Exclusive: Action megastar Keanu Reeves has partnered with Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens to co-produce a documentary on the life story of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, the iconic athlete who introduced mixed martial arts to the world.
Titled The Jet, the film is currently in production under the direction of Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor turned filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera. Its financiers are Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm of the newly formed Unapologetic Projects, a company dedicated to working with underrepresented creators. Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg of Stevens’ recently launched production company Highly Flammable will also serve as producers along with John Scalise and his Faya Project. Nancy Weisler, Brian Maya and Chris Quintos Cathcart & Tyler Boehm of Unapologetic serve as executive producers on the project slated for release in 2025.
Nicknamed for his explosive spinning back kick, Sensei Benny “The Jet” Urquidez had a profound impact on martial arts in mainstream culture,...
Titled The Jet, the film is currently in production under the direction of Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor turned filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera. Its financiers are Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm of the newly formed Unapologetic Projects, a company dedicated to working with underrepresented creators. Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg of Stevens’ recently launched production company Highly Flammable will also serve as producers along with John Scalise and his Faya Project. Nancy Weisler, Brian Maya and Chris Quintos Cathcart & Tyler Boehm of Unapologetic serve as executive producers on the project slated for release in 2025.
Nicknamed for his explosive spinning back kick, Sensei Benny “The Jet” Urquidez had a profound impact on martial arts in mainstream culture,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The Concordia Fellowship provides crucial financial and professional support to diverse non-fiction storytellers in sixth class. Concordia Studio, the company behind the acclaimed Emmy-winning documentary film, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, directed by founder Davis Guggenheim, is awarding four filmmakers the Concordia Fellowship for 2024.
As the artist development program housed within Concordia Studio, the Concordia Fellowship aims to elevate the creative and professional career of each selected filmmaker through significant financial awards and a professional program to accelerate the creative development of a new non-fiction project. The program helps its Fellows build sustainable careers, offering foundational mentorships with veteran talent, industry executives, as well as exclusive access to Concordia’s production and studio facilities. Year-round virtual and in-person programming includes guest visits and masterclasses with renowned filmmakers and industry talent such as Sheila Nevins, Lisa Cortes, Liz Garbus, Julie Goldman, and executives at Participant Media, Magnolia Pictures, Sundance Institute,...
As the artist development program housed within Concordia Studio, the Concordia Fellowship aims to elevate the creative and professional career of each selected filmmaker through significant financial awards and a professional program to accelerate the creative development of a new non-fiction project. The program helps its Fellows build sustainable careers, offering foundational mentorships with veteran talent, industry executives, as well as exclusive access to Concordia’s production and studio facilities. Year-round virtual and in-person programming includes guest visits and masterclasses with renowned filmmakers and industry talent such as Sheila Nevins, Lisa Cortes, Liz Garbus, Julie Goldman, and executives at Participant Media, Magnolia Pictures, Sundance Institute,...
- 3/27/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winning director-producers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth (Chai) Vasarhelyi consistently deliver stunning visuals and compelling documentary content. And following such breakout films as “Meru,” Oscar- and Emmy-winning “Free Solo,” Emmy-winning “The Rescue,” and “Wild Life,” which took advantage of pro climber-cinematographer-NatGeo photographer Chin’s 20 years of athletic cinema and Vasarhelyi’s relentless producer drive for perfection, they moved into feature directing with long-distance swimming drama “Nyad,” which scored Oscar nominations for stars Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
Over the years, the filmmakers have established their filmmaking prowess, combining immersive cinema verité visuals with deeply felt personal drama. That is on full display in their latest collaboration with NatGeo, the series “Photographer,” for which the duo matched six of the world’s most renowned shooters with veteran directors Marshall Curry, Kristi Jacobson, and Sam Pollard, plus Sundance alumnae Crystal Kayiza and Rita Baghdadi, and set them loose to return with bespoke...
Over the years, the filmmakers have established their filmmaking prowess, combining immersive cinema verité visuals with deeply felt personal drama. That is on full display in their latest collaboration with NatGeo, the series “Photographer,” for which the duo matched six of the world’s most renowned shooters with veteran directors Marshall Curry, Kristi Jacobson, and Sam Pollard, plus Sundance alumnae Crystal Kayiza and Rita Baghdadi, and set them loose to return with bespoke...
- 3/19/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
After making their first narrative feature “Nyad,” which debuted last year and earned Oscar nominations for the film’s stars Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, Academy Award winning directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (“Free Solo”) are returning to their documentary roots with “Photographer.”
The six-part National Geographic docuseries features seven photographers — Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Dan Winters, Campbell Addy, Krystle Wright, Muhammed Muheisen, and Anand Varma. Vérité footage of each subject’s current mission is interwoven with interviews and archival footage to demonstrate how each photographer approaches their work, the intention behind that work, their process, and how they each discover, see and experience the world.
To bring each of the National Geographic photographers’ stories to life, showrunners Chin and Vasarhelyi hired six veteran documentary filmmakers: Marshall Curry (“Racing Dreams”), Crystal Kayiza (“Rest Stop”), Sam Pollard (“MLK/FBI”), Kristi Jacobson (“Solitary”) Rita Baghdadi (“Sirens”) and Pagan Harleman...
The six-part National Geographic docuseries features seven photographers — Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Dan Winters, Campbell Addy, Krystle Wright, Muhammed Muheisen, and Anand Varma. Vérité footage of each subject’s current mission is interwoven with interviews and archival footage to demonstrate how each photographer approaches their work, the intention behind that work, their process, and how they each discover, see and experience the world.
To bring each of the National Geographic photographers’ stories to life, showrunners Chin and Vasarhelyi hired six veteran documentary filmmakers: Marshall Curry (“Racing Dreams”), Crystal Kayiza (“Rest Stop”), Sam Pollard (“MLK/FBI”), Kristi Jacobson (“Solitary”) Rita Baghdadi (“Sirens”) and Pagan Harleman...
- 3/18/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Three categories have been added to this year’s awards.
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan leads the nominations in the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which has added categories for best editing, cinematography and music.
The Arabic-language drama, in which a woman and her closeted gay husband hire a young apprentice at their caftan store, secured seven nominations – every category except editing and documentary. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and was Morocco’s submission for the international feature film Oscar, making the shortlist but not final nominations.
A strong showing...
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan leads the nominations in the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which has added categories for best editing, cinematography and music.
The Arabic-language drama, in which a woman and her closeted gay husband hire a young apprentice at their caftan store, secured seven nominations – every category except editing and documentary. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and was Morocco’s submission for the international feature film Oscar, making the shortlist but not final nominations.
A strong showing...
- 5/12/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Eight Fellows to receive year-round support.
Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and Huesera director Michelle Garza are among the eight participants selected for the Sundance Institute’s fifth annual Momentum Fellowship.
