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“Wonder Woman” and “Monster” director Patty Jenkins is lending her cache to the team behind “Tea,” an offbeat comedy about loneliness starring Michael Gandolfini.

In the short, written and directed by emerging filmmaker Blake Rice, Gandolfini plays a lonely and highly allergic Circuit-Shack employee, who is rehearsing asking out the girl of his dreams (Olivia Nikkanen) when he gets stung in the throat by a hornet. As he goes into anaphylactic shock, the pair have to find a way to communicate as the young woman races to save his life.

“With ‘Tea,’ Blake Rice has made a delightful and original short film with tons of charm and great execution. Definitely the emergence of a great new voice in the medium,” Jenkins said of boarding the project.

Olivia Nikkanen and Michael Gandolfini in “Tea.”

“Tea,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this summer as the only U.S. film in the shorts competition.

Production is underway on Legion M’s darkly comedic horror thriller Fade to Black, which sees art imitating life for an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter. Today, Legion M has announced that Betty Gabriel, Thomas Barbusca, and Annie Gonzalez have joined the cast.

The horror thriller marks the feature debut of director Andrew Sandler.

Fade to Black follows “Amit as he navigates the horrors of trying to break into the twisted business of Hollywood. After an accidental death spurs a sinister epiphany, the screenwriter starts committing the murders of his script’s fictional serial killer in a desperate attempt to generate the IP necessary to get his movie made. The film promises a darkly comedic exploration of ambition, madness, and the brutal reality of the entertainment industry.”

Rounding out the newly added cast are Caylee Cowan (Sunrise in Heaven), Johnno Wilson (I Love That For You), Veronika Dash (Isabel’s Garden), and Scott Evans...

Music Box Films has bought domestic rights to “In the Summers,” a coming-of-age tale from writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio which won Sundance’s grand jury prize and directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition.

A directorial debut, “In the Summers” tells the story of two daughters navigating a turbulent but loving father during yearly visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Latin-American family portrait is headlined by Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican rapper, songwriter, and actor René Pérez Joglar (known in the music industry as Residente), who plays the divorced father, while the two siblings, Violeta and Eva, are played at different ages by several rising actors, including Sasha Calle (“The Flash”) and Lío Mehiel (“Mutt”). The cast is completed by Leslie Grace (“In the Heights”) and Emma Ramos (“New Amsterdam”).

The critically lauded movie will have its New York premiere in June at the Tribeca Film Festival,...

Héléna Klotz’s “Spirit of Ecstasy” will open the 2024 Kashish LGBTQ+ film festival in Mumbai, while Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s “Mutt” will close it.

“Spirit of Ecstasy,” which debuted at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, follows a gender-questioning stock-market trader who is determined to make it in the world of finance; not for the glory or

wealth, but because it’s leading them on the path to freedom. Lead Pomme was nominated in the most promising actress category at France’s Lumiere awards.

“Mutt” follows a trans man who goes through an emotional roller-coaster over a 24-hour period in New York City, bumping into their ex-boyfriend, sister and father for the first time after having lost touch with them since his gender transitioning. It debuted at Sundance 2023, where it won the U.S. dramatic special jury award for actor Lio Mehiel. It went on to play at Berlin, where it earned...

Latino-owned Luz Films announced its launch just before the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where its first film by first-time writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio, “In the Summers,” won the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition. However, co-founder Sergio Lira says that impressive start isn’t nearly enough.

“This is an amazing win right out of the gate, but one is not enough,” said Lira, who serves as co-ceo with fellow founder Lynette Coll. “This is an amazing achievement that we did this right off the bat, but it’s a lot of what we’ve been diligently, silently working towards, and we want to keep doing it.”

With a mission of producing Latino-focused prestige and elevated-genre film and TV, the Luz principals know they face unique challenges. Shows for Latino audiences are often the first to be canceled or purged from streaming services. There aren’t enough global Latino...

In the opening moments of Alessandra Lacorazza’s lovely debut feature “In the Summers” a father, Vincente (Residente), nervously prepares his house for the arrival of his two daughters, Violeta and Eva, first portrayed by Dreya Castillo and Luciana Elisa Quinonez, respectively. He fluffs the pillows on the couch and throws away beer cans before going to pick the girls up at the tiny airport in his hometown.

The state of Vincente’s living room — inherited from his own deceased mother — becomes a signpost in the quiet drama about the bonds that are fused and then break between a parent and his children over many summer trips. We watch as it falls into disarray and then becomes neater again, its contents becoming a bellwether for how Eva and Violeta perceive their dad.

