News

Cinema Guild has acquired U.S. rights to Cane Fire, an award-winning documentary from director Anthony Banua-Simon, with plans to release it in theaters across the U.S., beginning with a New York theatrical premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 20.

The filmmaker’s deal with Cinema Guild also encompassed his short films Third Shift and Pure Flix and Chill: The David A.R. White Story, which will be released on the educational market.

Cane Fire examines the past and present of the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, interweaving four generations of family history with accounts of numerous Hollywood productions shot there, along with troves of found footage to create a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own story.

The film premiered at Hot Docs in 2020, subsequently going on to screen at the Indie Memphis Film Festival,...

Grasshopper Film has secured the U.S. distribution rights to Maɬni-Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore, the Sky Hopinka-directed documentary that had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It’s slated to screen this month as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real festival before heading to theaters in 2021, followed by a VOD and home video release.

The docu explores the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, Malni (pronounced: moth-nee) and follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside. At its center are Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier, who take separate paths contemplating their afterlife, rebirth, and death.

In addition, the pic features Travis Mercier, Tony Johnson, The Grand Ronde Canoe Family, and The Chinook Nation Canoe Family.

The rights deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey, President/Founder of Grasshopper Film,...

As the entertainment space evolves and pushes further into the technology world, including virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other experimental works, the Sundance Film Festival is continuing to debut some of the best examples of such crossovers as part of its New Frontier section. Every year, the section aims to “offer some of the most innovative independent production and experimentation at the crossroads of film, art and technology that is being created today.” For the 2018 edition of the festival, that will include an international slate of VR, Mr, and AI.

This year, New Frontier programming will encompass three venues, including the New Frontier Exhibition at Kimball Art Center (which will host immersive dance and cutting edge VR & Mr works as well as works involving Artificial Intelligence), along with New Frontier at The Ray, which will also include The Box at New Frontier at The Ray (a 40-seat mobile VR theater...

Industry Days 2016 includes the fifth edition of Us in Progress and the third edition of Paris Coproduction Village. Industry Days aims at becoming a reference in professional meetings for French and European producers, with a strong positioning towards the enhancement of emerging cinematography.

Paris Co-Production Village Unveils Its Project Selections

Organized by Les Arcs European Film Festival within the frame of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival Industry Days, Paris Co-production Village is a development and financing platform for feature projects selected worldwide.

For its third edition, which will take place June 8-10, 2016 in Paris, the 12 following projects have been selected:

-"Afronauts" by Frances Bodomo (2015 - short film « Afronauts » Sundance Ff, Berlinale, AFI Fest, Chicago Iff ; 2014 - short film "Boneshaker" Sundance Ff, SXSW Ff, Chicago Iff, Edinburgh Iff) produced by Nomadic Independence (USA).

-"Blood-Drenched Beard" by Aly Muritiba (2015 - "To My Beloved" San Sebastian Ff Horizontes Latinos, Official Competition Montreal World Film Festival; 2015 - "Tarantula" Venice Ff Orizonti) produced by Rt Features (Brazil).

-"The Bus to Amerika" by Derya Durmaz (2015 - short film "Mother Virgin No More" Berlinale Generations 14plus Short Film Competition) produced by Mars Production (Turkey).

-"Dark Lies the Island" by Ian Fitzgibbon (2011 - "Death of a Superhero" Toronto Iff, Jury and Audience Awards Les Arcs European Film Festival ; 2010 - "Perrier's Bountru" Toronto Iff, Seattle Iff) produced by Grand Pictures (Ireland).

-"God Exists, her Name is Petrunija" by Teona Strugar Mitevska (2012 - "The Woman Who Brushed Her Tears" Berlinale Panaroma Special; 2008 - "I am from Tito Veles" Berlinale Panorama Section, Special Jury Award Sarajevo Ff, Toronto Iff, Cannes Ff Acid selection) produced by Sisters and Brother Mitevski Production (Macedonia).

