A few months ago, Amazon MGM announced that they will be giving the thriller Pussy Island a global theatrical release on August 23rd – but, to the shock and surprise of no one, they also changed the title, dropping the Pussy and renaming the film Blink Twice. With the release date now exactly four months away, a trailer for Blink Twice has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above.
The feature directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz, who played Catwoman in The Batman, the film will follow Frida, a young, clever, Los Angeles cocktail waitress who has her eyes set on the prize: philanthropist and tech mogul Slater King. When she skillfully maneuvers her way into King’s inner circle and ultimately an intimate gathering on his private island, she is ready for a journey of a lifetime. Despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne and late-night dance parties,...
The feature directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz, who played Catwoman in The Batman, the film will follow Frida, a young, clever, Los Angeles cocktail waitress who has her eyes set on the prize: philanthropist and tech mogul Slater King. When she skillfully maneuvers her way into King’s inner circle and ultimately an intimate gathering on his private island, she is ready for a journey of a lifetime. Despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne and late-night dance parties,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Vic Mensa (The Chi) and Alycia Pascual-Peña have joined the Season 3 cast of Peacock’s Bel-Air in recurring roles. Mensa will play Quentin and Pascual-Peña will play Amira.
Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Bel-Air imagines The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air through a new, dramatic take on Will’s (Jabari Banks) complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. As these two worlds collide, Will reckons with the power of second chances while navigating the conflicts, emotions and biases of a world far different from the only one he’s ever known.
Inspired by Morgan Cooper’s viral trailer that reimagined the ‘90s sitcom, Bel-Air takes a new approach to this world of swagger, style and aspiration, while exploring Will’s complex journey through a current lens.
In addition to Banks, the hit streaming series also stars Adrian Holmes,...
Set in modern-day Los Angeles, Bel-Air imagines The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air through a new, dramatic take on Will’s (Jabari Banks) complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. As these two worlds collide, Will reckons with the power of second chances while navigating the conflicts, emotions and biases of a world far different from the only one he’s ever known.
Inspired by Morgan Cooper’s viral trailer that reimagined the ‘90s sitcom, Bel-Air takes a new approach to this world of swagger, style and aspiration, while exploring Will’s complex journey through a current lens.
In addition to Banks, the hit streaming series also stars Adrian Holmes,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Aircraft Pictures is teaming up with Dolphin Entertainment to produce a new feature adaptation of the 1986 sports drama, Youngblood, with rising filmmaker Charles Officer (Akilla’s Escape) on board to direct. The film is slated to begin principal photography in early 2023.
Youngblood follows hockey prodigy Dean Youngblood, who joins the Hamilton Bulldogs and discovers he must face off against toxic behavior on the ice and within himself, to fulfill his dream of being drafted into the National Hockey League. The original film, distributed by MGM, starred Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in his feature debut, and has since become a cult classic among hockey fans.
Josh Epstein & Kyle Rideout, Seneca Aaron and Officer penned the script for the new film, which will be distributed in Canada by Photon Films — being made with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada and the Talent Fund, as well as Ontario Creates and the Shaw Rocket Fund.
Youngblood follows hockey prodigy Dean Youngblood, who joins the Hamilton Bulldogs and discovers he must face off against toxic behavior on the ice and within himself, to fulfill his dream of being drafted into the National Hockey League. The original film, distributed by MGM, starred Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in his feature debut, and has since become a cult classic among hockey fans.
Josh Epstein & Kyle Rideout, Seneca Aaron and Officer penned the script for the new film, which will be distributed in Canada by Photon Films — being made with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada and the Talent Fund, as well as Ontario Creates and the Shaw Rocket Fund.
- 9/7/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
A new feature film based on the 1986 sports drama “Youngblood,” this time centering on an African American hockey prodigy, is in the works from Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment. Rising filmmaker Charles Officer is on board to direct the film, which is slated to begin principal photography in early 2023.
