That’s not all folks! From Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons” comes THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE, a brand new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history–Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This  richly-crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully-animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world. Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)… that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process. Featuring the voices of acclaimed actors Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, and Laraine Newman with the laugh-out-loud gags, vibrant visuals, and beloved characters that make the Looney Tunes so timeless and iconic. Director, co-executive producer   and co-writer Pete Browngardt stops by to talk about his own journey through the world of animated filmmaking and personal fandom that includes his admiration for the genius of of Mel Blanc, working with the new generation of very gifted animation voice actors that includes, Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, and the joy of bringing the Looney Tunes characters to a new generation of filmgoers.

For more go to: ketchupentertainment.com

About the filmmaker – Director & Executive Producer Pete Browngardt is the director of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. Prior to the movie, Browngardt served as the executive producer of the award-winning Looney Tunes Cartoons. He was the creator and executive producer of the Emmy® Award winning series Uncle Grandpa as well as creator of the Annecy and Emmy® Award winning series Secret Mountain Fort Awesome. Previous credits also include work on a number of Cartoon Network shows including Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, and Adventure Time. Pete studied character animation at CalArts and began working professionally on Futurama at age 19, followed by Industrial Light & Magic and MTV Animation.

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94% on RottenTomatoes

“The film’s open affection for the Looney Tunes franchise has a restorative quality.” – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

“It’s the prettiest animated movie Warner Bros. has released since ‘The Iron Giant,’ which would make for a formidable double feature.” – William Bibbiani, TheWrap

“[This] new feature ably captures the Looney Tunes spirit, which is something our world can always use more of — and which is a far more formidable endeavor than might at first seem.” – Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture

“[T]he film captures the manic, creative spirit of these characters.” – Mark Dujsik, Mark Reviews Movies

“The Day the Earth Blew Up is a crazy unique take on alien invasion and zombie films. The eye-popping animation is gorgeous and glorious. It captures the magic of the classics while delivering something entirely fresh and worthwhile.” – Chris Sawin, Bounding Into Comics

BOB TREVINO LIKES IT is inspired by the true friendship that writer/director Tracie Laymon found with a stranger when looking for her father online. Often playing the role of caretaker to people like her father who should be caring for her, Lily Trevino longs for a familial connection, having been abandoned by her mother as a child and then suddenly by her father in her twenties. Often playing the role of caretaker to people like her father, who should be caring for her, Lily Trevino longs for familial connection. When her father, Robert, finally checks out of her life, Lily looks for him on the internet. She tries to “friend” a man she believes is her father on Facebook. But instead of finding Robert Trevino, she finds Bob Trevino instead. Bob Trevino works long, hours at a construction company to support his wife Jeanie’s elaborate scrapbooking habit. The couple has endured a lot in the past decade, and Bob has prioritized his wife’s healing to the  point of ignoring his feelings and sense of loneliness. When Bob gets an unexpected Facebook message from a stranger named Lily Trevino, he discerns she needs a friend as much as he does.  Lily and Bob’s blossoming friendship becomes a vital source of connection and healing in both their lives. Bob’s small acts of fatherly kindness fill a familial void in Lily’s life and hold the power to change her direction forever. In their own ways, these two must both learn they are worthy of extraordinary love exemplified through small acts of kindness. Director / writer Tracie Laymon joins us for a conversation on her journey as a filmmaker, gathering together a great ensemble cast that includes Barbie Ferriera, John Leguizamo, French Stewart, Lauren “Lolo” Spencer, and Rachel Bay Jones and sharing the feedback she has gotten from hundreds of filmgoers eager to share their own stories of familial trauma, neglect and abuse, as well as  reconciliation and forgiveness and the bushel of awards that the film has received during its festival run.

For more go to: bobtrevinolikesit.com

About the filmmaker – Named to IFC’s “Icons and Film Innovators”, Tracie Laymon is an independent writer and director hailing from Houston and Austin, Texas. Tracie moved to Russia at 14 and attended the American School of Moscow. Back in Houston, she was accepted into the magnet program at Bellaire Foreign Language Academy, focusing on Russian language studies, and later returned to Moscow as a foreign exchange student. At 17, she survived a near-fatal accident and learned to walk again through an extended period of intense rehabilitation. While studying at the University of Texas, Tracie interned for Richard Linklater’s company Detour Film (“Boyhood”, “Dazed and Confused”), worked as a photographer and video journalist for Time Warner News, and directed multiple short films and award-winning music videos in the Austin area. Tracie’s directorial projects have won jury awards at SXSW and many other festivals and competitions. She received a grant to make a segment of the women’s anthology film “Girls!Girls!Girls!”, starring Elaine Hendrix and Octavia Spencer, and won the Jury Award for Short Film of the Year from the Women’s Image Network. Her original scripted material has also won and placed highly in over twenty competitions– Best Screenplay at the LA Comedy Festival, Best TV Pilot at HollyShorts, and Runner-up at the annual Scriptapalooza competition, and more. Tracie directed the the first half hour series for Hulu “Goodnight Burbank”, featuring Dominic Monaghan, which was further acquired by Mark Cuban for HDNet. She also wrote and directed “Mixed Signals”, which premiered at Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts in 2018 and won her multiple awards for Best Director in 2018 and 2019 (Women Texas Film Festival, Independent Shorts Awards, and The Method Fest in Beverly Hills.). Tracie also directed a comedic and dramatic proof of concept pilot project for Tess Allen’s “Matched” and shadowed as observing director on Showtime’s “Shameless”. She also taught animation for several organizations including Ghetto Film School and live action filmmaking on the Stanford and Berkeley campuses. Her short film “Ghosted” garnered Best Director awards at Big Bear Film Summit, Big Sur Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival and the Hollywood Gold Awards. It also won Best Short Film and Best Writer at Seattle, the audience award for Best Short Film at Big Bear Film Summit and many more. Tracie is a passionate and fierce advocate for cast and crew with disabilities, in front of and behind the camera. Tracie’s debut feature “Bob Trevino Likes It” starring Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo World Premiered at SXSW 2024, where it was awarded both the Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. It went on to win 25 other film festival awards, including 13 Audience Awards for Best Feature. To find out more go to: laymonsterms.com

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94% on RottenTomatoes

“With a hat trick of strong performances from Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, and French Stewart, this wonderfully personal story is filled to the brim with a seemingly endless reservoir of laughs and tears.” – Aidan Kelley, Collider

“Like its heroine, the comedy can be bright and bouncy and frequently funny. But also like her, it’s secretly a tearjerker, and never more effectively than when it’s at its very sweetest.” – Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter

“This film embraces a hopeful path, expressing with absolute sincerity that believing in the humanity of others is essential to healing.” – Ferdosa Abdi, Screen Rant

“The ensemble cast is exceptional together, bringing Tracie Laymon’s sweet/bittersweet story to life without sentimentality, bringing every viewer along on their emotional journey.” – Leslie Combemale. AWFJ.org

“Writer/director Tracie Laymon takes this potentially silly premise and grounds it with humor and emotion, making it one of the most moving movies I have seen in years.” – Seth Freilich, Pajiba

“This film deservedly won SXSW’s grand jury prize for its commitment to endearing characters and the surprising ways in which they find each other.” – Abe Friedtanzer, Cinema Daily US

WHO BY FIRE begins opens with a plane landing on a lake for a friendly getaway at a secluded log cabin in the forest, but quickly becomes the site of escalating, multi-generational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage (Genesis, New Directors/New Films). Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film director Blake Cadieux (Arieh Worthalter, 2024 César winner for Best Actor for The Goldman Case) and his longtime friend and former collaborator Albert Gary (Paul Ahmarani), the vacation gradually becomes something far more complex and less stable, especially with the combustible admixture of Albert’s teen son’s best friend, Jeff (Noah Parker), and Albert’s self-asserting daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré). Long-simmering middle-aged resentments surface, set against the anxieties of the young, all captured sensitively by Lesage, who in recent years has proven unparalleled in evoking the psychological contours of teenagers finding their paths through treacherous emotional landscapes. Featuring thrillingly choreographed dinner sequences of mounting tension, WHO BY FIRE confirms Lesage as a major contemporary filmmaker, with its assured tonal negotiation of the naturalistic and the oneiric, the joyous (especially an epic dance interlude to The B-52s) and the ominous. Director and writer Philippe Lesage stops by for a spirited conversation on male toxicity, simmering rivalry, sexual anxiety, betrayal, erratic canoeing and wine swapping.

For more go to: kimstim.com/who-by-fire

WHO BY FIRE opens March 14th at NY’s Film at Lincoln Center and March 21st at LA’s Laemmle Theatres followed by a national release courtesy of KimStim: To watch go to: kimstim.com/who-by-fire  

About the filmmaker – Canadian director, screenwriter, producer, photographer and actor Philippe Lesage was born in Saint-Agapit (Quebec) in 1977. He worked as a Film teacher at the European Film College in Denmark. He directed the documentary films ‘Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble?’ (2006), ‘How Can You Tell If the Little Fish Are Happy’ (2009), ‘Ce coeur qui bat’ (2010, which harvested the Jutra Award for Best Documentary) and ‘Laylou’ (2012), before debuting in fiction with the feature film ‘Copenhagen: A Love Story’ (2015). That same year he participated in the Official Section of the San Sebastian Festival with ‘The Demons’, which was later invited to more than 60 international festivals. ‘The Demons’ won the San Francisco Golden Gate Award, was included in the TIFF top ten, and was named one of the top ten films of 2015 by ‘Variety’. In 2018, he directed ‘Genesis’. Premiered at the Locarno Festival in the international competition, the film has won numerous awards including the Golden Wolf (Festival of New Cinema, Montreal), the Best Film and Best Director Awards at the Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain) and the Best Film prize at the Los Cabos Film Festival (Mexico). His latest film, Who By Fire, won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury, Best Film at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival. 

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84% on RottenTomatoes

“Lesage demonstrates a keen eye for nuance and meditative mise-en-scène, even as he eventually leads us to some explosive and wrenching events, where tables are turned and expectations reversed.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“Lesage supplies exemplary tension and intrigue over the course of two plus hours, while at the same time suggesting to the viewer, accurately, that anything in the way of a definitive resolution is not in the cards.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“Lesage’s characters may talk a lot, but because he avoids exposition, he ends up overloading the story with dramatically heightened episodes.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times

“All three younger actors are terrific, with the ebullient Arandi-Longpré standing out as a teenage girl who refuses to be hemmed in by the bruised male egos surrounding her.” – Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“Lesage underlines his ability to carve a semblance of a horror movie from everyday domestic drama — confirming him as a filmmaker of considerable grace and daring.” – Guy Lodge, Variety

“Despite its unassuming scenario, Lesage orchestrates these various storylines like a conductor, slowly bringing each story into a solo before unleashing their collective sounds in a symphony.” – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com

Carson Lund’s feature film debut, EEPHUS, focuses on two recreational baseball teams, the River Dogs and Adler’s Paint. The two teams have been meeting on their New England field on Sunday afternoons for longer than anyone can remember. These middle-aged sportsmen can’t run as fast as they used to or connect as reliably with a pitch, but their vigorous appetite for socializing, squabbling, and busting chops remains  undiminished. After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators. As day turns to night and innings bleed together, the players face the uncertainty of a new era. Lovingly laid in a vanished Massachusetts of the mid-1990s, Carson Lund’s poignant feature  debut plays like a lazy afternoon, perfectly attuned to the rhythms of America’s eternal pastime. Named for a rarely-deployed curveball, Eephus is both a ribald comedy for the baseball connoisseur and a movie for anyone who’s ever lamented their community slipping away. Director and writer Carson Lund stops by to talk about his own personal connection to this story, baseball in New Hampshire, mortality, this being his feature film debut, casting Eephus aficionado Bill “Spaceman” Lee, casting legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, and explaining what in the hell an eeuphus is?