The initiative supports and provides coaching to mid-career artists from historically marginalised communities and is aimed at talent who have recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment like an acclaimed feature or series.
The 2023 Momentum Fellows are: Francisca Alegria (whose debut feature The Cow Who Sang A Song Into the Future premiered at Sundance 2022); Rita Baghdadi (Sirens premiered at Sundance 2022 and and won the Outfest grand jury prize); Mexico’s Michelle Garza...
Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and Huesera director Michelle Garza are among the eight participants selected for the Sundance Institute’s fifth annual Momentum Fellowship.
The initiative supports and provides coaching to mid-career artists from historically marginalised communities and is aimed at talent who have recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment like an acclaimed feature or series.
The 2023 Momentum Fellows are: Francisca Alegria (whose debut feature The Cow Who Sang A Song Into the Future premiered at Sundance 2022); Rita Baghdadi (Sirens premiered at Sundance 2022 and and won the Outfest grand jury prize); Mexico’s Michelle Garza...
- 3/2/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sundance Institute announced the eight participating filmmakers selected for the fifth annual Momentum Fellowship, a program “designed to support and provided coaching to midcareer artists with a focus on career development during a pivotal moment in their creative practice.”
The program was designed to support storytellers from historically marginalized communities and filmmakers that have “recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment” (like a TV show or movie). The Momentum Fellowship provides each artist with a ”full-year program of deep, customized support around the goals they have identified for themselves to level up in their craft and career.” The Momentum Fellowship is a program of Women at Sundance with support from Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Among the Momentum Fellows are “Aftersun” director Charlotte Wells and “Nanny” filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu.
“The most ingenious part of Momentum is its timing at this precarious point in our careers as we all consider our futures beyond the first film.
The program was designed to support storytellers from historically marginalized communities and filmmakers that have “recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment” (like a TV show or movie). The Momentum Fellowship provides each artist with a ”full-year program of deep, customized support around the goals they have identified for themselves to level up in their craft and career.” The Momentum Fellowship is a program of Women at Sundance with support from Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Among the Momentum Fellows are “Aftersun” director Charlotte Wells and “Nanny” filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu.
“The most ingenious part of Momentum is its timing at this precarious point in our careers as we all consider our futures beyond the first film.
- 3/2/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Sundance Institute on Thursday announced the eight participants selected for the fifth annual Momentum Fellowship, a program at the nonprofit designed to support and provide coaching to mid-career artists with a focus on career development.
Created to support storytellers from historically marginalized communities who have recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment, such as a regarded feature film or series, Momentum provides fellows with a full-year program of deep, customized support around the goals they have identified for themselves to level up in their craft and career. The fellowship is a program of Women at Sundance with support from Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
The Momentum Fellowship includes an unrestricted artist grant; professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company, supported by The Harnisch Foundation; connection to Elevate, Sundance’s professional development initiative; and bespoke year-round support from Sundance Institute staff. Additionally, as part of an ongoing partnership with Universal’s Global Talent Development & Inclusion team,...
Created to support storytellers from historically marginalized communities who have recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment, such as a regarded feature film or series, Momentum provides fellows with a full-year program of deep, customized support around the goals they have identified for themselves to level up in their craft and career. The fellowship is a program of Women at Sundance with support from Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
The Momentum Fellowship includes an unrestricted artist grant; professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company, supported by The Harnisch Foundation; connection to Elevate, Sundance’s professional development initiative; and bespoke year-round support from Sundance Institute staff. Additionally, as part of an ongoing partnership with Universal’s Global Talent Development & Inclusion team,...
- 3/2/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s difficult enough to come into your own in your 20s, much less with your country falling apart, your creative life at risk, and your humanity up for debate. But that’s exactly the world in which Shery Bechara and Lilas Mayassi, the heroines of Rita Baghdadi’s documentary “Sirens,” find themselves.
Through breathtaking vérité footage, Baghdadi — who shot, directed and produced — depicts the universal upheaval of youth against a backdrop of unprecedented unrest. As Shery and Lilas navigate their bohemian Beirut lives as members of the all-female metal band Slave to Sirens, the city around them shifts like a sleeping giant.
The result is a documentary so slick it feels more like narrative perfection. Lyrical coming-of-age tales are a dime a dozen at Sundance, where “Sirens” premiered at the beginning of the year, but few such films are as impressive as this one.
Also Read:
‘Bros’ Decoded: Why...
Through breathtaking vérité footage, Baghdadi — who shot, directed and produced — depicts the universal upheaval of youth against a backdrop of unprecedented unrest. As Shery and Lilas navigate their bohemian Beirut lives as members of the all-female metal band Slave to Sirens, the city around them shifts like a sleeping giant.
The result is a documentary so slick it feels more like narrative perfection. Lyrical coming-of-age tales are a dime a dozen at Sundance, where “Sirens” premiered at the beginning of the year, but few such films are as impressive as this one.
Also Read:
‘Bros’ Decoded: Why...
- 10/7/2022
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
While Rita Baghdadi’s documentary Sirens centers upon the first all-female thrash metal band from the Middle East, it’s not really about the band. We follow them to a gig at Glastonbury, watch rehearsal sessions, and peek in on photoshoots, but the focus goes deeper than music. It reaches past the usual rock clichés to recognize that the struggle these women face is more immediate than striving to perform for sold-out crowds or become signed by a label. This is about surviving a chaotic environment marked by past violence while still entrenched in present-day political revolution; lead and rhythm guitarists Shery Bechara and Lilas Mayassi (respectively) wonder aloud if freedom of expression truly exists in their hometown of Beirut. If not, they hope it still can.
And it starts with them. To a certain extent they are Slave to Sirens: they met at a riot, found they shared a passion for the genre,...
And it starts with them. To a certain extent they are Slave to Sirens: they met at a riot, found they shared a passion for the genre,...
- 10/6/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Sarigama Cinemas’ Ponniyin Selvan: Part One crashed the weekend box office at no. 6, looking at 4+ million on 500 screens for a per theater average of 8,260, the biggest of the top ten.
The Tamil-language historical epic being billed as India’s Game of Thrones is based on a Tamil history book series that’s read in schools, full of succession battles, blood and betrayal. It’s not a fictional Westeros, but the actual Chola empire that ruled much of southern India from the 9th to the 13th century.
The strong numbers come with film doing great in Tamil, but less so in other Indian language dubs. Part 2, currently in post, has a release planned by mid-2023.
According to Imax, the Lyca Productions’ film directed by Mani Ratnam reps its third highest domestic opening for an Indian title with 945K from 53 domestic big screens, or 23 of the film’s nationwide total. That...