The reimagined update follows hockey prodigy Dean Youngblood, who joins the Hamilton Bulldogs and faces toxic behavior throughout his journey to the National Hockey League draft. The original 1986 film, distributed by MGM, was Keanu Reeves’ feature film debut. It also starred Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, and it has since become a cult classic among hockey fans.
“The opportunity to re-imagine the beloved classic hockey drama ‘Youngblood’ is a gift, and I am excited to bring a fresh story that centers on an African American hockey prodigy to the screen,” Officer said.
Officer previously directed the crime-noir feature film “Akilla’s Escape,...
The reimagined update follows hockey prodigy Dean Youngblood, who joins the Hamilton Bulldogs and faces toxic behavior throughout his journey to the National Hockey League draft. The original 1986 film, distributed by MGM, was Keanu Reeves’ feature film debut. It also starred Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, and it has since become a cult classic among hockey fans.
“The opportunity to re-imagine the beloved classic hockey drama ‘Youngblood’ is a gift, and I am excited to bring a fresh story that centers on an African American hockey prodigy to the screen,” Officer said.
Officer previously directed the crime-noir feature film “Akilla’s Escape,...
- 9/7/2022
- by Carson Burton
- Variety Film + TV
’André Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert: Happy Days Are Here Again’ plays widely this weekend.
Universal’s survival thriller Beast is the widest release among the features debuting at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, however event cinema André Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert: Happy Days Are Here Again boasts the overall largest figure.
Beast is directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur. The survival thriller stars Idris Elba as a grieving widower, who must protect his daughters from a voracious lion. It is set to play at 601 sites this weekend.
Kormakur’s best known for 2015 real-life disaster thriller, Everest, which opened to £2.4m from 567 sites.
Universal’s survival thriller Beast is the widest release among the features debuting at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, however event cinema André Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert: Happy Days Are Here Again boasts the overall largest figure.
Beast is directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur. The survival thriller stars Idris Elba as a grieving widower, who must protect his daughters from a voracious lion. It is set to play at 601 sites this weekend.
Kormakur’s best known for 2015 real-life disaster thriller, Everest, which opened to £2.4m from 567 sites.
- 8/26/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve)
Parenthood, relationships, and the creative process: three key elements of the cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve casually combine in Bergman Island, a playfully self-aware meta-portrait of the filmmaker and, indeed, of filmmaking itself. Introspective, inventive, and effortlessly calm; it follows a couple, both screenwriters, on an idyllic work retreat to Fårö, an island in the Baltic Sea (population: 498) just off the South East of Sweden. It’s the place Ingmar Bergman called home for the majority of his life, where he made many films and eventually died. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dune (Denis Villeneuve)
Denis Villeneuve has surmounted this slew of bad omens, by arguably––in filmmaking terms––making the most impersonal adaptation possible. For all his skill and talent,...
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve)
Parenthood, relationships, and the creative process: three key elements of the cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve casually combine in Bergman Island, a playfully self-aware meta-portrait of the filmmaker and, indeed, of filmmaking itself. Introspective, inventive, and effortlessly calm; it follows a couple, both screenwriters, on an idyllic work retreat to Fårö, an island in the Baltic Sea (population: 498) just off the South East of Sweden. It’s the place Ingmar Bergman called home for the majority of his life, where he made many films and eventually died. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dune (Denis Villeneuve)
Denis Villeneuve has surmounted this slew of bad omens, by arguably––in filmmaking terms––making the most impersonal adaptation possible. For all his skill and talent,...
- 10/22/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard is set as a series regular in BET+/CBC’s The Porter, an original drama series about a group of 1920s railway workers who unite to form the world’s first Black union. Woodard also will serve as an executive producer on the series, from Inferno Pictures and Sienna Films, a Sphere Media company. Shooting is currently underway in Winnipeg, Canada.
Created by Arnold Pinnock and Bruce Ramsay with Annmarie Morais, Marsha Greene and Aubrey Nealon, The Porter tells the story of the people who fought to ignite the civil rights movement in North America.