-"Golden Voices" by Evgeny Ruman (2015 - "The Man in the Wall" Rotterdam Iff, Best acting Award Odessa Iff; 2012 - "Igor & the Cranes' Journey" Toronto Iff, Special Mention Haifa Iff) produced by United Channel Movies (Israel).

-"Prince" by Sebastian Muñoz produced by Niña Niño Films (Chile) and Le Tiro Films (Argentina).

-"Remarkable Things During a Killing" by Joko Anwar (2015 - "A Copy of my Mind" Venice Iff, Toronto Iff, Busan Iff, Rotterdam Iff; 2012 - "Ritual" SXSW, Gerardmer Fantasy Ff) produced by Lo-Fi Flicks (Indonesia).

-"When the Waves are Gone" by Lav Diaz (2016 - "A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery"Alfred Bauer Award Berlinale Official Competition; 2014 - "From What is Before" Golden Leopard Locarno Iff, Audience Award Sao paulo Iff) produced by Epicmedia (The Philippines).

Projets selected within the frame of the Focus Colombia :

"Almost Never Too Late" by Alfonso Acosta (2012 - "The Crack" Busan Iff, Sao Paulo Iff, Gerardmer Fantasy Ff, Neuchatel International Fantastic Ff) produced by Cabecitanegra Producciones.

-"The Stone" by Rafael Martinez Moreno (2015 - short film "Round Numbers" Zinebi Bilbao Official Selection; 2012 - short film "120 Minutes of Freedom", Bogota International Film Festival) produced by Miramar Entertainment.

-"The Tailor" by Cesar Heredia (2015 - short film "Elefante" Official Competition Cartagena Iff) produced by Corte Film, Tree House Film (Panama) and Diafragma (Colombia).

This selection aims at showing the diversity of world cinema, in terms of geography as well as a balance between newcomers and experienced directors. It includes:

- 1 American project, 1 Israeli project, 3 European projects, 2 Asian projects and 5 projects from Latin America including 3 projects part of the Colombian Focus

- 5 first feature films projects (marked with *)

Colombia is the guest country of this third edition

In partnership with Proimágenes Colombia, Paris Coproduction Village will present this year a « Colombian Focus », inviting 3 Colombian projects in development. A conference, organized with the support of the Cnc, will take place during the event and will discuss the improvement of the French-Colombian coproduction framework.

In addition, the 6 residents of Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation will join the selection:

-"Feathers of a Father" by Omar El Zohairy (Egypt)

-"Fronteira" by Nuno Baltazar (Portugal)

-"Letters from the Land of the Tarahumara" by Federico Cecchetti (Mexico/France)

-"Tinnitus" by Gregorio Grazios (Brazil)

-"The Users" by Ivan Ikic (Serbia)

-"Disappearance" by Ali Asgari (Iran)

All these projects will benefit from one-to-one pre-scheduled meetings with producers, sales agents, distributors, from networking events, as well as seminars taught by leading film industry professionals.

Paris Coproduction Village is supported by the Cnc, Procirep and Cofiloisirs. It is organized in collaboration with our partners Cannes Cinéfondation, Ace, Cinando, Haf (Hong-Kong Asian Film Financing Forum), Variety, LatAm, Producers Network, Screen, Eave, Europa International, Cineuropa and Ecran Total.

The team behind Paris Coproduction Village is the team of Les Arcs European Film Festival, that is to say:

Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin, CEO

Jérémy Zelnik, Head of Industry

Alice Guilbaud, Coproduction Village Manager

Guillaume Calop, General Manager

Claire-Marine Piétriga, General Coordinator

Clémentine Larroudé, Head of Partnerships

Fabienne Silvestre-Bertoncini, Public and Institutional Relations

Us in Progress Unveils Its Project Selection

Us in Progress will take place in the scope of the 5th edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris on June 8-10. The Program is a joint initiative between the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris and Black Rabbit Film in New York. It is the first and only industry event devoted to Us indies in Europe. The aim of the program is to present Us indie films in post-production to European buyers in order to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.