The Tamil-language historical epic being billed as India’s Game of Thrones is based on a Tamil history book series that’s read in schools, full of succession battles, blood and betrayal. It’s not a fictional Westeros, but the actual Chola empire that ruled much of southern India from the 9th to the 13th century.
The strong numbers come with film doing great in Tamil, but less so in other Indian language dubs. Part 2, currently in post, has a release planned by mid-2023.
According to Imax, the Lyca Productions’ film directed by Mani Ratnam reps its third highest domestic opening for an Indian title with 945K from 53 domestic big screens, or 23 of the film’s nationwide total. That...
- 10/2/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Imax is out this Sunday with Brandi Carlile: In The Canyon Haze – Live from Laurel Canyon on 31 screens nationwide, an encore of a live event that reps a milestone for the large format exhibitor.
The concert was broadcast Thursday from LA’s storied Laurel Canyon neighborhood to 87 Imax theaters (there would have been a few more if Hurricane Ian hadn’t taken out Florida locations). More than three dozen sold out for what is the company’s top-grossing live event. It featured Carlile and her band — no live audience — performing reimagined versions of songs from her new deluxe album “In The Canyon Haze”. Filmed for Imax using Imax digital cameras, it’s the first event of its kind Imax has staged.
Early this year, the company grossed 300k from its live stream of Kanye West’s Donda 2 concert event in Miami — the closest thing to date. (It released the...
The concert was broadcast Thursday from LA’s storied Laurel Canyon neighborhood to 87 Imax theaters (there would have been a few more if Hurricane Ian hadn’t taken out Florida locations). More than three dozen sold out for what is the company’s top-grossing live event. It featured Carlile and her band — no live audience — performing reimagined versions of songs from her new deluxe album “In The Canyon Haze”. Filmed for Imax using Imax digital cameras, it’s the first event of its kind Imax has staged.
Early this year, the company grossed 300k from its live stream of Kanye West’s Donda 2 concert event in Miami — the closest thing to date. (It released the...
- 9/30/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Ready to rock?
The Sundance selected documentary “Sirens,” directed by Rita Baghdadi, tells the story of Lebanon’s first all-female metal band, Slave to Sirens. The film is executive-produced by Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph and centers on the band’s friendships, relationships, and at times, self-destruction, in the pursuit of rock stardom. “Sirens” won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest and is set to premiere in theaters September 30 from Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Per the official synopsis, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates, Shery, Maya, Alma, and Tatyana (Slave to Sirens), have big dreams but few opportunities. When the band’s appearance at a U.K. music festival isn’t the life-changer they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the complicated relationship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture. The future of her band,...
The Sundance selected documentary “Sirens,” directed by Rita Baghdadi, tells the story of Lebanon’s first all-female metal band, Slave to Sirens. The film is executive-produced by Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph and centers on the band’s friendships, relationships, and at times, self-destruction, in the pursuit of rock stardom. “Sirens” won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest and is set to premiere in theaters September 30 from Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Per the official synopsis, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates, Shery, Maya, Alma, and Tatyana (Slave to Sirens), have big dreams but few opportunities. When the band’s appearance at a U.K. music festival isn’t the life-changer they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the complicated relationship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture. The future of her band,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced the full program for its annual screening series, including the 10 films that have been chosen for its Awards Campaign Access Initiative (Acai).
The program will open with Netflix’s “Descendant,” a film produced by the Obamas’ company Higher Ground Productions. The documentary sees director Margaret Brown return to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama to document the search for The Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive in the United States, illegally carrying enslaved Africans, and the ramifications its discovery has on the community.
What will follow is a showcase of 43 feature-length documentary films that are eligible for consideration for the upcoming Academy Awards; 20 films will be screened both in-person and online, and 35 will be available for virtual viewing only.
The films selected for the Acai, a program meant to support independent filmmakers from historically excluded communities currently pursuing a film awards campaign, are:
Beba | Dir.
The program will open with Netflix’s “Descendant,” a film produced by the Obamas’ company Higher Ground Productions. The documentary sees director Margaret Brown return to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama to document the search for The Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive in the United States, illegally carrying enslaved Africans, and the ramifications its discovery has on the community.
What will follow is a showcase of 43 feature-length documentary films that are eligible for consideration for the upcoming Academy Awards; 20 films will be screened both in-person and online, and 35 will be available for virtual viewing only.
The films selected for the Acai, a program meant to support independent filmmakers from historically excluded communities currently pursuing a film awards campaign, are:
Beba | Dir.
- 8/30/2022
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
Dubai-based producer and distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired pan-Middle East and North Africa rights to Sundance 2022 titles Warsha and Sirens.
Directed by Lebanese-Syrian filmmaker Dania Bdeir, Warsha won Sundance’s Short Film Jury Award in the world cinema section..
Male belly dancer Mohammad Khansa plays a migrant working as a construction worker in Beirut, who finds a safe place to live out his secret passion on the top of one of the city’s tallest and most notoriously dangerous cranes.
Since its Sundance win, the film has played at more than 80 festivals and clinched a raft of awards.
Moroccan-u.S.filmmaker Rita Baghdadi’s documentary feature Sirens follows the electric guitar-playing co-founders of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band. Following its Sundance debut, the documentary also went on to play at a raft of international festivals.
Front Row said the acquisitions demonstrated the company’s commitment...
Directed by Lebanese-Syrian filmmaker Dania Bdeir, Warsha won Sundance’s Short Film Jury Award in the world cinema section..
Male belly dancer Mohammad Khansa plays a migrant working as a construction worker in Beirut, who finds a safe place to live out his secret passion on the top of one of the city’s tallest and most notoriously dangerous cranes.
Since its Sundance win, the film has played at more than 80 festivals and clinched a raft of awards.
Moroccan-u.S.filmmaker Rita Baghdadi’s documentary feature Sirens follows the electric guitar-playing co-founders of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band. Following its Sundance debut, the documentary also went on to play at a raft of international festivals.
Front Row said the acquisitions demonstrated the company’s commitment...
- 8/2/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Dubai-based Middle East distributor and producer Front Row Filmed Entertainment, which scored a major hit earlier this year with its local remake of Perfect Strangers for Netflix, has acquired the regional rights to two Sundance-bowing and gender-defying Arab films.
Sirens, exec produced by Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne and directed by Moroccan-American filmmaker Rita Baghdadi, follows the story of Lilas and Shery, the co-founders and guitarists of the Middle-East’s first all-female metal band as they wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming Thrash metal rock stars.
The feature doc has played in over 40 festivals internationally so far in addition to Sundance, winning several awards along the way including the one in a million documentary award at the Sun Valley Film Festival, the special jury award for courage in filmmaking at the Florida Film Festival and the mermaid award...