The film, which won this year’s U.S. Grand Prize in dramatic competition, is a delicate portrait...

This is it, folks! It’s time to blow the dust off the fedora, oil the whip, and venture into the unknown one last time as we celebrate the end of an era with a look back at the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny!

Unleashed 15 years after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and presented as Harrison Ford’s final performance as Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr., Dial of Destiny finds a disillusioned Indy haunted by a villain from his past and pulled into a chase to recover the Antikythera, an Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery capable of predicting astronomical patterns and eclipses in advance. Commonly referred to as the first analog computer, the Antikythera is more than it seems in Dial of Destiny. In the film, the Antikythera can chart fissures in the fabric of space-time. Open...

A backyard swimming pool tells part of the story in Colombian American writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s “In the Summers.” As it goes from refreshing site of joyful congregation to an ignored eyesore in mounting disrepair, the recreational amenity establishes itself as a potently grave motif for the passage of time in this unsentimental, and yet immensely affecting debut feature about a complicated parent-children relationship. Told in four elliptical segments, it spans roughly two decades.

Grammy-winning, Puerto Rican urban music hitmaker René Pérez Joglar (better known by his stage name Residente), part of the now defunct duo Calle 13, stars as Vicente. The nonchalant dad lives alone in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a sleepy desert town with a predominantly Latino population. With a cigarette over his ear and much eagerness, he picks up his daughters Violeta and Eva (played as children by Dreya Castillo and Luciana Elisa Quinonez), in from California for summer vacation,...

Director Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers follows two sisters who, over several formative summers, visit their caring but tempestuous father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The cast includes Lio Mehiel, who won an acting prize at last year’s Sundance for Mutt, as well as Sasha Calle and René Pérez Joglar. Adam Dicterow, whose previous credits include the aforementioned Mutt, as well as Dear Evan Hansen, and HBO’s Succession, served as editor. Below, he talks about why the film moves through different styles and recalls the editing room deliberations about the film’s ending. […]

The post “We Allow Each Person to Identify with Any or All of the Main Characters”: Editor Adam Dicterow on In the Summers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Director Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers follows two sisters who, over several formative summers, visit their caring but tempestuous father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The cast includes Lio Mehiel, who won an acting prize at last year’s Sundance for Mutt, as well as Sasha Calle and René Pérez Joglar. Adam Dicterow, whose previous credits include the aforementioned Mutt, as well as Dear Evan Hansen, and HBO’s Succession, served as editor. Below, he talks about why the film moves through different styles and recalls the editing room deliberations about the film’s ending. […]

The post “We Allow Each Person to Identify with Any or All of the Main Characters”: Editor Adam Dicterow on In the Summers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights to Lenny and Harpo Guit’s new feature “Heads or Fails,” the duo’s follow-up to Sundance comedy “Mother Schmuckers.”

Now in post, “Heads or Fails” tells the story of Armande Pigeon, a queen of shenanigans in Brussels who struggles to make ends meet because she can’t stop gambling on everything, always ending up on the wrong side of luck. When she teams up with Ronnie one night, everything changes – they win it all. And when you hit a winning streak, you have to know when to stop.

Lenny and Harpo Guit’s previous film, “Mother Schmuckers,” premiered at Sundance in the Midnight section in 2021 and was critically lauded. Along with having directed numerous short films, they also have their own YouTube channel, Clubb Guitos.

“Heads or Fails” stars Maria Cavalier-Bazan, Axel Perin (“Mother Schmuckers”), Maxi Delmelle (“Mother Schmuckers”), Michael Zindel...

Photo credit: ©BAFTA/Vivek Vadoliya, 2023

BAFTA Breakthrough is a wonderful Netflix-supported initiative that celebrates the very best of young talent. In its 10th year, the alumni boasts the likes of Florence Pugh, Tom Holland and Letitia Wright – and this year comes a whole host of exciting new names. One of which caught our eye especially, which is Vivian Oparah, who shone in Peckham-set rom-com Rye Lane, which enamoured viewers with its spring-time release. We discuss what it means to her to be named as a BAFTA Breakthrough artist, and naturally we look back to Rye Lane, to talk about shooting the film, and the lasting, indelible impact it has left. She also looks ahead to a future that we’re gonna consider pretty damn bright.

Watch the full interview with Vivian Oparah here:

See below for the full list of this year’s stars:

UK Breakthroughs (20):

Adjani Salmon,...

A galaxy of 42 emerging creative talents from across the U.S., U.K. and India have been unveiled as the 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort.