Set in the early 1920s, The Porter offers a dramatic and compelling look at the Black community in St. Antoine, Montreal — known, at the time, as the “Harlem of the North...
Created by Arnold Pinnock and Bruce Ramsay with Annmarie Morais, Marsha Greene and Aubrey Nealon, The Porter tells the story of the people who fought to ignite the civil rights movement in North America.
Set in the early 1920s, The Porter offers a dramatic and compelling look at the Black community in St. Antoine, Montreal — known, at the time, as the “Harlem of the North...
- 7/19/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The weathered, storied face of rapper-actor Saul Williams does the heaviest lifting in “Akilla’s Escape,” an exceedingly solemn crime drama from Canadian filmmaker Charles Officer that benefits from every ounce of his natural gravitas. As a Toronto drug trader facing the ugly roots of his underworld life in the wake of a botched deal, Williams conveys decades of isolation, ennui and internalized violence in a shorthand of creased eyes and twitching lips. Profound but uncomplaining pain seems to seep from his very pores. It’s a crinkled, considered feat of physical performance that “Akilla’s Escape,” unfortunately, doesn’t wholly count on: Instead, an overworked script underlines his trauma at every turn with fussy structural tricks and heavy-handed symbolism.
Despite an essential narrative that could have been plucked from many a straightforward B thriller, Officer’s film announces loftier intentions from its elaborate opening credit sequence, which alternates vintage newsreels and...
Despite an essential narrative that could have been plucked from many a straightforward B thriller, Officer’s film announces loftier intentions from its elaborate opening credit sequence, which alternates vintage newsreels and...
- 6/15/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
After four weekends of horror films topping the box office -- a highly unusual occurrence in general and even more so in the summer -- we are moving into some lighter territory with this weekend’s two new wide releases. In The Heights and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway are both opening and hoping to pull in viewers looking for sunny, feel-good experiences as we continue to recover from the pandemic. We still have two weeks to go until we get a proper blockbuster release when F9 makes its stateside debut, but this weekend’s cheery offerings will hopefully continue to draw more moviegoers back to the theaters.
In The Heights looks to take the top spot this weekend as it finally hits theaters nearly a year after its originally scheduled date. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ groundbreaking Broadway hit is given the big screen treatment by director Jon M. Chu,...
In The Heights looks to take the top spot this weekend as it finally hits theaters nearly a year after its originally scheduled date. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ groundbreaking Broadway hit is given the big screen treatment by director Jon M. Chu,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Sam Mendelsohn <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
- Box Office Mojo
With the summer movie season underway, Cannes now on the horizon, and Tribeca kicking off this month, the film industry turns its gears again after an unprecedented near-dormancy. This month’s lineup of new releases is an eclectic mix of bold horror, mysterious romances, riveting documentaries, and much more.
15. Werewolves Within (Josh Ruben)
After making a delightful impression on Veep and I Think You Should Leave, Sam Richardson is becoming a leading man with the horror-comedy Werewolves Within, which comes from Scare Me director Josh Ruben. Also starring Milana Vayntrub, Harvey Guillén, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, and Michael Chernus, the film follows a small community that becomes trapped by a snowstorm and newly arrived forest ranger Finn (Richardson) and postal worker Cecily (Vayntrub) must uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature.
Where to Watch: Theaters (June 25) and VOD (July 2)
14. Sweat (Magnus von Horn)
A Cannes Film Festival selection last year,...
15. Werewolves Within (Josh Ruben)
After making a delightful impression on Veep and I Think You Should Leave, Sam Richardson is becoming a leading man with the horror-comedy Werewolves Within, which comes from Scare Me director Josh Ruben. Also starring Milana Vayntrub, Harvey Guillén, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, and Michael Chernus, the film follows a small community that becomes trapped by a snowstorm and newly arrived forest ranger Finn (Richardson) and postal worker Cecily (Vayntrub) must uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature.