For the 5th edition of Us in Progress within the scope of the Industry Days, 4 feature-length narrative films have been selected to compete for the Us in Progress Prize :

-"California Dreams" Directed by Mike Ott / Produced by Alex Gioulakis

-"Easy Living" Directed by Adam Keleman / Produced by Laura Wagner

-"Everything Beautiful is Far Away" Directed by Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson / Produced by Andrea Sisson and Saul Germaine

-"Otto : My Life is a Soundtrack" Directed by Margarita Jimeno / Andrew Corkin and Sol Bondy

This year, we are also introducing documentaries at the Us in Progress Paris with the selection of 2 films:

-"Academy" Directed by Brent Chesanek / Produced by Andrew Renzi and Andrew Corkin

-"Whirlybird" Directed by Matt Yoka / Produced by Steve Holmgren, Erin Lee Carr, Greg Lanesey and Matt Radecki

For two days, the project holders will present their rough cuts to 40 top European sales agents, distributors, festivals programmers and producers. On the third day, they will get advices and feedbacks from the screenings through one-to-one meetings with the buyers.

The awarded film will get post-production, acquisition and promotion services offered by our partners : TitraFilm, Europa Distribution, Producers Network, Ciné +, Eaux Vives Productions, Indiewire-SydneysBuzz, Centre Phi, Kickstarter and a newcomer the Studios d’Arenberg (Arenberg Creative Mine).

Us in Progress involves two yearly get-togethers and the next edition will take place in Wroclaw in October 2016 in the scope of the American Film Festival. Us in Progress Wroclaw’s submissions starts from April 6th to August 31st.

Works-in-progress event devoted to Us indies to take place in Paris June 8-10.

Us directors Mike Ott and Adam Keleman will present their upcoming films at the fifth edition of Us in Progress in Paris this June.

Running June 8-10, the programme is a joint initiative between the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris and Black Rabbit Film in New York.

Rough cuts of a selection of Us independent features are screened with the aim of finding them sales agents, festival homes and producers.

Benjamin Dickinson’s sci-fi comedy Creative Control, which took the top prize at the event in 2014, went on to to be sold, for example, by Philippe Bober’s Paris-based Coproduction Office.

Ott will present his hybrid work California Dreams revolving around auditions in which people perform scenes from their favourite films.

The director won the Polish round of Us in Progress in 2013 for his last film Lake Los Angeles.

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Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave to open festival; director Peter Greenaway to receive Visionary Award.Scroll down for full line-up

Steve McQueen’s historic drama 12 Years a Slave is to open the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 6-17) and is nominated in the Stockholm Xxiv Competition.

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the drama about free black man kidnapped from his family and sold into slavery in the 1850s debuted at Telluride and has received positive reactions throughout its festival tour of Toronto, New York and London among others.

It will be released in Sweden on Dec 20 by Ab Svensk Filmindustri.

Screenwriter John Ridley, who will be present during the festival, is nominated for the Aluminum Horse in the category Best Script.

McQueen’s Hunger won Best Directorial Debut at Stockholm in 2008.

Line-up

The 24th Siff includes more than 180 films from more than 50 countries.

As previously announced, the spotlight of this year’s festival is freedom but Chinese artist...

#5. Concussion

Who: Having begun her ascension via her work as a commercials director/producer, 2012/2013 has turned out to be fairly kick ass in terms of receiving support. From the guidance of producer Rose Troche (helmer of Go Fish), being chosen by Independent Feature Project’s narrative lab to grabbing grants in the shape of the Adrienne Shelly Director’s Grant and Gothams Award’s Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers Live the Dream Grant.

What: Sight unseen, with a high libido, this might be compared to Steve McQueen’s Shame as it also centers on a Manhattanite whose midlife crisis includes a character with a double life of sorts.

Where: You can find more info on the facebook page and the official website should start getting into gear shortly.

When: The Rose Troche produced drama was shot in New York City in March of last year.

Why: Premise alone for...

