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Turns out you don’t have to be Irish to be lucky come March. That’s right, repertory cinemas from coast to coast will be raining down four-leaf clovers in the form of cinematic gems like “Matewan,” “The Watermelon Woman,” “The Cable Guy,” and many more. And we know what you’re thinking…you just got through slamming back Oscar film after Oscar film, maybe it’s time to take a little break from the movies. After all, spring’s around the corner — it might be nice to step outside for a bit, breathe in the fresh air.

Well, you’re wrong.

Fresh air is for people who can’t appreciate a random assortment of food scents and possibly carbon dioxide from a leaking soda machine tank. You’re of a different breed and as such, we know there’s no better place for you than the comfy cozy darkness of your local cinema.

The 2025 NAACP Image Awards honored the best in Black excellence for the past year and we have the full list of winners!

The awards were given out across several nights with the main ceremony held on Saturday night (February 22) at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif.

The show, hosted by Deon Cole, aired live on CBS.

Keke Palmer won the Entertainer of the Year award and Outstanding Motion Picture went to The Six Triple Eight, with the film’s star Kerry Washington also taking home the Best Actress prize.

Make sure to check out our recap of all the celebs who walked the red carpet.

Head inside to check out the complete list of winners…

Keep scrolling to see the full list of winners…

Entertainer of the Year

Cynthia Erivo

Keke Palmer – Winner

Kendrick Lamar

Kevin Hart

Shannon Sharpe

Outstanding Social Media Personality of the Year

Kai Cenat

Keith Lee...

Before the NAACP Image Awards’ main, televised ceremony kicks off Saturday night, some of this year’s winners were announced in a non-televised Creative Honors event on Friday night.

Nickel Boys, a six-time nominee, took home two awards, with director RaMell Ross winning for best directing in a motion picture and Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes winning best writing in a motion picture for their Oscar-nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel.

Another double winner was Jennifer Hudson, who saw her eponymous daytime talk show win best talk series as she won best host in a talk series.

Other notable winners included Sing Sing (best independent motion picture), Denzel Washington (best supporting actor in a motion picture for his work in Gladiator II), Inside Out 2 (best animated movie), Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist (best limited series), Abbott Elementary (best comedy series), Cross (best drama series), the Luther Vandross...

Gold Derby’s top news stories for Feb. 18, 2025. SNL50 scores nearly 15 million viewers

Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary special SNL50: The Anniversary Special drew 14.8 million viewers across NBC and Peacock on Sunday, making it the network’s most-watched entertainment telecast since 18.33 million people tuned into the 2020 Golden Globes. The three-and-a-half-hour extravaganza now ranks second for the second-biggest audience for a non-sports primetime broadcast in the 2024-25 season behind the Grammys, which earned 15.4 million viewers. A regular SNL episode pulls about 4.9 million viewers on a same-day season average. SNL50‘s preceding red carpet special drew 6.5 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, and E!

Watch the Dope Thief trailer

Apple TV+ dropped the trailer for Dope Thief, its new eight-episode drama starring Brian Tyree Henry and executive-produced by Ridley Scott. Based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name and created by Peter Craig, Dope Thief follows longtime Philly friends and...

Amazon MGM Studios’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Nickel Boys emerged as the top winner at the 25th Black Reel Awards. The film earned six honors during Monday’s virtual ceremony, including Outstanding Film and Outstanding Director for RaMell Ross.

Produced by Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and David Levin, Nickel Boys also received awards for Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Emerging Director, Outstanding First Screenplay, and Outstanding Cinematography. The film’s recognition comes on the heels of its nominations for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars.

Netflix’s The Piano Lesson was among the other top recipients, garnering four awards. Danielle Deadwyler won for Outstanding Supporting Performance, while the film also secured accolades for Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup, and Outstanding Production Design.

Additional honors were distributed to several other projects. Marianne Jean-Baptiste took home the Outstanding Lead Performance award for her role in Hard Truths,...

Amazon MGM Studios’ Nickel Boys won a leading six awards Monday at the Black Reel Awards, including the group’s marquee Outstanding Film Award and Outstanding Director for RaMell Ross.

The awards, celebrating their 25th edition, honors the year’s best in Black cinematic excellence, were handed out Monday in a virtual ceremony.

Nickel Boys, adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and nominated for the Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars, also won tonight for Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Emerging Director, Outstanding First Screenplay and Outstanding Cinematography.

Netflix’s The Piano Lesson won four awards including Outstanding Supporting Performance for Danielle Deadwyler, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup and Outstanding Production Design.

Other notable winners tonight included Hard Truths star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who won the gender-neutral Outstanding Lead Performance award. The Mike Leigh film also won Outstanding International Film.