Where to Watch: Theaters (June 25) and VOD (July 2)
14. Sweat (Magnus von Horn)
A Cannes Film Festival selection last year,...
- 6/2/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s intriguing to see how the legalization of marijuana might affect the overall business, especially the illegal side of it. But in Akilla’s Escape, we get a pretty good look at how things are going down on one end as the titular character is attempting to get out of the business while doing his best not to get anyone else involved. When he comes across a young man that’s attempting to get drawn into the life he does everything he can in order to make sure that the individual doesn’t find himself lost in the woods so to speak. Just
Why We’ll Be Watching Crime Noir Thriller “Akilla’s Escape”...
Why We’ll Be Watching Crime Noir Thriller “Akilla’s Escape”...
- 5/26/2021
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
A premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Charles Officer’s latest feature Akilla’s Escape follows poet, musician, and actor Saul Williams as our title character as he navigates the criminal underworld of Toronto. After a robbery went awry, he finds himself sucked back into the turbulent violence he has fought so long to escape. With a soundtrack by Saul Williams and Massive Attack’s 3D, the first trailer has now landed ahead of a June 11 release.
Christopher Schobert said in his TIFF review, “There is a palpable sense of exhaustion and an air of dread over nearly every scene in Akilla’s Escape. It’s no wonder that despite the legalization of marijuana in Canada, Toronto-based drug dealer Akilla Brown is desperately trying to leave the trade. After all, in the film’s first thirty minutes, Brown has watched as a man is hacked to death before his eyes,...
Christopher Schobert said in his TIFF review, “There is a palpable sense of exhaustion and an air of dread over nearly every scene in Akilla’s Escape. It’s no wonder that despite the legalization of marijuana in Canada, Toronto-based drug dealer Akilla Brown is desperately trying to leave the trade. After all, in the film’s first thirty minutes, Brown has watched as a man is hacked to death before his eyes,...
- 5/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Winners to be announced at live virtual ceremony on February 10.
The producers of French Exit, No Ordinary Man and Nadia, Butterfly are among nominees for the 15th annual Indiescreen Awards announced by the Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa).
The winners of both the Established Producer and Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer categories will be announced at a live virtual ceremony presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada as part of Cmpa’s Prime Time Online conference on February 10.
Cmpa president and CEO Reynolds Mastin said despite the impact of the pandemic on the independent Canadian film sector, “this diverse group of incredible...
The producers of French Exit, No Ordinary Man and Nadia, Butterfly are among nominees for the 15th annual Indiescreen Awards announced by the Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa).
The winners of both the Established Producer and Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer categories will be announced at a live virtual ceremony presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada as part of Cmpa’s Prime Time Online conference on February 10.
Cmpa president and CEO Reynolds Mastin said despite the impact of the pandemic on the independent Canadian film sector, “this diverse group of incredible...
- 1/12/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has snatched up the U.S. distribution rights to Akilla’s Escape, Charles Officer’s crime drama which had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and now has a planned release for Q2 of next year.
Saul Williams (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) stars as Akilla Brown, an urban child-soldier who captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one grueling night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he had escaped.
Thamela Mpumlwana (Star Trek: Discovery), Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast (Marathon + Black Bodies), and Vic Mensa (The Birth of a Nation) co-star.
Officer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Wendy “Motion” Brathwaite, also produced the pic with Jake Yanowski. Executive producers are Martin F. Katz, Karen Wookey, and Michael A. Levine.
“Charles Officer’s daring vision and the thoroughly affecting performances from the entire cast make Akilla’s Escape a boldly entertaining film.
Saul Williams (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) stars as Akilla Brown, an urban child-soldier who captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one grueling night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he had escaped.
Thamela Mpumlwana (Star Trek: Discovery), Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast (Marathon + Black Bodies), and Vic Mensa (The Birth of a Nation) co-star.
Officer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Wendy “Motion” Brathwaite, also produced the pic with Jake Yanowski. Executive producers are Martin F. Katz, Karen Wookey, and Michael A. Levine.