Dubai-based Middle East distributor and producer Front Row Filmed Entertainment, which scored a major hit earlier this year with its local remake of Perfect Strangers for Netflix, has acquired the regional rights to two Sundance-bowing and gender-defying Arab films.
Sirens, exec produced by Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne and directed by Moroccan-American filmmaker Rita Baghdadi, follows the story of Lilas and Shery, the co-founders and guitarists of the Middle-East’s first all-female metal band as they wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming Thrash metal rock stars.
The feature doc has played in over 40 festivals internationally so far in addition to Sundance, winning several awards along the way including the one in a million documentary award at the Sun Valley Film Festival, the special jury award for courage in filmmaking at the Florida Film Festival and the mermaid award...
- 8/2/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Outfest has announced the award winners of its 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Top prizes went to Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please, starring Andrea Riseborough, Henry Melling, Karl Glusman and Demi Moore, for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature; Gabriel Martins’ Brazilian family drama Mars One took the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and the newly-named Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature went to Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the Lebanese female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens. The Academy Award-qualifying festival’s two Grand Jury prizes for Narrative shorts went to April Maxey’s Work (Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short) and Dania Bedir’s Warsha, both of which are now Oscar eligible. Outstanding Documentary Short went to Brydie O’Connor’s Love, Barbara.
Audience awards went to Juan Felipe Zuleta’s crowd-pleasing Unidentified Objects, and documentary feature...
Top prizes went to Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please, starring Andrea Riseborough, Henry Melling, Karl Glusman and Demi Moore, for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature; Gabriel Martins’ Brazilian family drama Mars One took the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and the newly-named Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature went to Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the Lebanese female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens. The Academy Award-qualifying festival’s two Grand Jury prizes for Narrative shorts went to April Maxey’s Work (Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short) and Dania Bedir’s Warsha, both of which are now Oscar eligible. Outstanding Documentary Short went to Brydie O’Connor’s Love, Barbara.
Audience awards went to Juan Felipe Zuleta’s crowd-pleasing Unidentified Objects, and documentary feature...
- 7/27/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
“Please Baby Please” and “Mars One” are among the winners of the 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. The organization announced the honorees during its award ceremony Wednesday.
The L.A.-based nonprofit, which promotes LGBTQ filmmakers and projects, ran its 40th edition festival from July 14-24. Over the course of the festival, 30,000 people attended its programming and more than 200 films screened, including 42 world premieres. The festival opened with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and closed with the LGBTQ slasher film “They/Them.”
“Please Baby Please,” directed by Amanda Kramer and starring Andrea Riseborough and Henry Melling, took the outstanding North American feature prize, while Brazilian director Gabriel Martins’ family drama “Mars One” won the outstanding international feature award. Audience award winners included “Unidentified Objects” by Juan Felipe Zuleta and documentary feature “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story.” Select award winners will be available to stream...
The L.A.-based nonprofit, which promotes LGBTQ filmmakers and projects, ran its 40th edition festival from July 14-24. Over the course of the festival, 30,000 people attended its programming and more than 200 films screened, including 42 world premieres. The festival opened with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and closed with the LGBTQ slasher film “They/Them.”
“Please Baby Please,” directed by Amanda Kramer and starring Andrea Riseborough and Henry Melling, took the outstanding North American feature prize, while Brazilian director Gabriel Martins’ family drama “Mars One” won the outstanding international feature award. Audience award winners included “Unidentified Objects” by Juan Felipe Zuleta and documentary feature “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story.” Select award winners will be available to stream...
- 7/27/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
While Outfest has expanded its events to include exciting year-round programming supporting a variety of LGBTQ+ filmmakers, its flagship event will always be the summer film festival.
Based in Los Angeles, Outfest is one of the first pipelines into the industry for many queer filmmakers and talent, and it’s known as a friendly launching pad for those just starting out.
This year, the festival has attracted some of the biggest names in LGBTQ film, opening with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and celebrating the 20th anniversary of Todd Haynes’ Sirkian masterpiece “Far From Heaven” with a 35mm screening with Haynes, Julianne Moore, and Christine Vachon in attendance.
Beyond the flashy names and star-studded events, however, the curation team at Outfest always manages to spotlight a wide range of queer films from around the world. Whether hosting world premieres or giving a platform to titles that might...
Based in Los Angeles, Outfest is one of the first pipelines into the industry for many queer filmmakers and talent, and it’s known as a friendly launching pad for those just starting out.
This year, the festival has attracted some of the biggest names in LGBTQ film, opening with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and celebrating the 20th anniversary of Todd Haynes’ Sirkian masterpiece “Far From Heaven” with a 35mm screening with Haynes, Julianne Moore, and Christine Vachon in attendance.
Beyond the flashy names and star-studded events, however, the curation team at Outfest always manages to spotlight a wide range of queer films from around the world. Whether hosting world premieres or giving a platform to titles that might...
- 7/13/2022
- by Jude Dry and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Kicking off this Thursday is one of the finest annual showcases in indie filmmaking, BAMcinemaFest, taking place at Bam Rose Cinemas. Among both well-curated highlights from recent festivals and world premieres, we’ve rounded up six essential features not to miss.
The festival also includes a number of notable new shorts, including Lynne Sachs’ Swerve (see our trailer premiere), Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s The Last Days of August, Rodney Evans’ Portal, and more. Check out our feature picks below and learn more here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible.
The festival also includes a number of notable new shorts, including Lynne Sachs’ Swerve (see our trailer premiere), Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s The Last Days of August, Rodney Evans’ Portal, and more. Check out our feature picks below and learn more here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible.
- 6/21/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Producer and entrepreneur Alex Lieberman has launched Bright West Entertainment, a new film finance and production company with a special focus on backing documentary content.
The company is making a big splash this month. Three of its next feature documentaries — “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” — are set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.
“I’m focused on financing interesting stories and trying to serve as a catalyst to help projects get made,” Lieberman tells Variety. “I don’t have a brand filter or a set type of story that I’m interested in making. It’s not original to say this, but I love human stories.”
Filmmakers who have worked with Lieberman say he’s committed to giving them the resources they need to get their projects finished and praise him for understanding the difficult road...
The company is making a big splash this month. Three of its next feature documentaries — “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” — are set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.
“I’m focused on financing interesting stories and trying to serve as a catalyst to help projects get made,” Lieberman tells Variety. “I don’t have a brand filter or a set type of story that I’m interested in making. It’s not original to say this, but I love human stories.”
Filmmakers who have worked with Lieberman say he’s committed to giving them the resources they need to get their projects finished and praise him for understanding the difficult road...
- 6/7/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Ash Mayfair and Kyoko Miyake are among those included.
Breaking Through The Lens (Bttl), the year-round programme to promote projects by female and non-binary international filmmakers, unveiled its 10 finalists at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28).
