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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 5, 2023Celebrating 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 5, 2023Celine Song’s aching tale of ambiguous connection, Past Lives, won Best Feature at last night’s Gotham Awards, held at Cipriani Wall Street. The annual awards, mounted by Filmmaker‘s publisher, The Gotham, bestowed Best Documentary to the hybrid Tunisian picture Four Daughters, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall won two awards (Best Screenplay and Best International Feature), while A.V. Rockwell won Breakthrough Director for her Sundance Grand Prize winner, A Thousand and One. The complete list of nominees and winners (in bold) is below. Best Feature “Passages” “Past Lives” “Reality” “Showing Up” “A Thousand and One” […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 28, 2023SFFILM has announced the 17 recipients for the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant, awarded in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, which includes $425,000 in funding and professional support for narrative projects at different stages of production. From the press release: The SFFILM Rainin Grant program is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the US, and supports films that address social justice issues—the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges—in a positive and meaningful way through plot, character, theme, or setting. Awards are made to multiple projects once a year, for screenwriting, development, and post-production. Recipients are offered […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 21, 2023Cinema Eye Honors announced its nominations today for the 17th annual awards ceremony, to be held on January 12, 2024 at the New York Academy of Medicine. As the press release notes, “Kokomo City, the debut feature from D. Smith led all nominees with six nominations. Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days in Mariupol, Sam Green’s 32 Sounds and Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory each received five nominations. All four films are nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, where they are joined by Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Davis Guggenheim’s […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 16, 2023Directors Amy Bench and Annie Silverstein (one of Filmmaker‘s 2014 25 New Faces) have collaborated on the short doc Breaking Silence, which premieres today at DOC NYC before release on the PBS app beginning November 15. Winner of both a Jury and Audience Award at SXSW 2023, as well as Best Documentary Short awards at the Atlanta and Oak Cliff Film Festivals, the film is, in the words of the filmmakers, “a verité portrait of Walker and Leslie Estes, a deaf father and CODA daughter from Baton Rouge, LA, who work together upon Leslie’s release from prison—driven by their shared experiences […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 10, 2023Kino Lorber, a leading name in independent film distribution for over 45 years, has launched Kino Film Collection, a new streaming service available in the U.S. on the Amazon Service via Prime Video Channels for $5.99 per month. As their press release states, “The Collection will feature new Kino releases fresh from theaters, along with hundreds of films from its expansive library of more than 4,000 titles, many now streaming for the first time.” Highlights now available on the service or soon to be added include notable titles Filmmaker has covered over the years, such as Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 6, 2023Written by critic Nick Pinkerton, Sean Price Williams’s directorial solo feature debut, The Sweet East, enters limited release from Utopia on Dec. 1. The trailer captures the comedy’s scrappy, often-scabrous nature. Click here to read Vadim Rizov’s review from Cannes and here to read Jordan Cronk’s interview with Pinkerton and Williams.
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 2, 2023Sundance Institute announced today the 2023 lab fellows selected for their 10th Episodic Lab program, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. The selected eight artists are Daniela Bailes (The Letters), Elaine Hsieh Chou (Get Home Safe), Marissa Díaz (Cochinas), Sam Dunnewold (Guts), Laurie Hartung (Rabbit Hole), Farah Merani (The Painted Muse), Sylvia-Anne Parker (Blackbirds) and Hernando Cortes Watson (Horsepower). From the press release: Their eight projects include themes that explore family secrets, vengeance, sex positivity, magic, revolutionaries, and world-class stallions. Designed to bring together early-career writers with an original series IP that has not yet been produced, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 2, 2023NAB Show New York is where thousands of just-like-you broadcast, media and entertainment professionals gather to access pivotal insight and get hands-on. With an immersive show floor experience, you’ll discover cutting-edge products from 200+ exhibitors with the opportunity to ask vendors questions in person. Refine your understanding of the latest industry trends and techniques. Network with your peers and the pros alike. It all comes together here. https:/nabshow.com/newyork2023/
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 1, 2023