For more go to: eephusfilm.com

To watch, go to: musicboxfilms.com/eephus

About the filmmaker – Carson Lund was born in Nashua, New Hampshire and currently resides in Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Production from Emerson College. He has worked extensively as a director, editor and cinematographer on various narrative and commercial projects, and currently shoots and cuts online and broadcast work for a wide range of clients at Razorfish, one of the world’s leading digital ad agencies. His debut feature as a DP and producer is Ham on Rye(2019), directed by Tyler Taormina and now available on Amazon Prime. Apart from filmmaking, Carson is a film writer for Slant Magazine and the Harvard Film Archive. He is also the frontman of LA-based chamber pop duo Mines Falls and the former frontman of indie rock band Old Abram Brown.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Eephus isn’t exactly a baseball movie — it’s something closer to movie-baseball, where characters endlessly jostle back and forth under no real time constraints, watching the day slowly pass them by, simply out of love for the sport.” – Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“Has about it a mournful, lightly absurd poetry of the mundane, a rapt attention to the intimacy of transience and the meanings we make from relics and rituals of a time we’re passing through.” – Isaac Feldberg, RogerEbert.com

“Carson Lund treats the power of a shared interest with profound, elegiac empathy.” – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

“Lund’s new film is one of the best discoveries in the Directors’ Fortnight line-up at Cannes 2024. I’m glad I took the time to sit down and watch this one – and hopefully other baseball fans will feel the same way.” – Alex Billington, FirstShowing.net

“This thoroughly charming film is a paean to community, male friendship and a way of life slowly being lost, a comedy steeped in nostalgia which sends its players off into the darkness like the ghosts of “Field of Dreams.’” – Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

“Eephus is the best sports movie in years.” – Alex Papaioannou, InSession Film

Director Atom Egoyan’s (The Sweet Hereafter) latest work follows an earnest theatre director Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried) as she is preparing for the daunting task of remounting her former mentor’s most famous work, the opera “Salome”. Haunted by dark and disturbing memories from her past, Jeanine allows her repressed trauma to color the present as she re-enters the opera world after so many years away. Egoyan first directed the opera, Salome, in 1996, the first opera in what would be many to come over his career. Best known as a prominent film director since the 1980s, Egoyan has proven he is a master of both mediums. “I’ve been involved with opera for a number of years, doing it parallel to my film work. I always wondered if there was a way to bring the two worlds together”. More recently, Egoyan was interested in exploring what the production of Salome would mean in our current culture. This interest led him to write the script for SEVEN VEILS, about a remount of Salome that he ffilmed at the same time the opera was on stage, using the opera singers from Salome in the film. Director / Producer / Screenwriter Atom Egoyan joins us to talk about his fascination with this complicated Biblical tale, the more recent history of a contemporary update by Oscar Wilde and the re-interpreted version by composer Richard Strauss, working with a stellar cast led by a stand out performance by Amanda Seyfried and how modern themes around cultural appropriation, identity politics and sensitivities to sexual misconduct in his remount of Salome permeate this contemporary and compelling version, SEVEN VEILS.

For more go to: variancefilms.com/seven-veils

About the filmmaker – Writer/Director Atom Egoyan is one of the most celebrated contemporary filmmakers on the international scene. His body of work – which includes theatre, music, and art installations – delves into issues of memory, displacement, and the impact of technology and media on modern life.  Egoyan has won numerous prizes at international film festivals including the Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes Film Festival, two Academy Award® nominations, and numerous other honours. His films have won twenty-five Genies – including three Best Film Awards – and a prize for Best International Film Adaptation from The Frankfurt Book Fair. Egoyan’s films have been presented in numerous retrospectives across the world, including a complete career overview at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, followed by similar events at the Filmoteca Espagnol in Madrid, the Museum of The Moving Image in New York, and the Royal Cinematek in Brussels. Adoration won the Ecumenical Jury Award after premiering in Competition in Cannes, and Chloe was selected as Opening Night Premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. With three major prizes at Cannes, two Academy Award® nominations, and unanimously positive reviews, THE SWEET HEREAFTER is widely regarded as the most acclaimed English- Canadian film ever made. Devil’s Knot premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. The Captive, starring Ryan Reynolds, Mireille Enos, Scott Speedman, and Rosario Dawson, was released to great box-office success. Egoyan’s feature, Remember, starring Christopher Plummer premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released worldwide in 2015/16.  Egoyan returned to the theatre with his successful production of Richard Strauss’s SALOME, premiered by The Canadian Opera Company in 1996, and later presented by Houston Grand Opera and Vancouver Opera, before being remounted by the C.O.C. in 2002 and again in 2013. His original opera, ELSEWHERELESS, with music by Rodney Sharman, received over 30 performances throughout Canada, and was nominated for six Dora Awards. In 1998, Egoyan directed the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’ DR. OX’S EXPERIMENT for English National Opera in London, and also directed Richard Wagner’s DIE WALKÜRE as part of the Canadian Premiere of The Ring Cycle, winning the Dora Award for Outstanding Production. In 2015, his production of DIE WALKÜRE swept the Dora Awards with nine nominations, with Egoyan winning for Best Direction. Egoyan was honoured with a 2016 Opera Canada Award (Rubie) for Film and Stage Direction.  On the occasion of Samuel Beckett’s Centenary Celebration in 2006, Egoyan’s critically acclaimed interpretation of Beckett’s EH JOE starring Michael Gambon and Penelope Wilton, was presented by The Gate Theatre in Dublin, later transferring to London’s West End (where The Sunday Times proclaimed it, ‘the greatest half-hour in theatrical history’), and was then remounted with Liam Neeson as part of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in 2008.  For this production, he won The Irish Times/ESB Award for Best Direction. Egoyan’s original production of Mozart’s COSÌ FAN TUTTE with the Canadian Opera Company was first performed in 2014, then remounted in 2019 by both the COC and Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. In 2018, Egoyan mounted a theatrically-staged version of Alexander Zemlinsky’s LYRIC SYMPHONY combining the first movements of Alban Berg’s LYRIC SUITE. After the acclaimed production of Janáček’s JENŮFA at Pacific Opera Victoria in 2017, Egoyan returns to direct Benjamin Britten’s DEA TH IN VENICE in 2021.

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73% on RottenTomatoes

“Essentially serving as a constant spectator, looking in on both the production and her own tangled life, Seyfriend impressively conveys a myriad of tamped-down, long-repressed emotions with an economy of dialogue at her disposal.” – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

“A fascinating film about appropriation – not cultural but personal, the morally dubious territory in which the artist takes your trauma and spins it into gold.” – Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail

“Seven Veils is far from the first film to explore how art imitates life, but Atom Egoyan’s take on a familiar theme is so feverish that one can’t help being swept up in its mad vision.” – Tim Grierson, Screen International

“Amanda Seyfried gives a dynamic, complex performance as an opera director grappling with trauma in her past and present.” – Emily Zemler, Observer

“[Atom Egoyan] could have simply filmed his latest Canadian Opera Company remounting of “Salome,” a visceral Bible extrapolation… Instead he chose to make fresh drama out of it, syncing his screen and stage passions to mesmerizing effect.” – Peter Howell, Toronto Star

In this follow-up to her award-winning film THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY, Film Independent Spirit Awards nominee filmmaker Morrisa Maltz’s latest project, JAZZY, is an intimate portrait of Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux, a young Oglala Lakota girl growing up in Spearfish, South Dakota, from the ages of six to twelve. When Jazzy finds out her best friend Syriah (Syriah Fool Head Means) is moving, she is confronted with the pains of growing up and the realities of the adult world. JAZZY was shot over 6 years and overall, is a portrait of growing up, from a young  girl into teenage-hood. The film is fictional but also written by Jazzy and her friend Syriah as they developed over the years and shared their experiences with us — as life happened to them. Jazzy and her peer group have dazzled us with the poetry of growing up and their ability to story tell as collaborators and actors in this film. The film explores the lives and ever-changing relationships of their peer group as they leave the dreamlike world of childhood behind. Director and co-writer Morrisa Maltz joins us for a conversation on how the idea for JAZZY fell into place during the filming of THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY, seeing the  natural ability of Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux blossom, trusting that the chemistry between Jasmine and Syriah Fool Head Means would come across on the screen and knowing that she had a terrific production team that includes Lily Gladstone, Mark Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Jay Duplass, Jason Beck, and Bill Way to carry her across the finish line.

For more go to: vert-ent.com/films/jazzy

About the filmmaker – Morrisa Maltz is an artist and filmmaker. She holds a degree in Fine Art from Columbia University. Her work has been shown at MOCA, MCASB and galleries internationally. Morrisa’s first feature documentary, INGRID, premiered on PBS in 2019 and is distributed by Grasshopper Films. INGRID was a 2018 ”Festival Gem,” and featured on Hammer to Nail’s top 20 films of 2018 as well as featured in articles by The Sundance Institute and Movie Maker Magazine. Her first fiction feature, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY, stars Lily Gladstone (lead in Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of The Flower Moon) and premiered at SXSW 2022. The film was hailed by Indiewire as ”A Stunning Spiritual Companion to Terrance Malick and Nomadland,” and was recently released theatrically to rave reviews by Music Box Films. After the film’s theatrical release Lily Gladstone won the 2023 Gotham Award for Outstanding Lead performance in the film. Morrisa was nominated for Mill Valley Film Festival’s Mind The Gap prize in 2022 Creation Prize, and the 2024 John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award. JAZZY, Morrisa’s second narrative feature will be premiering at Tribeca in June. Morrisa is represented by UTA and Color Creative. 

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95% on RottenTomatoes

“It’s a coming-of-age drama where the way everything is shot and paced feels like we are looking back on the fragmented memories of childhood that are at risk of fading.” – Chase Hutchinson, Collider

“This is a filmmaker who knows how to tell story by showing it, and by trusting her audience to come along for the ride. How rare that has become these days.” – Kate Erbland, indieWire

“It’s just wonderful. It put me in the mind of Andrea Arnold’s films.” – Tim Cogshell, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

“While the film progresses to show these girls entering the next phase of growing up, it still allows them the space to regress into being silly girls with one another when they want to…Jazzy is a film about dipping your toes into the next phase of life.” – Hayley Croke, Loud and Clear Reviews

“Maltz directs Jazzy with love at its fore: Jazzy and Syriah’s love for each other and Maltz’s dedication to her protagonist who over the years has become family. The irrepressible spirit of Jazzy forms a uniquely charming and poetic coming of age tale.” – Nadine Whitney, AWFJ.org

Director Halfdan Ullman Tøndel’s ARMAND follows defamed actress Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve) into a parent-teacher meeting after hours, she is presented with scathing allegations that trigger a tangled web of accusations between parents and faculty. As Elisabeth struggles to uncover the truth amid the empty school rooms and dark corridors, a chaotic fight for redemption arises where desire, madness and obsession prevail. It’s a dreary, sweltering early summer day, and within the confines of this Norwegian primary school, the adults are talking, and talking. Though they periodically recess in an effort to deflate the situation’s palpable tensions, these breaks allow for the characters to try to hash out their offscreen histories. Tøndel creates a very specific kind of tension and claustrophobia that becomes increasingly more difficult to escape. Truth or lie? Victim or abuser? Guilty or innocent? Play or violence? The story explores the murky boundaries between what’s right and wrong honing in on the conflicting notions as to what actually happened are so close to each other.  Director / Writer Halfdan Ullman Tøndel and Lead Actor / Executive Producer Renate Reinsve join us for a lively conversation on how their collaborative process provided Reinsve an opportunity  deepen her exploration of Elisabeth’s crippling trauma and Tøndel with the roadmap to a complex social / psychological enigma.

