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Sundance Announces the Feature Film, Episodic and New Frontier Lineup of its 2024 40th Edition
Realm of Satan (courtesy Sundance)
The Sundance Institute today announced the 91 feature films, episodic and New Frontier works that comprise the 2024 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival. Premieres by Steven Soderbergh, Lana Wilson, Nathan Silver and the Zellner Bros. join debuting filmmakers such as Jazmin Renée Jones, Haley Elizabeth Anderson and River Gallo at the festival, which runs January 18 - 28, 2024 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. A selection of the film's programming will also be available online from January 25 - 28. Sundance received a record 17,435 submissions this year from 153 countries, with 4,410 being feature films and 1,679 from the U.S. This will be Sundance’s 40th edition, and while in an interview with Filmmaker Festival Director Eugene… Read more
“Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things”: George C. Wolfe on Rustin
Aml Ameen, Colman Domingo and George C. Wolfe on the set of Rustin (Photo by Parrish Lewis/courtesy of Netflix)
It might seem strange for an actor to have a breakout year at age 54. To those who witnessed Colman Domingo’s star rise on the New York theater scene in the early aughts and would cringe at now labeling the actor a “discovery”—I don’t disagree! I first encountered Domingo’s stage work in summer 2008, in the Broadway premiere of Passing Strange that would be filmed a few days later by Spike Lee. (Looking over Domingo’s earlier theater credits, I realize now that I would’ve first seen him in the 2003 Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V, but the high schooler I was was admittedly less attentive back then). But the big-screen releases of Blitz Bazawule’s The Color Purple… Read more
May December, Past Lives and American Fiction Top 2024 Spirit Award Nominations
Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in May December (Photo by François Duhamel, courtesy of Netflix)
Film Independent has announced the nominations for the 2024 Spirit Awards. May December, Past Lives and American Fiction lead the group with five nominations each, while on the television side The Last of Us and I'm a Virgo received four each. Among other independent films receiving nods were Showing Up, We Grown Now, birth/rebirth, Earth Mama and Passages. “This year’s exciting group of Spirit Award nominees reflect the undeniable strength and vitality of independent storytelling – this is the beating heart of film culture today,” said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent in a press release. “It’s especially thrilling to see so many nominees who have benefited from the support of the Artist Development program. We can’t wait to celebrate the… Read more
Slamdance 2024 Announces Its Full Lineup
This Body is a Shell
Celebrating its 30th anniversary next month, the Slamdance Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its 2024 edition, unspooling in Park City and Salt Lake Utah from January 19 - 25. The selection consists of 32 features, of which 17 are World Premieres, 75 shorts, and five episodic series. Oscar-winning filmmaker Carol Dysinger's One Bullet is the opening night film, and the closing is Vanessa Hope's Invisible Nation. “Our 2024 Slamdance lineup is a testament to filmmakers who dare to push their stories to the very edge of filmmaking, making it deeply personal yet globally resonant,” said Festival Director Taylor Miller in a press release. “Their raw passion and risk-taking echo our commitment to exploring uncharted territories of… Read more
“Part of Being an Actor is Living All the Time with a Certain Sensitivity”: Robbie Tann, Back To One, Episode 271
Photo: Storm Santos
You might know Robbie Tann from Preacher, The Deuce, or when he played Billy on Mare of Easttown, or Whitty in the "Mazey Day" episode of the latest season of Black Mirror. Currently he plays Shipley in this year’s most exciting and original sci-fi film, The Creator. On this episode, he tells how the run-and-gun style of shooting on that production, combined with the cast and crew’s infectious passion for the project, helped with all aspects of his work. He explains why he now bypasses a straightforward “roadmap” of preparation, focusing instead on letting the role seep into his unconscious. And he talks about what a director can do to get the best of out him while still respecting the… Read more
Cannes 2023: Sean Price Williams and Nick Pinkerton on The Sweet East
Jacob Elordi and Talia Ryder in The Sweet East
Originally published during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, our interview with Sean Price Williams and Nick Pinkerton about their recommended feature, The Sweet East, is being reposted today as the film is in theatrical release from Utopia. America’s fraught political present meets the less savory corners of cinema’s past in The Sweet East, the first feature directed by celebrated cinematographer Sean Price Williams. Penned with typically acerbic wit by film critic Nick Pinkerton, The Sweet East stars Talia Ryder in a should-be-star-making performance as Lilian, a high school senior who impulsively runs off while on a class trip to Washington, D.C. Joyfully taking up with a group of anarcho-punks, Lilian quickly assumes a new name, only to ditch her new friends… Read more