The participants were chosen from submissions from over 50 countries and pitched their projects to film investors, distributors, and sales agents.
The selection includes Vietnamese-born director Ash Mayfair with If I Had Two Lives, about a surrogate mother who starts re-evaluating her own relationship with her mother and her childhood in a Vietnamese military camp. Mayfair’s feature debut The Third Wife won...
Breaking Through The Lens (Bttl), the year-round programme to promote projects by female and non-binary international filmmakers, unveiled its 10 finalists at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28).
The participants were chosen from submissions from over 50 countries and pitched their projects to film investors, distributors, and sales agents.
The selection includes Vietnamese-born director Ash Mayfair with If I Had Two Lives, about a surrogate mother who starts re-evaluating her own relationship with her mother and her childhood in a Vietnamese military camp. Mayfair’s feature debut The Third Wife won...
- 6/6/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Plans are in the works to launch a new documentary film festival in Washington, D.C. in June 2023, with a launch event to take place later this month.
Jamie Shor, president of PR Collaborative, and Sky Sitney, director of the film and media studies program at Georgetown University, are founders of the new event, called DC/Dox.
The announcement comes after the AFI announced earlier this year that it would merge AFI Docs this year into the AFI Fest in Los Angeles in November.
“Washington, D.C. has always been an essential home for leading-edge documentary films,” Sitney said in a statement. “With the explosion of non-fiction storytelling in recent years, we wanted to create a new space to showcase this vital work.”
Shor, whose firm had done PR for AFI Docs, said that the festival will be “serving as a critical marketplace for the launch of prestige documentary films in the nation’s capital.
Jamie Shor, president of PR Collaborative, and Sky Sitney, director of the film and media studies program at Georgetown University, are founders of the new event, called DC/Dox.
The announcement comes after the AFI announced earlier this year that it would merge AFI Docs this year into the AFI Fest in Los Angeles in November.
“Washington, D.C. has always been an essential home for leading-edge documentary films,” Sitney said in a statement. “With the explosion of non-fiction storytelling in recent years, we wanted to create a new space to showcase this vital work.”
Shor, whose firm had done PR for AFI Docs, said that the festival will be “serving as a critical marketplace for the launch of prestige documentary films in the nation’s capital.
- 6/3/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Who are Slave To Sirens? They’re introduced by an article in Revolver magazine which we see them reading to each other during the opening scenes of Rita Baghdadi’s documentary, laughing uproariously as they do so. An all-female metal band from Beirut, they comprise singer Maya Khairallah, guitarists Shery Bechara and Lilas Mayassi, bassist Alma Doumani and drummer Tatyana Boughaba. They’ve been playing together for several years and have a distinctive, fully developed sound, but Lebanon doesn’t provide the most welcoming environment for more challenging forms of artistic expression, so they haven’t enjoyed the success they might have had elsewhere. Nevertheless, they have made their mark, and this film follows them through major career events as well as internal strife which threatens to end what they’re doing for good.
Whilst most music documentaries spend a lot of time on singers, Maya fades into the background here,...
Whilst most music documentaries spend a lot of time on singers, Maya fades into the background here,...
- 5/31/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: Sirens, a rock doc about Beirut all-female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens, will get a theatrical run after Oscilloscope Laboratories bought the North American rights.
The company, which was founded by Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, will give the film that premiered at Sundance in January an exclusive theatrical run before launching it on digital platforms.
Directed by Rita Baghdadi, who shot and produced the film along with producing partner Camila Hall, the film explores the lives and music of Slave to Sirens, a band made up of five young metalheads whose burgeoning fame is set against the backdrop of the Lebanese revolution.
Its members wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction as their music serves as a refuge to Beirut’s youth culture. At the band’s core are its two founding members, Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara, whose complicated relationship and subsequent tense fallout threatens the very fabric of the band.
The company, which was founded by Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, will give the film that premiered at Sundance in January an exclusive theatrical run before launching it on digital platforms.
Directed by Rita Baghdadi, who shot and produced the film along with producing partner Camila Hall, the film explores the lives and music of Slave to Sirens, a band made up of five young metalheads whose burgeoning fame is set against the backdrop of the Lebanese revolution.
Its members wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction as their music serves as a refuge to Beirut’s youth culture. At the band’s core are its two founding members, Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara, whose complicated relationship and subsequent tense fallout threatens the very fabric of the band.
- 4/22/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
On the heels of a successful in-person event that welcomed such stars as Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, Liev Schreiber and “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong, the 2022 Sun Valley Film Festival, which ran from March 30 to April 3, announced its juried film award winners.
Best narrative feature film went to “Linoleum,” directed by Colin West. “Holy Emy,” helmed by Araceli Lemos, received a special mention. Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” netted the fest’s audience award.
The winners were announced during the Idaho fest’s annual awards bash, which took place at Whiskey Jacques on Ketchum’s main drag of town, and was hosted by filmmaker Bobby Farrelly and comedian Hayes MacArthur, with a musical performance by the Nude Party.
Voting jury members at the fest included Jo Addy (global film and entertainment director of Soho House), Eric Bress, Trevor Groth (film financier at 30West) and producer Heather Rae.
Other awards went to “Mama Bears,...
Best narrative feature film went to “Linoleum,” directed by Colin West. “Holy Emy,” helmed by Araceli Lemos, received a special mention. Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” netted the fest’s audience award.
The winners were announced during the Idaho fest’s annual awards bash, which took place at Whiskey Jacques on Ketchum’s main drag of town, and was hosted by filmmaker Bobby Farrelly and comedian Hayes MacArthur, with a musical performance by the Nude Party.
Voting jury members at the fest included Jo Addy (global film and entertainment director of Soho House), Eric Bress, Trevor Groth (film financier at 30West) and producer Heather Rae.
Other awards went to “Mama Bears,...
- 4/4/2022
- by Malina Saval
- Variety Film + TV
Get ready to get your Q on!
The 15th Annual QFest St. Louis — presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — will take place from April 29-May 5 at the Galleria 6 Cinemas, with a selection of programs also available online. The online programs can be streamed at any time during the festival’s dates.
The St. Louis-based LGBTQ film festival, QFest will present an eclectic array of 35 films from 13 countries. The participating filmmakers represent a wide variety of voices in contemporary queer world cinema. The mission of the film festival is to use the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the lives of LGBTQ people and to celebrate queer culture.
The fest is especially pleased to host the St. Louis premiere of “The Depths,” a rarely seen 2001 work by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and a reprise from Sliff of Sebastian Meiser’s prison drama “Great Freedom.” Another highlight is this year’s Q Classic,...
The 15th Annual QFest St. Louis — presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — will take place from April 29-May 5 at the Galleria 6 Cinemas, with a selection of programs also available online. The online programs can be streamed at any time during the festival’s dates.
