Noticias

"It's about keeping us in our place." Utopia has unveiled an official trailer for The Dilemma of Desire, a documentary about female sexuality from award-winning doc filmmaker Maria Finitzo. This first premiered at festivals last year and is arriving on VOD starting this month. The film explores the work of four women who are shattering myths and lies that women are being told about their sexual desire and their bodies - including artist Sophia Wallace, who challenges long-held ideas of women with her "cliteracy" project, putting front and center the clitoris as fundamental to orgasm. "Dilemma of Desire is a powerful reminder that true equality will come only when we all arrive at a place of understanding and acknowledgement that women are sexual beings, entitled to live their lives fully within the expression of their desire." Yes! More films that explore this topic sensitively and honestly, please. It really does make a difference.

Exclusive: Utopia has acquired worldwide rights to Maria Finitzo’s feature documentary The Dilemma of Desire, which is billed as an exploration of “cliteracy” and the clash between gender politics and the imperatives of female sexual desire.

The distributor has set an October release for North America exclusively on streaming platform Altavod, to be followed by a November 9 release across major VOD platforms.

The pic premiered at SXSW and has since screened at DocNYC, AFI Docs and HotDocs. It explores the work of four women – artist Sophia Wallace (the creator of “cliteracy”), Dr. Stacey Dutton (intent on pushing the publishing industry to stop leaving out vital parts of female anatomy in its textbooks), Dr. Lisa Diamond (dedicated to reframing ideas about female arousal), and Ti Chang (the head of a company that builds “elegant” vibrators) — who are each tackling the myths that women are...

Chicago – “The Dilemma of Desire,” a sex education film (but much more) that should be shown everywhere, is about women’s biology, the female freedom of desire and the equality of honest dialogue. Created by filmmaker Maria Finitzo, this doc is being released on October 5th, 2021, on the digital streaming service Altavod. For more info and to stream click The Dilemma of Desire.

What does it say about humanity and our inner biology when most women (and virtually all men) cannot identify the female body’s source of sexual pleasure, even as they indulge in sex? There is a name for it … the Clitoris … but the anatomy and purpose of its sexual nature continues to evoke cultural dismay and flat out mystery … mostly due to the dismissal of women’s sexuality through the patriarchy and power. Director Finitzo is not looking at this dryly or salaciously, but connecting the freedom...

Chicago – The Midwest Film Festival, which launched a reboot in the beginning of 2020, will hold their first in-theater event – at Chicago’s downtown Gene Siskel Film Center – since that time. On October 2nd, 2021, the Festival will screen “The Dilemma of Desire,” which is a sex education film that should be shown everywhere, about women’s biology, the female freedom of desire and the equality of honest dialogue. The documentary was directed by veteran filmmaker Maria Finitzo. For more info and tickets, click Midwest Film Festival.

What does it say about humanity and our inner biology when most women (and virtually all men) cannot identify the female body’s source of sexual pleasure, even as they indulge in sex? There is a name for it … the Clitoris … but the anatomy and purpose of its sexual nature continues to evoke cultural dismay and flat out mystery. Director Finitzo is not looking at this dryly or salaciously,...

In its fourth “Hashtag” section, #letSEXplore, Zurich Film Festival will explore sexuality and desire. Through films that have already generated heated discussions as well as those that deserve to be rediscovered, starting with Alex Liu’s documentary “A Sexplanation” (pictured), set to celebrate its European premiere at the festival.

Other titles include George Peter Barbari’s “Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living,” Jacques Audiard’s Cannes title “Paris, 13th District,” Maria Finitzo’s documentary “Dilemma of Desire” and Hadas Ben Aroya’s “All Eyes Off Me.”

“When it comes to sex, people are very interested, but they are also a bit wary,” says programmer Christine Albrecht. “There is this duality, because almost everyone has done it but people have a hard time being open about it. It’s 2021! Maybe we can finally talk about sex.”

Instead of focusing on explicit scenes, the festival team decided to spotlight films that normalize sexuality.

Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival and staple of the New York film community, announced the lineup for its 11th edition, running online November 11-19 and available to viewers across the US. The program includes new films about John Belushi, Pope Francis, Bill T. Jones, Jamal Khashoggi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Frank Zappa, and many more. The 2020 festival lineup includes 107 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and dozens of events. Included are 23 World Premieres, 12 international or North American premieres, and 7 US premieres. Fifty-seven features (53% of the lineup) are directed or co-directed by women and 36 by Bipoc directors (34% of the feature program).