Here’s the full list of 2025 winners:

Outstanding Film

Nickel Boys

Joslyn Barnes,...

Providing the perfect date night option for those who love romantic comedies and festive slashers, Josh Ruben's Heart Eyes is now slicing into theaters, and Lakeshore Records will release Jay Wadley's score for the festively frightful film digitally beginning February 14th, giving horror-loving couples the chance to add the movie's music to their Valentine's Day playlists. As an early treat for Daily Dead readers to enjoy ahead of the soundtrack's holiday digital release, we have the chilling Heart Eyes track "Forgive Me" that you can listen to right now!

You can listen to Jay Wadley's "Forgive Me" below, and we also have the full track listing with additional details! To learn more about the digital release of Heart Eyes—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, visit:

https://lnk.to/heart-eyes

From the Press Release: Lakeshore Records is set to release Heart Eyes--Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally [on] February 14, featuring music...

Netflix’s The Piano Lesson scooped up a whopping 14 nominations to lead the way for the 56th NAACP Image Awards announced Tuesday, with Peacock’s limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist topping the TV categories with nine bids. The five luminaries competing for the coveted Entertainer of the Year honor are Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart, and sports-talk host Shannon Sharpe.

Based on August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson’s nominations include honors for Outstanding Motion Picture, director (Malcolm Washington) and actors John David Washington, Corey Hawkins, Samuel L. Jackson, and Danielle Deadwyler. In the top movied category, it’s joined by Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Bob Marley: One Love, Wicked, and The Six Triple Eight. Nominated for Best Independent Film are Albany Road, Exhibiting Forgiveness, Rob Peace, Sing Sing, and We Grown Now.

The nominees for Best International Film include El lugar de la otra,...

Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe have been nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the 56th NAACP Image Awards, the NAACP announced on Tuesday.

The NAACP announced nominees in 91 categories in the fields of film, television and streaming, recording, documentary, writing, directing, literary, podcast, stunts and costume design, makeup and hairstyling.

The August Wilson adaptation “The Piano Lesson” led all films with 14 nominations, more than double the total for runner-ups “The Book of Clarence,” “Nickel Boys,” “Exhibiting Forgiveness” and “Bob Marley: One Love,” which received six if you count the nominations for “Clarence” and “Bob Marley” in the music categories.

“Piano Lesson” nominees included director Malcolm Washington, recognized in two categories, as well as cast members John David Washington, Corey Hawkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler and Skylar Aleece Smith.

Malcolm and John David Washington’s father, Denzel Washington, made it a true family...

The 2025 NAACP Image Awards nominations have been revealed, with The Piano Lesson, the Malcolm Washington-directed film adaptation of August Wilson’s play starring Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington, up for 14 nominations, the most of any film this year.

Other top film nominees include six-time contenders Bob Marley: One Love and The Book of Clarence and five-time nominees Wicked, The Six Triple Eight and Nickel Boys. In addition to Wicked‘s nods, star Cynthia Erivo is also up for the Image Awards’ top prize of entertainer of the year.

For entertainer of the year, Erivo faces off against Keke Palmer, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe, with the latter’s Club Shay Shay podcast also landing a nod for outstanding culture and society podcast.

For best motion picture, The Piano Lesson, Bob Marley, Wicked and The Six Triple Eight face off against Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

In the TV categories,...

Netflix’s The Piano Lesson tuned up a leading 14 nominations for the 56th annual NAACP Image Awards, which were revealed this morning. TriStar’s The Book of Clarence is next with six noms, and Peacock’s Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist topped TV programs with nine mentions.

Netflix leads all networks and distributors with 64 nominations. See the full list below.

“Our Stories, Our Culture, Our Excellence” is the theme of the 2025 Image Awards, which span film, TV, music, literature, podcasts, social media and more. Winners will be revealed February 21 at the NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors ceremonies and February 22 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The latter will air on BET and CBS, live in the East starting at 8 p.m. Et and delayed at in the West at 8 p.m. Pt.

Based on August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson scooped noms including Outstanding Motion Picture, Director for Malcolm Washington and multiple actors.

RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys and Malcolm Washington’ The Piano Lesson dominated the nominations for the 25th Black Reel Awards with 13 and 12 noms, respectively. The films will square off in 10 categories including Outstanding Film, Director, Screenplay and Ensemble.

Titus Kaphar’s Exhibiting Forgiveness is next with nine nominations, followed by Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice with seven. See the full list spanning 22 categories below.

Winners will be honored during the silver anniversary ceremony held virtually on February 10 and streaming live on BlackReelAwards.com.