“Charles Officer’s daring vision and the thoroughly affecting performances from the entire cast make Akilla’s Escape a boldly entertaining film.
- 11/19/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
With a mix of in-person, drive-in, and digital screenings, most of the fall film festivals soldiered on during the pandemic, reimagining what a normal year may look like. While Venice International Film Festival kept things most status quo with physical screenings only, Toronto International Film Festival and the ongoing New York Film Festival switched up their formula and today we’re taking a look at our favorite premieres in this strange, historic year.
Unlike the other two festivals, NYFF heavily features festival favorites from throughout the year we’ve already reviewed, plus look for more coverage in the two weeks remaining in the festival here as NYC drive-in and nationwide virtual screenings continue.
Check out our Venice, TIFF, and NYFF highlights below, along with a complete rundown of our reviews, and see full film festival coverage here.
The Best
76 Days
76 Days, from directors Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, and an anonymous filmmaker,...
Unlike the other two festivals, NYFF heavily features festival favorites from throughout the year we’ve already reviewed, plus look for more coverage in the two weeks remaining in the festival here as NYC drive-in and nationwide virtual screenings continue.
Check out our Venice, TIFF, and NYFF highlights below, along with a complete rundown of our reviews, and see full film festival coverage here.
The Best
76 Days
76 Days, from directors Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, and an anonymous filmmaker,...
- 9/28/2020
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
No one ever outruns their past. Momentary reprieves might mark your journey, but history always wins in the end. Akilla Brown knows this better than most. At the age of 15, Akilla (played by Thamela Mpumlwana) grows up embedded in the hustle of New York City’s concrete jungle, an environment governed by rival gangs and faction-fueled violence. In the wake of tragedy and death, the streetwise prodigy ventures into the unknown, forced to maneuver through the trials of adulthood alone.
Continue reading ‘Akilla’s Escape’: A Mythological Crime Thriller With Strong Ambitions And Weak Execution [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Akilla’s Escape’: A Mythological Crime Thriller With Strong Ambitions And Weak Execution [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.
- 9/13/2020
- by Jonathan Christian
- The Playlist
There is a palpable sense of exhaustion and an air of dread over nearly every scene in Akilla’s Escape. It’s no wonder that despite the legalization of marijuana in Canada, Toronto-based drug dealer Akilla Brown is desperately trying to leave the trade. After all, in the film’s first thirty minutes, Brown has watched as a man is hacked to death before his eyes, was held at gunpoint, and was forced to knock out said gunman with a shocking act of quick-thinking. Meanwhile, his decision to exit the dealer life has drawn consternation from his colleagues. And he still has to break the news to “The Greek”––who, we can infer, is most likely not going to be happy. Oh, and Akilla must also step in to save the adolescent gunman’s life before he is suffocated to death by one of the Greek’s henchmen.
It’s not an easy night,...
It’s not an easy night,...
- 9/13/2020
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Fifteen years ago, Saul Williams was a heavy metal-sampling hip-hop poet whose fiercely political live shows called for reparations at a time when that was not very fashionable. He now projects a much more subdued urgency in the title role of Charles Officer’s Akilla’s Escape, playing a man raised up amid violence who has never stopped trying to avoid it. A mature crime picture whose decades-hopping action makes the effects of generational poverty obvious without having to spell it out, it lacks some of the flash expected in commercial genre pictures, but makes up for that in seriousness.
After ...
After ...
- 9/12/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fifteen years ago, Saul Williams was a heavy metal-sampling hip-hop poet whose fiercely political live shows called for reparations at a time when that was not very fashionable. He now projects a much more subdued urgency in the title role of Charles Officer’s Akilla’s Escape, playing a man raised up amid violence who has never stopped trying to avoid it. A mature crime picture whose decades-hopping action makes the effects of generational poverty obvious without having to spell it out, it lacks some of the flash expected in commercial genre pictures, but makes up for that in seriousness.
