Featured
“We Needed Crazier Ideas”: DP Mihai Malaimare Jr. on Megalopolis
Giancarlo Esposito in Megalopolis
During his storied career, Francis Ford Coppola forged relationships with some of film’s most renowned cinematographers: Gordon Willis, Vittorio Storaro, Bill Butler, John Toll and Jordan Cronenweth all shot multiple projects for him. But with Megalopolis, Mihai Malaimare Jr. becomes Coppola’s most frequent collaborator behind the camera. They first met when Coppola came to Malaimare’s native Romania to shoot 2007’s Youth Without Youth, the beginning of a low-budget experimental phase for Coppola that included the Malaimare-shot Tetro and Twixt. Even then, Coppola was already dreaming of his quixotic passion project Megalopolis, showing Malaimare concept art and B-roll of New York City shot by Ron Fricke. With Megalopolis finally coming to fruition, Malaimare spoke to Filmmaker about the evolution of digital cameras,… Read more
2025 Sundance Film Festival Announces 93 Projects Across Its Feature Film and Episodic Programs
Bunnylovr
The Sundance Institute announced today the 87 feature films and six episodic projects selected for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Among the films are new pictures from returning filmmakers Cherien Dabis, Bill Condon, Amalia Ulman, Ira Sachs, and Amir “Questlove” Thompson, while in the U.S. and World Dramatic Competitions, all 20 filmmakers are making their first appearance at the festival. Additionally, 41% of the entire feature film program across the festival consists of films by first-time directors. Those statistics, says Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programing, in an interview with Filmmaker, are "a reminder of how much Sundance remains, year after year, about discovery. Just to have so many filmmakers coming to the festival with a feature for… Read more
UTA Partner Theresa Peters Joins the Gotham Film & Media Institute’s Board of Directors
Theresa Peters
The Gotham Film & Media Institute, Filmmaker's parent publication, announced today that UTA Partner Theresa Peters will join the organization’s Board of Directors. Known as a guiding force in entertainment who has shaped the evolution of countless careers across film and media, Peters will work with The Gotham to advance its mission of celebrating and nurturing independent film and media creators by providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition. “Theresa Peters represents the very best of what an industry leader can be – someone who not only shapes the careers of renowned artists but also creates opportunities for emerging talent. Her role as Partner at UTA, an agency that has consistently demonstrated its commitment to developing new… Read more
Open Call Announced for the 2025 Oxbelly Retreat for Screenwriters and Literary Fiction Writers
Oxbelly Beach
Oxbelly announced today an open call for the Oxbelly Retreat's 2025 edition, to be held June 28 through July 6 at Costa Navarino in Messinia, Greece. Also announced are Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World director Radu Jude as the leader of the Screenwriters Program and The Road to the Country author Chigozie Obioma as leader of the Fiction Writers Program. The application deadline is January 22, 2025. There is no cost to apply, and all expenses for fellows are covered. More from the press release: The Oxbelly Retreat is an annual gathering of international storytellers, dedicated to the exchange of ideas, deepening of craft and broadening of artistic horizons through intercultural dialogue. In 2025, the Oxbelly Retreat… Read more
“Transitioning From Digital Back to Film”: DP Ed Lachman on Maria
Angelina Jolie and Pablo Larraín on the set of Maria
For years the object of cult devotion, Maria Callas went from a dazzling career as a soprano to international celebrity, a figure of relentless scrutiny even after she lapsed into silence. Maria continues director Pablo Larraín's fascination with larger-than-life figures like Jacqueline Onassis (Jackie) and Princess Diana (Spencer). Here, Angelina Jolie takes on the role of Callas, seen over several years of her life in Europe and the United States. Larraín's kaleidoscopic approach jumps among timelines and locations, assembling a character from moments large and small. Although we see glimpses of Callas's successes on stage, Steven Knight's screenplay primarily takes place after her voice failed. Fittingly, the movie becomes a study of her face in close-up: anxious, elated, furious, haughty, optimistic, drugged—moods… Read more
“A Meditation on the Stigmas of Colonization”: Mati Diop on Dahomey
Dahomey
Mati Diop likes summoning spirits. In 2019’s Cannes-premiering Atlantics, the ghosts of young Senegalese men lost in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Dakar come back to haunt people in their bid to demand what is rightfully theirs. In her latest hybrid documentary, Dahomey—which won the Golden Bear at Berlinale this year—she exorcises the spirit of artifacts looted by the French from the West African kingdom of Dahomey between 1892-94. After centuries of lying inert in Paris’ Musée du quai Branly, 26 of these artifacts were restituted to Benin in 2021. Dahomey not only documents their long journey home but also explores what home even means to objects that originated in the eponymous kingdom of Dahomey, a place that doesn’t… Read more
Considerations: The Golden Globes Silly Season
Adam Pearson in A Different Man
Every Tuesday Tyler Coates publishes his new Filmmaker newsletter, Considerations, devoted to the awards race. To receive it early and in your in-box, subscribe here. It’s now primetime for FYC campaigning. I was inundated with digital codes and old-school DVDs early last week; studios know that voters—at least American ones—might have had lots of downtime and perhaps visiting family members to entertain. What better way to treat your guests than showing them A24’s entire 2024 slate (with the exceptions of the still-unreleased Babygirl, The Brutalist and Queer)? There were also a slew of FYC events in Los Angeles ahead of Thanksgiving. As we head into December, when the first onslaught of actual awards presentations begins, there’s a desperation in the chilly… Read more
Awards Season Analysis: First Time Filmmakers in the 2024 Race
Janet Planet [Courtesy A24]
While it’s not uncommon for a filmmaker to earn an Oscar nomination for directing their first narrative feature—directors to do so since the turn of the century include Emerald Fennell, Jordan Peele, Benh Zeiltlin, Tony Gilroy, Rob Marshall and Spike Jonze—it’s very rare for a film debut to win best director. Only six have accomplished the feat: Marty’s Delbert Mann, West Side Story’s Jerome Robbins (sharing the Oscar with co-director Robert Wise), Ordinary People’s Robert Redford, Terms of Endearment’s James L. Brooks, Dances With Wolves’ Kevin Costner and American Beauty’s Sam Mendes. This year, the best director race is packed with previous Oscar winners (Pedro Almodóvar, Steve McQueen) and nominees (Mike Leigh, James Mangold, Ridley Scott, Denis Villeneuve) who will… Read more