Related: 2024-25 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

“As we commemorate 25 years, we are proud to highlight the transformative power of Black cinema,” Black Reel Awards Founder Tim Gordon said. “This year’s nominees represent not only excellence in storytelling but also groundbreaking achievements that push boundaries and elevate our culture.”

Presented by Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film, the Black...

“Nickel Boys” leads the nominations at the 25th annual Black Reel Awards, a ceremony exclusively dedicated to recognizing African American contributions to cinema.

The Amazon MGM Studios film garnered 13 nominations, followed closely by Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson” with 12; both films were nominated for outstanding film and outstanding director, plus their stars earned individual nods.

Rounding out the best film nominees are “Challengers,” “Exhibiting Forgiveness” and “Sing Sing” and joining Ross and Washington in the outstanding director category are Titus Kaphar (“Exhibiting Forgiveness”), Zoë Kravitz (“Blink Twice”) and Steve McQueen (“Blitz”). Other top-performing films include “Exhibiting Forgiveness” (nine nominations), “Blink Twice” (seven nominations) and “Sing Sing” (six nominations).

Key individual nominees include Zendaya, who earned dual recognition as an actor and producer of “Challengers,” as well as Ellis-Taylor, who got two nominations in the outstanding supporting performance category for “Nickel Boys” and “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” and Brian Tyree Henry, nominated in...

Jurnee Smollett has been one of the most consistently excellent actresses of her generation for several decades now, as she has been taking on challenging roles ever since her breakout role in the classic Southern noir Eves Bayou. The transition from being a child star to a legitimate adult performer is not an easy one to make, but Smollett has remained so consistently excellent in her career choices that she now is co-starring alongside a younger generation of breakout actors. Smollett does some of the best work of her career in the coming-of-age drama We Grown Now, which debuted in select theaters earlier this year after receiving rave reviews at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. While its a smaller title that is lesser known compared to many other fall releases, the film itself and Smollett deserve to get some serious awards buzz.

The third annual Sony Future Filmmaker Awards has announced the jury members for its 2025 kudos.

Four-time Oscar nominee Jason Reitman, filmmaker Minhal Baig, President of 3000 Pictures Elizabeth Gabler, and director Justin Chadwick make up this year’s panel. Reitman is currently in the Oscar discussion for directing, writing, and producing the feature film “Saturday Night.”

Mark your calendars for April 29, 2025, as that’s when this year’s group of 30 shortlisted filmmakers will be announced. The 2025 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards will include a five-day program at the legendary Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., from June 2 to June 6.

The special event includes hands-on workshops for the aspiring filmmakers, plus industry intuition from top professionals, backstage access, keynotes by major cinematographers, screenings, Q&a sessions, talent agency resources, and more.

The awards ceremony will take place on June 5, 2025, which is when the winners of the four major categories will be...

The 2025 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, which is returning for its third edition next June, has announced the filmmakers who will work to select budding filmmaking talent to participate in workshops, screenings, and networking events that will help launch their careers.

Creo, the not-for-profit group that organizes the awards, along with Sony announced that director Minhal Baig (“We Grown Now“), president of 3000 Pictures Elizabeth Gabler (“Where the Crawdads Sing“), and Oscar-nominee Jason Reitman (“Saturday Night“) will serve on the jury to select the 2025 recipients. Returning to the awards for the third year as jury chair is filmmaker Justin Chadwick (“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”).

The panel will work to shortlist a group of aspiring filmmakers from around the globe, and the selected filmmakers will then get the chance to fly to Los Angeles and participate in a five-day program on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City between June...

Exclusive: In an expansion of its Lab program, the Black List has named the projects and writers for its inaugural Projects Lab. The six writers are developing feature projects they intend to direct. The Lab program, now in its eleventh year, provides creative mentorship and professional support to promising screenwriters during a weeklong workshop in Ojai, CA.

This year’s writers are Dylan James Amick (The Estranged), Steve Anthopoulos (My Summer in the Human Resistance), Meghan Lennox (Gay For Amy), Alex Murawski (Walking In Iowa), Gabriella Mykal (Fuzzy), and Alexandra Qin (Thirstygirl). The Black List selected these writers from over 1,700 script submissions on blcklst.com.

During the Lab, each writer will develop their screenplay through peer workshops and one-on-one sessions with working professional screenwriting mentors, including Hannah Fidell (A Teacher), Liz Hannah (The Girl From Plainville), Maryam Keshavarz (The Persian Version), Sarah Adina Smith (Birds of Paradise), Axelle Carolyn (The...

Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams and Sebastian Stan have joined the roster of Hollywood stars set to attend the 50th edition of France’s Deauville American Film Festival.

The festival announced Thursday that it would fete Portman and Williams with its Deauville Talent Award at the upcoming edition (running from September 6 to 15) in the presence of the stars.

