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On the surface, The Confessions of Frannie Langton feels like a traditional British gothic drama.

However, like its heroine, there is so much going on underneath -- layers of richness and complexity that reveal themselves gradually.

The show doesn’t shy away from its darkest themes, and the strongest aspect (though there are many) is the deeply authentic voice of the main character.

Sara Collins, the author of the novel on which the show is based, was born in Jamaica and attended boarding school in London.

Her unique experience grounds Frannie and her story in a way that feels dangerously real. Collins was intrinsically involved in creating and writing this show, helping to ensure that Frannie’s story remained solid and unwavering.

It is vital to have a leading lady who can carry the weight of this extraordinary story. Luckily, Karla-Simone Spence is more than up to the task.

Her...

Itvx is the new name for ITV Hub, and with that name change, we get a whole new batch of streaming content. The Confessions of Frannie Langton, an adaptation of Sara Collins’ 2019 novel of the same name, tells the tragic story of a former slave who is sent from Jamaica to London and ends up working for a wealthy couple, where she falls in love with her mistress.

Set in Georgian London, the show is a beautiful, painful and queer story. It’s a British period drama which puts a Black woman at the helm – while defying the stereotypical former slave figure often painted in period dramas. Frannie (Karla-Simone Spence) is educated, well-read and outspoken, but more importantly, she has the ability to fall in love.

When we meet Frannie , she is being dragged from her lover’s bed and arrested for the murder of the Benhams – her master and...

Polish film and TV writer/director Agnieszka Smoczyńska's biographical film "The Silent Twins" is heading to Peacock. The movie is inspired by the book of the same name written by investigative journalist Marjorie Wallace. Published in 1986 under the title "The Silent Twins: A true story of love and hate, dreams and desolation, genius and destruction," Wallace's book is itself based on the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, twin sisters who only communicated with each other, and came to be known as "the silent twins."

Smoczyńska's film is heading to Peacock after getting a very limited theatrical release from Focus Features on September 16, 2022 -- meaning, this is probably the first time most people have even heard of the movie. So, before it joins acclaimed 2022 films like Scott Derrickson's "The Black Phone" on NBCUniversal's streaming service, here's everything you need to know about the film ahead of time.

The annual Palm Springs International ShortFest returns for its 28th edition from June 21 to 27, holding all of its screenings at the Camelot Theatres at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

The festival will feature 51 programs that showcase 300 films. That list includes 38 world premieres, 17 international premieres, 35 North American premieres and 18 U.S. premieres.

The lineup features a robust list of celebrated film and TV actors. Some of the names among the programs include Eric Roberts in “Appendage,” Zachary Quinto in “Chaperone,” Peter Friedman in “Daddy’s Girl,” the voice of Brian Cox in “Five Cents,” Vicky Krieps in “Frida,” the voice of Isabella Rossellini in “Louis I. King of the Sheep,” Adjoa Andoh and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn in “The Last Days,” Stephen Fry in “Night of the Living Dread,” in addition to credits from Rose Byrne in “Shark,” directed by Nash Edgerton; Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski in “Skin & Bone,” Molly Ringwald in “Spa Day,...

Prime Video’s forthcoming Anansi Boys adaptation has found its Bird Woman in Whoopi Goldberg.

The Egot winner will star opposite Malachi Kirby (Small Axe), who was previously cast as both Charlie Nancy (aka Fat Charlie) and his brother, Spider; and Delroy Lindo (The Good Fight), who will play Anansi/Mr. Nancy.

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Goldberg’s Bird...

Whoopi Goldberg is set to play Bird Woman in the upcoming Amazon series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Anansi Boys.”

The series follows Charlie Nancy (Malachi Kirby)—sometimes known as Fat Charlie (it was his father’s nickname for him; he’s not fat)—a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father (Delroy Lindo). But when his father dies, Charlie discovers that he was Anansi: Trickster God of stories. And he learns that he has a brother. Now that brother, Spider (also played by Kirby), is entering Charlie’s life, determined to make it more interesting—but making it a lot more dangerous instead.

“I have been a fan of this book for a very long time and when Neil Gaiman told me it was being brought to the screen, I did everything I could to be part of it to help make people aware...