World Premieres at the festival include Nelson G. Navarrete and Maxx Caicedo’s “A La Calle,” Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan,” Sian-Pierre Regis’s “Duty Free,” Noah Hutton’s “In Silico,” Nancy Buirski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,...

Abigail Disney, Sheila Nevins are among the notable speakers slated to appear at a documentary-focused edition of the New York Women in Film & Television Creative Workforce Summit.

The event, which will take place virtually from October 20 to 23, will feature keynote speakers, panels and film screenings. According to the Nywift announcement, the goal is to “establish forward-moving strategies to create change and mobilize support and leadership for the future.”

Other notable participants include Laverne Berry, a producer and former Nywift president who is the protagonist in Capturing the Flag, a documentary about the fight against voter suppression; and Marcia Smith, president of Firelight Media, which has backed films like Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool.

Panelists will include Lisa Cortes & Liz Garbus (All In: The Fight for Democracy), Marjan Safinia (And She Could Be Next), Dawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble), Shalini Kantayya (Coded Bias), Maria Finitzo (The Dilemma of Desire...

The American Film Institute has revealed its full slate of films being presented online for the AFI Docs 2020 Film Festival, which will take place digitally this year. The lineup features 59 films from 11 countries and 12 virtual world premieres, with 61 percent of the films directed by women, 25 percent by Poc directors, and 14 percent by LGBTQ directors. The festival runs June 17–21, with films available to view on Docs.AFI.com. See the full lineup below.

“Now more than ever, it is important to expand our perspectives and listen to voices that may differ from our own, and this year’s festival includes a diverse range of insights and experiences for audiences to share in,” said Michael Lumpkin, AFI Festivals director. “These films explore political and social issues in the U.S. and across the globe, introducing us to the next generation of leaders and shedding new light on figures of the past.”

The...

18th edition runs June 17-21.

A 59-strong line-up at AFI Docs announced on Monday (June 8) includes Deirdre Fishel’s exploration of race, gender and violence in the Minneapolis police department in Women In Blue, and a look at immigration policies under the Trump administration in Blood On The Wall by Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested.

The 18th edition of the festival takes place online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is set to run from June 17-21.

As previously announced, AFI Docs will open with Sundance hit and Apple and A24 acquisition Boys State by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine,...

Right now, every film festival shares the same ambition: Get smarter about how to connect with audiences online. In the coming weeks, Hot Docs, Human Rights Watch, and AFI Docs will present online lineups; at Doc NYC, where I’m the artistic director, we are busily adapting to new realities for our November festival.

We’ve also seen online festivals inspire pessimism from some sales agents and programmers — but we don’t have time for that kind of thinking. Many filmmakers can’t hold back their work until next year, when competition will only increase for premiere slots and buyer attention, and many festivals can’t wait because they will cease to exist without revenue. We all need to keep getting smarter, faster.

While we all want to get back into theaters, the public is swiftly adapting to watch online content non-stop. Everyone from health care workers to dancers are...

With the global premiere of National Geographic’s “Jane Goodall: The Hope” on Earth Day (April 22) and the April 19 premiere of the first two episodes of Michael Jordan series “Last Dance” — a ratings slam-dunk for ESPN — it’s deceptively easy to think all is right in the documentary world.

The coronavirus pandemic has created a huge, captive audience for documentaries à la “Tiger King,” while films are reaching millions of home-schooling students and connecting house-bound viewers to the outside world.

Meanwhile, broadcasters and streamers are moving up premiere dates and making select programming more widely (i.e. freely) available, while doc-championing independent U.S. distributors such as Magnolia, Kino Lorber, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Neon and Music Box have launched virtual cinemas as revenue-sharing partnerships that support local arthouse theaters.

The reality is that beyond the headlines for high-profile fare, the pandemic is exposing the fragility of the documentary ecosystem, where the...

The Dilemma of Desire is an engaging and informative documentary built around revolutionary work, large and small, that aims to shatter myths and lies that women are being told about their sexual desire and their bodies. Jumping between cities and states, both liberal and conservative, Maria Finitzo’s well-crafted documentary follows a biological researcher, a visual artist, a high-end sex toy maker and several Chicago-based woman of various ages and gender representations navigating their relationships to their bodies and their own desires.