The St. Louis-based LGBTQ film festival, QFest will present an eclectic array of 35 films from 13 countries. The participating filmmakers represent a wide variety of voices in contemporary queer world cinema. The mission of the film festival is to use the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the lives of LGBTQ people and to celebrate queer culture.
The fest is especially pleased to host the St. Louis premiere of “The Depths,” a rarely seen 2001 work by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and a reprise from Sliff of Sebastian Meiser’s prison drama “Great Freedom.” Another highlight is this year’s Q Classic,...
- 4/4/2022
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The buzzy documentary previously received the directing award at Sundance.
Danish filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters won the Golden Alexander prize of the international competition of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which closed on Sunday, March 20.
With its European premiere at Thessaloniki, Wilmont’s film is gaining attention on the festival circuit, having won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary section on debut at the online Sundance in January; and also received the Fipresci prize in Thessaloniki.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Shot in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion...
Danish filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters won the Golden Alexander prize of the international competition of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which closed on Sunday, March 20.
With its European premiere at Thessaloniki, Wilmont’s film is gaining attention on the festival circuit, having won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary section on debut at the online Sundance in January; and also received the Fipresci prize in Thessaloniki.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Shot in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion...
- 3/21/2022
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
The buzzy documentary previously received the directing award at Sundance.
Danish filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters won the Golden Alexander main prize in the international competition of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which closed on Sunday, March 20.
With its European premiere at Thessaloniki, Wilmont’s film is gaining attention on the festival circuit, having won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary section on debut at the online Sundance in January; and also received the Fipresci prize in Thessaloniki.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Shot in Ukraine prior to the Russian...
Danish filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters won the Golden Alexander main prize in the international competition of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which closed on Sunday, March 20.
With its European premiere at Thessaloniki, Wilmont’s film is gaining attention on the festival circuit, having won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary section on debut at the online Sundance in January; and also received the Fipresci prize in Thessaloniki.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Shot in Ukraine prior to the Russian...
- 3/21/2022
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
The 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival will be held from Thursday 10 to Sunday 20 March, abiding by all health and safety protocols in force, in both physical spaces and online. Within the framework of the 24th Tdf, 233 full-length and short film documentaries will be screened, at the time-honored home ground of the Festival, Olympion and Pavlos Zannas theaters, as well as in the movie theaters Frida Liappa, Tonia Marketaki, John Cassavetes and Stavros Tornes, at the Port of Thessaloniki. In addition, the audience will have the opportunity to watch films online through the Festival’s digital platform.
Let’s have a look at all the Asian titles of the Festival:
A Marble Travelogue, Sean Wang
A piece of white marble stone mined in Greece takes us on its Odyssey along the global consumption driven by the Chinese domestic market, to investigate the role of China as the “world’s buyer.” This film...
Let’s have a look at all the Asian titles of the Festival:
A Marble Travelogue, Sean Wang
A piece of white marble stone mined in Greece takes us on its Odyssey along the global consumption driven by the Chinese domestic market, to investigate the role of China as the “world’s buyer.” This film...
- 3/7/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
BFI’s springtime celebration of queer cinema is back! Whether you choose to join Flare in person or online (or both), you are about to discover the best in contemporary Lgbtqia+ cinema from around the world.
Films screen at BFI Southbank, with a selection screening virtually on BFI Player available across the UK 16 to 27 March. You can find the Full Programme and Info about tickets on the Official Website Here
Let’s have a look at the Asian titles and also at the films with some Asia in them:
“Hearts” Strand
A Distant Place
A young Korean sheepherder raising his niece is visited by two people from his past in this intimate and sumptuously shot family drama.
By Park Kun-young / South Korea 2020 / 119min
Fragrance of the First Flower
A chance meeting between former high-school friends stirs up forgotten feelings in this beautifully charming Taiwanese digital series screening in its entirety.
Films screen at BFI Southbank, with a selection screening virtually on BFI Player available across the UK 16 to 27 March. You can find the Full Programme and Info about tickets on the Official Website Here
Let’s have a look at the Asian titles and also at the films with some Asia in them:
“Hearts” Strand
A Distant Place
A young Korean sheepherder raising his niece is visited by two people from his past in this intimate and sumptuously shot family drama.
By Park Kun-young / South Korea 2020 / 119min
Fragrance of the First Flower
A chance meeting between former high-school friends stirs up forgotten feelings in this beautifully charming Taiwanese digital series screening in its entirety.
- 2/16/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Allowing your life to become the subject of a documentary is a brave feat under the most comfortable of circumstances, yet in Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, we’re treated to an intimate window into a badass band who dare to be themselves, while living in the oppressive city of Beirut, Lebanon, where self-expression and individuality are not considered commendable as much as treasonous. One can easily see what compelled Baghdadi to document the ascent of Slave to Sirens, cofounded by heavy metal-lovers, Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara, in their uniquely Middle Eastern quest for metal glory, but what she, of course, couldn’t have realized at the outset of her cinematic journey was that their story would go far beyond the surface headline for the group, which tends...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/8/2022
- Screen Anarchy
With nearly every feature film at the 2022 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.
Our Sundance contributors have shared their top picks from the festival, also including a handful of shorts (with a more substantial shorts overview coming soon). 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.
Mitchell Beaupre
1. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
2. After Yang (kogonada)
3. Speak No Evil (Christian Tafdrup)
4. God’s Country (Julian Higgins)
5. A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)
6. Resurrection (Andrew Semans)
7. Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu)
8. Happening (Audrey Diwan)
9. Emergency (Carey Williams)
10. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Sophie Hyde)
John Fink
1. The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier...
Our Sundance contributors have shared their top picks from the festival, also including a handful of shorts (with a more substantial shorts overview coming soon). 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.
Mitchell Beaupre
1. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
2. After Yang (kogonada)
3. Speak No Evil (Christian Tafdrup)
4. God’s Country (Julian Higgins)
5. A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)
6. Resurrection (Andrew Semans)
7. Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu)
8. Happening (Audrey Diwan)
9. Emergency (Carey Williams)
10. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Sophie Hyde)
John Fink
1. The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier...
- 2/1/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
It’s hard to imagine any metal band ever had as much to be angry about as Slave to Sirens, the unlikely subjects of Rita Baghdadi’s dynamic new documentary “Sirens.” Based in the outskirts of Beirut, it’s safe to say the five-woman thrash metal band is the first of its kind in Lebanon, let alone the Middle East. Even if you’re not a huge metal fan, you can’t help but bop to the screeching vocals and thrumming guitar riffs, if not in pleasure then in amazement at the sheer moxie of these young radicals. Moroccan-American director Baghdadi, who also lensed the film, centers character in her storytelling to craft an engrossing and humanizing narrative. With the band’s headstrong co-founders leading their tale, “Sirens” is
“Sirens” opens, naturally, with a head-banging metal show. Donning black spiral eye make-up and shredding on their Flying V axes, Slave...