For more go to: ifcfilms.com/films/armand

Norway’s Official Selection for 2025 Oscar® Best International Feature

Winner, Golden Camera, Cannes Film Festival

Nominee, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival

Nominee, European Actress, European Film Awards

Nominee, Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director, Directors Guild of America

About the filmmaker – Writer / Director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel studied directing at Westerdals School of Arts. He made his debut with the short film BIRD HEARTS (2015), which premiered in Karlovy Vary and won the ‘Golden Chair’ award at the Grimstad Short Film Festival in 2016. It was nominated for an Amanda award, and was selected on Cineuropa’s list of the best European short films that year. In 2017, he made the short film FANNY, which premiered in Aspen and was also nominated for an Amanda award, as well as making the same list of Europe’s best short films. Both films have been screened at festivals around the world.  In 2024 his debut feature ARMAND, starring Renate Reinsve and Ellen Dorrit Petersen, premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. 

About the filmmaker – Executive Producer / Lead actor Renate Reinsve made her huge breakout with the role of Julie in the critically acclaimed film THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD. The film premiered in the main competition at Cannes in 2021, and Renate won the award for Best Actress. The film was later nominated for two Oscars, and two BAFTAs, one of which was for Best Female Lead. The Norwegian actress’s performances has received universal acclaim, as critics commend her natural charisma, emotional depth, and captivating presence on screen. Some of her recent projects releasing this year includes; A DIFFERENT MAN (2024) and HANDLING THE UNDEAD (2024), as well as the upcoming Apple+ series PRESUMED INNOCENT (2024) and the highly anticipated ARMAND (2024), which debuted at the 2024 UnCertain Regard at Cannes. 

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75% on RottenTomatoes

“Why oh why was Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve never a part of the 2025 awards season conversation? Justly lauded for her turn in 2021’s “The Worst Person in the World,” Reinsve delivers an even more complex performance here. – Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

“Reinsve, as Elisabeth, seems like she is in a different universe from everyone else in the school, which is both the point and appropriate to the character.” – Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

“In Reinsve’s crumbling visage, we bear witness to what happens when the lives we delicately build threaten to chip and shatter before our eyes.” -TheWrap

“A fiercely visceral presence; Reinsve performs as if dancing on the edge of a knife.” – RogerEbert.com

“Armand is the best performance of her career so far […] from obstinate and defensive to levels of psychic meltdown.” – indieWire

“The film starts by promising a social drama about secrets and lies, suspicions and rivalries, and the troubled waters of juvenile and adult sexuality. What it ultimately becomes is much harder to define, but the result is resonant and haunting. “- Screen International

In this formally inventive historical drama, acclaimed American filmmaker Rob Tregenza explores the moral complexities of World War II and the permutations of history and its representation. Set in occupied Norway, THE FISHING PLACE follows Anna (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), a housekeeper who arrives to work for a German priest in rural Telemark. As the priest grapples with his faith amid the corruption of power, Anna navigates her own secrets through clandestine meetings with a local SS officer. Known for his masterful debut Talking to Strangers (1988)—which caught Jean-Luc Godard’s attention and led to their collaboration on Inside/Out (1997)—Tregenza brings his distinctive visual style to this nuanced exploration of war’s impact. Director Rob Tregenza, varied career includes his work as cinematographer for Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), employs his characteristic philosophical depth to challenge conventional war narratives, crafting both a powerful meditation on human nature and a meta-commentary on cinema itself. Rob Tregenza’s Gavagai had its US theatrical release in 2018. “Cinema,” as Scorsese tells it, “is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.” Tregenza’s approach to the long take traps the echoes of what exits the frame, and suggests its inevitable return. During a reel-length shot, his characters routinely enter and exit multiple times, constantly exerting gravitational force on the center. As he shifts gracefully across hospitals and desolate gas stations, space and time unfold on screen in tandem, offering themselves up for consideration and interrogation. Director / writer / cinematographer Rob Tregenza joins us for a lively conversation on his distinctive approach to filmmaking, working with Jean-Luc Godard, Norway’s role in World War Two and his latest, beautifully rendered film The Fishing Place.  

For more go to: gavagaifilm.com/the-fishing-place

THE FISHING PLACE will have its North American theatrical premiere at MoMA in New York City on February 6, and will open at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on March 7th. Other cities will follow. Director Rob Tregenza in person on February 6 after the 6:30pm screening at MoM

About the filmmaker – Transcendent formalism meets messy humanism in the work of East Coast independent Rob Tregenza. His audacious first feature,  Talking to Strangers—nine 10-minute sequences, each shot in a single take—galvanized the 1988 Berlin International Film Festival, gathering admirers including Jean-Luc Godard, who helped Tregenza make his third feature,  Inside/Out (1997). In his essay “Cinq Lettres a et sur Rob Tregenza,” Godard described Tregenza’s work as “remarkable and at times astonishing, that is, softly imbued with the marvelous.” This retrospective will include all four of Tregenza’s features, along with a sampling of his work as a cinematographer (for Bela Tarr, Alex Cox, Claude Miller, and others). As a testament to Tregenza’s multidisciplinary approach (director, writer, cinematographer and editor), Thinking with Cinema will include the world premiere of a new 35mm print of Inside/Out in addition to North American premieres for brand new prints of Talking to Strangers and The Arc, made directly from the original 35mm camera negatives and supervised by the filmmaker.

78% on RottenTomatoes

“The most intriguing figure in “The Fishing Place” is, in a manner of speaking, Tregenza, who throughout the film continuously draws attention to his camerawork, as he plays with the palette and different registers of realism.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times

“Working on a relatively low budget, in isolation from Hollywood, Tregenza displays a virtuosity that is fully integrated into his comprehensive cinematic vision, his finely imagined re-creation of history, and his long-gestating complex of ideas.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“The film’s particular genius lies in a very consistent use of off-screen space.” – Zach Lewis, Slant Magazine

“War dramas can so easily stay inside of a box, something that THE FISHING PLACE seems actively bent on rebelling against. Simply for that reason, Trezenga’s film is worthy of consideration and conversation.” – Joshua Stevens, Loud and Clear

Angela Madsen’s life reads like a parable of resilience; beginning with the backstory of her childhood as a closeted gay woman, to a botched surgery during her time in the Marine Corps that left her paralyzed and homeless, to her remarkable rise to adaptive sports superstar as a three-time Paralympian and fourteen-time Guinness World Record holder, and finally to her attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean alone. ROW OF LIFE focuses on Angela’s incredible story and bond to her life partner, Deb, as they prepare for her final ocean crossing. In April 2020, Angela set off solo and unassisted in her 20’ ocean rowing boat, Row of Life, affixed with everything needed to be self-reliant for 100 days, across 2,500 miles of open ocean, from Los Angeles to Hawaii. ROW OF LIFE is a documentary about a promise made and ultimately kept, of what love does beyond the limitations of death, and how even when an ending is radically different than what was expected, it offers us unique lessons of resilience, grit, hope, and determination against all odds. Director Soraya Simi (Get Lifted) joins us for a conversation on getting to know Angela, Deb and her supporter and how this experience has impacted her own life, as well as the experience of working with Sue Bird, Tina Tozzi, Jess Robertson, Loren Hammonds, Amanda Alpert Muscat, Nicolas Weissman, and Jaime Chew.

For more go to: rowoflifefilm.com

Support @ filmindependent.org/sponsored-projects/row-of-life

About the subject – Angela Madsen was an American Paralympian sportswoman in both rowing and track and field. In a long career, Madsen moved from race rowing to ocean challenges before switching in 2011 to athletics, winning a bronze medal in the shot put at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Madsen and teammate Helen Taylor were the first women to row across the Indian Ocean.

About the filmmaker – Soraya Simi is an award-winning independent filmmaker, published writer, and entrepreneur. Her strength lies in Directing, Producing, and Writing for film and television, with extensive experience in commercial work. Immediately graduating from USC Film School, Soraya embarked on her first feature documentary, ROW OF LIFE, which follows the story of Paralympian and Marine Veteran Angela Madsen and her harrowing solo row across the Pacific Ocean. It is Executive Produced by Sue Bird and co-produced with TOGETHXR and TIME Studios and is released in early 2025.  Her next project is a true crime docu-series about a wrongful conviction based in her hometown, Tucson, for which she is both a Co-Director and Executive Producer. It is Executive Produced by John Legend, co-produced with GET LIFTED, and currently in production. Soraya also runs a local membership-based organization in the Central Coast, 805 Film Collective, which offers events, jobs, and resources to the thriving local film community to help generate high-quality local film work. She is a published writer, with long-form essays in OUTSIDE magazine, The Sun, a plethora of surf and adventure publications, and is currently writing her first novel.

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Reviews:

“Angela Madsen’s journey is full of inspiration, love, and greatness while overcoming extreme challenges.” – Jason Delgado, Film Threat

Director Ash Avildesen’s Queen of the Ring is based on the true story of Mildred Burke. In a time when women’s pro wrestling was illegal, a small-town single mother risked everything to change the sport forever—becoming the first million-dollar female athlete in history. She is overall a three-time women’s world champion under different incarnations and recognitions. Burke’s heyday lasted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, when she held the NWA World Women’s Champion for almost twenty years. Burke started out in 1935,  wrestling men at carnivals. In the 1930s, Burke wrestled over 200 men, but only lost to one of them. She was managed by her second husband, promoter Billy Wolfe. She is a charter member of WWE Hall of Fame’s Legacy Wing, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. The film is written, directed and co-produced by Ash Avildsen. Avildsen was inspired tp make the film after reading the book The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend by Jeff Leen, and Burke’s own manuscripts. Director Ash Avildsen stops by to talk about the long time between reading the inspiring book about Burke and the production of Queen of the Ring, getting a terrific performance from the lead actor Emily Bett Rickards and working with a sterling cast of performers that includes Josh Lucas, Marie Avgeropoulos, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood, Deborah Ann Woll and Gavin Casalegno

For more go to: queenofthering.movie

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Reviews:

“Hugely entertaining…The film stars Emily Bett Rickards in a breakout performance…The wrestling sequences are particularly visceral…The film looks terrific…The acting proves consistently powerful… But it’s ultimately Rickards, who handles the intense physical and emotional demands of her role with consummate skill, that give the film its heart and soul.” – Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter 

“Ash Avildsen’s Queen of the Ring is a must-see for lovers of sports films, biopics, and period piece media.” – Ethan Padgett, Film Threat

“Queen of the Ring gives Burke full credit as a force who changed women’s wrestling forever and is well worth seeking out for wrestling fans and newcomers alike.” – Carmen Paddock, MovieJawn

“Queen of the Ring excels in matching the feel of the era, from the way the wrestlers dress, to the look of the wrestling show, with the design and cinematography making you feel like you were dropped into a world that’s now nearly a century gone by.” – Shawn Van Horn, Collider

“Enormously entertaining, genuinely heartfelt and empowering triumph that deserves to become a new classic sports movie.” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

Director Michelle Smawley’s illuminating documentary film, Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP  goes a long way towards resurrecting one of the more significant figures of the early civil rights era, NAACP leader Walter White. While many consider the birth of the civil rights movement to b 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, the stage had been set decades before by activists of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Some of the NAACP leaders are familiar, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Thurgood Marshall, but Walter White, head of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, has been all but forgotten. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Walter White looked white; he described himself as “an enigma, a Black man occupying a white body.”  Like virtually all light-skinned African Americans of his day, White was descended from enslaved Black women and powerful white men. But he was Black — by law, identity, and conviction and spent his entire life fighting for Black civil rights.  Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP traces, successes  of this neglected civil rights hero and seeks to explain his disappearance from our history. Director Michelle Smawley joins us to talk about lesser known but highly influential leader who’s life work galvanized a generation of powerful writers, journalist, jurist, organizers and clergy who challenged America’s political and institutional bigotry.

For more go to: pbs.org/americanexperience/forgotten-hero-walter-white-and-naacp

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP

Premieres Tuesday, February 25, 2025

on PBS and Streaming on PBS.org

About the filmmaker – Veteran director Michelle Smawley most recently ran a year-long series for a statewide initiative for WNET. She was responsible for launching long form and documentary series programming. She was the founding Executive Producer for TRAX, the first podcast network for preteens. The network launched on PRX and was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. TRAX earned nominations from The Webbys, The Ambies and the 2021 Peabody Awards. Smawley is an award-winning director, series developer and educator. She has worked with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, Sundance, HBO, NowThis, SONY Pictures, National Geographic and many others. Smawley is an adjunct professor at NYU. She has also served on the faculty of the Missouri School of Journalism and the Graduate Program in Social Documentary at the School of Visual Arts. She attended the graduate journalism program at the University of Missouri and earned a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.