Researcher Dr. Stacey Dutton, who teaches a biology of womanhood course at a college in Decatur, Ga is disturbed at how the sciences have evolved on female anatomy, instead now largely focusing on the penis. The notion is shared in California where industrial designer Ti Chang and her team attempt to launch their premium sex toy line Crave and receive opposition from Facebook despite allowing ads for generic Viagra on to their platforms.

While only a handful of documentary features have been selected for Cannes’ Official Selection, plenty of non-fiction action can be found in Cannes Market’s Doc Corner and environs, where doc professionals converge to get first looks at — or the first word on — titles with potential to connect with audiences on screens, large and small, in the near future.

The Docs-in-Progress series, running May 18-20, a main attraction of Doc Corner, presents four works-in-progress apiece from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Norway, Palestine and South Africa. These sessions are programmed with documentary or film partner organizations from the respective countries. This year the Monaco-based International Emerging Film Talent Assn. is sponsoring a €10,000, jury-selected prize that will be given to one of the projects to support completion.

Last month, at the close of the pitch program of Visions du Reel, the Swiss rendezvous for documentary film, filmmaker Alessandra Celesia’s “The Flats (Once...

In today’s film news roundup, Disney announces key promotions in film marketing, Film Independent announces more than two dozen grants and Alamo Drafthouse will celebrate the VHS format.

Marketing Promotions

Walt Disney Studios has promoted Ryan Stankevich and Martha Morrison to the posts of senior vice president of marketing.

Studio marketing president Asad Ayaz made the announcement Tuesday. Stankevich will focus on titles from Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, while Morrison will oversee titles from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios.

They will also handle Disney’s other live action film projects and lead global campaigns and strategy for Disney’s entire theatrical slate.

“This is a truly amazing team and I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together over the past several years,” said Ayaz in a statement. “Martha and Ryan are talented and fearless leaders who will set a bold course for our film campaigns,...

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– Exclusive: The 12th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival announced its official selections for the 2017 event featuring films with Alec Baldwin, Dylan McDermott, John Cleese, Daphne Zuniga and more. Opening night will feature Michael Mailer’s newest film, “Blind,” a romantic-drama, starring Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore and Dylan McDermott. Closing night will wrap up the festival with “Albion: The Enchanted Stallion,” a family fantasy adventure, starring John Cleese, Debra Messing, Jennifer Morrison and Stephen Dorff.

Retrospective Screenings will include Daphne Zuniga appearance at the festival honoring the 30th anniversary of “Spaceballs.” Also in this category will be “The Greatest Show on Earth,” from 1952 directed by Cecile B. DeMille, which won the Oscar for Best Pictures and Best Writing in 1953. The screening will honor the closing of the Ringling Bros.

Chicago – Kartemquin Films is concluding its Fall Festival tonight on Friday, November 4th, 2016, with a special presentation of clips from three upcoming documentary projects. The film house, famous for the legendary “Hoop Dreams,” will show previews of ”America to Me” by director Steve James; “Eating Up Easter” by Sergio Rapu; and ”Dilemma of Desire” by Maria Finitzo. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

’America To Me,’ Directed by Steve James, Will Preview at the Kartemquin Films Fall Festival on Nov 4th, 2016

Photo credit: Kartemquin Films

“Throughout this year our 50 year history has been showcased and honored in a number of thrilling ways. But we wanted to now put an emphasis on the new projects and rich documentary filmmaking talent that is in our community,” noted Gordon Quinn, Kartemquin Films co-founder and Artistic Director. “This event is a chance to get a glimpse of the future of documentary filmmaking in Chicago.

Chicago – It’s Week Two of the 32nd Edition of the Chicago Latino Film Festival, and the films, programs and filmmakers are creating a big buzz over at the AMC River East 21 Theatre, where all the festival films are being shown. The huge variety of movies from Latino countries all over the world has brought in the film buffs and fans, making Chicago again the place to be for film.

The week culminates with the Closing Night film and festivities at the Chicago History Museum. For specific details regarding that night and to purchase tickets click here.

’No Kids’ (Argentina) is the Closing Night Film at the 32ndst Chicago Latino Film Festival

Photo credit: Chicago Latino Film Festival

The highlights of Week Two films are as follows…

”Landfill Harmonic”

Hundreds were inspired and amazed by their performance last year at the Closing Night concert of the 10th Annual Chicago Latino Music Festival.