Whoopi Goldberg has been tapped to play the menacing Bird Woman opposite Malachi Kirby and Delroy Lindo in Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman’s series adaptation for Prime Video.

Based on Gaiman’s fantasy novel, the six-episode series is set throughout contemporary London and follows a cast of characters in an epic story that stretches from the UK to Florida, the Caribbean and the mythical World Before Time. Kirby stars in the leading roles of Fat Charlie and Spider. The series is filming in Scotland and will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

2021-22 Amazon Prime Video Pilots & Series Orders

Per Amazon Studios’ descriptions: Anansi Boys follows Charlie Nancy (Kirby) — sometimes known as Fat Charlie (it was his father’s nickname for him; he’s not fat) — a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father. But when his father dies, Charlie...

Amazon’s upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s (Good Omens) best-selling fantasy novel Anansi Boys has cast its lead female stars, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn (Small Axe) and Grace Saif (13 Reasons Why). St. Aubyn, who made her screen debut as part of Steve McQueen‘s Small Axe series in the feature Lovers Rock, is set to play cheerful and kind teacher Rosie Noah. Rosie is the fiancée to Charles “Fat Charlie” Nancy, the show’s main protagonist, played by fellow Small Axe actor Malachi Kirby. Saif, meanwhile, will portray the smart, determined, and very funny Detective Constable Daisy Day. Daisy finds herself tied up in multiple overlapping police cases, including a murder. “When you are casting something on the scale of Anansi Boys, you need female leads who are as accomplished, charming, and brilliant as, well, Malachi Kirby in both his incarnations,” said Gaiman (via The Hollywood Reporter). He continued: “Amarah-Jae St.

Netflix’s After Life is coming to an end: The Ricky Gervais drama-comedy will premiere its third and final season on Friday, Jan. 14.

The six-episode swan song follows Tony, “a writer for the local newspaper whose life is upended after his wife dies from cancer,” reads the official synopsis. “Whilst still struggling with immense grief for his wife, Tony starts to realize that making other people feel good is what can give him hope and a reason to live. After all, every end is a new beginning.”

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Gotham Vet to L&o: Oc, Eternals' Disney+ Debut...

“Small Axe” was a hit with TV and film critics when it premiered last fall on Amazon Prime Video. It won Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and was nominated for Best Limited Series at the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards. But how many Emmy nominations will it get? It’s up for consideration 18 times across the Emmy ballots. Scroll down to see the full list.

Seebafta TV Awards: ‘I May Destroy You,’ ‘Small Axe,’ ‘Normal People’ ….

Directed and co-written by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”), “Small Axe” is an anthology consisting of five standalone films that explore the West Indian immigrant experience in the UK from the 1960s to the 1980s. “Mangrove” tells the true story of a group of Black protestors who were persecuted by the police and the legal system. “Lovers Rock” is a fictional story set during a lively house party.

Amazon Prime just won a couple of Oscars for their film “Sound of Metal,” and now the streaming service is jumping right into Emmy season with “Beyond the Screen” virtual events and a “Prime Video Presents” podcast to promote their slate of programs from May 1 through June 10. Their events can be found on the Emmys FYC calendar.

Among the programs being promoted by Amazon this season include the sci-fi dramas “The Boys” and “The Expanse”; the Barry Jenkins limited series “The Underground Railroad”; the telefilms “Uncle Frank,” “Yearly Departed,” and “Sylvie’s Love”; the documentary “All In: The Fight for Democracy“; the anthologies “Solos” and “Them”; and the theatrical special “What the Constitution Means to Me.”

Seersvp now for May 10: TV documentary directors for ‘Framing Britney Spears,’ ‘Heaven’s Gate,’ ‘High on the Hog,’ ‘Seduced,’ ‘The Year Earth Changed’ join Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts series

“Beyond the Screen” kicked...

Amazon Prime Video has once again put a pause on its annual in-person Emmy FYC pop-up events space due to the pandemic. But in its place, the streamer has curated a virtual experience, dubbed “Beyond the Screen,” that kicks off this weekend with an evening devoted to the stars, crafts and music of Steve McQueen’s anthology series “Small Axe.”

Variety has the exclusive roundup of the Emmy FYC panels, screenings, podcasts and performances that will kick off Amazon Studios and Prime Video’s campaign starting May 1, and continuing through June 10.