The selected talents have worked on some of the most lauded projects over the last several months including “The Last of Us,” “1923,” “Blue Jean,” “Rye Lane,” “Rocket Boys” and “Joyland.”

Breakthrough is BAFTA’s flagship new talent initiative in partnership with Netflix, drawn from creatives working in film, games and television. Awarded to those in the midst of, or on the cusp of their breakthrough moment, the year-long initiative includes one-to-one meetings and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and screenings, as well as networking events, both in the U.K. and internationally.

This year’s cohort comprises creatives spanning craft specialisms from hair and make up, production, editing and games design, to performance, directing and cinematography and is from diverse ethnic backgrounds and abilities.

Six of the 20 UK talents have previously been named Screen Stars of Tomorrow.

Actors Bella Ramsey and Vivian Oparah, and filmmakers Adjani Salmon and Raine Allen-Miller are among 32 talents selected for the 10th anniversary edition of the Bafta Breakthrough programme.

The 2023 edition of the talent-spotting scheme includes 20 UK names, and 12 individuals from the US.

Scroll down for the full 2023 Breakthrough list

Those selected from the UK include Game Of Thrones and The Last Of Us star Ramsey, Dreaming Whilst Black creator Salmon, and Allen-Miller and Oparah, director and star of Rye Lane.

Also included are Blue Jean writer-director Georgia Oakley...

For the third week in a row, a new awards contender is premiering on Netflix. Like “Nyad” and “The Killer,” whether the streaming debut du jour can make a big dent in the Oscar race is unclear. Fortunately, the SAG strike is over, which means all of these films’ lead stars can hit the trail to give them much-needed promotional boosts.

The contender to stream this week: “Rustin“

Colman Domingo stands a good chance of collecting his first Oscar nomination thanks to George C. Wolfe‘s biopic about Bayard Rustin, an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. who played a key role in the civil rights movement. Rustin never got the limelight the way some of the era’s other organizers did, partly because he was openly gay. Domingo is excellent in the film, showcasing an erudite wit that’s at once grave and humorous. He’s joined by an A-list cast including Chris Rock,...

Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s directorial debut, Mutt, is a very chaotic account of one trans man’s 24 hours of reconciliations. The film follows Feña, who transitioned from woman to man just a year ago and has finally settled into a life of his own. Mutt is a 24-hour account of Feña’s misfortunes that make him spiral hard and fast. It’s a compelling story that feels almost like prying into somebody’s personal life with its realistic depictions of daily interactions for the trans community. One couldn’t imagine such a movie could come out even about 5–6 years ago, and it’s a testament to how far we’ve come as consumers.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?

Feña lives on his own in New York City and awaits the arrival of his father, whom he’s meeting after 2 years. Feña has a terrible relationship with his mother, who...

Note: the following blog piece ran earlier this year. We’re re-posting today in honor of Trans Awareness Week, November 12-18. Special thanks to author Adam Vargas.

***

It’s no secret that the moving image can leave a lasting impact, both consciously and subconsciously. This is especially true regarding images of people engaged in struggle and/or enjoying wild success—a phenomenon that supports the necessity for thoughtful representation of people of all backgrounds and experiences in film.

Today, representation is too often conflated with diversity, but they’re not exactly the same thing. Representation goes beyond the surface inclusion of different types of people popular media—it’s about lived experience and authenticity. Of course there are all types of communities that haven’t received much authentic representations of themselves in traditional cinema. For example: the trans community, which is itself unique and disparate far beyond what has been rendered onscreen,...

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has revealed a raft of deals for key territories for Ramata-Toulaye Sy‘s feature film debut, “Banel & Adama,” which played in competition in Cannes and makes its North American premiere in Toronto. Variety reviewed it as “a dreamlike debut” in May.

The film just won the Melbourne International Film Festival’s top prize, the Bright Horizons Award.

The film was sold in Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (trigon-films), Scandinavia (Njuta Films), Australia and New Zealand (Ahi), South Korea (Green Narae Media), Spain (Filmin), Greece (Cinobo), Portugal (Alambique), Poland (Afrykamera), and Baltics (From Afar). North America, U.K. and Japan are in discussions among others.

Previously announced deals are Tandem Films for French distribution, who just released the title in France and Pathé BC Afrique is releasing in Senegal on Oct. 4.

Ahead of TIFF, Best Friend Forever also unveiled the international trailer in exclusivity with Variety.

