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Exclusive: Beanie Mania filmmaker Yemisi Brookes, documentarian-cinematographer Christopher Frierson (Dmx: Don’t Try to Understand), director-producer Lisa Cortés (All In: The Fight For Democracy), directors Morgan Pehme and Dan Dimauro (Get Me Roger Stone), Mark Laita’s YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly and The Speed Cubers filmmaker Sue Kim have signed with Black Box Management for representation.

As it announces its new signings, Black Box has two client projects at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: the documentary TikTok, Boom from director Shalini Kantayya, which looks at the rise and cultural influence of the ubiquitous social media app, and John Patton Ford’s thriller Emily the Criminal, starring Aubrey Plaza.

“These new signs are part of the continued expansion of the Black Box family. From the start we have always been drawn to artists and creators who are disruptive and have something new to say,” said Black Box founders Mike Dill and Lowell Shapiro in a joint statement.

Zeitgeist Films will release two new documentaries: Sophie Fiennes’ "The Perverts' Guide to Ideology" and Fredrik Stanton’s "Uprising." "The Perverts' Guide to Ideology" follows philosophy superstar Slavoj Zizek ("The Perverts' Guide to Cinema") as he uses cinema and psychoanalysis "to explore the mechanisms that shape what we believe and how we behave." The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and will open at the IFC Center this Fall, with a national release to follow. "Uprising"examines the spontaneous social media eruption that brought millions of Egyptians into the streets to protest -- and eventually overthrow -- dictator Hosni Mubarek after years of oppression. It will play selected cities this summer and fall. Zeitgeist’s other 2013 theatrical releases are Neil Barsky’s "Koch," "One Track Heart" by Jeremy Frindel and Margarethe von Trotta’s "Hannah Arendt."...

From Thursday, May 2nd - Monday, May 6th, African Film Festival Inc., Doc Watchers' Inc, and Maysles Cinema present: Five Days of African Docs in NYC! It's a great-looking lineup of current films, some we've covered here on S&A, so you'll hopefully be familiar. I'l say no more; check out the full lineup and schedule below. For ticket info, click Here. Thursday, May 2nd, 7:30pm Uprising Dir. Fredrik Stanton, 2012, 85 min, Egypt Produced by an Academy Award-winning team including the Executive Producer of Taxi to the Dark Side and the Editor of Inside Job, Uprising tells the inside story of the Egyptian revolution from the perspective of its...

The final installment of the First Time Fest… The First Time Fest’s closing night was held on March 4th. Hosted by Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist), the Players Club lit up with flashes of cameras and smiles of the first time filmmakers anxiously awaiting whose film will win the grand prize- the chance to have their film distributed by Cinema Libre Studios.

Johanna Bennett and Mandy founded the festival after noticing there wasn’t a venue for where new filmmakers can get their film viewed and appreciated. In attendance at the closing night ceremony were Tony Bennett and Jack Huston, as well as Martin Scorsese, who presented the First John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema to Darren Aronofsky, who was also in attendance. Anthony Rapp presented the awards as guests ate food from Chef Diane Dimeo and drank champagne by Nicolas Feuillatte. Also in attendance...

The First Time Fest was created by Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward as a way to showcase new upcoming filmmakers and their works, and to get them a head start in their industry. The festival occurred on March 1st to 4th at The Players Club in New York, which was a club started by some well-known writers and actors, including Edwin Booth (John Wilkes Booth’s brother), Mark Twain, and more.

While the festival does support new filmmakers in their journey, it also awards previous filmmakers who have made names for themselves. Being that this is the first year of the festival, the first ever John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema went to Darren Aronofsky. The award is named in honor of John Huston as he was a esteemed member of The Players Club, as well as considered to be one of the most influential writer, actor, director and producers of all times.

This past weekend, March 1st to 4th, marked the first ever First Time Fest at The Player’s Club in New York City. The festival is a celebration of the films of first time film makers which also features a competition in which 12 aspiring film makers get to debut their first film. These 12 filmmakers have competed for their chance to receive major distribution of their film and all competitors will receive advice from those in the industry.

The festival is to help those aspiring filmmakers in the industry obtain important information in making their films successful. There are twelve competition films that come from all over the world to compete against this wonderful grand prize of not only distribution by Sponsor Cinema Libre Studio, but knowledge- knowledge of how to make films and how people got their start.

The festival itself includes films from these 12 competition films as well as...

Chicago – The Chicago Cultural Center, located downtown across from Millennium Park, will be the scene for the fifth annual Peace on Earth Film Festival, a free, open-to-the-public event from Thursday, March 7th through Sunday, March 10th, 2013. All films will be shown at the Claudia Cassidy Theater within the Cultural Center, with films shown all day on Saturday and Sunday.

The film festival, presented by Transcendence Global Media, Nfp, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will feature documentaries, features, shorts and student films on subjects of nonviolence, tolerance, sustainability and social justice. On March 7th, the festival kicked off with two Midwest Premiere documentaries – “A Whisper to a Roar” and “Pad Yatra” – and will continue on March 8th with Latino Night (full schedule below).

Scene from ‘The Second Cooler,’ featured at the Peace on Earth Film Festival

Photo credit: TheSecondCooler.com

The Peace on Earth...

Title: Uprising Director: Fredrik Stanton Simple, straightforward, first-person testimonials have been an integral part of nonfiction filmmaking for decades, lending voice to social issues and providing powerful personal contextualization for events whose scope can otherwise seem overwhelming. It’s just these sorts of powerful interviews which form the framework of the extraordinarily moving “Uprising,” which tells the remarkable story of the 2011 Egyptian revolution that toppled dictatorial President Hosni Mubarak from power. Augmented by equally amazing extant footage, this documentary is the authoritative behind-the-scenes snapshot of a watershed event in human history — the first digital age people’s revolution. Directed by Fredrik Stanton, ”Uprising” benefits from the sort of clean, well-framed narrative that typically only comes into [ Read More ]

The post Uprising Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

The Stella Artois poured freely (because it was free) at the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown St. Louis last night. It was the closing-night party for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival where the slate of audience-choice and juried-competition winners were announced to an attentive crowd.

Audience Choice Awards

Best Narrative Feature: .The Sapphires,. directed by Wayne Blair

Best International Narrative Feature: .Quartet,. directed by Dustin Hoffman Leon Award for Best Documentary Feature: .The Entertainers,. directed by Michael Zimmer  Juried Competition Awards New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Filmmaker Award (The Bobbie)   Winner ($500 cash prize): .Faith, Love and Whiskey,. directed by Kristina Nikolova Special Jury Citation: .Sun Don.t Shine,. directed by Amy Seimetz St. Louis Film Critics. Joe Pollack Awards

Best Narrative Feature: .Barbara,. directed by Christian Petzold Special Jury Citation for Acting in Narrative Feature: Rachel Mwanza, lead actress of .War Witch. Best Documentary Feature: .Uprising,...