“Sirens” opens, naturally, with a head-banging metal show. Donning black spiral eye make-up and shredding on their Flying V axes, Slave...
- 1/28/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Trying to make it in the music industry is hard enough, but when you're the only all-woman thrash metal band in the Middle East, it's even harder. In Rita Baghdadi's documentary "Sirens," the group known as Slave to Sirens (led by founders and guitarists Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara) has to deal with the struggles of their people in the tumultuous and unraveling city of Beirut, Lebanon. As the 20-somethings at the center of the film confront the trials and tribulations of living in a deteriorating capital city full of protests, they're also trying to sort out their own lives, not...
The post Sirens Review: An All-Woman Middle Eastern Thrash Metal Band Rocks During a Tumultuous Time [Sundance 2022] appeared first on /Film.
The post Sirens Review: An All-Woman Middle Eastern Thrash Metal Band Rocks During a Tumultuous Time [Sundance 2022] appeared first on /Film.
- 1/27/2022
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
Earlier, Sundance announced that its 2022 edition will be hybrid. Most titles will be available online while their in-person festivities start up again in Park City. Their main slate has just gone live as well. Though the festival has a tendency to update their lineup as the festivities grow closer, their competition categories have at least been set in stone.
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
- 12/16/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
More than half of 82-strong feature roster directed by filmmakers who identify as women.
The hybrid 2022 Sundance Film Festival has announced a roster of 82 features that include world premieres for Sophie Hyde’s comedy drama Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Michel Hazanavicius’s zombie comedy Final Cut, and Lena Dunham’s drama Sharp Stick as well as new work from John Boyega, Noomi Rapace and Julianne Moore.
Features, New Frontiers selections and shorts (the latter will be announced on Friday) will screen from January 20-30 2022 in person in the Utah hubs of Park City and Salt Lake City as...
The hybrid 2022 Sundance Film Festival has announced a roster of 82 features that include world premieres for Sophie Hyde’s comedy drama Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Michel Hazanavicius’s zombie comedy Final Cut, and Lena Dunham’s drama Sharp Stick as well as new work from John Boyega, Noomi Rapace and Julianne Moore.
Features, New Frontiers selections and shorts (the latter will be announced on Friday) will screen from January 20-30 2022 in person in the Utah hubs of Park City and Salt Lake City as...
- 12/9/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: A Sheila E. documentary, a film from The Two Killings of Sam Cooke director about growing up female in the Deep South, and a free speech project from Julia Bacha are among those films awarded a grant from a Covid-19 doc fund.
Xtr, the documentary studio set up by Ryot co-founder Bryn Mooser, Knock Down The House producer Wavelength Productions and new partner Park Pictures, the company behind The Truffle Hunters, partnered on the Keep The Lights On Fund to help struggling documentary filmmakers finish projects hit by the shutdown.
The collaboration offered filmmakers between $5,000 and $10,000 to help support post-production budgets or filmmakers’ personal expenses during the shutdown.
Some 12 of the 15 winners are helmed by female directors.
The fund was available for U.S.-based documentary filmmakers with feature-length films in post-production, films that were scheduled for completion in 2020 prior to the pandemic, films that address contemporary issues and premium,...
Xtr, the documentary studio set up by Ryot co-founder Bryn Mooser, Knock Down The House producer Wavelength Productions and new partner Park Pictures, the company behind The Truffle Hunters, partnered on the Keep The Lights On Fund to help struggling documentary filmmakers finish projects hit by the shutdown.
The collaboration offered filmmakers between $5,000 and $10,000 to help support post-production budgets or filmmakers’ personal expenses during the shutdown.
Some 12 of the 15 winners are helmed by female directors.
The fund was available for U.S.-based documentary filmmakers with feature-length films in post-production, films that were scheduled for completion in 2020 prior to the pandemic, films that address contemporary issues and premium,...
- 5/29/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Tribeca Film Institute (Tfi) and Pond5 have once again teamed up to offer microgrants to indie filmmakers and artists.
The grants, which go as high as $7,500, are intended to help storytellers during “in-between” phases of their projects, such as research, festival travel or community screenings. They’re the kind of unexpected costs that can lead to financial heartache for artists who are already tight on cash.
“These filmmakers shouldn’t be putting stuff on their personal credit cards and in many cases they simply can’t,” said Amy Hobby, executive director of Tribeca Film Institute. “We want to help with the things that don’t often make it into an independent film budget.”
Seven projects were selected for the awards from a pool of more than 200 applicants. Artists being honored are Erika Cohn and Angela Tucker (“Belly of the Beast”); Zoe Miranda (“Blue Hour”); Matt Fifer, Kieran Mulcare, Ramfis Myrthil...
The grants, which go as high as $7,500, are intended to help storytellers during “in-between” phases of their projects, such as research, festival travel or community screenings. They’re the kind of unexpected costs that can lead to financial heartache for artists who are already tight on cash.
“These filmmakers shouldn’t be putting stuff on their personal credit cards and in many cases they simply can’t,” said Amy Hobby, executive director of Tribeca Film Institute. “We want to help with the things that don’t often make it into an independent film budget.”
Seven projects were selected for the awards from a pool of more than 200 applicants. Artists being honored are Erika Cohn and Angela Tucker (“Belly of the Beast”); Zoe Miranda (“Blue Hour”); Matt Fifer, Kieran Mulcare, Ramfis Myrthil...
- 7/18/2019
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
The initiative is spearheaded by filmmakers Daphne Schmon, Emily Carlton and Elpida Stathatou.
Canadian director Shelley Thompson, Philippines filmmaker Maritte Go and UK-based documentarian Emily James were among the participants at the second edition of female-focused financing event Breaking Through The Lens in Cannes over the weekend.
The initiative - spearheaded by filmmakers Daphne Schmon, Emily Carlton and Elpida Stathatou - is aimed at connecting female directors and their producers with financiers and other partners on upcoming projects.
Carlton explains they launched the platform to address the challenges female directors face when looking to finance their projects.
“There’s clearly...
Canadian director Shelley Thompson, Philippines filmmaker Maritte Go and UK-based documentarian Emily James were among the participants at the second edition of female-focused financing event Breaking Through The Lens in Cannes over the weekend.
The initiative - spearheaded by filmmakers Daphne Schmon, Emily Carlton and Elpida Stathatou - is aimed at connecting female directors and their producers with financiers and other partners on upcoming projects.
Carlton explains they launched the platform to address the challenges female directors face when looking to finance their projects.
“There’s clearly...