Kokomo City Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

D Smith's Sundance hit Kokomo City is among the films to screen at the 2023 edition of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival, alongside fellow festival favourites Mutt and Peafowl. The festival will also feature a dedicated strand of short films made by trans and non-binary people.

Alien Body, Human Dreams, presented by the Queer East team, features speculative shorts which centre the body as a potent site of hybridity, while the ever popular Scottish Shorts strand will be complemented by a drop-in exhibition created by Inverness-based Queer Youth Arts Collective. Phreaking Gender have created an art installation based around short film DIY Hormones, and other scheduled events include a craft fair and an analogue film workshop.

"This is the first festival completely run by Sqiff’s new team," said festival director Indigo Korres. "We’ve been doing year round projects focused on community building events across.

Chile’s at it again. Since’s Andrés Wood’s breakout “Machuca” in 2004, Chilean filmmakers, led by Pablo Larraín, Sebastián Lelio and now Maite Alberdi, have punched consistently above the country’s weight, consistently winning plaudits at Sundance, Berlin and Cannes. Chile has also won three Oscars – for Claudio Miranda’s cinematography on 2012’s “Life of Pi,” 2015’s animated short “Bear Story” and Lelio’s 2017’s fiction feature “A Fantastic Woman” – more any other South American country apart from Argentina.

First half 2023 has proved no exception in Chile’s statue trawl. Some of the awards on offer are among the biggest out: Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory,” from Fabula, scooped Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Prize; Andrés Wood’s “News of a Kidnapping” walked off with best series at the Platino Awards, the Spanish-speaking world’s nearest kudos fest to the Oscars.

In all, according to a CinemaChile study released during Sanfic,...

Re-releases reliably dot the theatrical calendar and this week have a standout. Oldboy, the 2004 Cannes prize-winner, re-released by Neon on its 20th anniversary restored and remastered, grossed $235k on Wednesday and $150k Thursday — for a total cume $385k on 250 screens heading into the weekend.

San Francisco, NYC and LA, led by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, are the top-performing cities so far for Park Chan-wook’s classic film — the first screening in U.S. theaters since its original North American release in 2005.

Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, is released but must find his captor in five days. The critically acclaimed film is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and followed by Lady Vengeance (2005). Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $15 million worldwide, and saw...

The inaugural Hudson Film Festival in Hudson, NY will premiere the 20th anniversary remastered edition of Park Chan-wook’s classic film “Oldboy” this August. In partnership with Neon, the premiere will be in advance of the film’s theatrical re-release on Aug. 16.

Founded by John Maybee, Sarah Peters, and Sonia Marcela Freeman, the festival will take place Aug. 11-13; their website states that the festival “serves as a platform to champion and showcase underrepresented local and global films, filmmakers, artisans and talent.”

The festival co-founders said in a joint statement, “As devotees of Director Park and Neon, we are ecstatic and honored to have been chosen as the only festival to screen ‘Oldboy’ prior to its 20th Anniversary theatrical relaunch.”

“Oldboy,” released in 2003, is a South Korean neo-noir thriller about a man named Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) who attempts to exact revenge on his captor after being mysteriously held prisoner for 15 years.

Strand Releasing has snatched up North American distribution rights to Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen’s recent Cannes favorite The Breaking Ice. The film made its world premiere in May in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s critics later selecting it as one of the 20 best films screened at the festival this year.

The Breaking Ice tells the story of an unlikely, fleeting friendship formed between three restless young people in China’s far northeastern border city of Yanji. It is headlined by a star-studded ensemble of young Chinese talent, including Zhou Dongyu (Oscar-nominated Better Days), Liu Haoran (the Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth).

Chen previously won Cannes’ Caméra d’Or award with his debut feature Ilo Ilo (2013), which was later submitted by Singapore as its entry to the Oscars’ best international film race. His second feature Wet Season premiered in Toronto and his English-language debut,...

Having earned Sundance’s first Best Actor award for a trans performer, Lío Mehiel, Mutt arrives with a bit of buzz more historic than critical. Following a festival run that also included Berlinale and New Directros/New Films, Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s feature debut will open next month from Strand Releasing, ahead of which is a first trailer briefly encapsulating the film’s view of trans experience.

While recognizing its necessary social impacts we were somewhat mixed on the film’s overall form. Writing out of Sundance, Dan Mecca said in his review, “This is the feature debut for Lungulov-Klotz, and in some moments a preciousness shows. The saying ‘kill your darlings’ might come to mind: confessional dialogue that’s telling us what’s already been shown, lingering close-ups that run out of steam before we cut away. Yet there is both an honesty and urgency to what’s onscreen that proves essential.