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STOCKADE tells the story of Ahlam, a struggling Lebanese artist in New York City who takes a job delivering a package upstate, only to open a Pandora’s box. In this updated meditation on the pursuit of the American dream, Ahlam finds herself in dire financial straits and desperate to come by the funds to extend her artist’s visa. When she is offered a job to deliver a mysterious package upstate, Ahlam believes she has found a solution. Upon her arrival in the Hudson Valley, Ahlam encounters shady characters and quirky neighbors as she is unwittingly drawn into the world of ancient artifact trafficking. Every step of the way, STOCKADE keeps viewers guessing, and with its naturalistic yet expressionistic aesthetic, this noir thriller makes a unique addition to the crime genre. STOCKADE had its World Premiere at the 2023 Woodstock Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Ultra Indie Award. STOCKADE was produced by Anna Sang Park, Eric McGinty and Adam Vazquez. The cast features Sarah Bitar, Bahar Beihaghi and Guy de Lancey. Director and writer Eric McGinty (Wallabout) stops by to talk about his personal experience in the world of fine art and how that became an inspiration to create an ‘immigrant film noir,’ where characters and situations that are underrepresented in most mainstream films are instead at the center of STOCKADE

For more go to: veroniquefilms.com/stockade

STOCKADE will be available on all North American digital HD internet, cable and satellite platforms, as well as on DVD, on February 25, 2025 via Freestyle Digital Media. 

Awards:

Best Narrative Feature – Queens World Film Festival – 2024
Best Female Actor Narrative Feature – Sarah Bitar – Queens World Film Festival 

Nominations:

Best Narrative Feature – Queens World Film Festival – 2024

Best Director Narrative Feature – Queens World Film Festival – 2024

Best Female Actor – Feature – Queens World Film Festival – 2024

Best Ensemble Feature –  Queens World Film Festival – 2024

Best Narrative Feature Screenplay – Queens World Film Festival – 2024

About the filmmaker – Eric McGinty’s first feature, Wallabout, won the Best Narrative Feature Award at the 2015 Bushwick Film Festival and the Best Personal Narrative Award at the 2014 Manhattan Film Festival. In 2016, Wallabout had a theatrical release for a month at the venerable Paris art house, Cinéma Saint-André des Arts, where the esteemed film magazine, Positif, gave it 4 stars. As a first assistant director, Eric often collaborated with French directors who were shooting films in the US, including Cédric Klapisch, Luc Besson, Olivier Nakache/Eric Toledano and Rachid Bouchareb. Based in Brooklyn, Eric grew up in a bicultural environment, having been raised in Paris and Washington, D.C. by a French mother and an American father. He began his career in Paris working as an actor and stage manager in theater and modern dance. He attended the Sorbonne and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, concentrating his studies in film and literature. In STOCKADE, Eric also plays the role of Richard.

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Reviews:

“Eric McGinty skillfully crafts a thriller reminiscent of taut 1970s cinema,” Patrick Howard, Film Festival Today

“Stockade has a stripped-down Great Expectations quality to it. Blending cloak and dagger with the precarious nature of accepting gifts from phantom benefactors.”  – Kent Hill, Film Threat

Director Gints Zilbalodis’ animated masterpiece, FLOW, the world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal, but as his home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world. A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, FLOW follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. In order to survive and find dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. From the boundless imagination of the award-winning Gints Zilbalodis (Away) comes a  thrilling animated spectacle as well as a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community. Steeped in the soaring possibilities of visual storytelling, FLOW is a feast for the senses and a treasure for the heart. Director Gints Zilbalodis joins us for lively conversation on his remarkably nuanced and soul enriching animated film.

For more go to: flow.movie

ANNECY ANIMATION FESTIVALWinner – Audience Award

Winner – Jury Award

Winner – Special Prize Best Original Music

Winner – Gan Foundation Award

2024 Cannes Film Festival – Official Selection, Un Certain Regard

2024 Toronto International Film Festival – Official Selection

2025 Oscar® Nomination for Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature

About the filmmaker – Gints Zilbalodis (1994) is a Latvian filmmaker and animator. His debut feature film Away which he made entirely by himself won the Best Feature Film Contrechamp Award in Annecy. It has been selected in more than 90 festivals and sold in 18 territories. His fascination for filmmaking began at an early age watching classic films and making shorts. Prior to Away he made 7 short films in various mediums including hand-drawn animation, 3D animation and live-action and often mixing their characteristic aesthetics. Flow is his second animated feature film, having its World premiere at the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. 

About the filmmaker – Matīss Kaža (1995) is a Latvian writer, director and producer. He got his BFA in Film & TV from Tisch School of the Arts in New York, and an MA in Audiovisual & Performing Arts from the Latvian Academy of Culture. He has directed, written and produced a number of internationally recognized Baltic films, and runs the production company Trickster Pictures while also being a lead producer at the animation studio Dream Well Studio. While many of his works have a social  resonance, the primary criteria for his projects is a strong sense of authorship and cinematic vision  that resonates beyond national borders. His latest directed film “Neon Spring” (2022) premiered  in Edinburgh Film Festival and was screened in festivals around the world. Most recently, he  produced “Sisters” (2022, Warsaw Film Festival 1+2 Competition Winner) by Linda Olte, co-  produced “Drowning Dry” (2024, two awards in Locarno Main Competition) by Laurynas Bareiša  and co-wrote and produced “Flow” (2024, Cannes Un Certain Regard, two awards in Annecy Film Festival) by Gints Zilbalodis. When he’s not working in film, Matīss writes and directs for the theatre and works as a lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Culture. 

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98% on  RottenTomatoes

“One of the most moving animated films in recent memory, and, beyond that, groundbreaking too…It’s rare you feel like you’re watching something entirely new.” – Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire

“Simply Stunning. It’s a little like watching the most thrilling nature documentary ever sketched.” – David Fear, Rolling Store

“A joy to experience but also a deeply affecting story, the work of a unique talent who deserves to be ranked among the world’s great animation artists.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“We desperately need more animated features like Flow, movies that lodge themselves in our minds by imagining things we have never seen before and presenting emotions we’re not already expecting to feel. It’s a true masterclass in dialogue-free animation.” – Ryan Guar Discussing Film

“Flow is a work of immense cinematic art… a profound, emphatic, and empathetic experience.” – Nadine Whitney, AWFJ.org

Ripped from her life of domesticity, Santosh, a young widow now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India. Quickly taken under the wing of Sharma, a charismatic and commanding older female inspector, Santosh begins an investigation into a low-caste girl’s brutal murder that plunges her into a gritty world of crime and corruption, forcing her to confront not only the brokenness of the system around her, but her own place within it. Her first major investigation—answering an impoverished father’s plea to find his missing teen daughter, a case no one seems to care about—throws her into an abyss. But it is Shahana Goswami’s immersive, moving performance that brings the audience not only along for the dark truths Santosh discovers but into her thrilling internal transformation. As clues unravel, so too does Santosh’s idea of who she might become in her new reality. Writer / director Sandhya Suri’s story unfold through raw, seamlessly naturalistic storytelling, gliding from atmospheric neo-noir thriller to penetrating social commentary to moving portrait of a woman figuring out how to strike out on her own path, then leveling that path to search for something better. SANTOSH features a quietly devastating performance from Shahanna Goswam. SANTOSH is the United Kingdom’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards®.

For more go to: santoshfilm.com

2025 Oscar® Shortlisted Best International Feature Film – (Great Britain)

About the filmmaker – SANDHYA SURI is a British-Indian writer and director based in London. Her feature documentary I For India premiered in the World Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival, garnering several international awards before being released theatrically to critical acclaim in the UK and the US. In 2017, the British Film Institute commissioned filmmaker Sandhya Suri to trawl through its national archive and direct a documentary drawn from films shot during colonial rule in India. The result was Around India With A Movie Camera, a fascinating and thought-provoking 72-minute chronicle of how the British viewed its empire, and how its subjects returned the gaze. Her first fiction short The Field was produced by Thomes Bidegain and Balthazar de Ganay, won Best International Short Film at TIFF in 2018, and was BAFTA- nominated for Best Short Film in 2019. In 2016 she was selected for both the Sundance Screenwriters’ and Directors’ Lab with her first fiction feature Santosh, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Santosh reveals a world where right and wrong rarely exist in absolutes. Instead, the justice system operates in shades of gray, shaped as much by caste, religion, and gender as by evidence or law.” – Paul Emmanuel Enicola, The Movie Buff

“Writer/director Sandhya Suri – who has a documentary background – is keen to show that everyone plays their part in the prejudices and corruption of the legal system” – Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

“Caste and religion and class and gender are all part of this system, and that’s the broader critique in “Santosh,” which is quite furious by the end.” – Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

“Such a unique take on the police-crime drama, one that introduces us to a brave and strong woman who finds herself having to work within a system that’s not ideal and is greatly biased against women and lower castes.” – Edward Douglas, The Weekend Warrior (Substack)

“Santosh’s brilliance is that it makes us feel culpable — it first has us feel persuaded by the easiness of prejudice, only to afterwards have us see that we have been beguiled.” – Alisha Mughal, Film Daze

Alexis Bloom’s blistering documentary THE BIBI FILES is an urgent journalistic exposé based on unseen leaked footage of police interrogations of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,  as well as his wife Sara and son Yair. The film explores the corruption cases that resulted in Netanyahu’s indictment on breach of trust, bribery, and fraud in 2019.. Many Israelis believe that Netanyahu’s attempts to delay his trial  are key to understanding his current policies regarding war and the return of Israeli hostages. Working with Oscar-winning Producer Alex Gibney, Bloom uses never-seen-before interrogation footage of Netanyahu and his inner circle that provides an unflinching gaze into the private world behind the headlines. In Netanyahu’s corruption, Israel’s far right senses unprecedented political opportunity. Bibi’s embrace of their extremism results in deadly consequences. The Bibi Files has secured distribution in multiple international territories, while the Jerusalem courts rejected the Israeli prime minister’s attempts to block the film. Director Alexis Bloom (Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks) joins us for a frank and informative conversation on the impact and consequences of Netanyahu’s rise to power and his desperate tactics to remain there, at all costs.

For more go to: jolt.film/watch/the-bibi-files

To watch, go to: dogwoof.com/the-bibi-files

2025 Oscar® Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature Film

About the filmmaker – Born in South Africa, Director and Producer Alexis Bloom worked for the National Geographic Channel, BBC World and PBS Frontline in her early career. In 2014, she won the PGA Award for “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” for Universal Pictures. In 2017, Alexis co-directed HBO’s “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds“, nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Directing, and an Emmy for Exceptional Merit. In 2019 she directed “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” (also nominated for an Emmy Award.)  Her last film, “Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg” was released by Magnolia Pictures in May 2024.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“The Bibi Files paints a damning portrait of its subject’s machinations to stay in power.” – Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

“Alexis Bloom’s riveting film — whose producers include prolific documentarist Alex Gibney — is built around leaked footage of Netanyahu, his family and associates testifying to police.” – Jonathan Romney, Financial Times

“Essential viewing.” – Wendy Ide, Observer (UK)

“Beyond the videos, the movie takes a thorough, methodical approach to laying out the case against Netanyahu, even if few of its arguments are new.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

“The brown-envelope claims may not seem important compared with the deaths of 45,000 Palestinians over the past year. As several commentators note, systemic corruption of the type alleged here creates a need for the fog of permanent warfare.” – Tara Brady, Irish Times

“This is a repellent but fascinating portrait that is all too relevant for U.S. viewers, whatever turn our policies in the Middle East take in coming months.” – Dennis Harvey, 48 Hills

Director Moin Hussain feature film debut SKY PEALS tells the complex and cryptic story of Adam Muhammed (Faraz Ayub), a man in his mid-thirties who lives a life of isolation, having carefully constructed a routine that protects him from the unexpected. Upon hearing that his estranged father, Hassan, has died, Adam finds himself thrust out of his static existence in search of answers. As Adam pieces together a strange and complicated image of his father, he learns Hassan, adopted as a child, once told Adam’s uncle that he believed he ‘was sent from somewhere else.’ Adam’s mind is drawn to the strange episodes he has been having, in which he blacks out, beautiful lights appear, and voices beckon him closer. He thinks about his inability to communicate and connect with people and how he’s never fit in with those around him. Adam begins to wonder if his father might actually have been a being from another place. And if he was, what does that make Adam?  Written and directed by Moin Hussain, his debut feature SKY PEALS joins us for a conversation on the cinematic inspiration for this film, the casting Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, and Simon Nagra, working with cinematographer Nick Cooke and the decision to shoot Sky Peals on 35mm film stock.