- 5/20/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Inside Out, Canada’s largest Lgbtq film festival, distributor, and booster of Lgbtq content, has unveiled to Variety the 10 feature projects and eight international executives participating in its third annual Finance Forum.
“There’s a great variety to the projects this year,” Inside Out executive director Andria Wilson said before the official Finance Forum announcement. “We’ve got docs in the lineup for the first time, and two really exciting U.K. projects. The directors and producers represent a diverse cross-section of perspectives, both from their lived experiences and their bodies of work.” The festival’s 2019 film slate will be announced May 3.
The Finance Forum takes place May 30-31, during the 29th edition of the Toronto Lgbt Film Festival. The first and only Lgbtq finance event of its kind in the world, Inside Out’s forum holds an open submission call, and also reaches out to international film funds, institutions,...
“There’s a great variety to the projects this year,” Inside Out executive director Andria Wilson said before the official Finance Forum announcement. “We’ve got docs in the lineup for the first time, and two really exciting U.K. projects. The directors and producers represent a diverse cross-section of perspectives, both from their lived experiences and their bodies of work.” The festival’s 2019 film slate will be announced May 3.
The Finance Forum takes place May 30-31, during the 29th edition of the Toronto Lgbt Film Festival. The first and only Lgbtq finance event of its kind in the world, Inside Out’s forum holds an open submission call, and also reaches out to international film funds, institutions,...
- 4/29/2019
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Non-commercial indie outlet Kcet walked away with the most trophies at Saturday night’s 70th annual Los Angeles Area Emmys with 11 wins, one more than last year. Spanish language outlet Kmex came in close behind with seven wins.
Other winners of the evening included ABC7 and Spectrum SportsNet La, who both nabbed five trophies. In addition, PBS SoCal’s “American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen” was honored as the recipient of the Governors Award. The five-year program will be recognized for its work focusing and maximizing community resources to tackle Southern California’s high school dropout crisis.
Read the complete list of winners below.
Outstanding Director – News
Deya Ceballos, Director
Kvea
Outstanding Writer – News
Mary Harris, Writer
NBC4
Outstanding Hard News Reporting
Robert Kovacik, Reporter
NBC4
Outstanding News Feature Reporting
Pat Harvey, Reporter
CBS2/KCAL9
Nicolette Medina, Producer
Outstanding Editor – News
Jeff MacIntyre, Editor
ABC7
Outstanding Sports Reporting
Patrick O’Neal,...
Other winners of the evening included ABC7 and Spectrum SportsNet La, who both nabbed five trophies. In addition, PBS SoCal’s “American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen” was honored as the recipient of the Governors Award. The five-year program will be recognized for its work focusing and maximizing community resources to tackle Southern California’s high school dropout crisis.
Read the complete list of winners below.
Outstanding Director – News
Deya Ceballos, Director
Kvea
Outstanding Writer – News
Mary Harris, Writer
NBC4
Outstanding Hard News Reporting
Robert Kovacik, Reporter
NBC4
Outstanding News Feature Reporting
Pat Harvey, Reporter
CBS2/KCAL9
Nicolette Medina, Producer
Outstanding Editor – News
Jeff MacIntyre, Editor
ABC7
Outstanding Sports Reporting
Patrick O’Neal,...
- 7/29/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2018 Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards were held Saturday, July 28 live from the city of angels, handing out trophies to local programming that made big impacts over the past year.
Kcet led the winners list with 11 trophies, followed closely behind by Kmex with seven and both ABC7 and Spectrum SportsNet La with five each.
The TV Academy announced winners in 47 categories total, including previously announced wins in the individual achievement categories, such as hard news reporting, sports reporting, director, writer, editor and videographer. PBS SoCal’s “American Graduate” won this year’s Governors Award, which was presented by Academy’s chairman and CEO Hayma Washington.
See the complete list of L.A. Area Emmy winners below:
Programming And News Categories
L.A. Local Color
Alta California
(The Migrant Kitchen)
Kcet
Matthew Crotty, Producer
Juan Devis, Executive Producer
Antonio Diaz, Producer
Stef Ferrari, Producer
Ben Hunter, Producer
Kelly Parker, Producer
Independent...
Kcet led the winners list with 11 trophies, followed closely behind by Kmex with seven and both ABC7 and Spectrum SportsNet La with five each.
The TV Academy announced winners in 47 categories total, including previously announced wins in the individual achievement categories, such as hard news reporting, sports reporting, director, writer, editor and videographer. PBS SoCal’s “American Graduate” won this year’s Governors Award, which was presented by Academy’s chairman and CEO Hayma Washington.
See the complete list of L.A. Area Emmy winners below:
Programming And News Categories
L.A. Local Color
Alta California
(The Migrant Kitchen)
Kcet
Matthew Crotty, Producer
Juan Devis, Executive Producer
Antonio Diaz, Producer
Stef Ferrari, Producer
Ben Hunter, Producer
Kelly Parker, Producer
Independent...
- 7/29/2018
- by Christi Carras
- Variety Film + TV
Film Independent has unveiled a year-round partnership with Netflix to support documentary filmmakers.
The move makes the streaming giant the official supporter of all Film Independent’s documentary initiatives including the annual Documentary Lab, the Documentary Competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival and all the documentary elements in Film Independent’s educational programmes.
The body also announced the six projects and related film-makers selected for the five-week 2015 Documentary Lab.
“We are so appreciative of Netflix’s deep and generous support of our programmes that are geared to documentary filmmakers,” said Film Independent president Josh Welsh. “Documentary film is incredibly exciting today and I can’t think of a better company to partner with in this space.”
The 2015 Documentary Lab projects and Fellows are:
Becoming April March (dir, Craig Jackson); My Country, No More (dirs, Rita Baghdadi, Jeremiah Hammerling); Real Boy (dir, Shaleece Haas); Soledad (dir, Cassidy Friedman); The Peacemaker (dir, James Demo); What...
The move makes the streaming giant the official supporter of all Film Independent’s documentary initiatives including the annual Documentary Lab, the Documentary Competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival and all the documentary elements in Film Independent’s educational programmes.
The body also announced the six projects and related film-makers selected for the five-week 2015 Documentary Lab.
“We are so appreciative of Netflix’s deep and generous support of our programmes that are geared to documentary filmmakers,” said Film Independent president Josh Welsh. “Documentary film is incredibly exciting today and I can’t think of a better company to partner with in this space.”
The 2015 Documentary Lab projects and Fellows are:
Becoming April March (dir, Craig Jackson); My Country, No More (dirs, Rita Baghdadi, Jeremiah Hammerling); Real Boy (dir, Shaleece Haas); Soledad (dir, Cassidy Friedman); The Peacemaker (dir, James Demo); What...
- 3/31/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.