"Don't get caught up in these momentary feelings." Strand Releasing has unveiled an official trailer for an acclaimed indie drama titled Mutt, marking the feature directorial debut of the NYC-based filmmaker Vuk Lunglov-Koltz. This initially premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to many positive reviews, and it'll get a small theatrical release starting in August. Within the space of 24 hours, Feña is swept through the extremes of human emotion when people who seemed to disappear when he transitioned are suddenly back in his life. Starring Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, and Alejandro Goic. Vuk Lunglov-Koltz's directorial debut is "at once precise in its specificity and wholly relatable in its grand humanity. A "visceral performance by Mehiel embodies inbetweenness in many forms. Mutt earns its most difficult discussions through its tenderness towards each character's struggle with the complexity of trans life, Latinx life in America, and of human life at large.

Prescient and timely, given the conversations we’re having culturally about sexual identity, trans identity, and more, “Mutt” is a Sundance prize winner about a trans guy bustling through life in New York City.

“Mutt” premiered earlier this year at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where star Lío Mehiel won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting— the first trans actor in history to win the honor.

Continue reading ‘Mutt’ Trailer: Acclaimed Sundance Trans Drama Arrives In August at The Playlist.

The trailer arrives today for Mutt, the feature debut of writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz. The film premiered at Sundance in January, before subsequently screening at Berlinale (winning the Generation 14plus—Best Film award) and closing out this year’s New Directors/New Films. The trans coming-of-age film will open at New York City’s Film Forum later this summer. Here’s the official synopsis: Feña (Mehiel), a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that […]

The post Trailer Watch: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Mutt first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The trailer arrives today for Mutt, the feature debut of writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz. The film premiered at Sundance in January, before subsequently screening at Berlinale (winning the Generation 14plus—Best Film award) and closing out this year’s New Directors/New Films. The trans coming-of-age film will open at New York City’s Film Forum later this summer. Here’s the official synopsis: Feña (Mehiel), a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that […]

The post Trailer Watch: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Mutt first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Sundance breakout queer coming-of-age film “Mutt” is finally unleashed stateside. Writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s debut film stars Lío Mehiel as a young trans man named Feña, and the film won Mehiel a Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Strand releases the film in the U.S. this summer, beginning at New York’s Film Forum, and IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer premiere below.

“Mutt” follows Feña across his romances, friendships, and family over the course of one hectic day in New York City, where three people from Feña’s past are thrust back into his life. Having lost touch since transitioning from female to male, he navigates the new dynamics of old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges of living life in between. Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, and Alejandro Goic also star.

“Mutt” details Lungulov-Klotz’s own personal experience growing up in New York City as...

Updated with more quotes on actors strike and AI from original 7/14 story: The 41st edition of Outfest is underway in Los Angeles after an opening-night event dominated by talk of the actors strike.

“Let’s also acknowledge the elephant in the room,” Outfest Executive Director Damien Navarro said as he welcomed the festival crowd at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A. “We are living in uncertain times where the very foundation of our industry is being shaken. Actors, writers and creators are facing immense challenges… I want to extend an even deeper and unwavering commitment to every artist and creator in our community who is grappling with the same fears and uncertainties.”

The Lgbtqia+ festival, which runs from July 13-23, kicked off with the narrative feature Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a drama about two high school boys in Texas and their friendship that develops into a romance.

The SAG-AFTRA strike didn’t officially start until just after midnight on Friday, but Amandla Stenberg skipped the opening night of Outfest L.A. on Thursday in support of the movement.

The star of the upcoming “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte” was expected to be on hand to receive the Platinum Maverick Award from the LGBTQ film festival, but Jacqueline Castel, director of the actor’s new indie, “The Animal,” accepted it on her behalf.

“Amandla is deeply honored and would love to be here to celebrate with you, but she cannot be here today due to her support of the actors strike,” Castel said.

Earlier in the evening, SAG-AFTRA tweeted its support of Outfest going ahead with its plans for opening night. “Reminder: the #SAGAFTRAstrike starts at 12:01 a.m. on July 14,” the tweet read. “#SAGAFTRAmembers can support #OutfestLA tonight. We’ll support each other on the #SAGAFTRAstrike picket lines tomorrow.

Song accepted the award at London’s Picturehouse Central cinema.

Celine Song’s Past Lives has won the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: London audience award, bringing the 10th edition of the UK event to a close at the Picturehouse Central cinema.

It is the latest international prize for Song’s debut feature, which launched in the Premieres section at the US Sundance event in January, and topped the Screen jury grid when in competition at the Berlinale.

