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Thirty years after his original journey, Prince Akeem is returning to the United States to find an heir to the throne of Zamunda. That’s right: As Variety reported last week, Paramount is planning a sequel to the 1988 comedy “Coming to America,” with Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”) set to direct. Eddie Murphy will reprise his role as the overly-coddled Zamundan royal who travels to New York to find the woman of his dreams. Fans of the original may be excited to see Murphy return to one of his most beloved roles. While the movie divided critics, it resonated with audiences who were charmed by Murphy’s likable performance, and wound up grossing over $288 million worldwide.

But another dose of this playful fairy tale might have a hard time in the 21st century, facing cultural challenges that would have gone unquestioned three decades ago. Before Brewer and Murphy get the ball rolling on the sequel,...

Film premiered in competition at SXSW under original title Dara Ju.

Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have secured North American rights to first-time filmmaker Anthony Onah’s drama The Price.

The story centres on a young Nigerian-American working on Wall Street who is forced to confront himself after his ambition leads him into morally dubious waters.

Aml Ameen, Lucy Griffiths, Bill Sage and Hope Olaide Wilson star alongside Michael Hyatt, Peter Vack, and Souléymane Sy Savané.

Onah also wrote the screenplay for The Price based on his short film Dara Ju. The film premiered in competition SXSW earlier this year.

Justin Begnaud, Kishori Rajan and Onah produced the film, while Tom Dolby, Susanne Filkins, Abdi Nazemian and Lynda Weinman served as executive producers.

Jennifer 8 Lee, Greg Brockman, Peter Hess Friedland, Aston Motes, and Daniel Davila also served as executive producers.

“We are very excited to be working on Anthony Onah’s feature debut. The Price is...

Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired the North American distribution rights to The Price (f.k.a Dara Ju), the first feature written and directed by Anthony Onah . The drama, starring The Maze Runners‘ Aml Ameen, had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin. Based on Onah’s 2012 short, the film centers on Seyi, a bright young Nigerian-American working on Wall Street who must navigate complicated family expectations, a turbulent romantic…...

If music be the food of love, the world needs a boatload right about now and pop music ain’t gonna cut it. That’s the sentiment of René Pérez Joglar, the Puerto Rican rapper more commonly known as Residente, as well as co-founder and lead singer of Calle 13, an alternative hip-hop group beloved across Latin America. (Say “Calle 13″ to a Latino person, and you’ll see a face light up.) Joglar has won 25 Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a Latin artist. Calle 13 is known for its satirical lyrics that often provide social commentary about Latin American issues, and Joglar is a decorated humanitarian, receiving the Nobel Peace Summit Award in 2015 for his commitment to social justice.

Read More: ‘Dara Ju’ Review: Anthony Onah’s Debut Is a Vital But Unfocused Drama About Immigrant Identity in America

What better way to combine his passions of...

Exclusive: Here are the first looks at writer-director Anthony Onah’s feature film debut Dara Ju, which premiered yesterday in competition at SXSW. Based on Onah’s short of the same name, the pic stars British actor Aml Ameen (The Maze Runner) as Seyi, a first-generation Nigerian-American financier desperate to succeed because of his outsider status. “It captures that aspirational immigrant drive of success in America,” Onah said, speaking with Deadline after the…...

The movies are becoming an increasingly vital source for stories about black life in America, but a film like “Dara Ju” is a valuable reminder that the medium is still just beginning to scratch the surface. Of course, white audiences, whom the western arts have conditioned to perceive race in largely monolithic terms, are the only ones who need reminding; the rest require only fair representation. Despite its clumsiness and its steadily increasing penchant for clichés, Anthony Onah’s debut feature has something to offer for both demographics. By respecting the specificity of a character who has seldom appeared on screen, its best moments provide a compellingly lucid testament to the idea that living in this country is a never-ending negotiation between who you are and who you might become. Some Americans have the luxury of ignoring that, of going through the motions on auto-pilot. Seyi Ogunde (Aml Ameen) is not one of those Americans.

Among the many wild fight scenes in “Atomic Blonde,” one finds Charlize Theron as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton rappelling from a balcony using an incapacitated goon as her counterweight, and that’s not even the craziest bit. Later, she battles her way through another apartment building loaded with Kgb goons, in a single, unbroken shot that careens down several flights of stairs, through the close quarters of a decrepit room, and into the confines of a speeding car. Bullets, knives and fists factor heavily into this spectacular showdown, but nothing hits harder than the camera pressing in close to Theron as she glares at one of the vanquished men and growls, “Now you’re my bitch.”

This is not only the essence of “Atomic Blonde,” but a phenomenal show-stopping moment that makes the whole gambit worthwhile. The first solo effort by “John Wick” co-director David Leitch, “Atomic Blonde” exists in...

Making its world premiere at the ongoing SXSW Film Festival tomorrow, March 13th, is Anthony Onah’s “Dara Ju,” his feature directorial debut which is based on his short film of the same name. The story: A young Nigerian-American financier struggles… Continue Reading →...