After ...
After ...
- 9/12/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
One of the most powerful ways that filmmakers can truly connect with audiences is to completely delve into the real-life issues that are plaguing modern society. Canadian-based director Charles Officer is effortlessly doing just that with his new crime noir movie, ‘Akilla’s Escape.’ The award-winning helmer, who also co-wrote the script with Wendy Motion Brathwaite, […]
The post Toronto International Film Festival 2020 Video Interview: Charles Officer, Saul Williams and Thamela Mpulmwana Talk Akilla’s Escape (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Toronto International Film Festival 2020 Video Interview: Charles Officer, Saul Williams and Thamela Mpulmwana Talk Akilla’s Escape (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/12/2020
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Even the coronavirus pandemic couldn’t stop Saul Williams.
Williams is riding a film career surge: directing his first feature “Neptune Frost” and debuting his dream project “Akilla’s Escape” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival. The upcoming thriller, helmed by Charles Officer, stars the multi-hyphenate Williams as the titular Akilla, a Toronto-based drug dealer retiring from the business following marijuana’s legalization in Canada.
The outspoken activist has always worked to forge connections between political engagement and the arts, as heard in his albums “MartyrLoserKing” and “Volcanic Sunlight.” And “Akilla’s Escape” is another platform where he challenges the limit of Black stories told by the film and music industries. Variety spoke with the artist on the eve of the festival.
You studied acting, but you’re also a poet, rapper and songwriter. How do these experiences across genre influence your work as an actor?
My first love was acting. I...
Williams is riding a film career surge: directing his first feature “Neptune Frost” and debuting his dream project “Akilla’s Escape” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival. The upcoming thriller, helmed by Charles Officer, stars the multi-hyphenate Williams as the titular Akilla, a Toronto-based drug dealer retiring from the business following marijuana’s legalization in Canada.
The outspoken activist has always worked to forge connections between political engagement and the arts, as heard in his albums “MartyrLoserKing” and “Volcanic Sunlight.” And “Akilla’s Escape” is another platform where he challenges the limit of Black stories told by the film and music industries. Variety spoke with the artist on the eve of the festival.
You studied acting, but you’re also a poet, rapper and songwriter. How do these experiences across genre influence your work as an actor?
My first love was acting. I...
- 9/12/2020
- by Janet W. Lee
- Variety Film + TV
In this “is the cinema half-empty or half-full?” world, Canadian producers are focusing on the perks of a leaner, hybrid Toronto fest, rather than empty seats.
“There is so much happening in the world on social and political levels, I am curious how that influences the consciousness of the marketplace,” says Toronto vet Charles Officer, director and co-producer of gang drama “Akilla’s Escape,” starring poet-actor Saul Williams.
“Screening in a smaller pool of titles allows for more visibility,” says Officer. “It’s important the cast of talented Black actors receive exposure at a festival like Toronto, and it’s rare that Black filmmakers in Canada make features — we can’t afford to be passive about opportunities to participate.” XYZ Films is selling the film.
WaZabi Films’ “Beans,” Tracey Deer’s coming-of-ager set during the 1990 standoff between Mohawk communities and government forces in Oka, Quebec, is “relevant to the times we are living in,...
“There is so much happening in the world on social and political levels, I am curious how that influences the consciousness of the marketplace,” says Toronto vet Charles Officer, director and co-producer of gang drama “Akilla’s Escape,” starring poet-actor Saul Williams.
“Screening in a smaller pool of titles allows for more visibility,” says Officer. “It’s important the cast of talented Black actors receive exposure at a festival like Toronto, and it’s rare that Black filmmakers in Canada make features — we can’t afford to be passive about opportunities to participate.” XYZ Films is selling the film.
WaZabi Films’ “Beans,” Tracey Deer’s coming-of-ager set during the 1990 standoff between Mohawk communities and government forces in Oka, Quebec, is “relevant to the times we are living in,...
- 9/9/2020
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
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