Newbie distributor Grasshopper Film has added to their ranks again, announcing today that they have picked up both VOD and non-theatrical rights to Kartemquin Films' documentary "In the Game," directed by Peabody Award-winning director Maria Finitzo. Set over the course of four years, the film "follows a Chicago Latina girls’ high school soccer team over multiple years as they struggle to overcome family poverty and reach higher education." Read More: Exclusive: Independent Film Vet Ryan Krivoshey Launches New Distribution Company Of the film, director Finitzo said, "I made this film because I believe deeply in the endless possibilities that come with the word 'inclusion.' Does the world really care that little about equality for girls and women, and even less so for women who are not rich and not white? In our country who gets to play and who does not is a yardstick by which we measure how...

Plus: Focus Features, Time Inc launch digital short film doc series; and more…

SXSW has added a work-in-progress version of the animation Sausage Party starring Seth Rogen. The Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures presentation of a Point Grey production will screen as a special event on March 14 and features Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd, Ed Norton, James Franco, Jonah Hill and several surprises in the mix. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the screenplay.

Focus Features is partnering with Time Inc and The Advocate to launch the digital short film documentary series We’ve Been Around. Starting on Tuesday, the series recounts the histories of transgender pioneers and will premiere exclusively across three Time Inc websites – People.com, EW.com, and Essence.com – as well as on Advocate.com.Sidney Kimmel Entertainment has secured film rights to children’s book author Sara Pennypacker’s Pax, about a boy separated from his pet fox during a war.Ryan Krivoshey’s [link...

The St. Louis International Film Festival has announced the films nominated for the Awfj Eda Awards.

Awfj will partner once again with Sliff to recognize the Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature and Best Female-Directed Documentary. The 24th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival will be held Nov. 5-15, 2015. Check out the full lineup here.

Here’s a glimpse of the films that have been selected:

Narratives

Fidelio: Alice’S Odyssey – Lucie Borleteau (France)

A rare woman in the man’s world of seafaring, 30-year-old Alice signs on as a replacement engineer on the freighter Fidélio. Although she loves her job and does it well, Alice remains a woman even when wearing greasy blue overalls, and there’s some doubt that the all-male crew will remain totally insensitive to her charms. The situation has further complications: Alice has a fiancé back on shore, but when she discovers that the Fidélio is captained by Gaël,...

• Reese Witherspoon will star opposite Matt Damon in Downsizing. Alexander Payne will direct from a script he wrote alongside Jim Taylor. Set in the near future, the film follows a man who realizes he'd be better of if he shrunk himself. Payne, Taylor, and Witherspoon all previously worked on Election. [Variety] • The Fault in Our Stars’ Ansel Elgort is joining Chloë Grace Moretz and Catherine Keener in November Criminals. Sacha Gervasi is directing. Steven Knight adapted Sam Munson’s teen-thriller novel for the screen. The story tracks two teenagers in Washington D.C. who investigate a friend’s murder, and fall in love in the process.

Nickelodeon star Jack Griffo has joined the cast of “Those Left Behind,” an indie movie starring Daphne Zuniga (“Melrose Place”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”), Debra Mooney (“Everwood”) and Coby McLaughlin (“Parenthood”), TheWrap has learned.

Maria Finitzo is writing and directing the film, which is being produced by Lije Sarki. The cast also includes Annie Read, Grant Jordan and Jack Herndon.

Also Read: Victoria Justice Hunts Cyber Killer in MTV’s First ‘Eye Candy’ Trailer (Video)

Upon returning to her childhood home with her son to see her ailing mother, Shelly (Zuniga) must confront the demons of her past in order...

Chicago – On Tuesday, December 3rd, the Midwest Independent Film Festival will award their “Best of the Midwest” honors with a ceremony at The Underground Nightclub in Chicago. The evening will be hosted by Festival Director Mike McNamara, and nominees include “The Kings of Summer,” directed by Justin Vogt-Roberts, “Sole Survivor,” directed by Ky Dickens and “Be Good,” directed by Todd Looby.

The ‘Best of the Midwest’ Awards Are Tuesday, December 3rd

Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com

The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been named by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one of the top places for local filmmakers, producers and actors to network in the city.

The nominees for the “Best of the Midwest” Awards are as follows….

Best Music Video...