Talent populating the panels, set to be streamed for Television Academy members, include McQueen and John Boyega (“Small Axe”); Barry Jenkins and Joel Edgerton (“The Underground Railroad”), and Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Aya Cash and Jack Quaid (“The Boys”). Other contenders participating include “Solos,” “Sylvie’s Love,” “The Expanse,” “Them,” “Uncle Frank,” “What The Constitution Means To Me” and “Yearly Departed.

BBC dramas “Normal People,” “I May Destroy You,” and “Small Axe” and ITV dramas “Quiz” and “Des” lead the nominations at the 47th edition of the U.K.’s Broadcasting Press Guild (Bpg) TV and streaming Awards.

“Normal People” is nominated for best drama series (5+ episodes), and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal as best actor and actress and for the ‘Bpg breakthrough award.’ “Small Axe” receives nominations for best drama series (5+ episodes), best writer, best actor (Shaun Parkes), best actress (Letitia Wright) and the breakthrough award (Amarah-Jae St. Aubin). Michaela Coel is nominated as best actress and best writer for “I May Destroy You,” which also scores a best drama series nomination in the 5+ episodes category.

“Quiz” is shortlisted for best drama series (1-4 episodes), best actor (Matthew Macfadyen) and best writer (James Graham), while “Des” is nominated as best drama (1-4 episodes) and for best actor.

“Roald and...

Michel Delahaye and Ingrid Bourgoin in Marie-Claude Treilhou’s Simone Barbès Or Virtue

At the New York Film Festival in 2020, there were a number of terrific free talks, including Gianfranco Rosi on Notturno (Italy’s Oscar submission); Christian Petzold with Heinz Emigholz (The Last City and The Lobby with John Erdman); Steve McQueen with Small Axe cinematographer Shabier Kirchner and his Lovers Rock (Opening Night Gala selection) cast Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn and Micheal Ward; Laura Dern, Joyce Chopra, and Joyce Carol Oates on Smooth Talk (Revivals selection); Chloé Zhao with Nomadland (Centerpiece selection) producer Peter Spears; Dea Kulumbegashvili on Beginning, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges and Azazel Jacobs on French Exit (Closing Night selection).

Serge Bozon discussed Simone Barbès Or Virtue with Marie-Claude Treilhou Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Serge Bozon (director of Madame Hyde,...

The past year has been devastating. The world continues to reel from the tragic effects of the novel coronavirus. The film industry was decimated by the pandemic. Theaters are still closed across vast metropolitan regions of the country. As of December 29th, the total domestic box office for the top 272 releases total a paltry $1.37 billion dollars. That is a staggering $10 billion dollars less than the $11.4 billion earned in 2019. Dark times indeed, but even in the midst of this once-in-a-lifetime human tragedy, art and the pursuit of storytelling continued to thrive.

2020, against seemingly insurmountable odds, was a fantastic year for film. Brilliant filmmakers brought captivating cinema to audiences using modern technology. The pandemic changed the way we watch movies for the foreseeable future. Streaming and on demand services picked up where theater companies could not go. Disney started the trend by delaying tentpole films, like Black Widow, but releasing other big budget fare,...

Helen Scott served as production designer on all five films in Steve McQueen’s Amazon anthology series “Small Axe,” but the task wasn’t as intimidating as it sounds. The reason? She had all five scripts at once.

“It became daunting later on, but having the five scripts in front of us, it was kind of doable because we could work out what the art was and where each film sat within the arc and get an overall feel for the whole project,” Scott says during Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: TV Production Design panel (watch above). “We never lost sight of the fact that all of these stories are connected. They’re all of the same family. It was just trying to [find] the nuance of each film. Each film came from a slightly different time zone — they were all set in different times, they were all in London,...

"As a collective, we stand a chance!" Amazon has released one more trailer for the fifth (and final) film in the Small Axe anthology series (now streaming) from Steve McQueen. This last one is titled Education, telling the coming-of-age story of 12-year-old Kingsley, played by Kenyah Sandy, who has a fascination for astronauts and rockets. Amazon (in the US) and BBC (in the UK) have been releasing the five films one at a time for the last few weeks following premieres at the London and New York Film Festivals earlier in the fall. Based on true stories, each of the five films celebrate little known stories of Black pride and resilience. Let's learn about what happens when even ordinary people stand up to police brutality and racial injustice to achieve something transformative. The casts include Letitia Wright, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall, Alex Jennings, Jack Lowden, Micheal Ward,...

Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock,” one of five movies in the director’s “Small Axe” anthology on Amazon, is a dreamy, sensual fantasia of a film, a 68-minute evocation of one Saturday night at a dance party in 1980 London. The story follows Martha (newcomer Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) as she sneaks out from her family home to attend “Blues Night” at a house in London’s West Indies community that’s been transformed into one big reggae dance floor.

In the peak scene, she dances with a young man she’s met (Micheal Ward) to the rhythm of Janet Kay’s silky “Silly Games.” And when the music stops, the crowd keeps singing, entranced by the fevered bliss of the song.

McQueen has focused on the Black experience in all of the “Small Axe” films. Several of them depict real events: “Mangrove” is a courtroom drama and “Red, White and Blue...

Amazon Prime Video has premiered the trailer for Small Axe: Alex Wheatle, the fourth and penultimate film in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series for the streaming platform. Alex Wheatle will drop on December 11th, following Mangrove (November 20th), Lovers Rock (November 27th), and Red, White and Blue (December 4th).

Like the other entries in the Small Axe series, Alex Wheatle tells a story within London’s West Indian community from the late Sixties to the mid-Eighties. (The title is derived from the African proverb, “If you are the big tree,...

There’s a strong chance that anyone recommending Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock — the second chapter of his ongoing Small Axe film series, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video — has gone out of their way to mention that scene. The moment in question, set to Janet Kay’s “Silly Games,” is indeed a showstopper: improvisational and free, the kind of moment in which the bright screen separating a movie from its audience suddenly seems malleable, porous. All of a sudden, you’re no longer watching a movie, but a part of one.

If you’ve seen “Hunger,” “Shame,” or his Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave,” you know that director Steve McQueen has a singular gift for plunging viewers into his characters’ central nervous systems, even when they’re undergoing sensations you’d just as soon avoid. With “Lovers Rock,” one of five segments in his upcoming miniseries “Small Axe,” that gift is used for delight. It’s a great kick-off for this year’s New York Film Festival, where “Lovers Rock” will be the opening-night film.

A “one wild night” movie akin to “Dazed and Confused” or “American Graffiti,” “Lovers Rock” takes us to a West Indian “Blues party” in 1979 London. As with any such gathering of young people to flirt, dance, and listen to music, there are friendships and rivalries, intra-community and intra-family squabbles and alliances, the promise of love and the threat of violence.

Specifically, for 2020 pandemic audiences, there is...

Young love flourishes at a house party in Eighties London in the new trailer for Lovers Rock, the second film in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, premiering November 27th on Amazon Prime Video.

The clip doesn’t offer much in the way of specific plot points but features a quick montage of party preparations, unexpected connections and confrontations, a little bit of religious guilt, and plenty of music. Per a press release, Lovers Rock, is “an ode to the romantic reggae genre called ‘Lovers Rock’ and to the black...

Alongside an A-list cast including the likes of John Boyega and Letitia Wright, Steve McQueen’s film anthology series Small Axe — exploring experiences from London’s West Indian community from the late 1960s to the early ’80s and landing on the BBC and Amazon Nov. 15 — has given a number of emerging names the chance to rise up and shine.

Among these is Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, who landed her first-screen role in one of Small Axe’s five features, Lovers Rock (which, together with Mangrove, had been destined for this year’s Cannes before the festival was pulled).

A euphoric celebration of music, youth and ...

Alongside an A-list cast including the likes of John Boyega and Letitia Wright, Steve McQueen’s film anthology series Small Axe — exploring experiences from London’s West Indian community from the late 1960s to the early ’80s and landing on the BBC and Amazon Nov. 15 — has given a number of emerging names the chance to rise up and shine.

Among these is Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, who landed her first-screen role in one of Small Axe’s five features, Lovers Rock (which, together with Mangrove, had been destined for this year’s Cannes before the festival was pulled).