Yesterday SXSW unveiled the full slate for this year’s film festival. Hihglights include the world premiere of the first feature from 25 New Face Anthony Onah, the world premieres of new features from Edgar Wright, Terrence Malick and Joe Swanberg, and a boatload of popular titles from this year’s Sundance. This year’s SXSW runs March 10 to 19. Narrative Feature Competition A Bad Idea Gone Wrong (World Premiere) Director/Screenwriter: Jason Headley Two would-be thieves forge a surprising relationship with with an unexpected housesitter when they accidentally trap themselves in a house they just broke into. Cast: Matt Jones, Eleanore Pienta, Will […]...

After drawing attention to the festival’s annual Gaming Awards, organizers behind the South by Southwest Film Festival have posted the full, comprehensive lineup, revealing that the likes of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and Free Fire, the riotous ensemble thriller from Ben Wheatley, are among those films that will screen for critics and attendees.

Per SXSW 2017‘s website, this year’s showcase will host “84 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres, and 6 Us Premieres. First-time filmmakers account for 51 films, continuing our tradition of unearthing the emergent talent of tomorrow.” British auteur Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England) is a regular of the Texas festival, and will be rubbing shoulders with other favorites including Michael Winterbottom, Nacho Vigalondo, Michael Showalter.

SXSW 2017 begins on March 10th in Austin, Texas and you can get up to speed on everything the festival has to offer down below.

Narrative Feature Competition

A Bad Idea Gone Wrong...

A project that has been long in the works for a while now as it was originally a short of the same name, Dara Ju in its feature length shape was part of Sundance’s 2014 Producing Lab, Ifp (the No Borders Program) and Film Independent (the Directing Lab) programs while Anthony Onah was profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces and took part of Sundance Institute’s Catalyst Initiative.

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Congratulations to Anthony Onah who has been selected as one of 6 filmmakers to participate in Film Independent's 15th annual Directing Lab - an intensive 8-week program designed to support emerging independent film directors as the prep their feature film. A primary focus of the Lab is on working with actors in the rehearsal process. Under the guidance of the Creative Advisors, Directing Fellows select short scenes from their scripts to workshop and shoot. Film Independent provides Fellows with digital camera and lighting packages and small stipends to shoot their scenes, and offers access to experienced casting directors, cinematographers, and editors with whom to...

Looking over the list, I immediately identified 2 projects we've previously highlighted on this blog - Anthony Onah's "Dara Ju" (photo above), which is a feature-length version of a short film of the same name, embedded below for you to watch if you missed it when we posted it; and "Lord of Vinyl" by Dennis Bartok, which, when we last wrote about it in 2012, had Jennifer Beals attached to star and produce. No word on whether she's still involved.  Congrats to all on progress! Full details via press release from Film Independent below... Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival, is pleased to...

On the heels of the 39th edition of the Toronto Int. Film Festival (Sept 4-14), Ifp’s Independent Film Week is where a plethora of fiction, non-fiction and new this year, web-based series from the likes of Desiree Akhavan and Calvin Reeder find future coin. Sectioned off as projects at the very beginning of financing to those that are nearing completion, there happens to be tons of Sundance alumni in the names below. Among those that caught our attention we have Medicine for Melancholy‘s Barry Jenkins’ sophomore feature, produced by Bad Milo!‘s Adele Romanski, Moonlight is about “two Miami boys navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality in this triptych drama about black queer youth”. Concussion‘s Stacie Passon digs into the thriller genre with Strange Things Started Happening. Produced by vet Mary Jane Skalski (Mysterious Skin), this is about “a woman who has...

Well-made short film from Anthony Onah, who happens to be Julius Onah's twin-brother - Julius being the director of The Girls Is In Trouble (staring Columbus Short), and who was recently tapped by J.J. Abrams to helm the upcoming sci-fi thriller God Particle. Clearly some talent in this family, as both young filmmakers seem poised for bright futures ahead, with Julius already well on his way. Earlier this month, Anthony won the top prize ($25,000) in his category at the Afrinolly Short Film Competition, for a short titled Dara Ju. The below film isn't Dara Ju, but a previous work by Anthony that he made for the Stolen Dreams Short...

Congrats to all the winners of a competition we've been following since it began last fall... details via press release below; by the way, the big winner in the fiction category, Anthony Onah, happens to be Julius Onah's twin-brother - Julius being the director of The Girls Is In Trouble (staring Columbus Short), and who was recently tapped by J.J. Abrams to helm the sci-fi thriller God Particle:Dara Ju, Hustle On a Mile take pole position in Afrinolly Short Film CompetitionThe top three winners in the Afrinolly Short Film Competition have finally been selected. After the event was launched on November 1, 2012, over 500 entries were received from African filmmakers from 14 countries by the...