News

AMC’s genre streamer Shudder and picked up North American, U.K., Irish, Australian and New Zealand rights to “Fréwaka,” billed as the first Irish-language horror.

Written and directed by Aislinn Clarke and starring Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain and Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya, the film — which features both the Irish and English language — recently world premiered at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival, and will have its U.K. premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11, 2024. “Fréwaka” will debut on Shudder in 2025.

“Fréwaka” following home care worker Shoo, who is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbors as much as she fears the Na Sídhe — sinister entities who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman’s paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.

“I...

Exclusive: Film Independent has set seven filmmakers for the 2023 edition of its Producing Lab, an intensive program designed to help creative, independent producers develop their skills and further their careers. The list includes Camila Grimaldi & Farah Jabir (AmeriGirl), Rob Cristiano (Gone by Morning), Daniel Tantalean (In the Summers), Valeria Contreras (Not My Name), Annalisa Shoemaker (Obsolete), and Fiona Hardingham (Smoke Country).

Film Independent looks to bolster its Fellows by introducing them to film professionals who can advise them on both the craft and business of independent producing. Each is paired with a Creative Advisor, with whom they’ll look to develop a project over the course of the program. Rebecca Green will serve as lead creative advisor for this year’s program, which will also feature an expansive roster of guest speakers: Jason Michael Berman, Apoorva Charan, Marissa Frobes, Nate Kamiya, Kristen Konvitz, Stephen Lee, Alex Lo, Lauren Mann, Jack Pearkes,...

Even amid the concurrent strikes of the past year, there’s been a lot of bonus hand-wringing over the state of the independent producer. Producers, after all, have no SAG or WGA equivalent. Where then does the workaday, blue-collar movie producer find community support? Or work with peers to advance their collective interests?

Well… linking up with a good Artist Development cohort is a great place to star. Which is why we’re thrilled to announce seven new Fellows representing six new projects to kick off the 2023 edition (and 23rd overall!) of the Film Independent Producing Lab.

“We’re delighted to shepherd this group of devoted creative producers through the Lab and give them a dedicated space to further their projects and careers,” says Dea Vazquez, Film Independent’s Associate Director of Fiction Programs.

“We’re thrilled to have feature films in both development and post-production, to support producers at...

Hot on the tail of a recent slew of pickups and sales, Paris-based sales-producer-distributor Alief has snapped up international rights to the West African folktale “Mami Wata.”

North America rights to the film are represented by Marissa Frobes at CAA Media Finance. Alief is presenting the film to buyers and festival programmers at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin.

The first film from a Nigerian-based director to play (and win an award) at Sundance, this visually striking feature took home the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography for Brazilian Dp Lílis Soares.

Nigerian director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s film tells the story of two sisters who fight to save their people and restore to the land a water deity. According to West African folklore, ‘Mami Wata’ is a terrifying mermaid goddess.

This black-and-white film is set in a beach town where a community must question previously...

Exclusive: Momentum Pictures has acquired distribution rights in the US, Canada, and UK to Soft & Quiet, the debut feature from filmmaker Beth de Araújo which made its world premiere at SXSW.

The film, produced by Blumhouse and Second Grade Teacher, earned gripping reviews out the Austin, TX event, near 90. The pic will be released day and date in theaters and VOD on Nov. 4.

Soft & Quiet is a thriller that plays out in real time. The pic follows a single afternoon in the life of an elementary school teacher as she organizes a mixer of like-minded women. When the group heads home, the teacher encounters a woman from her past, leading to a volatile chain of events.

Araújo produced the title alongside Saba Zerehi, Josh Peters, and Joshua Beirne-Golden, with Executive Producers Robina Riccitiello, Beatriz Sequeira and Jason Blum.

“Beth de Araújo finds spectacular moments of tension and discomfort in Soft & Quiet,...

Producers of the Spirit Awards, and non-profit arts organization, Film Independent, announced the five filmmakers and projects selected for their 21st annual producing Lab. The fellows will participate in a program set up to help develop their skills and further their careers by pairing them with a creative advisor who will advise on both the craft and business of independent producing.

The 2021 Producing Lab is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Sloan Producers Grant, a $30,000 grant to further develop a project that explores science and technology themes or characters in engaging and innovative ways, was awarded to Cecilia Otero with her project, Upstreamers. Additional support comes from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“We are thrilled to support this year’s talented cohort of Producers who are championing global stories that speak to the universal human experiences of ambition, redemption and connection.” said Angela C. Lee, Associate Director of Artist Development.