Studiocanal will release Past Lives in UK cinemas from September 8; A24, which also produced the film, released it in the US last month.

Past Lives...

The inaugural Hudson Film Festival launches August 11 – 13, 2023 in Hudson, New York with the North American premiere of Berlinale opener “She Came to Me,” starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, and Anne Hathaway, written and directed by Rebecca Miller. The film will be distributed later this year by Vertical Entertainment.

The international film festival was co-founded by John Maybee, Sarah Peters, and Sonia Marcela Freeman to serve as the flagship of the forthcoming Hudson Valley Film Institute, a non-profit educational arts initiative.

The lineup of feature films includes trans coming-of-age Sundance favorite “Mutt”, “Going Varsity in Mariachi”, and a 2023 Berlinale premiere in the Panorama section, “Perpetrator,” directed by Jennifer Reeder and starring Alicia Silverstone.

Acclaimed short films screening at the festival include Academy Award-nominated “The Flying Sailor,” Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “When You Left Me on That Boulevard,” and Locarno Film Festival premiere “In the Big Yard Inside the Teeny-Weeny Pocket.

Outfest announced the full line up for its 41st Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Festival presented by Warner Bros. Discovery and Genesis Motor America, taking place July 13 – 23 in venues around Los Angeles and is headquartered at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood. Tickets and passes are available to Outfest members today, and to the general public starting Friday, June 23rd.

The festival also announced that it will be honoring Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone with the James Schamus Ally Award during the festival’s closing night in recognition of allies’ efforts to foster Queer and Trans moving images and to promote our communities’ stories to a broader audience. Additionally, McCarthy and Falcone are both executive producers on Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story, a short documentary directed by Zeb Newman and Michiel Thomas that will be featured at this year’s festival, about a West Hollywood candle shop owner...

Just two minutes into trans filmmaker Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s feature debut, Mutt, viewers bear witness to how exposed the main character Feña is to others’ projections about his identity. In the scene, Feña’s father refers to him by his birth name, Fernanda, when he calls and questions how he’ll be able to recognize him at the airport because of his recent transition; moments later, a passerby remarks “Nice Spanglish” after overhearing the call. Yet in situations where such othering has often led to stereotypical queer archetyping onscreen, Feña’s terse rebuttals immediately demonstrate he’s no downtrodden trans trope.

“On the page, Feña was written as a lot more caustic and prickly,” says transmasculine actor and artist Lío Mehiel, who portrays Feña in the film (out Aug. 18) about a hellish day in New York City where everything seems to go wrong. “I’m naturally a pretty soft and...

Guests to attend include Harris Dickinson, Emilia Jones, Anton Corbijn.

New BFI London Film Festival director Kristy Matheson, Elysian CEO Danny Perkins and producers Tristan Goligher and Mary Burke are among the recent additions to the industry programme at next month’s Sundance Film Festival: London (July 6-9).

All four will be speaking at the event, as will filmmakers Gurinder Chadha, Alice Lowe, Marianna Palka and Zeina Durra; composer Nainita Desai; and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2021 casting director Heather Basten.

Further new speakers include A24 executives Harpa Manku and Tom Lazenby; and Luane Gauer, SVP, international production and acquisitions at Black Bear International.

Guests to attend include Harris Dickinson, Emilia Jones, Anton Corbijn.

New BFI London Film Festival director Kristy Matheson, Elysian CEO Danny Perkins and producers Tristan Goligher and Mary Burke are among the recent additions to the industry programme at next month’s Sundance Film Festival: London (July 6-9).

All four will be speaking at the event, as will filmmakers Gurinder Chadha, Alice Lowe, Marianna Palka and Zeina Durra; composer Nainita Desai; and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2021 casting director Heather Basten.

Further new speakers include A24 executives Harpa Manku and Tom Lazenby; and Luane Gauer, SVP, international production and acquisitions at Black Bear International.

In the opening moments of Transition, Jordan Bryon, the documentary’s subject and one of its directors, angles his face toward the camera. He moves in close and inspects his chin for hair. There are faint signs of growth, short whiskers that Bryon caresses as he speaks to us.

“My nerves are fucking shot,” he says, alluding to his current circumstances. “There are too many interwoven threads that are becoming very messy.” The precarious situation plaited by these threads is the subject of Bryon’s film, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Co-directed with journalist Monica Villamizar, Transition chronicles Bryon’s gender transition while embedded with a Taliban unit in Afghanistan. The stakes are high for the documentarian, who decided to stay in the country after the insurgents seized the city in August 2021.