To watch go to: mubi.com/us/films/sky-peals

For more go to: film4productions.com/productions/sky-peals

The production company link: escapefilms.co.uk

About the filmmaker – Moin Hussain: Writer/Director is a London based Writer and Director. His short films have screened in competition at festivals around the world, including Cannes Semaine De La Critique, Sitges, BFI London Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Moin’s first feature Sky Peals is currently in post-production. Supported and financed by Film4, the BFI and Screen Yorkshire, the project was developed in conjunction with the Torino ScriptLab and took part in the Cannes Cinefondation for film and television by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates. L’atelier. He has been named as one of Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ and is represented for film and television by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

100% on RottenTomatoes

“The whole thing would fall apart without its central performance, but Faraz Ayub gives the movie its touching emotional core. It’s one of the most tender, nuanced depictions of depression that I think I’ve ever seen.” – Eric Langberg, Everything’s Interesting

“Hussain’s script displays a real sense of empathy, deftly exploring the emotional toll of existing as a modern man who feels out of step with the world around him, not quite part of it despite desiring closeness.” – Hannah Strong, Little White Lies

“An unusually intimate, exploratory film underscored by dry humour, Sky Peals has an atmosphere that you won’t find anywhere else.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“Sky Peals is an intriguing sci-fi drama and a very promising debut from Moin Hussain… once you strip the sci-fi elements and the multicoloured visions, you realise how measured and universal the story is.” – Daniel Allen, Loud and Clear

“Sky Peals is unsettling and effective in its story through its compelling action and stylised shots. With a runtime of 90 minutes, this quirky sci-fi film is worth investing your time in.” – Romey Norton, Film Focus Online

Director Molly O’Brien debut short documentary,  THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA, dives into the remarkable life of her trailblazing double bassist aunt Orin O’Brien.  She never wanted the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philarmonic, it was inevitable that she would become the focus of much interest and fascination. Now 87 years old and recently retired, Orin looks back on her remarkable life and career, insisting that a fuss should not be made, much preferring to play a supporting role to the family, students, friends, and colleagues that surround her. In the delightful short documentary, THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA, filmmaker Molly O’Brien beautifully captures her aunt Orin’s prodigious contributions as a musician as well as her unique philosophy that the key to enjoying life is to play second fiddle. Director Molly O’Brien (American High), joins us for a conversation on her aunt’s seamless transition into “retirement”, mentoring young musician, her cinematic love letter that captures Orin’s passion, essence and perseverance…bottling it and offering it to audiences as a visual perfume.

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For more go to: onlygirlintheorchestra.com

2025 0scar© nomination for Best Documentary Short

About the filmmaker – Molly O’Brien — Head of Documentary, NBC News Studios Molly provides collaborative oversight to NBC News Studios new premium documentary business. Prior to NBC News Studios, Molly was the Executive Producer Special Projects at Abigail Disney’s Fork Films, and the founding producer of Sundance Institute’s Catalyst Initiative. She is an Academy Award shortlisted and a prime-time Emmy award winning producer with over two decades of experience producing documentary series and feature films. Her work has been featured on dozens of streaming and broadcast platforms, and has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, IDFA, and Full Frame Film Festival among others. In 2015, in collaboration with Kartemquin, O’Brien produced the successful six-month grassroots Indie Caucus campaign that resulted in keeping the non-fiction series’ POV and Independent Lens in prime time on flagship PBS stations across the country. In 2000, O’Brien won a Primetime Emmy Award for Producing Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (American High, FOX), was nominated for the Primetime Emmy in 2001 (American High), and made a 2010 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellow (Cesar’s Last Fast, Netflix / Pivot / Univision). Additionally, she was the Supervising Producer for the Unilever branded short, #Selfie which won a Clio Image Award in 2014.

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Director Bruce David Klein’s Liza Minnelli: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is a moving, playful documentary on legendary showbiz icon Liza Minnelli. This star studded tribute brings into focus the dazzling, complex period of Liza’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland – as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to becoming a bona fide legend. Over these years, Liza seeks out extraordinary mentors: Kay Thompson, Fred Ebb, Charles Aznavour, Halston and Bob Fosse. With insightful participation from a coterie of luminaries who know her well –  Michael Feinstein, Mia Farrow, Ben Vereen, Joel Grey and the late Chita Rivera, along with the revelatory participation by the star herself – the film illuminates the contradiction of Liza Minnelli: her privilege and struggle, strength and vulnerability, unreal expectations and towering talent – the friction of which fueled her stunning rise, resilience and her enduring place as one of the greatest, most original performers in the history of entertainment. Director Bruce David  Klein (Icahn: The Restless Billionaire),  joins us to talk about the joy of discovery he felt from seeing footage of Liza shot in the 70s during her European Tour, as well as his hope that viewers will “see the meticulous artistry that went into Liza becoming an icon. Liza as a friend, lover, daughter and surprisingly humble, anxiety-ridden performer.”

For more go to: zeitgeistfilms.com/liza-a-truly-terrific-absolutely-true-story

Now playing at the IFC in New York City

Opens Jan. 31 at Laemmle’s Royal in Los Angeles and Town Center in Encino,  with a national rollout to follow via Zeitgeist Films in Association with Kino Lorber.

About the filmmaker – Bruce David Klein is a producer, director, and writer of non-fiction television, film, and digital content. He is the founder of NY-based Atlas Media Corp. and serves as its president and executive producer. On the premium feature documentary front, Klein wrote and directed Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise (Universal), the Emmy-nominated Icahn: The Restless Billionaire (HBO) and a forthcoming film on stage and screen legend Liza Minnelli, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024 to raves. Klein also produced the acclaimed theatrical documentaries Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead (MSNBC Films) and Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (Netflix), an official selection of the New York Film Festival that is currently 95% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. On the television front, Klein was an early innovator in cable programming, responsible for long-running series such as Dr. G: Medical Examiner (Discovery Health/TLC), History’s Lost & Found  (History), How to Survive The End of the World (National Geographic) Behind the Bash with Giada DeLaurentiis (Food), The Mind of a Murderer (Investigation Discovery), Alien Invasion (Discovery Channel), and Hotel Impossible (Travel). Klein has moderated and appeared on numerous panels for organizations such as NATPE, RealScreen, the Producers Guild, NYU Film School, and for film and television festivals around the world. His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Variety, Crain’s Business, Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly and World Screen News. Klein is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a founding member of the Non-Fiction Producers Association (NPACT), and served for many years on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE). 

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92% on RottenTomatoes

“Deploys a wealth of great archival material plus intimate access to the subject and those closest to her to build a gorgeous portrait of a legendary showbiz survivor, warmly celebratory but also unquestionably authentic.” –David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Most fascinating is how, despite Minnelli exhibiting a theatrical personality, you can sense that, deep down, exists a caring, genuine person.” – Tim Miller, Cape Cod Wave Magazine

“Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is a phenomenal documentary and jubilant tribute to one of the best!” – Ethan Padgett, Film Threat

“Scintillating…devoted, and with good reason, to finding the essence of Liza Minnelli in her relationship to live audiences. We see her drink in their energy like air, then give it back to them as a heavenly glow.”–Owen Gleiberman, Variety“…A long-overdue and entirely deserved tribute, it is…truly terrific…” –Elizabeth Weitzman, The Wrap

Director Michael John Warren FREEDIVER explores the geopolitics that  forced Alexey Molchanov – the world’s greatest living freediver and the son of freediving pioneer Natalia Molchanova into exile. In 2023 Alexey is on a journey to reclaim his athletic glory & honor his iconic mother’s towering legacy by attempting the most dominant season in the history of the deadly sport. His near-suicidal quest to set five world records in under four months brings him to the  farthest reaches of the globe and to the very edges of human performance. In the process, he’s forced to reevaluate all the skills and beliefs on which he has built his entire life. FREEDIVER is directed by American filmmaker Michael John Warren, director of many doc musicals, The Magic of Heineken, and the docuseries “Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza” this year, plus many other projects. Produced by Picturestart, Skydance Sports, GQ Studios, and Boardwalk Pictures; along with Michael John Warren, Erik Feig, Samie Kim Falvey, David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Jordan Wynn, Helen Estabrook, Sarah Amos, Lexy Altman, Katherine Dunn, Nan Sandle, Talin Middleton. Director Michael John Warren (Spring Awakening, Oh, Hello on Broadway) joins us to talk about how he came to know the story behind the Molchanova’s family story, understanding what drove Natalia and Alexey to push themselves to the outer limits of mental, psychological and physical human capability in an unforgiving realm.

For more go to: youtube.com/@paramountmovies

Paramount Movies will debut Freediver ddirect-to-VOD to watch at home starting December 7th, 2024

About the filmmaker – Michael John Warren is a six-time Emmy nominated writer, director, showrunner, and executive producer known for highly stylized yet story-driven documentary series, music documentaries, and innovative concert films. Most recently, Warren was the Showrunner for Amazon Prime’s explosive true-crime series, Free Meek. The critically acclaimed series features an investigation of the systemic corruption and racism in the Philadelphia Police Department and the Pennsylvania Judicial System-unearthing new facts that ultimately led to the release of Meek Mill and the dismissal of the charges that kept him entangled in the system for twelve years. Warren made his directorial debut with what many consider to be the greatest hip-hop film of all time – Jay-Z’s Fade To Black. Since then, he has gone on to profile many of the biggest names in the music industry with Drake: Better Than Good Enough (2010), Nicki Minaj: My Time Now (2010), Nicki Minah: My Time Again (2015), Vh1’s Heavy: The Story of Metal (2006) and the theatrical concert film Hillsong: Let Hope Rise (2016). It’s recently been announced that Warren is writing, directing, and executive producing a documentary series on Nick Minaj for HBO Max. This is Michael’s third collaboration with the musical icon. Warren’s work extends into the sports world as well. In 2007, Warren directed the award-winning Kobe Mentu-a Nike documentary series in Mandarin seen by tens of millions across China. He was a major creative force behind the controversial series Friday Night Tykes (2014). The hit show made a significant impact by revealing the shocking intensity of youth football in Texas. In 2016 Warren directed the spine-tingling documentary series about professional bull riding called Fearless for Netflix. The cinematic series was nominated for 3 Emmys, including Warren’s second nomination for “Outstanding Long Form Editing.” In 2018, Warren showran and directed the IDA-nominated basketball documentary series Best Shot (Executive Produced by LeBron James), which premiered on YouTube Premium and found a second life on ESPN. In 2018, Warren also directed the Eleven Madison Park episode of the Netflix series 7 Days Out. The film focuses on the “#1 restaurant in the world” as it underwent a gut renovation and raced against the clock to reclaim its culinary glory despite harrowing conditions. Warren made history by filming several iconic shows on Broadway. In 2008, he captured the first-ever complete “live” performance in a Broadway theater with Rent: Filmed Live On Broadway. The remarkable achievement was so successful that DreamWorks soon followed suit, and Warren helmed Shrek The Musical Live On Broadway (2013). In 2015, Warren was invited to film selections from the Tony Award-Winning musical Hamilton just days before it opened on Broadway. This noteworthy work was heavily featured in Great Performances: Hamilton’s America on PBS, 60 Minutes, The 2016 Tony Award broadcast on CBS, and many other outlets. His latest Broadway offering, Oh Hello On Broadway, starring Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, premiered on Netflix in June 2017 to rave reviews, with The New York Times calling the show “stupendously entertaining.” Warren has directed all over the world, including Africa, Asia, The Caribbean, Australia, Europe, South America, and North America.

