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Exclusive: Ahead of the Cannes launch of the anticipated Oliver Hermanus film The History of Sound, on which they’re co-producers, Tatiana Bears and Bruno Vernaschi-Berman have announced the launch of Good Bath, a New York-based independent production company focused on championing distinct voices and bold storytelling across the global indie film landscape.

“We started Good Bath to create the kind of space we always wished existed—one where filmmakers feel truly supported from the ground up,” the duo said. “We’re excited to build something bold, flexible, and deeply collaborative, and to keep championing the kinds of stories that surprise us.”

Bears and Vernaschi-Berman have extensive experience in the production of acclaimed indies and bring a collaborative, filmmaker-first ethos to Good Bath. In addition to the WWI-set History of Sound — which stars Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal — the duo’s collective credits include Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You...

Chicago – The 31st Slamdance Film Festival, which took place in Los Angeles after 30 years in Park City, honored the top films of the fest in several categories on February 26th, 2025, the last day of the in-person fest. The full line-up of films will be available on the Slamdance Channel until March 7th, Click here for more information.

“Gamma Rays” is a multi-story character study involving older teens. Abdel’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of his extraverted cousin, who’s staying for the summer. Fatima craves a more stable life since she’s starting a new job as a supermarket cashier. Toussaint, while fishing, finds a bottle washed up on the shore, and there’s a message inside. All their stories will eventually converge in rebellious truth.

Top Narrative Film: ’GammaRays’ at 31st Slamdance Film Festival

Photo credit: Slamdance.com

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After a week of celebrating Los Angeles’ vibrant independent film community, the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival has come to a close. It was a year of new beginnings for the indie festival, as the 2025 edition marked its debut in its new Los Angeles home and introduced a new February calendar slot that did not overlap with Sundance.

But while the timing and location have changed, the spirit of Slamdance has not. The festival continued to celebrate debut works from filmmakers working on low budgets, providing a showcase for a slew of new talents. The Narrative Feature Grand Prize went to Henry Bernadet’s solo directorial debut “Gamma Rays,” while Nicholas Clark and Dylan Frederick’s “American Theater” took the documentary prize. The coveted Agbo fellowship, which comes with mentorship from Slamdance alumni Joe and Anthony Russo, went to Margot Budzyna, the director of “Deuce.”

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Celebrating 21 years of independent, breakout cinema and its first year in its new LA home, Slamdance 2025 kicks off for another edition of bold, original storytelling. First up on our docket is Cory Santilli’s In The Mouth, a crisp black-and-white comedy that operates on dream logic and plays by its own rules. A surprisingly personal film for how absurd it gives itself permission to be, but hands down one of the highlights of this year’s festival.

In The Mouth stars Colin Burgess (Inspector Ike) as an anxiety-riddled man named Merl, desperately looking for roommate. If he can’t scrape together some extra cash fast, he’s going to get evicted. But desperation doesn’t exactly attract the most trustworthy people and Merl is too occupied with his own problems to notice that he’s just welcomed a dangerous criminal into his home. It’s a real will-they/won’t-they-kill-eachother-in-their-sleep...

Utopia Boards Sci-Fi Drama

Exclusive: Utopia has acquired worldwide sales rights to feature film Saul At Night, a sci-fi drama and feature debut by Cory Santilli, written by Daniel Miska. Starring Kentucker Audley, Suzanne Clément, Stephanie Ellis and Acadia Colan, the movie follows Saul Capgras (Audley) as he is forced to become acclimated to isolation in a bizarre experiment. A legally imposed curfew and mandated sleeping schedule has been forced upon citizens, except Saul, the one person who rests during the day and spends his waking hours in the eerie and lonely night. Alienated from his family, Saul begins to invent ways to continue sharing his life with his wife and daughter, but things take a turn when he encounters a mysterious woman on one of his nightly wanderings. Digital release is lined up for this month. Pic is a JawDoc Productions film produced by Raz Cunningham and Julie Snyder,...

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has added ten new titles, including eight international premieres, to the list of movies competing in the First Feature Competition. Topping off the list of already announced titles – including Matías Ganz’s A Dog’s Death, Park Hee-kwon’s Dust and Ashes, Jure Pavlović’s Mater, Looted by Rene Pannevis, Lorni - The Flaneur by Wanphrang Diengdoh, Saul at Night by Cory Santilli as well as The Names of the Flowers by Bahman Tavoosi and Bernardo Barreto’s The Seeker – the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has completed the selection of its First Feature Competition section. It’s one that, as Cineuropa finds out, embodies the festival’s mission to “discover emerging creative voices from all over the world, offering them a first launchpad and help to gain international recognition” – as well as a €5,000 grant, to be shared by the director and producer of the title named Best.

Includes the world premiere of ‘Isaac’ from Lithuanian director Jurgis Matulevičius.

Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 15-Dec 1) has finalized its First Feature Competition, adding 10 films to the eight previously announced titles.

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These include the world premiere of Isaac, from Lithuanian director Jurgis Matulevičius, which centres on a political activist who is haunted by the guilt of killing a Jew in the Lietukis garage massacre of 1941. The cast includes Severija Janušauskaitė, from Russian comedy Star and German TV drama Babylon Berlin. Producers are Lithuania’s Film Jam and Poland‘s Takfilm.

It’s...

Estonian festival also unveils first feature selection.

Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 15-Dec 1) has announced the first eight films for its official selection, the festival’s main competition strand.

These include the European premiere of Wayne Wang’s Coming Home Again and the world premieres of Liu Shu’s Lost Lotus and Tom Sullivan’s Monster.

The titles will compete for the Grand Prix for best film, which includes a grant of €10,000 shared by the director and producer, among other prizes for director, script, actor, actress, cinematographer and music.

Coming Home Again screened at Toronto and Busan...