I Used to be Darker

Director: Matthew Porterfield

Writer(s): Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield

Producer(s): Eric Bannat, Steve Holmgren, Ryan Zacarias

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr

The reason why I accurately predicted that Matthew Porterfield would receive a Sundance Film Festival invite for I Used to be Darker, his third feature film, is primarily due to the genius behind his sophomore pic, Putty Hill. Featuring the photography by regular contributor Jeremy Saulnier, this offers fresh faces in front of the camera in a backdrop that Porterfield appears to know like the back of his hand.

Gist: Scripted by Amy Belk and Porterfield, this is about a young woman named Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, who finds herself pregnant in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with American relatives in Baltimore. But Aunt Kim and her husband,...

Putty Hill, his critically acclaimed Berlin and SXSW selected sophomore feature officially put Matthew Porterfield on the future of indie film map. He began lensing in the summer of 2011 – so this is definitely readied for a big festival showing and we won’t be surprised if Sundance wants to be affiliated with this filmmaker. Most recently included in the half dozen items for Poland’s American Film Fest’s Us in Progress Wrocław, I Used to be Darker features the photography from Porterfield’s dp Jeremy Saulnier (he contributed on Porterfield’s debut film as well (2000′s Hamilton) and the pic will be toplined by newbie actresses Deragh Campbell (pictured above) and Hannah Gross.

Gist: Scripted by Amy Belk and Porterfield, this is about a young woman named Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, who finds herself pregnant in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with American relatives in Baltimore. But Aunt Kim and her husband,...

Us in Progress in Wrocław Poland is the only international event I know of which awards American independent films in post-production with cash awards worth Us$ 40,000 and distribution support. This two-day works-in-progress event is targeted to European buyers and as such gives American independent filmmakers the chance to expand their horizons when looking for financing and international distribution.

The event takes place during the third American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland on November 14-16. It shows a selection of U.S. independent films seeking completion funding to a group of European buyers, programmers and post-production companies in a series of closed screenings.

Titles selected for this year’s edition are: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield (prod. Steve Holmgren & Ryan Zacharias), Milkshake by David Andalman (prod. Vinay Singh), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (prod. Kyle Martin) which was in both the Sundance Creative Producing Lab and the Directing Lab, A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins (prod. Patricia Beaury & Rodrigo Lopresti) and two Ifp Labs titles: Cantuckee by Kimberly Levin (prod. Kurt Pitzer), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (prod. Matthew Petock).

Around 25 key European buyers will attend the event, among them Wild Bunch (France), Artificial Eye (U.K.), The Works (U.K.), Reel Suspects (France), Sophie Dulac Distribution (France), Imagine Film (Belgium), Gutek Film and Polsat . Programmers from Berlin, Cannes and Locarno Film Festivals will also be present.

The projects will have a chance to find a world sales agent and distributor as well as secure post-production partners at the event. A jury made of professionals will award one of the works in progress with a package of post-production services from partner companies including Di service worth $10,000.00 at Platige Image, a leading Polish post-production and special effects company, up to 150 hours of sound editing or soundtrack at Warsaw-based Soundflower Studio worth $10,000.00, post-production services by the Krakow-based Alvernia Studios worth up to $10.000. Another award will contribute to the promotion and distribution of a film provided by DCinex (Dcp worth $5,000), Vsi Paris (subtitling), Europa Distribution and Cicae, the Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas. One producer will also receive free registration at Producers Network, an exclusive network of Meet-and-Greet, during Cannes Marche du Film.

Us in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 in Wrocław, Poland by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. In 2012, the event expanded to Paris, where it was part of Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival. 2011 Wrocław edition’s success stories include Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi which went on to Rotterdam Film Festival, New Directors/New Films and is now in U.S. distribution via Argot Pictures. Roger Ebert says, "***½ The images of wild mushrooms by Cortlund himself and the shots of food prep by cinematographer Jonathan Nastasi, approach art. Now, Forager is an uncompromising film about two people who don't deserve each other...." The title was sold for distribution to 8 other countries by New Europe Film Sales.