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Reviews:

“Freediver isn’t aiming to be a riveting suspense piece, instead offering a straightforward look at a truly unhinged pursuit.” – Josh Bell, Crooked Marquee

“Natalia haunts “Freediver,” making it both tender and psychologically absorbing. The film is dedicated to her.” – Lisa Kennedy, Variety

“An exhilarating, well-edited and heartfelt documentary” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

Flint isn’t America’s first major lead crisis, and it will not be the last.  LEAD AND COPPER director William Hart explores how and why that long before the Flint water crisis became national news in 2014, the region had already suffered  through decades of economic hardship. When the  city of Detroit terminates its agreement to continue supplying water to  neighboring Flint, they switched water sources  to the Flint River, a cost-saving measure enacted by former Governor Rick Snyder and  his appointed Emergency Manager. This reckless bureaucratic decision results in the untreated river water from the Flint River, begins corroding Flint’s lead pipes, slowly poisoning tens of thousands of families throughout the city. As months go by, citizens  begin experiencing a wave of horrific symptoms, including rashes, hair loss, aching muscles and joints, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. However, the community is – at first – left completely in the dark about the real and present danger looming underground. This decision poisoned a city that had already been neglected for  decades. Over the course of 8 years, through interviews of members of Congress, local officials, environmental and engineering scientists, former EPA employees, and the families affected by lead poisoning, LEAD & COPPER makes it clear that the politicians who were entrusted to protect the people of Flint – were woefully unprepared and incapable of curtailing the budding tragedy. What’s more, the authorities were also actively denying the full extent of the crisis. Lead and Copper investigates how city, state, and federal policies contributed to environmental crises like those experienced in Flint, Newark, and Washington, D.C. Director William Hart stops by to talk why the disastrous turn of events in Flint is much more than polluted water, it is an issue of governance with no accountability, class, race and systemic neglect that is happening across America

For more go to: leadandcopperfilm.com

About the filmmaker – William Hart is a director and cinematographer. He has worked on award winning documentaries like Half- Time following Jennifer Lopez’s journey to the Super Bowl halftime show and Copyright Infringement, the documentary about Australian artist CJ Hendry. He also followed and photographed The Doobie Brothers during their 50th Anniversary Tour, and has directed music videos for artists such as: Pile, Rachika Nayar, Maneka, Bambara, Shop Talk and more. His previous shorts have been shown at deadCenter, Nashville Film Festival, Athens International, Hollyshorts, and more. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“A stunning exposé on the Flint water crisis, and a compelling human interest story about the resilience of its residents.” – Morgan Rojas, Cinemacy

“An essential social justice documentary about the horrific poisoned situation in Flint, Michigan.” – Federico Furzan, Movie-Blogger.com

“Lead and Copper is a documentary that shines a light over neglected people with basic needs, what happens when those needs are not being met and how important it is to demand better people in government.” – Alejandro Turdó, Hoy Sale Cine

“To say that Lead and Copper extensively researched the subject is an understatement. The film presents not just the bloated bureaucracy that stands in the way of a solution but hits the ground into the lives of its citizens who must create a grass-roots level effort to ensure that “Flint Lives Matter” is heard by all levels of government.” – Andy Ng, FilmThreat

“If you’re shocked by the facts it presents at the outset, you’re going to be open-mouthed by the end.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“William Hart keeps ears and eyes transfixed and the textured editing adequately complements the attention to detail. This flick is further embellished by archive footage and telling camera-work.” – Ronak Kotechka, Review Ron

In the heartwarming 2025 Oscar Shortlisted Documentary Short, Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World, we are introduced to a remarkable young girl whose spirit and determination defy all expectations. Makayla, a black teenage girl, has spent her life grappling with a rare form of autism that rendered her essentially nonverbal. However, her parents (father, Grammy-award winning producer Needlz and business owner mother, Mañana), filled with unwavering belief in their daughter’s potential, embarked on a transformative journey to discover the true depth of Makayla’s inner world. Recently, through the help of Roxy Sewell, Makayla’s letterboard therapist, a groundbreaking breakthrough came into their lives in the form of letter board therapy, a method that finally provided Makayla with the means to communicate. As her voice gradually emerges, the audience is invited into a world of wonder, poetry, and brilliance that was once hidden from sight. Through the lens of the documentary, we witness Makayla’s courageous steps as she unveils her thoughts, feelings, and insights. With her newfound ability to express herself, she shines as an inspiring advocate for autism, determined to show the world the power and beauty of neurodiversity.  Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World is directed, written and produced by Julio Palacio, who has won several awards for his short form documentaries. The film is also produced by Sam Hanson and Sasha Levinson, editor is Jeff Jay and cinematography is by Brock Hanson.

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For more go to: makaylasvoice.com

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival

2025 Academy Award© Shortlisted Documentary Short

About the filmmaker – Julio Palacio is an award winning director passionate about crafting emotions through storytelling. He is proud of his Colombian background and brings that energy and diversity to all of his projects. He focuses on short form documentary and his work has been officially selected at festivals all over the world, such as Vail, Diversity in Cannes, Riom France, AmDocs, and the Oscar qualifying Riif; among many others. His work has also been showcased at Tribeca and Sundance. He has recently directed films for brands such as Google, 3M, Daimler Mercedes, MasterCard, Stanley Black and Decker, National Bank of Australia, and many others. His passion for filmmaking has taken him to work on projects all over the world including countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, China, EAU, Taiwan, China, India, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and all over the US. Julio has an eye for real authentic moments as he believes this is what makes documentaries and films special, but he is also a strong believer in the power of beautiful and cinematic visuals.

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Author and rehabber Terry Masear (Every Little Thing) wants to save every injured hummingbird in Los Angeles. Terry takes in the most fragile of patients through her volunteer hummingbird rescue, but the path to survival is fraught with uncertainty and drama. Over the course of Sally Aitken’s intimate and moving documentary, we become invested in Terry’s  hummingbird patients – including Cactus, Jimmy, Wasabi, Raisin, and Mikhail – celebrating their small victories and lamenting their tiny tragedies. Through the eyes of America’s busiest bird rehabilitator, each bird becomes memorable, mighty and heroic. As she nurtures the wounded hummingbirds back to health, Terry finds herself on her own transformative journey, unraveling a visually captivating and magical tale of love, healing, and the delicate beauty in tiny acts of greatness. Director and Writer Sally Aitken (Playing with Sharks, A Cinematic Life)joins us to talk about getting to know Terry Masear, meeting the challenge of filming these remarkable creatures in a way that brings their stories to life and how the timing of the release of EVERY LITTLE THING could not be happening at a more fitting time for the film lovers of Southern California.

For more go to: kinolorber.com/every-little-thing

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival

Every Little Thing will be screening beginning January 17th at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center.

About the filmmaker – Sally Aitken is an Emmy® nominated director and writer, and a showrunner of multiple international series. Known for visually arresting work characterized by sensitivity and humor she relishes unknown stories and the world’s complexities. Her most recent feature, Every Little Thing, is her second feature film to debut in competition at the Sundance Film Festival following her 2021 Sundance hit, Playing with Sharks (Disney+). Following the remarkable life of maverick conservationist Valerie Taylor and her love affair with the ocean’s most terrifying predator, Playing with Sharks was named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the 15 best films of the year. Sally’s debut feature, A Cinematic Life, about esteemed film critic David Stratton and his love affair with the movies, appeared in an official competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Sally was also nominated for the Camera d’Or. Other major works include directing The Pacific with Sam Neill, a 6-part television series with the actor and raconteur retracing Captain Cook’s voyages and the indigenous perspective on Cook’s impact. Her architectural films include Getting Frank Gehry (2015, BBC/ABC) with the iconoclast starchitect as well as Streets of Your Town (2016, ABC) for which Sally collected both the Australian Director’s Guild Award as well as the Australian Writer’s Award for Best Documentary series.

About the subject Terry Masear has been running Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue since 2004 and is the longest-practicing hummingbird rehabilitation expert in the country. Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue receives five thousand calls each year and has been involved in the rehabilitation and release of 10,000 rescued hummingbirds in Southern California. The film Every Little Thing, based on Terry’s best-selling book, Fastest Things on Wings (2015), documents the trials and triumphs of a summer spent rehabilitating orphaned and injured hummingbirds in Los Angeles. The book has been featured by National Geographic, Here & Now, MSNBC, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.   Terry’s extensive rescue work has led to several remarkable discoveries about hummingbird breeding and nesting practices unknown to science. Terry received her PhD from UCLA and taught English as a Second Language and postgraduate research and writing at UCLA for twenty years.

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94% on RottenTomatoes

“Big hearted…effortlessly riveting. Offers a vision of compassion as a way of life.”– Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

“A shimmering, densely layered film about love and resilience…[with] kindness at the core.”– Andrew Stafford, The Guardian

“Grab your tissues and prepare to have your heart stolen by delicate yet fierce creatures in Every Little Thing” – Rebecca Murray, Showbiz Junkies

“The director, Sally Aitken, unfolds the narrative gently; it’s a soothing film, even though it often deals with somber themes.” – Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

“Every Little Thing comes to embody the fragile yet uncontainable mystery of all life.” – Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture

“While Masear is a great character, the stars of the film are the birds themselves. Masear and Aitken know it.” – Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

“It’s loosely arranged through one caring cycle of birds, from intake to release, but Every Little Thing works it way toward a deeply satisfying conclusion, a big celebration of tiny things and the special person who has made it all possible.”  – Kate Erbland, Indiewire

Director and co-screenwriter Steven Feder’s latest film, A BROOKLYN LOVE STORY, is just that, a romance between a man and a woman and a love letter to the quaint New York City borough. Mike’s grandpa started a little fruit and vegetable store years ago in Bay Ridge called The Golden Gate, which was passed to Pops Moona (Dan Grimaldi). A vengeful developer with a grudge is threatening to buy the store out from under Pops. Local mobster and his men (Michael Rispoli,  Vincent Pastore, and Joseph D’Onofrio, respectively) love that place and concoct a cockamamie scheme to ensure its safety. Meanwhile Mike meets Honey (Katie McCarty),the developer’s secretary, and the two share instant chemistry. While Mike and Honey bond right away, the fact that she works for the person trying to destroy Mike’s livelihood is a significant impediment. Is there a way around it for the two to make a real go at things? Will The Golden Gate survive to see another customer? A BROOKLYN LOVE STORY, filmmaker Steven Feder, collaborated with John Cortes on the screenplay. Director / Producer / Writer Steven Feder (Charlie Irish, On Freddie Roach, State of Play) joins us for a conversation about his personal connection to this particular story, assembling a terrific cast of very engaging actors and the art of shooting a complicated independent film on a very compressed timeline and limited budget. 