A euphoric celebration of music, youth and ...

If there’s a sense of planetary alignment in the timing of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe – five films about London’s West Indian community airing weekly from this Sunday on BBC One – it’s not by design. Over a decade in the making, the creators couldn’t have known that these stories would land in a year marked by both the global Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, and the disproportionately devastating impact of Covid-19 on black communities in the UK.

The collision of 2020’s events with five stories celebrating black British history feels fortuitous to the cast. “The timing of it is so trippy,” says actor Shaun Parkes, who plays Frank Crichlow in the first film in the series Mangrove, about London’s real-life Mangrove Nine protest and Old Bailey trial.

Speaking at the BBC Small Axe press launch chaired by Akua Gyamfi,...

Three segments of Steve McQueen’s forthcoming anthology Small Axe already premiered at the New York Film Festival, though many still wonder how to classify this project. He gave a definitive answer: “These are five features. In a perfect world, I would love people to see these films in the cinema, absolutely, but we are living in these times [with] TVs and how people can use this equipment in high quality ways. But there is nothing for me that can beat going to the cinema and viewing with a community of people.”

A new trailer has arrived for the series, which will begin a weekly rollout this November.

Deadline reports that Mangrove, starring Letitia Wright & Shaun Parkes, will premiere on November 15, the four additional films debuting each of the following Fridays; Lovers Rock (11/22) starring Micheal Ward & Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn; Education (11/29) featuring Kenyah Sandy; Alex Wheatle (12/6) with newcomer Sheyi Cole; and then the final film,...

Small Axe Trailer — Steve McQueen‘s Small Axe (2020) TV mini-series trailer has been released by Amazon Prime Video and stars Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Rochenda Sandall, Alex Jennings, Jack Lowden, Micheal Ward, and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn. Crew McQueen, Alastair Siddons, and Courttia Newland wrote the screenplays for [...]

Continue reading: Small Axe (2020) TV Mini-series Trailer: Great Britain-set Equal Rights Movement Anthology from Steve McQueen [Amazon]...

"As individuals, we have an impossible battle. As a collective, we stand a chance." Amazon has released a final "extended preview" trailer for Steve McQueen's Small Axe, his thrilling new anthology of five films streaming on Prime Video later this month. A few of them just premiered at the New York & London Film Festivals to rave reviews. Small Axe consists of five different films - titled Mangrove, Lovers Rock, Alex Wheatle, Education, and Red, White and Blue. Based on true stories, they each celebrate little known stories of Black pride and resilience. Learn about what happens when even ordinary people stand up to police brutality and racial injustice to achieve something transformative. The casts include Letitia Wright, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall, Alex Jennings, Jack Lowden, Micheal Ward, and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn. The more we see from this, the better it looks! I can't wait to watch all five.

Lovers Rock is like going to a club night and managing to make it till closing without ever really feeling it. You chat but somehow never say anything. You drink but somehow don’t get drunk. You even dance but somehow never catch the rhythm. Which says a lot since dialogue-free shots of people dancing make up roughly 70% of Lovers Rock’s runtime.

There’s no story here, or at least not one that really drives the film. Rather it is a fly-on-the-wall depiction of a house party in 1980s London hosted by and for the West Indian community. Complete with disc jockey and tuck shop. What passes for a protagonist is Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn’s Marta, an easy-going seventeen-year-old ready to shimmy down her parent’s drainpipe for a good time. Accompanied by best friend Patty who seeks a distraction from her own family baggage (I’m hesitant to...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: aKasha.We've been alerted by the programming team at the Toronto International Film Festival that Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka (aKasha), along with five other artists, has been sentenced to two months in prison.Speaking of TIFF, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland won the disrupted festival's People's Choice Award. Other notable winners this year include Michelle Latimer's Inconvenient Indian, Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple, and Dea Kulumbegashvili's Beginning.The great French actor Michael Lonsdale has died at the age of 89. Lonsdale's career range was incredible, including Jacques Rivette's epic Out 1, the James Bond film Moonraker, Marguerite Duras's India Song, and Spielberg's Munich. His physically towering presence was one of the great connective tissues across international cinema.Recommended VIEWINGSpike Lee has been having a big year, first with Da 5 Bloods...