Amy Seimetz' Sun Don’t Shine won the Jury Award at SXSW and played in Edinburgh Iff. Patricia Benoit's Stones in the Sun played Tribeca and won Best New Narrative Director and Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. Us in Progress Us$ 60,000 prize winner, Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning has Sarasota Ff and was picked up for world sales by Premium Films. The winning film of the Paris edition, Champs Elysees Film Festival, was A Teacher by Hannah Fidell.

Us in Progress runs concurrently with the American Film Festival which will be honoring Wes Anderson whose Moonrise Kingdom will have its Polish premiere and Jerry Schatzberg, the legendary director and accomplished photographer who will receive the annual Indie Star award, given by the festival to helmers of American independent cinema (first one given to Todd Solondz in 2011). The festival will screen his most important films including Puzzle of a Downfall Child, The Panic in Needle Park and Scarecrow.

Formerly going by the workshop title of Gotham in Progress, Poland’s third American Film Festival’s Us in Progress Wrocław (2 day event) will see six new U.S. indie projects currently in post-prod from the likes of helmers we’ve profiled here on the site in Matt Porterfield (see still above for I Used To Be Darker) and Lance Edmands. The fest which runs next month (Nov 13-18) attracts several European buyers and fest programmers from Berlin, Cannes and Locarno, and don’t be surprised if we end up profiling a handful of these titles in Park City next January.

A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins (prod. Patricia Beaury & Rodrigo Lopresti)

Mike is an actor. Or he used to be. Or he still could be. Except Maggie is also an actor, and a more successful one at that. As Maggie books bigger and bigger roles – and works longer...

Just released is the line-up for this year’s Independent Film Week, which will take place next month in New York, from September 16 to 20 at Lincoln Center. Announced today for Ifp’s centerpiece event of the year are both the industry events and the 165 projects which have been invited to participate in 2012′s Project Forum. A complete list of the projects can be found here, while on the industry side there are such new initiatives as the Ifp Producer of Marketing & Distribution Labs and a joint event of Ifp and Filmmaker magazine, “Reinvent: Media Arts for the 21st Century.”

Ifp’s Executive Director Joana Vicente said, “Ifp is proud to present this year’s Independent Film Week, which includes a truly original, exciting, and diverse slate of U.S. and international projects that are sure to pique the interest of our attending industry friends. Not only does Film Week remain...

Director Cory McAbee

Director: Cory McAbee

Festival Entry: Crazy & Thief

Narrative Competition

With only a homemade “Star Map” and their own imagination to guide them, a brother and sister take a fantastical journey through the real world in this ode to being a little kid from cult director Cory McAbee.

Directed By: Cory McAbee

Producers: Cory McAbee, Scott Miller, Steve Holmgren

Screenwriter: Cory McAbee

Cinematographer: Scott Miller

Editor: Matt Cowan

Music: Cory McAbee

Cast: Willa Vy McAbee, John Huck McAbee, Gregory Russell Cook, Graham Standford

We asked Crazy & Thief director Cory McAbee about everything from his inspirations to the challenges of working with a tantrum-prone two-year-old. Here’s what he had to say:

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Cory McAbee. I’m the writer/director of Crazy and Thief. My past films include The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam. I am currently performing as...

#27. I Used to Be Darker Director: Matthew PorterfieldWriters: Porterfield and Amy BelkProducers: Steve Holmgren and Eric Bannat, (Putty Hill), Amy Dotson and Nomadic Independence Pictures' Ryan Zacarias (#99 on our list When the World's on Fire)Distributor: Rights Available The Gist: This is about a young woman named Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, who finds herself pregnant in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with American relatives in Baltimore. But Aunt Kim and her husband, Bill, have problems of their own: they’re trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter Abby, just home from her first year of college...(more) Cast: Ned Oldham, Kim Taylor, Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell List Worthy Reasons...: Talk about having this project tattooed to his heart (and arm - see pic above) - one of our U.S indie filmmaker revelations to watch out for is helmer Matthew Porterfield.