For more go to: instagram.com/abrooklynlovestorymovie

About the filmmaker – Born and raised in New York, Steven Feder began his career performing stand-up in numerous comedy clubs while studying acting under Bill Esper at the prestigious William Esper Studio. As a member of The Creative Actors Repertory Theater, he performed, directed, and produced numerous plays, including Savage In Limbo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Danny And The Deep Blue Sea, and Speed The Plow. He transitioned from theater to film by producing and co-writing The Big Gig. The film won three International Grand Prize Awards, the Nicholson Award, and the coveted Audience Award at The Hamptons International Film Festival. Next, Steven wrote, produced, and directed the Dramatic Feature Jury Prize-winning film The Cottonwood, starring Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gia Carides, Stacy Edwards, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Wright, Tony Sirico, and Missi Pyle, featured on Showtime’s Best of Independent Film Directors Cut Series. Next, he wrote, directed, and produced the romantic comedy It Had To Be You, starring Natasha Henstridge, Michael Vartan, Michael Rispoli, and Olivia d’Abo. Steven collaborated with Academy Award winners Barry Levinson and Al Pacino on his scripted crime thriller Charlie Irish for Warner Bros. and Golden Globe winners James Gandolfini and Alec Baldwin on his scripted comedy/drama With A Bullet, which was based on the music industry in 1977. Steven recently completed the feature A Brooklyn Love Story, which he wrote and directed for producers Jeff Mazzola, John Scaccia, and Morris Levy, distributed by Quiver, premiering on Amazon, starring Michael Rispoli, Dan Grimaldi, Vincent Pastore, Joseph D’Onofrio, Katie McCarty, Michael Morano, and Christopher Ryan. Steven has been a director, screenwriter, script doctor, ghostwriter, and author for over two decades. He has written on dozens of films, directed music videos, and produced documentaries, including The Promoter, which he produced with Peter Berg for HBO on the life of legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum.  Steven appears as himself in the Peter Berg-directed Emmy Award-winning HBO doc-series On Freddie Roach and State of Play episode “A Fighting Chance.” Steven resides in Los Angeles, CA. For more go to: blacksheepent.com

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Reviews:

“A Brooklyn Love Story is charming, funny, and romantic in all senses of the word. The cast is excellent, bringing the drama and silliness to proper life.” – Bobby LePire, Film Threat

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Errol Morris confronts one of the darkest chapters in recent American history: family separations. Based on NBC News Political and National Correspondent Jacob Soboroff’s book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, Morris merges bombshell interviews with government officials and artful narrative vignettes tracing one migrant family’s plight. The extraordinary cruelty of this political calculation was not a byproduct of the surging immigration rhetoric, but rather its purpose. By inflicting such unspeakable trauma on the families—the majority of them from the Central American countries Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras—the government aimed to deter others from traveling to the U.S. seeking asylum. With searing incisiveness, Errol Morris, the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker behind seminal non-fiction works including “The Fog of War” and “The Thin Blue Line,” probes at this bleak chapter in recent American history by merging hard-hitting interviews with government officials who were both alarmed by or complicit with these policy decisions, as well with artful narrative vignettes that immerse the viewer in the migrants’ plight as they journey across the border. The resulting film is a devastatingly moving and thoroughly researched exposé of how several high-ranking Trump Administration officials aided and abetted the separation of toddlers and young children from their parents.  By the summer of 2018 Trump administration’s hard-line stance on immigration resulted in a series of devastating policies that affected thousands of people, many of which continue to have shattering repercussions for some of the country’s most vulnerable populations. Against this backdrop, audiences can begin to absorb the U.S. government’s role in developing and implementing policies that have kept over 1,300 children without confirmed reunifications years later, according to the Department of Homeland Security. NBC News Political and National Correspondent Jacob Soboroff joins us for a frank conversation on the past, present and future of immigration policy, possibility that separated family’s can be or will ever be re-united and whether the endless rancor will ever be put aside long enough for an honest conversation on immigration.

For more go to: msnbc.com/Separated

About the subject – Jacob Soboroff (Journalist/Author/Executive Producer) is a Political and National Correspondent for NBC News and the author of the New York Times best seller and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist “Separated: Inside an American Tragedy.” For his reporting on the Trump administration’s child separation policy, he received the Walter Cronkite Award for Individual Achievement by a National Journalist and the Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism. He is also the recipient of a Ruben Salazar Journalism Award from the California Chicano News Media Association, and in 2022 was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy® Award for his reporting from Haiti. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nicole Cari and their two children.

About the filmmaker – Roger Ebert has said, “After twenty years of reviewing films, I haven’t found another filmmaker who intrigues me more…Errol Morris is like a magician, and as great a filmmaker as Hitchcock or Fellini.” Errol Morris’ films have won many awards, including an Oscar for “The Fog of War,” the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for “A Brief History of Time,” the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for “Standard Operating Procedure,” and the Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America for “The Thin Blue Line.”  His films have been honored by the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review. Morris’ work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Roger Ebert, a champion of Morris’ work, called his first film, “Gates of Heaven,” one of the ten best films of all time. The Guardian listed him as one of the ten most important film directors in the world. Morris is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, “Believing is Seeing” and “A Wilderness of Error,” and is a regular contributor to The New York Times opinion pages and Op-Docs series. His most recent book, “The Ashtray,” was published in 2018.  Morris has directed over 1000 television commercials, including campaigns for Apple, Levi’s, Nike, Target, Citibank, and Miller High Life. He has directed short films for the 2002 and 2007 Academy Awards, ESPN, and many charitable and political organizations. In 2001, Morris won an Emmy for Photobooth, a commercial for PBS. Morris has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2007, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a graduate student at Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley. He has received the Columbia Journalism Award and honorary degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brandeis University, and Middlebury College. Morris lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife, Julia Sheehan, an art historian, andtheir French Bulldog, Esmeralda.their French Bulldog, Esmeralda. For more go to: errolmorris.com

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96% on RottenTomatoes

“It’s a story of dehumanisation, children in cages, and the blurting, vote-craving policy-making of government by id — and it’s shattering to experience.” – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

“The cruelty was the point. In documenting Trump’s policy of family separation, Separated shows the route by which the US crossed over into darkness. It is an exacting, harrowing and quietly furious film.” – Xan Brooks, Guardian

““Separated” finds Morris back in “The Fog of War” mode: angry, engaged and determined to expose an injustice too monumental to be ignored.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“Kudos to Morris and Soboroff for telling the story, which is hopefully never repeated.” – Jason Delgado, Film Threat

“White’s fire, and his soaring warnings about how political sycophants willing to effect a policy like family separation will always exist, are powerful enough.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

“It’s illuminating in the most chilling way.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

“Nonetheless, what we glean from the totality of the interviews and research, and Morris’ well-honed style of coalescing information, is damning enough.” – Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

Following a life-altering accident, Christopher Reeve persevered, by using his fame to speak of hope and to change our perception of paralysis, all while remaining a dedicated activist, actor and filmmaker, devoted dad, and loving husband to Dana Reeve, the beating heart of the family. Chronicling his personal and professional life before and after the near-fatal horseback riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY uses Reeve’s own words, as well as intimate input from his closest family members and friends, to paint a rich, nuanced portrait of a man who refused to be defined by his physicality and who proved that you don’t need tights and a cape to be a hero. The film also features the first-ever extended interviews filmed with Reeve’s children, as well as insight from Reeve’s brother, his first wife Gae Exton, and Hollywood colleagues and friends such as Susan Sarandon and Glenn Close. The film also features extensive archival footage of Reeve with his best friend and Juilliard classmate Robin Williams, who, with his wife Marsha, was a constant source of support for Reeve and his family. A moving and cinematic story of bravery and perseverance, triumph and tragedy, love and devotion, SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY tells the remarkable story of a man who not only embodied a supernatural hero on screen, but also through his dedication and endurance, became a real life hero and symbol of hope to his wife, his family and the millions of people he touched throughout his life. Co-director Peter Ettedgui (Ian Bonhôte) stops by to talk with us about getting to know Christopher Reeve’s immediate and extended family members, in particularly the fierce courage, tenacity and unwavering love from his second wife Dana became the north star for this enthralling and inspiring film.

For more go to: hbo.com/super/man-the-christopher-reeve-story

Watch at: warnerbros.com/superman-christopher-reeve-story

Continue their work at: Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.org

About the filmmaker(s) – Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s creative partnership began with McQueen (2018), the theatrical feature documentary they wrote and directed about the iconic fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Described as “supremely engrossing and elegant” by Variety, the film was nominated for two BAFTAs (Best British Film and Documentary). Rising Phoenix (2020) told the thrilling story of the Paralympic movement, which rose from the ashes of the Second World War, transforming attitudes toward disability, and it became the world’s third biggest sporting event. Released globally by Netflix, the film won two Emmys. Before embarking on their latest film, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Peter, and Ian also created, and executive produced  Kingdom of Dreams, the hit four-part docuseries about the seductive but sinister world of luxury fashion for Sky and Fremantle. Prior to working with Peter, Bonhôte co-founded Pulse Films in 2005 alongside Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford, directing music videos and commercials for clients such as Puma, Nike, Pepsi, Mumford & Sons, Tom Jones, and fashion designers Matthew Williamson and Hussein Chalayan. After 13 years at Pulse, the company was sold to Vice Media, and Ian left to set up Misfits Entertainment with Andee Ryder. He made his feature film directorial debut with Alleycats (2016), a London-based thriller that was distributed internationally by Universal Pictures in over 25 territories. Apart from Bonhôte’s non-fiction collaborations with Ettedgui, Misfits has also produced the scripted action adventure film Viking Destiny (2019), starring Terence Stamp, and The Contestant (2023), set in the world of 1990s Japanese reality TV, which TIFF’s Thom Powers described as “the most WTF story in this year’s documentary selection.”

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98% on RottenTomatoes

“A powerful story of human endurance.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“As much as it’s a movie about one man’s struggle, it’s a family drama too, and the way his paralysis shifts their dynamic over the years is enrapturing to watch.” – Siddhant Adlakha, indieWire

“A moving, wrenching, compellingly well-made documentary…” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“The best kind of superhero is one who leans into frailty and fear and still manages to be brave. In the lovely, poignant “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” we meet many such heroes, none of whom are invincible, but all of them valiant.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

““Super/Man” is a weeper, to be sure, for the reminder it brings to fans that this Man of Steel was only flesh and blood.” – Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

“Yet any anxieties about compromised artistry are almost immediately allayed in this extraordinarily moving and frequently unvarnished portrait of Superman star Christopher Reeve.” – Kevin MaherTimes (UK)

This highly anticipated follow-up to director James Fox’s blockbuster UFO documentaries, The Phenomenon and Moment of Contact, THE PROGRAM explores the unprecedented bipartisan Congressional effort to uncover what intelligence agencies really know about UFOs, now referred to as UAP. The first two public hearings in over half a century included testimony under oath from military and intelligence  officers with jaw-dropping allegations of a clandestine program to analyze recovered materials and non-human biologics. Through candid interviews with high-ranking insiders, elected officials, physicists, intelligence officers, and military whistleblowers, THE PROGRAM goes behind the scenes to leave even the staunchest skeptics astounded by the assertions from a growing chorus of insiders that we are not alone. Director / Producer James Fox (The Phenomenon, Moment of Contact) stops by for a conversation on the personal journey he has been on for decades to explore the little known and hidden history of alien life interactions and impact on human life, sitting down with people who have been inside government agencies now willing to talk about what they have seen and what all of this might bode for the future of humanity.

For more go to: lab9films.com

To watch go to: geni.us/TheProgram

Director Statement – “I’ve been making on the topic of UFO’s (now referred to as UAP – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) since the early 1990s. I never thought I would live to see the day when high level military officials would testify, under oath, to a bi-partisan group of lawmakers that the United States government has been hiding definitive proof that we are not alone. Disclosure is upon us.” – James Fox 

About the filmmaker – James Fox is a director and filmmaker specializing in UFO documentaries. Fox was director, writer and producer of the 2003 TV movie “Out of the Blue” which explores UFOs and alleged cover ups by governments. He wrote and directed the feature length documentary, “The Phenomenon” (2020). Most recently James Fox directed and appeared in “Moment of Contact” (2022), an exploration of events reported in Varginha, Brazil in 1966. The Program (2024) explores the unprecedented bipartisan Congressional effort to uncover what intelligence agencies really know about UFOs, now referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

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Reviews:

“What starts as a focused investigation about a secretive operation run by the United States government becomes a globe-trotting affair that discusses sightings from around the world and, eventually, even aliens.” – Nathaniel Muir, AIPT

Set against the backdrop of 1990s Cuba, LOS FRIKIS tells the raw, unforgettable story of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the search for freedom. Inspired by true events, the film follows Gustavo, who idolizes his older brother Paco and his punk bandmates—the “Frikis.” As oppression and extreme poverty tighten their grip, the Frikis take a desperate and defiant stand, intentionally infecting themselves with HIV to gain refuge in government-run sanitariums. There, in a world meant for isolation, they carve out their own anarchic utopia—an oasis of rock ‘n’ roll, joy, and freedom, where the spirit of resistance thrives, and Gustavo will risk everything to be reunited with those he loves. LOS FRIKIS was inspired by true events set against the backdrop of Cuba’s 1990’s punk subculture. It’s a powerful coming-of-age story centering from co-directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz (Peanut Butter Falcon) and Academy Award-winning© producers Lord Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). Featuring an original score from Academy Award-winner© Steven Price (Gravity) and cinematography from Santiago Gonzalez (Beyonce: Black is King).