Stan is also set to attend receive its Nouvel Hollywood award in the wake of recent performances in The Apprentice and A Different Man, which will screen at the festival as part of its Premieres line-up.

He joins Daisy Ridley, whose presence in Deauville for same award was announced last week. Previous recipients of the award feting rising Hollywood talents include Robert Pattinson, Ryan Gosling and Emilia Clarke.

In other additions to the program, Deauville also revealed that it would be welcoming back Cannes 2024 Palme d’Or winner Sean Baker, who has a long history with the festival.

Exclusive: Sk Global Entertainment, the independent entertainment studio behind hits like Anyone But You and Crazy Rich Asians, has appointed Jeannine Tang to serve as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.

Tang joins after more than six years at the recently shuttered Participant, where most recently served as General Counsel, overseeing and advising on all aspects of the company’s business and legal affairs, including the content business, strategic investments and partnerships, social impact collaborations and general corporate matters. In her new role, she’ll be responsible for the integration and operationalization of Sk Global Entertainment and its subsidiary Critical Content, overseeing oversee company-wide strategy, business operations and dealmaking, as well as legal affairs and human resources.

In a statement on Tang’s appointment, Sk Global’s Chief Financial Officer Matt Aragachi said, “Jeannine is a dynamic leader and strategic dealmaker who brings unmatched expertise with her extensive background across business affairs and production.

Exclusive: Higher Ground, the production company of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, has appointed Anikah McLaren to serve as Head of Film, Deadline can exclusively reveal.

McLaren joins from the recently shuttered Participant, where she spent a little over five years as Executive Vice President of Narrative Film, co-running the department as a key member of the leadership team. In her new role, she will lead Higher Ground’s scripted film division, reporting to President Vinnie Malhotra.

McLaren joins a team that also includes Jessie Dicovitsky, who is Head of Television, and Ethan Lewis, who oversees Higher Ground’s unscripted and non-fiction content. She’ll be based out of Los Angeles and will have VP of Film Mark Wright reporting to her.

“Throughout her wide-ranging career, Anikah has proven she can make bold, provocative, and cinematic visions a reality,” observed Malhotra in a statement to Deadline. “She brings invaluable experience,...

Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the 14 US features for its 50th anniversary edition running September 6-15 in the Normandy seaside town.

They include Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s 2024 Sundance prize-winner In The Summers, Cannes-premiering titles including Roberto Minervini’s The Damned and Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve At Miller’s Point, and Christy Hall’s taxi drama Daddio.

Eight of the films are debut features, among them David Fortune’s Color Book which world-premiered at Tribeca and Brandt Andersen’s The Strangers’ Case which made its debut at Berlin.

Benoit Magimel heads up this year’s Deauville jury alongside Ludivine Sagnier,...

Exclusive: Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Maude Apatow and Katt Williams have joined TriStar’s untitled buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and four-time Grammy-winning musician Sza. Joshua Neal, Aziza Scott and Patrick Cage will also star.

The logline is being kept under wraps. Lawrence Lamont is directing with the screenplay written by Syreeta Singleton. Producing is Hoorae’s Issa Rae and Sara Diya Rastogi, ColorCreative’s Deniese Davis and Macro Film Studios’ Charles D. King, James Lopez and Poppy Hanks. Singleton is co-producing. Big Boss’ Palmer and Sharon Palmer are executive producing. Macro Film Studios is also co-financing.

The project came together from the CoCre lab at Sony Pictures, a previous pact between ColorCreative and Sony to source and incubate emerging, diverse screenwriters to develop and write their first studio feature based on original ideas.

Howery is continuing to busy, recently starring in Vacation Friends 2,...

The Jennifer Hudson Show offers a week of repeat episodes, airing in syndication. Here are the highlights for the week of July 29, 2024. Monday, July 29, 2024: Jurnee Smollett from “We Grown Now” joins Jennifer, along with the cast of “All American,” including Daniel Ezra, Greta Onieogou, Michael Evans Behling, Monet Mazur, Samantha Logan, […]

The Jennifer Hudson Show: Highlights for July 29 – August 2, 2024...

A Quiet Place: Day One is an experience where moviegoers witness the day the world went quiet in this terrifying continuation of the A Quiet Place universe. When Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) returns home to New York City, her simple trip turns into a harrowing nightmare when mysterious creatures that hunt by sound attack. Accompanied by her cat Frodo and an unexpected ally (Joseph Quinn), Samira must embark on a perilous journey through the city that has suddenly gone silent, where the only rule is to stay quiet to stay alive. Djimon Hounsou and Alex Wolff also star in this intensely suspenseful thriller.

The visual storytelling in A Quiet Place: Day One delivered a powerful and immersive cinematic journey that relied heavily on imagery to convey its narrative and emotional depth. From glimpses of monstrous forms to sound visualization of the characters, the beauty of the film literally permeated the screen...

It is a privilege to call a place home—a place where one can feel safe, but most importantly, where one can feel a sense of belongingness amidst people they know and love. Minhal Baig’s meditative social drama We Grown Now examines the varied connotations of this belongingness against the backdrop of the Cabrini-Green public housing project in Chicago during the 1990s, through the eyes of the youngest members of two African-American families. As the movie revolves around the coming-of-age story of friends Malik and Eric, their experience of growing up in a neglected, marginalized, and exploited neighborhood and the effort they make to save their dreams while trying to enjoy whatever life has to offer is vividly captured. Hailing from a Pakistani immigrant family herself, director Minhal Baig was able to touch the core of the living experience of the black community during a troubling period of time—in a sense,...

Morrisa Maltz renders the realities of girlhood with compelling tenderness in her sophomore narrative effort Jazzy. The film, which takes place in the same cinematic universe as the director’s critically acclaimed debut feature The Unknown Country, follows six years in the life of its protagonist as she navigates friendship, romantic crushes and the small freedoms of growing up. Jazzy’s story is based on that of Maltz’s goddaughter, Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux, with whom the director worked closely on this delicate narrative.

Premiering at Tribeca, Jazzy trails its titular character from age 6 through 12. The film combines the experimental narrative and temporal sweep of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood with the considerate eye of films like Maimouna Doucouré’s Cuties and Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now. Maltz takes the problems of her protagonist seriously, and so much of what makes Jazzy engrossing is how the director portrays daily events with a stirring profundity.

A24’s I Saw The TV Glow beamed out one of the best limited openings of the year as the specialty market shows signs of life after a dreary April.

The ‘90s era trans coming-of-age horror-thriller grossed $116.3k at four theaters in New York and LA for a per screen average of $29k for Jane Schoenbrun. It’s the helmer’s second outing after We’re All Going To The World’s Fair established them as an edgy new voice. The film, which premiered at Sundance, saw multiple sold-out Q&As over the weekend with strong reviews and exit polls. Expands into selected top markets this weekend with a continued rollout to follow.

Produced by Emma Stone under her Fruit Tree Banner, it follows a teenager named Owen (Justice Smith) trying to make it through life in the suburbs. The weirdness starts when his older classmate (Brigette Lundy-Paine) introduces him...

Through chronicling a critical turning point for the residents of Chicago’s now-defunct Cabrini-Green public housing project, writer-director Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now explores how the reverberations of this bygone time and place continue to register today. Set in 1992 amid the real-life death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis—who was walking to school with his mother when a stray bullet struck him—Baig’s film follows young boys Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) as they grapple with the aftermath of the tragedy. Despite the oppressive living conditions due to Chicago Housing Authority (Cha) negligence, Malik’s home life is replete with […]

The post “I Was Definitely Paying Homage to Stories Set in Chicago”: Minhal Baig on We Grown Now first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Through chronicling a critical turning point for the residents of Chicago’s now-defunct Cabrini-Green public housing project, writer-director Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now explores how the reverberations of this bygone time and place continue to register today. Set in 1992 amid the real-life death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis—who was walking to school with his mother when a stray bullet struck him—Baig’s film follows young boys Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) as they grapple with the aftermath of the tragedy. Despite the oppressive living conditions due to Chicago Housing Authority (Cha) negligence, Malik’s home life is replete with […]

The post “I Was Definitely Paying Homage to Stories Set in Chicago”: Minhal Baig on We Grown Now first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Uberto Pasolini, who wrote and directed the James Norton-starring Nowhere Special that opened this weekend, says, rightfully, the film’s power emanates from the tangible bond you feel between father and son. Norton – the BAFTA-nominated British actor (Bob Marley: One Love, Little Women, Happy Valley) – is John a 35-year old window washer and single father to four-year old Michael (BIFA-nominated Daniel Lamot). John has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is on a quest to place his son in a loving home.

Norton “understood that the film lived or died — would have lived or died — on the relationship and on the connection between the two. And so he came over to Belfast before we started shooting and spent an enormous amount of time with the family, with the boy himself. Sitting down on the floor of Daniel’s room and playing with his toys and going out for chicken nuggets,...

Blake Cameron James as Malik and Gian Knight Ramirez as Eric, in We Grown Now. Courtesy of Participant. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

In a touching portrait of childhood friendship, the child-focused We Grown Now captures the magic and innocence of childhood, even one where the two inseparable friends, elementary-school age boys, are growing up in poverty in a housing project that later became infamous for violence and a symbol of urban decay, Chicago’s Cabrini-Green. But in the early 1990s, when this story is set, all that is still in the future although very much on the horizon. Like Florida Project, the story is told from a child point-of-view, as the boys play and explore their world with all the joy and curiosity of childhood.

The real appeal of this moving drama is in performances of the two young actors playing these friends, performances filled with believability and an inescapable appeal and charm.

Sony Pictures Classics announced on Wednesday that it will release Nathan Silver’s acclaimed comedy Between the Temples, starring Jason Schwartzman (Asteroid City) and Carol Kane (The Dead Don’t Die), in theaters nationwide on August 23.

The film will open against Zoë Kravitz’s debut feature Blink Twice (Amazon MGM Studios), the animated pic 200% Wolf (Viva Pictures), the remake of The Crow starring Bill Skarsgärd (Lionsgate), and the drama The Forge from Affirm Films.

Slated to make its New York debut at Tribeca in June, after playing both Sundance and Berlin to great reviews, Between the Temples follows Ben (Schwartzman), a forty-something cantor losing his voice and possibly his faith. Struggling to meet the expectations of his rabbi, congregation, and not one but two Jewish mothers (Caroline Aaron and Dolly de Leon), Ben finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher re-enters his life as an adult bat mitzvah student.

Childhood dreams shine brightly despite the darkness of the Cabrini-Green housing projects in We Grown Now. Minhal Baig beautifully showcases the poetry of childhood despite racial and economic realities in Chicago. The film can feel a little preachy and melodramatic, but it's nonetheless an honest and deeply poignant portrayal of young boys navigating tumultuous times.

A pair of inquisitive Black boys struggle with life's inevitable changes in 1992 Chicago's impoverished and crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing projects in We Grown Now. The film tugs at heartstrings as a poetic and beautifully told coming-of-age story unfolds. Acclaimed filmmaker Minhal Baig uses symbolic fantasy elements to depict an upbringing rarely portrayed with such honesty. Children are much more than a product of their physical environment. They are shaped by multiple factors that open young minds to adult hardships. The loss of innocence can be devastating, but a strong foundation ensures the fortitude to cope and carry on with maturity.

This weekend was the first in some time without a specialty film in the top ten as wide releases ramp up from Civil War to Abigail and hang in theaters as per Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two — in weeks 7 and 8, respectively. One distributor calls late April a bit of a dumping ground for indies – no judgement on the films but in the sense that there are a bunch of them and they can sometimes struggle to find audiences — calling this an anomalous weekend after a spring dotted with breakout titles. Neon’s Immaculate ($15.6 million cume); IFC’s Late Night With The Devil ($9.7 million); A24’s Love Lives Bleeding ($7.8 million); Bleecker Street’s One Life ($5.4 million); Sony Pictures Classics’ Wicked Little Letters ($3.6 million) all did great and indies overall are taking bigger swings – with Civil War (A24) one of the biggest.

Comscore’s April sked shows a flood...

One of the truisms in film calendar slating is that it’s a real plus to be the first new horror film released in a while. With the weak opening of Universal’s “Abigail” this weekend, the inverse also seems to hold.

The seventh wide release in the genre over the past eight weeks from a studio that has been quite reliable for sustaining horror success, from Blumhouse and elsewhere, fell short with only $10.1 million. That allowed “Civil War” (A24) to hold on to # 1 with $11.2 million despite a 56 percent drop.

With such a low gross at #1 and the rest doing less, the weekend struggled to reach close to $66 million. That’s the fifth sub-$70 million total out of 16 weekends so far this year. By comparison, pre-Covid 2019 — with ticket prices more than 15 percent lower than now — had none.

The weak performance, down nearly 50 percent from last year’s $127 million, brought the...

Nathan Zellner and David Zellner’s Sasquatch Sunset is stomping into circa 850 theaters this weekend after debuting in 9 with a solid opening for a film many could find weird. A tribe of Sasquatch, possibly the last of their kind, live and love in the woods of northern California, where it was shot.

“We are taking Bigfoot to America. We have high hopes that the broader market will embrace the movie,” says Kyle Davies of distributor Bleecker Street, calling it “a very different” kind of movie and “a bit of an unknown.”

“It’s a wildcard.”

Marketing was mainly through social activations. “I wouldn’t call it traditional marketing. It doesn’t really fit in that box,” Davies adds. The Sasquatch standees in theaters are fun. And Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar is displaying a baby Sasquatch sitting in a glass case with umbilical cord and placenta.

This is “a polarizing film.