"Don't you think it's time things were different...?" "We mustn't be victims but protagonists of our stories." Amazon has debuted a new promo trailer for Steve McQueen's Small Axe, an anthology series of five films debuting streaming later this fall. They're also playing at the New York & London Film Festivals - which is why this trailer is being released now. Small Axe consists of five different films - titled Mangrove, Lovers Rock, Alex Wheatle, Education, and Red, White and Blue. Based on true stories, they celebrate little known stories of Black pride and resilience, like the Mangrove March. Learn about what happens when even ordinary people stand up to police brutality and racial injustice to achieve something transformative. The very first trailer was only for the Mangrove film, this one features footage from all five. The casts include Letitia Wright, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall, Alex Jennings,...

The trailer for Steve McQueen’s upcoming anthology series 'Small Axe' is out now, providing a closer look at the much-awaited BBC drama.

Amazon Prime Video, in collaboration with the series commissioners, the BBC, released the official trailer featuring new footage from the upcoming series.

The series which comprises five original films is created and directed by Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen.

'Small Axe' comprises of tales inspired by real-life events about ordinary people showing courage, belief, and resilience to overcome injustice and achieve something transformative in their West Indian community from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.

The series is set to premiere on Friday, November 20 with the first film, Mangrove, starring Letitia Wright & Shaun Parkes, with each subsequent film debuting on the Fridays from November 27th to December 18th.

The four additional films include 'Lovers Rock' (27/11) starring Micheal Ward & Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn,...

With Lovers Rock, the first part of Steve McQueen’s forthcoming anthology Small Axe, having premiered at the 58th New York Film Festival, many have wondered how to classify this project. Well, the director gave a definitive answer. “These are five features,” McQueen said in his recent NYFF press conference.”In a perfect world, I would love people to see these films in the cinema, absolutely, but we are living in these times [with] TVs and how people can use this equipment in high quality ways. But there is nothing for me that can beat going to the cinema and viewing with a community of people.”

Now, Amazon Studios has solidified his intention by announcing the release plans for the Small Axe features, and rather than all arriving at once as has become the norm in this new age of streaming, they will rollout weekly beginning this November.

Deadline reports that on November 20, Mangrove,...

Earlier in the week, the 2020 incarnation of the New York Film Festival got underway officially, with one part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, Lovers Rock, serving as the Opening Night Selection. Having seen it, the movie serves as both a strong start for NYFF this year, as well as a smaller and far less awards friendly selection. That’s not a bad thing, just noteworthy. The film is showcasing something far different than Oscar potential, and in a year like this one, that’s probably for the best. Still, it’s an interesting choice for the 58th New York Film Festival. For those unaware, here’s a bit about the film from the official festival description: “Lovers Rock tells a fictional story of young love and music at a blues party in the early 1980s. Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn makes her screen debut opposite the BAFTAs 2020 Rising Star award...

An appropriately buoyant opening-night choice for this year’s New York Film Festival, Lovers Rock chronicles an underground London blues party, a space where Black Brits could cut loose and dance safe from white harassment. Director Steve McQueen presents the house party as a mostly utopic place, one maintained and policed by community committed to the ideals of spiritual liberation. The film’s fluid, handheld camerawork, courtesy of Shabier Kirchner, foregrounds positive vibes, detailing every inch of the tight dance floor and basking in the glow of unencumbered joy. These gatherings represent a release from a socially and politically marginalized group, but that subtext merely pulses underneath Lovers Rock, contextualizing the film without ever overwhelming it. The organic community portrait ebbs and flows to a beat of its own making.

McQueen’s immersive approach comes alive in Lovers Rock’s extended dance-floor scenes, Kirchner’s camera swirling and gliding through the room in long,...

Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, the Opening Night Gala selection of the New York Film Festival, is a musical of the kind that never existed or was represented like this before. It is a tender homage to the mood and Blues party culture of the West Indian community in the London of the late Seventies and early Eighties - very much focused on the singular specific details of looks and sound and touch, and at the same time pluralistic in the sense that anyone watching who has ever been to a party will be able to relate. Hence, appropriately, Lovers Rock has no apostrophe for the genitive “s”, which would mark the loving party as either singular or plural.

The story, co-written by Courttia Newland, is a girl-meets-boy scenario and the circumstances are anything but cliché. Martha (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn), a young woman from a religious family, sneaks...

After drilling into dreary subjects for five movies, Steve McQueen appears to have discovered joy. The dark personal and social struggles at the center of those earlier projects are right there in their titles, which gives “Lovers Rock” an immediate juxtaposition, and it plays that way, too.

It remains to be seen exactly how this concise tale of West Indian Londoners at an all-night rager fits into the larger context of “Small Axe,” the BBC-produced anthology five feature-length stories about the Black West Indian struggles to which “Lovers Rock” belongs. These may add layers of subtext to “Lovers Rock” beyond its immediate resonance, positioning an intimate drama within the wider fabric of racial tensions. But this swift installment sings its own tune, too — or, rather, it marches to one helluva beat.

Set across a single night in 1980 and loaded with a soundtrack from the eponymous reggae music, “Lovers Rock” is...

Watching Lovers Rock is akin to going to see Romeo and Juliet and only staying through the first act, to departing a basketball game after the first quarter, to sipping the soup and skipping the rest of the meal. A mere wisp of a thing, Steve McQueen’s 68-minute feature, the only fictional section of a five-film anthology called Small Axe about London’s West Indian community between the late 1960s and 1980, steeps you in the atmosphere and music of the latter date. But slight it is, a sensory and nostalgic treat up to a point but one that, on its own, offers just passing insight into a very specific culture.

Seen in the context of the weightier episodes to come, this modestly intended installment makes sense, but all by its lonesome it feels distinctly minor, a sensual warm-up for meatier courses to come; a large part of it is...

Music legend Dennis Bovell is Milton in Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At the New York Film Festival press conference, held on Zoom this morning for Lovers Rock, the Opening Night selection, my question on Jacqueline Durran’s (Greta Gerwig’s Little Women) costumes to director/screenwriter Steve McQueen and the stars of his film, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn and Micheal Ward, was posed to them by Film at Lincoln Center’s host Dennis Lim, Director of Programming for the festival. Lovers Rock is part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, co-written by Courttia Newland. The film is a fictional account that takes place in London's West Indian community at a sound system house party in the early 1980s. Music legend Dennis Bovell is in a memorable scene during an extended a cappella rendition of Janet Kay’s Silly Games.

Anne-Katrin Titze: Jacqueline Durran’s costumes are...

Steve McQueen’s new film, Lovers Rock, will have its world premiere when it opens the 58th New York Film Festival, which is still set to take place this fall with various Covid-19 safety precautions in place.

Lovers Rock is one of five films in the Oscar-winning director’s new Small Axe anthology, which will arrive in full on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and BBC One in the U.K. later this year. The films are set between the late-Sixties and mid-Eighties, and each one, per a press release,...

Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock will open 58th New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Film at Lincoln Center announced today that Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock (part of his Small Axe anthology), co-written by Courttia Newland, will be the Opening Night selection of the 58th New York Film Festival. Lovers Rock stars Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Micheal Ward, Shaniqua Okwok, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Ellis George, Alexander James-Blake, and Kadeem Ramsay with Francis Lovehall and Daniel Francis-Swaby. The film is a fictional account that takes place in London's West Indian community in the early 1980s.

Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock

"In the coming weeks we'll unveil the films our programmers have selected for the 2020 New York Film Festival," said Eugene Hernandez, Director of the New York Film Festival. "For months we've worked to both sustain and refresh NYFF as "a champion of film as art since 1963” and we're honoured that...

Moments ago, the New York Film Festival announced their Opening Night Selection, and it’s not a title you’d expect. Going in a different direction than at least I anticipated, they’ve tapped Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock as the Opener. Part of a five movie collection of McQueen’s called the Small Axe anthology, this is the highest profile of the lot, with the four other films being Mangrove, Alex Wheatle, Education, as well as Red, White and Blue. Consider this a surprise, as well a potential shakeup in the upcoming awards race. Considering how interesting it sounds, count me in, and it’s kind of fun that NYFF didn’t opt for an obvious choice. Read on for more about the flick… Here is some of the press release: Film at Lincoln Center announced today that Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock will be the Opening Night film...