For more go to: losfrikismovie.com

WINNER Miami Film Festival

WINNER Nantucket Film Festival

WINNER San Antonio Film Festival

WINNER Middlebury Film Festival

About the filmmaker – Tyler Nilson is a filmmaker from North Carolina. He explored the seas of the South Pacific as an adventurer for a handful of years, and eventually decided to take his rich desire to tell stories and move to Los Angeles. He has appeared in a Judd Apatow film alongside actors like John C Reilly, and in countless commercials selling products that people don’t really need, like NFL jerseys and beer. He also is one of the world’s top hand models and enjoys making easy money doubling his hands for actors like Brad Pitt. Last year he released a narrative short film called The Moped Diaries, which people seemed to enjoy. His first feature film The Peanut Butter Falcon is scheduled for release in 2017.

About the filmmaker – Michael Schwartz is a filmmaker from Northern California. His roots as a traveler and artist are constant influences on the projects he chooses and people he surrounds himself with.  Some of his accomplishments include riding his bicycle across the country, planting an orchard, and growing a really big beard.  In 2014 Michael and Tyler Nilson collaborated on a short film called The Moped Diaries and co-founded a production company called Lucky Treehouse; together they make films, commercials, and marinara sauce. 

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81% on RottenTomatoes

“Los Frikis offers a profoundly emotional journey, revealing new depths of Nilson and Schwartz’s artistry honed over the past five years. Their maturing sensibilities solidify their status as master storytellers.” – Mark Johnson, Awards Daily

“Such a novel and wondrous film with just a great energy unlike anything else in theater currently.” – Edward Douglas, The Weekend Warrior

“I had heard very little about Los Frikis before seeing it, but now, it has easily turned into one of my favourite films of the year.” – Sebastian Zavala Kahn,Loud and Clear

“Rather than simplistically lionizing the frikis, the directors honor their plight by portraying them as an example of how the human spirit perseveres even when nearly crushed.” – Carlos Aguilar, Variety

“The result is a difficult and no-less-impressive film that smashes the spirited human condition against aspects of fulfilling indepdence people should never take for granted.” – Don Shanahan, Film Obsessive

Winner of the 2023 British Independent Film Award for Best Debut Feature Documentary THE TASTE OF MANGO, the debut feature from filmmaker and video artist Chloe Abrahams (Trust Me), is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love. At its center are three extraordinary women: the director’s mother, Rozana; her grandmother, Jean; and the director herself. Their stories, by turns difficult and jubilant, testify to the entangled and ever-changing nature of inheritance, and the ways in which we both hurt and protect the ones we love. Director Chloe Abrahams joins us for a insightful conversation on her intimate and beautifully rendered ode to friendship, beauty, memories lost, generational relationships and how to hold on to the things that matter most.

For more go to: Tasteofmango.oscilloscope.net

About the filmmaker – Chloe Abrahams is a Sri Lankan British artist and filmmaker. Using methods drawn from both documentary and fiction practices, she investigates the therapeutic potential of the confessional, culminating in visceral work spanning moving image, sound, writing and performance. Chloe’s debut non-fiction film, The Taste of Mango, premiered at True/False 2023 where it was named the #1 film by Sight & Sound. The film went on to win the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the BFI London Film Festival, followed by the BIFA for Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary. In 2020 Chloe was awarded the John Brabourne Award and has three times been shortlisted for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2018, 2019, 2022). She had her first solo exhibition at OVADA (2014), and has since been selected for exhibitions worldwide, including The London Open at the Whitechapel Gallery 2022.  Previously, Chloe worked as the Marketing Coordinator for documentary distributor Dogwoof, responsible for the execution of all UK theatrical campaigns, and recently completed a Master’s in Moving Image at the Royal College of Art where she was nominated for the HIGH Prize for Excellence.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“The sum effect is at once densely textured and appealingly direct, its experimental aspects only serving to communicate more vividly the bonds tested but also strengthened by great adversity.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Abrahams’s film-making language has a supple informality and immediacy, revealing what you might call the unofficial drama of family life, the guilt and pain which she has brought out of the shadows.” – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

“The Taste of Mango is most notable for making a compelling argument for nonfiction cinema as therapy.” – Clara Cuccaro, In Review Online

“Abrahams’ film reaffirms the strength of generational bonds and champions the desire of the new generation to question and provoke and demand answers.” – Tom Davidson, London Evening Standard

“Patriarchal violence and rape culture have impacted this family deeply, but it’s a genuine honour to be privy to this filmic act of reconciliation and hope.” – Isy Santini, The List

YOU & I  is a tender slice of life romance about former flames, Sara (Summer Shelton) and Joseph (Clayne Crawford),  who  are reunited for a weekend. An accident of  circumstance leaves the two of them alone at his house after the small celebration, and what unfolds feels like a stage play as the former couple descends into the maelstrom of their past relationship. Through long takes and emotional dialogues, Shelton carries a film that leaves the audience questioning the past, present, and future of Sara and Joseph’s love, while pondering the parallels of their own current or former relationships, They intensely explore the “what ifs?” that might have been with “the one that got away.” Director, writer, co-producer, editor and co-lead actor Summer Shelton joins us for a conversation on why she decided to make this particular script her directorial debut, how working with her co-lead actor and co-producer Clayne Crawford helped her navigate the challenges of being behind and in front of the camera, and why the reaction to You & I has been so gratifying.

For more go to: summershelton.com/films

Now streaming on Amazon, AppleTV+, Vimeo and Fandango

Polish Film Institute General Director’s Award (US & Canada in Progress, 2021)

American Film Festival (International Premiere, 2023 Official Selection; Spectrum Competition)

Nashville Film Festival (2023 Official Selection; Grand Jury Nominee, Best Tennessee Feature)

New Orleans Film Festival (2023 Official Selection; Narrative Competition)

River Run International Film Festival (2024 Official Selection; Carolina Stories)

About the filmmaker – In 2023, her directorial debut YOU & I which she also wrote, produced and co-starred opposite veteran actor Clayne Crawford screened as an Official Selection at the Nashville Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, River Run International Film Festival and debuted internationally at the American Film Festival. The film will be released in 2024 by Slated Distribution. Feature works she produced included MAINE (Orion Classics, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) and KEEP THE CHANGE (KINO LORBER, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival Best Narrative Feature; FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize at the 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival).  She was Executive Producer of PEOPLE PLACES THINGS which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, produced ICARUS (short) which premiered at the 2015 New Directors/New Films Festival and produced LITTLE ACCIDENTS, which had its World Premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.  She worked alongside critically acclaimed director Ramin Bahrani as Associate Producer of GOODBYE SOLO (2008), an official selection of the Venice Film Festival; Co-Producer of PLASTIC BAG (2009), opening night short film of the Corto Cortissimo at the Venice Film Festival and Associate Producer of AT ANY PRICE (2012), which premiered in main competition at the Venice Film Festival and most recently as Co-Producer of short documentary IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTING, RURAL HEALTH CRISIS (2023), which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival.  She was the recipient of the inaugural Bingham Ray Creative Producing Fellowship, awarded by the Sundance Institute (2012), a Rotterdam Producing Fellowship (2013), Film Independent Sloan Producing Fellowship (2014) and Cannes Producing Fellowship (2021) awarded by the Gotham.  Prior to her filmmaking career, Shelton was a former high school English teacher, she remains connected to the classroom as a University Lecturer, Adjunct Professor and provides educational consulting services to arts non-profits. 

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Reviews:

“You & I is passionate without being overtly explicit, yet the reverberating echoes of those instinctual feelings are intense and even morose in their own way.” – Don Shanahan, Film Obsessive

“I so loved Summer Shelton’s “You and I.” Her feature directorial debut was a gem with so many different facets and edges, and complexities of beauty. It’s a sexy film, with intense emotions.” – Rebecca Martin, Editor of Cinema Femme magazine 

Sandi DuBowski’s epic documentary SABBATH QUEEN — shot over the span of 21 years—follows Amichai Lau-Lavie, an Israeli descended from an unbroken line of 38 rabbis stretching back a thousand years. Yet as the film opens, Lau-Lavie is newly arrived in New York in the late 1990s, a young gay man declaring “Artists are the new rabbis” and appearing around the city in drag as Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, the widow of six Hasidic rabbis (all from the same extended family). As the years pass, Lau-Lavie embraces a range of creative spiritual endeavors, including Storahtelling and Lab/Shul—until he shocks everyone with his decision to become a rabbi himself, studying in the Conservative tradition of Judaism. Sabbath Queen is witness to Lau-Lavie’s unfailing courage and grace, as he grapples with key questions of who we are and who we will be. Stimulating and moving, DuBowski’s film ends with Lau-Lavie’s words on Israel and Palestine post-October 7th as he evokes the  challenge of our lifetime: “How do we reimagine our sacred traditions to achieve peace?” SABBATH QUEEN director Sandi Dubawski joins us to talk about Amichai and his lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy, champion interfaith love, and stand up for peace, ceasefire, and an end to the Occupation in Israel/Palestine. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.

For more go to: sabbathqueen.com

About the filmmaker – Sandi DuBowski, Director/Producer of Sabbath Queen, Director/Producer of Trembling Before G-d, Producer of A Jihad for Love, and Co-Producer of Budrus. His award-winning work has screened at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca and Toronto, theatrically released in 150 cities, and broadcast on ZDF/Arte, BBC, Channel 4, PBS.  In 2020, he was invited to become a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. DuBowski spearheaded a groundbreaking impact campaign with the award-winning Trembling Before G-d, personally conducting 850 live events, for over 250,000 people, which changed the lives of countless individuals, their families, religious leaders, and communities around the world. Feature stories on the project appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NPR, The Globe and Mail, and BBC News. From 2009-2016, DuBowski worked with over 125 of the world’s best social justice documentaries as the Outreach Director of Doc Society’s Good Pitch. He is Co-Founder of The Creative Resistance, a collective of media makers who create award-winning political ads and design. In the mid-1990’s he began his media and activism work at Planned Parenthood Federation of America focused on the Christian right and the anti-abortion movement. Three generations of DuBowski’s family made chocolate syrup in Deep Coastal Brooklyn. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“The director delicately contextualizes his subject’s desired legacy by threading Lau-Lavie’s harrowing familial history into the narrative.” – Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter

“That’s all well and good, but something special happens in the film’s last quarter that makes it required viewing not just for queer people, not just for Jews, but for everyone.” – Dan Bayer, Next Best Picture

“DuBowski affords his subject’s spiritual journey the epic quality it deserves where triumph is simply waking up at peace with where you are, recognizing all the places emotionally – and in Lau-Lavie’s case, geographically – you have to go to get there.” – Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest

“This fast-paced, well-shot doc does place its finger on the quickening pulse of an ever-wider gap between liberalizing Western social values and the Orthodox sphere that believes they are antithetical to Judaism.” – Dennis HarveyVariety

“Though some may not agree with all of his opinions or the way he practices his religion, this documentary makes it impossible to deny his startlingly authentic spirituality.” – Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz