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This year’s Tribeca Film Festival finished up in April, and some of the festival’s films are receiving theatrical releases around the end of the year. One of these films is “Burn Country,” formerly known as “The Fixer,” which follows former war journalist Osman (Dominic Rains) who lands in a small bohemian town in Northern California working as a crime reporter for the local newspaper. Living on the couch of his friend’s mother (Melissa Leo) and eager to get to work, he befriends local townsfolk, like hot tub craftsman Lindsay (James Franco) and local actress Sandra (Rachel Brosnahan). But when Lindsay goes missing, Osman goes after him and discovers corruption and violence that run deep. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: The 2016 Indiewire Tribeca Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival

The film is co-written and directed by Ian Olds.

Ian Olds’ drama “Burn Country,” then known as “Fixer,” premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, where its star Dominic Rains won the Best Actor prize. The thriller was then acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orion Pictures, who have now released a new trailer ahead of its December release.

In “Burn Country,” Rains portrays Osman, an Afghan journalist who leaves behind his life as a fixer for Western reporters and moves to a small town in Northern California where he takes a job with a local newspaper. When a dead body turns up, he finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation. Melissa Leo co-stars as Osman’s mother’s best friend and local cop, James Franco is the unstable hot tub craftsman Lindsay and Rachel Brosnahan is Sandra, an elusive local actress. Check out the trailer below.

Read More: ‘King Cobra’ Trailer: James Franco and Christian Slater Star...

It would be a futile exercise to try to pigeonhole this filmmaker into one category and just looking at the work samples that have crossed into Sundance territory he has

2007’s short Bomb, brought an unproduced screenplay The Western Habit at the 2011 January Screenwriters Lab and was the editor on the 2013’s kink. However, Ian Olds is better known for his docu features contributions in Occupation: Dreamland (winner of a 2006 Independent Spirit Award) and Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. He has two different films on the burner with the Sffs backed (2011 Sffs / Hearst Screenwriting Grant Recipient and Fall 2013, Spring 2014 & Spring 2015 Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grant Recipient) The Fixer (the feature film version) that might break in early 2016. Starring James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan, Melissa Leo and Dominic Rains, they were still making casting announcements in early August, but we’re feeling that this might have crossed the finish line in time.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of the not so distant future in American indie film, a reliable sampling is usually found in the bi-annual Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants finalist (and future winners) lists. Grants will be awarded next month, but this finalists’ list overviews a look into the 2016-17 pool of talent and feature films. Among the trio of items that are in various stages of production and we’re keeping tabs on, we have Ian Olds (docu helmer of Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi) who moved into fiction feature filmmaking with The Fixer. Produced by Caroline von Kuhn (Camden Int. Film Fest Managing Director and docu field expert), this is said to include supporting players in the shape of Melissa Leo and James Franco. And speaking of Franco…, Travis Mathews from Interior. Leather Bar. fame has Oscillate Wildly next in line. Beasts of the Southern Wild...

Melissa Leo has hopped aboard the cast of "The Fixer," from writer/director Ian Olds. Co-written by Paul Felten, the film centers on Gloria (Leo), the erstwhile-hippie sheriff of a small Northern California town opposite Lindsay (James Franco), a volatile hot tub craftsman. The part of Gloria was written with Leo in mind.In "The Fixer," an Afghan journalist exiled from his war-torn country comes to Gloria's town, stirring up shadowy backwoods intrigue involving casual sex, suspicion and unexpected violence. Olds previously worked with Leo on his Sundance short "Bomb" in 2007. In 2009, he directed the documentary "Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi" about a similarly thwarted journalist.DeLisi Creative will launch an international search for the leading role of 28-year-old Osman, who will join Leo and Franco. DeLisi Creative was part of the team behind the search for the Somali pirates in "Captain Phillips."Leo was recently spotted at the Santa Barbara International Film.

Amid all the insane speculation about the awards chances of a half-dozen movies that are probably all coming out this month, it's nice to be reminded that there is life after January. There are always films on the way and here's news on five of them, new projects all. First up is Ian Olds' indie flick “The Fixer," a Northern California-set drama about an Afghan immigrant who gets deep into the criminal underworld of his new home using his background as a journalists' fixer back in Afghanistan (Olds previously directed a documentary called “Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi”, which was a hit in Tribeca in 2009). The real reason we're psyched for this one, though, is the only casting announcement so far: James Franco as “an unstable hot-tub craftsman called Lindsay.” An unstable hot-tub craftsman called Lindsay, folks. Only in California, and only playable to James Franco. God bless him.

James Franco is set to star in “The Fixer,” an indie drama that Franco’s frequent collaborator Ian Olds will direct from a script he co-wrote with Paul Felten, TheWrap has learned. The project is inspired by Olds’ work with “fixers” — individuals hired by foreign journalists to facilitate, translate and gain access for their stories. Olds directed the 2009 documentary “Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi,” for which he won the Best New Documentary Filmmaker award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Caroline von Kuhn (“Like the Water”) of Ace Productions will produce with Vince Jolivette of Franco’s Rabbit Bandini banner.

As the summer movie season draws to a close and schools start up again, we still have some very good new movies opening in Austin this week, both indies and Hollywood films.

In addition, Texas Filmmakers Production Fund panelists are in Austin this weekend and Austin Film Society is hosting screenings of their films. On Sunday night, you can see a selection of short films from Barry Jenkins, followed by Ian Olds' documentary Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. Afs is also bringing Josh and Ben Safdie to town to screen Daddy Longlegs on Monday night and short films on Wednesday. If you want some classic comedies, the Long Center has a Cult Classics series that features movies such as Animal House and The Princess Bride. But my favorite cult movie of the week is at Alamo's Music Monday: Repo Man. Afterward, go get some sushi and not pay.