Even before the takeover, Afghanistan was no haven for queer people: Same-sex relations were legally banned in 2017, for example.

’The Martini Shot’, starring Matthew Modine, John Cleese and Derek Jacobi, will also world premiere.

The Galway Film Fleadh has lined up a number of world premieres of Irish films for this year’s festival, which runs from July 11-16, including Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell, George Kane’s Apocalypse Clown and The Martini Shot, starring Matthew Modine, John Cleese and Derek Jacobi.

Lies We Tell is the story of an heiress who is forced to embrace her family’s dark legacy, starring Agnes O’Casey, David Wilmot, Holly Sturton and Chris Walley. Produced by Blue Ink Films and backed by Screen Ireland,...

It remains needlessly difficult for trans films to secure funding — even ones with big names attached. As exciting new films like “Monica” and “Something You Said Last Night” finally secure overdue releases, a new advent of sensitively rendered trans films is on the horizon. After premiering at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where this critic was impressed by its subtle humor and intimate storytelling, the charming family dramedy “Something You Said Last Night” will hit theaters this summer. IndieWire is proud to premiere the trailer exclusively.

Hailing from first time feature filmmaker Luis De Filippis, “Something You Said Last Night” takes place over a single week during one tight-knit family’s lakeside summer vacation. The film stars magnetic newcomer Carmen Madonia as Renata, a 20-something trans woman who is still navigating the confusion of early adulthood. In a refreshing turn from most trans stories, she has a fairly healthy relationship with her family,...

Picturehouse and the non-profit Sundance Institute have announced the lineup of feature fiction and documentary films, a specially curated programme of UK-produced short

films and a Gregg Araki retrospective for the 10th edition of Sundance Film Festival: London 2023, taking place from 6 to 9 July at Picturehouse Central.

The Festival will present 11 feature films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort in January, specially curated for London by the Sundance Institute programming team in collaboration with Picturehouse. The festival will close on 9 July with the UK premiere of You Hurt My Feelings, from acclaimed filmmaker Nicole Holofcener. The Brooklyn-set comedy-drama stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies (The Crown) as a couple whose marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears his honest

reaction to her latest book.

The Festival previously announced that it will open on 6 July with the UK premiere of Scrapper,...

Nicole Holofcener’s ‘You Hurt My Feelings’ will close this year’s festival.

Sundance Film Festival: London has revealed further titles in the line-up for its upcoming 10th edition (July 6-9), with Nicole Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings named as the closing night film, and a retrospective on pioneer of queer cinema, Gregg Araki.

The festival will present 11 feature films that premiered at the US edition of Sundance in January, and takes place at London’s Picturehouse Central.

Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings is a Brooklyn-set comedy drama, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies as a couple whose...

The Sundance Film Festival: London 2023 will close with the U.K. premiere of Nicole Holofcener’s “You Hurt My Feelings.”

The comedy-drama is set in Brooklyn and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies as a couple whose marriage is thrown into turmoil when she overhears his honest reaction to her latest book.

As previously announced, the festival will open with the U.K. premiere of “Scrapper,” written and directed by Londoner Charlotte Regan, starring Harris Dickinson and newcomers Lola Campbell and Alin Uzun. It follows Georgie, a dreamy 12-year-old girl, who lives happily alone in her London flat, filling it with magic. Suddenly, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality.

Curated by Picturehouse and the Sundance Institute, the 10th edition of the festival is set to take place from July 6-9 July at Picturehouse Central and will showcase 11 feature films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City,...

Exclusive: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, the Chilean-Serbian filmmaker whose debut feature Mutt world premiered to stellar reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has signed with UTA and Mosaic for representation in all areas.

Lungulov-Klotz wrote, directed and produced the U.S. Competition drama, which has been picked up for distribution in North America by Strand Releasing. Pic tells the story of Feña (Lío Mehiel), a young, NYC-based trans man navigating the extremes of human emotion with the most important people in his life, over the course of one day.

Lungulov-Klotz’s lead actor, Mehiel, was awarded Sundance’s U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for his performance, becoming the first trans actor to claim the prize. The film subsequently had its international premiere in the Generation 14+ section of the Berlin Film Festival before going on to close the New Directors/New Films Festival from The Museum of Modern Art and...

Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Sundance award-winning trans drama “Mutt” in the run up to its screening on closing night of New Directors/New Films in New York.