Writer/director Minhal Baig poetically addresses the loss of innocence in We Grown Now, an emotionally resonant coming-of-age story set in 1992 Chicago's impoverished and crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing projects. The film follows a pair of Black boys, Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), as they navigate a turbulent period for both of their families. Jurnee Smollett co-stars as Dolores, Malik's single mother, who seeks a better life for her children while trying to protect them from a hostile environment.

Baig, acclaimed for her films 1 Night, Hala, and work on BoJack Horseman, wanted "to explore the perspective of a community from these two kids." A Chicago native, she "had been away for a long time. When I returned, it really felt different." The death of her father had Baig "reestablishing" a relationship with the city while "also reconciling this loss." Meanwhile, Smollett "was deeply moved by the notion of...

Chicago – There was once a Chicago housing project called Cabrini Green, and its legacy was a damning testament to Chicago’s mismanagement of housing for the poor in general. It’s gone now, the victim of gentrification, but its memory lives on in “We Grown Now,” a new release from writer and director Minhal Baig.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The film is set in 1992, rightly called the beginning of the end for the massive high-rise Chicago Housing Authority complex. Malik and Eric (Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez) are best friends and neighbors at Cabrini, idling between school and imaginative play. Malik’s mother Dolores (Jurnee Smolett) and his grandmother Anita (S. Epatha Merkerson) keep body and soul together for their family, along with Eric’s father Jason (Lil Rei Howery). When a fellow child 7-year-old resident Dantrell Davis is killed in a gang related shooting, Dolores takes steps to move out,...

Participant, the media company behind films like “Spotlight,” “Green Book,” “Roma,” and many more, is shutting its doors after 20 years in operation.

Jeff Skoll, who founded the company in 2004, informed the staff in a memo (obtained by IndieWire) that Participant would “wind down company operations.”

Nearly all of Participant’s roughly 100 staffers are being let go with no new content or production in the works. Only Participant’s library of 135 films remaining.

“I founded Participant with the mission of creating world-class content that inspires positive social change, prioritizing impact alongside commercial sustainability,” Skoll wrote. “Since then, the entertainment industry has seen revolutionary changes in how content is created, distributed and consumed.”

Participant’s 135 titles, half of them documentaries and also including five series, have earned $3.3 billion at the global box office. Participant has produced two Best Picture winners and earned 21 Oscars total from 86 nominations, as well as 18 Emmys on 62 nominations.

Blake Cameron James in We Grown Now Image: Sony Pictures Classics From its very first shot, Minhal Baig’s masterful We Grown Now grabs you. A still shot of an empty hallway beckons you to discover it, to let the many lives it houses drift through you. We hear scraping.

Blake Cameron James in We Grown NowImage: Sony Pictures Classics

From its very first shot, Minhal Baig’s masterful We Grown Now grabs you. A still shot of an empty hallway beckons you to discover it, to let the many lives it houses drift through you. We hear scraping. We hear sneakers squeaking.

Set in and around Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing complex in 1992, writer-director Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now follows best friends Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), who were born and raised in the low-income housing project most people associate with its high crime and poverty rates. For the two boys, though, Cabrini-Green is neither abhorrent nor an aberration, but rather a self-contained world containing all their hopes and dreams, and which they leave only to walk to elementary school.

Told primarily from Malik’s point of view, the film delicately captures both the wonder and tunnel vision of adolescence, particularly through its depiction of the built-in defense mechanism that is his imagination. In the opening scene, Malik and Eric take an old mattress from an abandoned apartment and, after realizing the elevator is broken, drag it down several flights of stairs and outside, where they use it...

For the perpetually impecunious (see: poor) indie filmmaker, a well-executed short or feature project can often be your best passport to the larger world. Left to our own scant devices, our calendars are unlikely to fill up with myriad jaunts to such exotic locales as Cannes, Venice, Locarno or, erm, Arkansas. But with a piping hot Dcp in hand, you not have not just an excuse to visit such places but an invitation. And few American cities are quite as dreamily summoned in the mind as day-glow Miami. After all: if it’s good enough for LeBron James, it’s good enough for us.

For 41 years, the Miami Film Festival has been showcasing innovative, inclusive work from new and emerging independent creators worldwide. Unsurprisingly, many of said creators are our own beloved Film Independent Fellows. In fact, a whopping 38 Fi Fellows will be in the Magic City next week to show new work,...

Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”) has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s “Firebug,” in which she’ll star opposite Taron Egerton. Smollett will play Michelle, a “rising star detective.”

“Firebug,” loosely based on true events and inspired by a podcast of the same name, stars Egerton as an “enigmatic arson investigator.” The two characters pursue two serial arsonists. Egerton is also an exec producer on the Apple original series (from Apple Studios), from creator Dennis Lehane.

Lehane also developed and executive produces “Firebug,” which reps a reunion of the team behind Apple TV+’s “Black Bird.” Other exec producers include Richard Plepler (via Eden Productions), Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas (through Imperative Entertainment), and Kary Antholis.

Apple points out that the series, set in the contemporary Pacific Northwest, is fictional — although it does take some of the events included in in truth.media’s “Firebug” podcast, which was hosted by Antholis,...

Emmy nominee Jurnee Smollett is set to lead the new Apple Original drama series Firebug, loosely inspired by events surrounding notorious California arsonist John Leonard Orr. She will star alongside Taron Egerton in the project developed, written and executive produced by Dennis Lehane.

Firebug will follow a troubled detective and an enigmatic arson investigator (Egerton) as they pursue the trail of two serial arsonists. Smollett will play Michelle, a rising-star detective. Set in the contemporary Pacific Northwest the fictional series uses as its launching pad some events documented in truth.media’s acclaimed Firebug podcast. Orr, the inspiration for the podcast, worked for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California as a fire captain and arson investigator who later was convicted of being a serial arsonist and mass murderer.

In addition to starring, Egerton will serve as executive producer alongside Richard Plepler through Eden Productions, Dan Friedkin and...

Apple TV+ has added Jurnee Smollett to its forthcoming drama series Firebug.

The Emmy-nominated Lovecraft Country star joins Taron Egerton in the series from writer and executive producer Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Apple’s Black Bird). The show is loosely based on real-life events chronicled in Truth.Media’s Firebug podcast hosted by Kary Antholis (who is an executive producer of the series).

Firebug, produced in house by Apple Studios, will follow a troubled detective (Smollett) and an enigmatic arson investigator (Egerton) who are pursuing two serial arsonists in the Pacific Northwest. Smollett’s charcter, named Michelle, is also a rising star in her department.

The series marks a reunion for much of the core team behind the Emmy-winning Black Bird, including Lehane, Egerton, Antholis and executive producers Richard Plepler of Eden Productions and Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas of Imperative Entertainment. Marc Smerling will also exec produce for Truth Podcasting Corp.

The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring all of the indie films which deserve honor and recognition - celebrating their 39th year. The 2024 winners of the Spirit Awards were announced Saturday evening, in their usual spot in Santa Monica near the beach - this time just a week before the Oscars. The big winner this year is the beloved Past Lives, taking both Best Film and Best Director (Celine Song also won a DGA Award for Best First Feature). The other nominations from all the 2023 releases included many outstanding indie films many cinephiles have been talking up all year, deserving of some extra time in the spotlight - gems like May December, American Fiction, Passages, Earth Mama, All of Us Strangers, Theater Camp, BlackBerry, and The Starling Girl. As usual, there are a few surprises: I've never heard of Chronicles of a Wandering Saint...

Arguably the biggest surprise at the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards was the small but loud protest over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war outside the ceremony, the chants from which could be heard inside the tent in Santa Monica and on the livestream on Film Independent’s YouTube channel.

The demonstration was the first to disrupt a major awards show this season.

But as host Aidy Bryant and presenters and winners forged ahead with the ceremony, some acknowledging the protest, there were still some surprises in terms of which films won which awards — or didn’t win.

After seemingly losing its awards momentum with the Screen Actors Guild and Oscar nominations last month, May December could’ve had a big day at the Spirit Awards, as the Todd Haynes film, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, was up for five awards — the same number of nominations received by best feature and director...

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo in ‘Past Lives’ (Photo Credit: Jon Pack / Courtesy of A24)

Past Lives took home top film honors at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, held on February 25th in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. The film also earned Celine Song the Best Director award, with American Fiction‘s Cord Jefferson and May December‘s Samy Burch earning screenplay honors.

On the television side, The Last of Us collected two awards: Nick Offerman for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series and Keivonn Montreal Woodard for Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series. Beef also netted two wins, with Ali Wong awarded Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series and the show earning the Best New Scripted Series award.

2024 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Best Feature (Award given to the producer.)

All of Us Strangers

Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin,...

Past Lives won the award for best feature at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday.

After being presented the honor by Jude Law at the end of the ceremony in Santa Monica, director Celine Song took to the stage with the film’s team to share some heartfelt words.

“I’ve been tasked with the amazing opportunity to speak on behalf of these amazing, incredible filmmakers up here,” Song said. “I feel so honored to be here to talk about this movie that we got to share with you.”

The filmmaker — who also won the award for best director Sunday — went on to speak about a deeper theme that was also present in the film, and what it meant to her.

“There is a concept in our film, it’s an Eastern concept…and it is about how finding and being in the same space and time in this...