Following his crime thriller Widows, Steve McQueen is returning this year with a project of great ambition and scope. Small Axe, an anthology series from BBC and Amazon Prime Video, is made up of five new feature films, each one directed and co-written by the 12 Years a Slave helmer. While it was revealed that two of the films were originally set to premiere as part of the Cannes Film Festival 2020 lineup, it’s now been announced where they will make their world premieres, along with another film in the anthology.

Film at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival has unveiled that one of the films in the anthology, Lovers Rock (pictured below), will be the Opening Night film of the 58th edition, while two others––Mangrove and Red, White and Blue (pictured above)––will premiere in the festival’s Main Slate. Set from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s,...

Film at Lincoln Center has set the Steve McQueen-directed Lovers Rock as the opening-night film of the 58th New York Film Festival. The film will be making its world premiere, and the festival is going heavily into the work of McQueen, who became the first Black filmmaker to win the Best Picture Oscar for 12 Years a Slave.

Lovers Rock is part of his Small Axe anthology, which comprises five original films by the director. Two other films from the anthology, Mangrove and Red, White and Blue, will also have their world premieres as part of the NYFF’s Main Slate, the rest of which will be disclosed in the coming weeks.

This becomes the second straight year in which NYFF chose at its opening nighter a film that will be most widely viewed on a streaming service. Last year, that was the Martin Scorsese-directed The Irishman, though...

Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock” will be the opening night film for the 2020 New York Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center announced Monday.

The 58th edition of NYFF kicks off on September 25 with the latest from the “12 Years a Slave” director. And “Lovers Rock,” which will make its world premiere, is one of five films as part of an anthology from McQueen called “Small Axe.” All five movies, including “Mangrove,” “Lovers Rock,” “Alex Wheatle,” “Education” and “Red, White and Blue,” are set to premiere on BBC One later this year and on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.

Two other films as part of McQueen’s anthology, “Mangrove” and “Red, White and Blue,” will also have their world premieres as part of the festival. The full main slate for the New York Film Festival will be announced in the coming weeks.

Also Read: Toronto Film Festival Lineup to...

Steve McQueen, the Oscar-winning director of “12 Years a Slave” and “Shame,” is best known for his searing big-screen work. So it is fitting that the New York Film Festival would turn to the British auteur to kick off its 58th edition with his new work “Lovers Rock. McQueen joins a long list of cinema legends such as Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, and David Fincher, all of whom have had the opening night film at the annual gathering of movie-lovers.

But this is a year unlike any other in the history of film festivals, with the coronavirus scuttling best-laid plans and forcing organizers to change things up on the fly. Thus it makes sense that the film that McQueen is highlighting isn’t a “movie” in the strictest definition. Rather, it is part of the filmmaker’s Small Ax anthology series, a chapter in a collection of original films that...

The New York Film Festival has announced its opening night film as well as plans for its physical events. The 58th edition of the festival will open with Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock,” with the festival also playing home to two other features that comprise McQueen’s ambitious new “Small Axe” series in its main slate. As indicated by festival brass earlier this summer, this year’s NYFF is going to operate differently than it has in previous incarnations. The event will combine a brand-new virtual presence with carefully designed outdoor screenings, including two drive-ins.

McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology is set to premiere on BBC One later this year and air on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. Per the series’ official synopsis, it is “set from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, the films each tell a different story involving London’s West Indian community, whose...

The film will join two others from McQeen’s Small Axe anthology in the New York line-up.

Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock will get its world premiere as the opening night film of this year’s New York Film Festival (NYFF), set to run September 25 to October 11.

The film is part of McQueen’s BBC-commissioned anthology series Small Axe and two other films from the anthology – Mangrove and Red, White And Blue - will also get their world premieres as part of the NYFF main slate, which will be announced in coming weeks.

The 58th edition of the festival,...

The film will join two others from McQeen’s Small Axe anthology in the New York line-up.

Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock will get its world premiere as the opening night film of this year’s New York Film Festival (NYFF), set to run September 25 to October 11.

The film is part of McQueen’s BBC-commissioned anthology series Small Axe and two other films from the anthology – Mangrove and Red, White And Blue - will also get their world premieres as part of the NYFF main slate, which will be announced in coming weeks.

The 58th edition of the festival,...