Penned and directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, “Mutt” world premiered at Sundance where it won a Special Jury Acting Award for Lio Mehiel. It went on to have its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Described as an emotional drama overlapping past, present and future, “Mutt” follows Feña, a young trans man bustling through life in New York City. Over the course of a single hectic day, Feña is swept through the extremes of human emotion, when people who seemed to have disappeared when he transitioned are suddenly back in his life. He unexpectedly reconnects with an estranged ex-boyfriend (Cole Doman), is suddenly saddled with his wayward little sister (MiMi Ryder), and nervously awaits their father (Alejandro Goic...

Exclusive: Zero Gravity Management has signed transmedia company Keenspot Entertainment, whose webcomic and graphic novel Marry Me by Bobby Crosby was recently adapted by Universal into the hit rom-com of the same name, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson.

Related Story Paradigm Signs Sundance Prize-Winning ‘Mutt’ Actor Lío Mehiel Related Story Zero Gravity Management Signs 'Narcos' & 'End Of Watch' Actor Maurice Compte Related Story Zero Gravity Signs 'Endangered' Collaborators Drew Walkup, Adam Armstrong & Marcus DeVivo; Actor Matt Raymond Inks With Cultivate

Released simultaneously last year in theaters and on Peacock, Marry Me hit #1 at the box office upon its Valentine’s Day weekend opening and also came in as Peacock’s most-streamed day-and-date title to date.

The company behind the source material, co-founded by CEO Chris Crosby, which has Bobby Crosby serving as President, launched as a pioneering publisher of webcomics in the year...

Exclusive: Paradigm has signed actor, filmmaker and artist Lío Mehiel for representation in all areas on the heels of their breakout performance in Mutt, which led them to become the first trans actor to nab Sundance’s U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award at this year’s festival.

Related Story CAA Signs Sundance Prize-Winning ‘Palm Trees And Power Lines’ Filmmaker Jamie Dack Related Story Paradigm Hires Varun Monga, Ups Sanam Sarani & Sheridan March To Agents; Paradigm Media's Two Twelve Adds Olivia Annacone Related Story Savanah Leaf's 'Earth Mama', Sundance Prize Winner 'Mutt' To Bookend New Directors/New Films

Mehiel’s first-ever feature, from writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, has them starring as Feña, a young, NYC-based trans man navigating the extremes of human emotion with the most important people in his life. Deadline’s Damon Wise, in his review of the film out of Sundance, called Mehiel’s performance “soul-baring” and “pitch-perfect,...

Before the summer movie season consumes the local multiplex, discerning cinephiles and festival fans can bone up on some of the best films of the year, thanks to the always-excellent slate on offer at this year’s New Directors/New Films festival. Over the course of the New York City festival, it will play home to films from 41 directors, including 27 features and 11 shorts.

As ever, this year’s Nd/Nf features a variety of films from around the festival circuit, Sundance to Cannes, Venice to Berlin, and more. The 52nd edition of the festival kicks off this week with Savannah Leaf’s A24 drama “Earth Mama” and concludes with Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s trans coming-of-age story “Mutt.” In between, film fans can see projects from rising stars, fresh voices, and finally (finally!) get to check out gems like “Joyland,” “Totem,” and “Disco Boy.”

The 52nd edition of New Directors/New Films...

Sessions to run from March 27-29.

Six transgender storytellers of colour have been selected for the second edition of Sundance Institute’s Trans Possibilities Intensive programme which runs March 27-29.

The 2023 Fellows are: Seyi Adebanjo, Rajvi Desai, Malik Ever, Nick Janaye, Jamie John, and Tee Park Jaehyung.

Moi Santos will lead the sessions and is founder of the Trans Possibilities Intensive. Leadership includes creative advisors including Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest), Aitch Alberto (Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe), Félix Endara (Inseen) and Chase Joynt (Framing Agnes), as well as Sundance Institute’s Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program.

“The Five Devils” and “For My Country” won the Emerging Filmmaker and Audience Awards at this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center announced Thursday.

Hosted at Lincoln Center every year, the annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival screens a variety of films from contemporary French filmmakers. This year’s edition, which ran from March 2-12, hosted screenings for 21 features, including opening film “Revoir Paris” from Alice Winocour, Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister,” Louis Garrel’s “The Innocent,” and Quentin Dupieux’s “Smoking Causes Coughing.”

“The Five Devils,” the sophomore film from “Ava” filmmaker Léa Mysius, stars Sally Dramé as Vicky, a young girl with a supernatural talent for reproducing the scent of anyone and anything she encounters. The movie made its world premiere in May 2022 as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight section, where it received positive reviews from critics.