Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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Trailer Watch: Ricky D’Ambrose’s The Cathedral
Following its premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival, The Cathedral, the sophomore feature by Ricky D’Ambrose (a 25 New Face of Film in 2017), makes its US premiere at this year’s Sundance. We’re pleased to share the first trailer for the film, an assured, highly compressed yet emotionally impactful portrait of a young man’s upbringing from early ‘80s childhood to late ‘10s college. D’Ambrose’s coming-of-age story boasts David Lowery as an executive producer. The film’s Sundance page is here, and D’Ambrose’s essay about acting as his own graphic designer is here.
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The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales and Phoenix Rising Added to 2022 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Institute announced today two new premiere films that have been added to the 2022 Sundance Film Festival lineup. Selected for the Special Screenings section are The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, directed by Abigail E. Disney and Kathleen Hughes, and Phoenix Rising, directed by Amy Berg. “We’re so pleased to welcome these two dynamic films into our program,” said Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming. “These bold, compelling, provocative documentaries tell indelible stories each from a searing first person perspective that we know will spark critical dialogue.” About the two newly announced titles, from the press release: SPECIAL […]
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Sundance’s Second Virtual Festival Puts Art Films in an Online Bind
“Heartbreaking,” “disappointed,” “crushing”—those are just some of the ways that filmmakers described the news that the 2022 Sundance Film Festival was going entirely virtual for a second year in a row. While lots of producers, directors, and sales agents were counting on in-person presentations to elevate their premieres in the buzzy environment of Park City, the shift to online-only was particularly stinging for filmmakers and sellers with artier, cinematic, or more challenging films that may get lost amid the Netflixification of the festival. “It’s a bummer,” admits Sam Green, director of opening night film 32 Sounds, which is described as […]
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Color Congress, a National Collective, Launches, Announces Funding and Support for POC-Led and Supporting Documentary Organizations
Color Congress, a national collective of majority people of color (POC) and POC-led organizations aimed at centering and strengthening nonfiction storytelling by, for and about people of color in the US, has launched in advance of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Founded by documentary impact and field-building strategists Sahar Driver and Sonya Childress, the collective will invite POC-led doc-serving organizations to apply for unrestricted two-year funding from a $1.35 million fund, and later in the year, they’ll be invited to join the Congress and direct over $1 million in grants aimed at addressing field challenges. Of the selection criteria for the […]
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Sundance Cancels the In-Person Portion of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival Due to Omricon Surge
Sundance announced today that the in-person portion of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival has been cancelled. As in 2021, the festival will occur this year online, in a virtual edition on Sundance’s bespoke platform. When Sundance announced the return of its live edition back in August, 2021, Festival Director Tabitha Jackson announced a vaccination requirement, and, in recent days, Sundance reupped its protocols, requiring boosters for some attendees as well as offering on-site boosters in addition to the testing already planned. But Jackson also wrote, “Health and safety is paramount… We will continue to assess other elements of health and […]
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Rivers and Eyes: The 41st Hawai’i International Film Festival
An indigenous filmmaking focus and the ever-blossoming local film scene helped the 41st edition of the Hawai’i International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani return to an almost-normal state of in-person bliss this November. After a year and more of pandemic uncertainties and isolation, attendees shook off the social rust with varying degrees of success, while fears about being amidst crowds were somewhat abated by Honolulu’s vigorous vaccine requirements and HIFF’s strict 50%-capacity limits. The festival fittingly opened with the world premiere of Isaac Halasima’s documentary Waterman, on the astounding life of Native Hawaiian surfer/Olympian/celebrity Duke Kahanamoku; hit its stride with […]
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IDFA 2021: World-Premiering Sociopolitical Docs to Watch For in 2022
Covering this year’s hybrid IDFA from home was both blessing and curse. On the downside, I wouldn’t be attending any screenings in one of the most gorgeous cinemas in the world – Amsterdam’s now century-old (and now “Royal Theater”) Tuschinski — nor experiencing all the new media wonders of IDFA DocLab. (Even with the free online exhibition running from November 19-28 I had to forego all VR as I don’t have a headset on hand.) Then again, I did avoid the city’s pandemic-induced partial shutdown (turned closing weekend lockdown) while still having access to the pretty packed P&I library. This […]
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Sundance Announces 2022 Sundance Film Festival Shorts And New 40-Film From the Archive Selections
The Sundance Institute announced today the 59 shorts that will comprise the Short Film Program for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. In addition, this year there’s a new “From the Archive” section — 40 films that are online exclusives playing for all pass holders during the festival, January 20 – 30. Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming, said in a press release, “Short films are such a vital part of the independent storytelling culture that Sundance Institute has consistently put its full support behind. We’re all happy for the opportunity this year’s hybrid in-person and online Festival model is […]
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Sundance Announces Feature, Indie Episodic and New Frontier Categories for Its In-Person and Virtual 2022 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Institute announced today the full Feature Film, Indie Episodic, and New Frontier categories for the upcoming 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Returning from last year’s purely virtual festival, this year’s Sundance will be a hybrid edition, with in-person events at Park City, Salt Lake City and the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah as well as on an enhanced online platform for remote attendees. Additionally there will be The Spaceship, a “bespoke immersive platform.” Continuing from last year’s experimentation, in-person screenings at seven Satellite Screens venues will occur across the country during the Festival’s second weekend. Films this year — […]
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Slamdance Announces Its Full 2022 Lineup
The Slamdance Film Festival — this year a hybrid festival — announced today its full lineup of features and shorts that will comprise its 2022 edition. The festival will run live in Park City Utah, January 20 -23 and virtually January 20 – 30. The selection contains 13 world premieres, six North American and four U.S. reviews. All competition films are feature-length with budgets under $1 million and without U.S. distribution. “We are anti-algorithm,” said Slamdance President and co-founder Peter Baxter in a press release. “That’s always been true, but it’s more urgent than ever as we continue to celebrate […]
