” Mary Harron’s Charles Manson film “Charlie Says,” Joe Berlinger’s Ted Bundy courtroom drama “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” Guy Nattiv’s “Skin,” Dolly Wells’ “Good Posture,” and Christoph Waltz’s directorial debut “Georgetown.”
Across the entire feature film lineup,...
- 3/5/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the full lineup of films for its 18th edition, which includes new films directed by Jared Leto, Christoph Waltz, Antoine Fuqua, Werner Herzog, Abel Ferrera and more.
This year’s slate is also among the most diverse and inclusive that the festival has ever put forward. All three competition categories are evenly split among men and women, and female directors account for 40 percent of the films on the feature slate. That’s slightly down from 2018’s record 46 percent of films directed by women, but this year also has 29 percent people of color directors and 13 percent who identify as Lgbtqia.
Among the 103 films from 124 filmmakers to be screened, Jared Leto will debut his documentary, “A Day in the Life of America,” which was filmed in every state in the country across a single 4th of July holiday. Christoph Waltz is making his directorial debut on “Georgetown,...
This year’s slate is also among the most diverse and inclusive that the festival has ever put forward. All three competition categories are evenly split among men and women, and female directors account for 40 percent of the films on the feature slate. That’s slightly down from 2018’s record 46 percent of films directed by women, but this year also has 29 percent people of color directors and 13 percent who identify as Lgbtqia.
Among the 103 films from 124 filmmakers to be screened, Jared Leto will debut his documentary, “A Day in the Life of America,” which was filmed in every state in the country across a single 4th of July holiday. Christoph Waltz is making his directorial debut on “Georgetown,...
- 3/5/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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