Every year, Austin Film Society awards grants to emerging film and video artists in the Lone Star State through the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund (Tfpf). Since its inception in 1996, the Afs has awarded over 300 grants, totaling over $1 million in cash and over $100,000 in goods and services to almost 300 projects. In addition to grants for production, post-production and distribution, the Tfpf has provided approximately $21,000 in stipends to Texas filmmakers traveling to prestigious film festivals.

Past Tfpf grant recipients have screened their films at renowned festivals around the world including Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto as well as right here in Austin at SXSW. One such project is Katrina's Son (pictured right), which was awarded a Tfpf grant in 2008, then premiered at Aff last year and at the Cannes International Festival's Short Film Corner this year. Several Tfpf-funded movies have been released theatrically and in the cable and home video markets. 

This year Afs received 208 applications,...

The Sundance Institute announced their 2011 January Screenwriters Lab participants and among the talents who come packing the dozen projects we find one of the best dps in the indie film biz, and an American New Wave 25 personality in Jody Lee Lipes (see pic), we have Diane Bell, the filmmaker who brought her feature debut Obselidia to the festival last year and Ian Olds - the director behind the doc film Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. We have a Cannes resident and a couple of Filmmaker Magazine Top New Faces in the mix as well. Knowing all too well that these labs end up being integral part of the festival's annual output (especially in the Dramatic Comp categories) we love to keep tabs on the journey of these filmmkers as they go from Screenwriters to Directors lab and onwards towards production. One recent example is Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene...

Reviewer: Erin Donovan

Rating (out of 5): ****

 

On its face, Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi is a story about the death of 24 year old Afghani Ajmal Naqshbandi. A "fixer" by trade, Naqshbandi made his living translating, driving and navigating cultural considerations for foreign journalists as they tried to obtain interviews with Taliban officials, mullahs and local residents. In early 2007, Naqshbandi and a team of Italian journalists were double-crossed by Mullah Dadullah, who kidnapped and held them for weeks while demanding the release of Dadullah's brother and several other imprisoned Taliban officers. Unfortunately, the Afghanistan government's priorities were so focused on avoiding an international incident that when the Italians were released no one noticed Naqshbandi wasn't among the liberated. His family went on television, pleading to the better nature of their fellow Muslims to let their son go, but negotiations broke down and Naqshbandi was beheaded. Video footage of his...

"Being Michael Madsen" (2010)

Directed by Michael Mongillo

Released by Midnight Releasing

While not as distinguished or meta as "Being John Malkovich," expect this mockumentary about the "Reservoir Dogs" star to be equally surreal as Madsen recruits sister Virginia and "Kill Bill" co-stars Daryl Hannah and the late David Carradine to co-star in this film that sees him accused of murder. Rather than sit idly by, Madsen turns the table on the paparazzi photographer fueling the allegations by hiring a trio of filmmakers to follow his every move.

"Beneath Clouds" (2002)

Directed by Ivan Sen

Released by Cinema Epoch

This Australian drama stars Dannielle Hall and the late Damian Pitt as Lena and Vaughn, a pair of strangers thrown together by circumstance to travel across the country to Sydney where Lena hopes to learn more about her long-absent father and Vaughn hope to leave behind his criminal past and see his ailing mother.

The Tribeca Film Festival 2009's Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award (sponsored by American Express®) went to Ian Olds, the director of Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. Olds followed Naqshbandi, who arranges the meetings between Taliban leaders and journalists; however, the documentary took a surprise turn when Naqshbandi was captured by the Taliban along with journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Previously only available on HBO and DVD, this fascinating documentary is getting a well-deserved theater run in Harlem at the The Maysles Cinema from March 9 to March 16, for a suggested donation of $10. The screenings are part of the "Documentaries in Bloom: New Films Presented by Livia Bloom" series. After screenings on Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13, producer and featured reporter Christian Parenti will be onhand for a Q and A and discussion moderated by Livia Bloom. Famous documentary director Albert Maysles founded this unique venue specifically for showing documentaries, and it ...

"This work is very dangerous. I bring one enemy to meet another." - Ajmal Naqshbandi HBO has announced their acquisition and air date of the doc, directed by Ian Olds. The film was the winner of the Best New Documentary Filmmaker award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Ajmal Naqshbandi had become one of Afghanistan.s top .fixers. by age 24, working as an aide who helped foreign media gain access to government officials, ordinary citizens and armed rebels. A journalist himself, Ajmal was hired by an Italian reporter to secure an interview with a top Taliban commander, but it turned out to be his final job, ending in a highly publicized kidnapping and murder. HBO Documentary Films...

An Iranian drama has walked away with the top honour at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

About Elly was named Best Feature Film at the annual prizegiving ceremony, held in New York on Thursday, while Racing Dreams, which tells the story of three young racing enthusiasts who hope to grow up to be Nascar drivers, took home Best Documentary Feature.

Ciaran Hinds triumphed in the Best Actor category for his role as a widower in The Eclipse and Best Actress went to Zoe Kazan for The Exploding Girl.

Jurors on the panel at Robert De Niro's movie event included such stars as Meg Ryan, Uma Thurman, Mary-Kate Olsen and Whoopi Goldberg.

The festival's audience award winner will be announced on Saturday evening.

The main list of winners is as follows:

Best Actor - Ciaran Hinds

Best Actress - Zoe Kazan

Best Feature Film - About Elly

Best Feature Documentary - Racing Dreams

Best Narrative - Here and There

Best Documentary - Partly Private

Best New Narrative Filmmaker - Rune Denstad Langlo For North

Best New Documentary Filmmaker - Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking Of Ajmal Naqshbandi.