News

Spring Break Forever, indeed.

Multi-hyphenate filmmaker Harmony Korine will receive the Trailblazer Award at the 2025 Sarasota Film Festival. This marks the first time he’s appeared at the festival, or any Florida film festival on the Gulf Coast near where he filmed “Spring Breakers” in 2012. Korine shot that now-iconic movie, which all but launched A24 as a powerhouse indie distributor, in St. Petersburg, about 45 minutes north of Sarasota.

In addition to receiving the award, Korine will screen his new film “Baby Invasion” on Saturday April 12 at New College, followed by a Q&a with this writer.

In a statement, the Sarasota Film Festival said Korine is receiving the Trailblazer Award “in recognition of his bold, innovative, and genre-defying contributions to the world of cinema, which have continually pushed the boundaries of storytelling, art, and expression. … Korine has proven himself to be an artist unafraid to defy convention and challenge the norms of filmmaking.

"It starts with love, it gets into trouble because of love, and ends for love." Bleecker Street has debuted a charming featurette for the ensemble comedy The Wedding Banquet, a brand new modern day remake of the 1993 Ang Lee movie of the same name. Arriving in theaters this April! Go watch it! This time the story features four people living together in one house: two gay men and two lesbian women in relationships. Korean Min makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for costly IVF treatments for her. But their plans to quietly elope are upended when Min's skeptical grandmother flies in right from Korea unannounced, insisting on an all-out wedding extravaganza. Starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Bobo Le, Joan Chen, and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung, this fresh reimagining of Ang Lee’s beloved, rom-com teems with...

Exclusive: Bleecker Street is teaming with Fathom Entertainment on the re-release of Rob Reiner’s big hair rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap which will play theaters nationwide July 5-7.

Created by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, This Is Spinal Tap chronicles England’s loudest and most punctual band on their disaster-filled U.S. tour. The reissue is remastered, remixed, and in definitive 4k restoration.

All of this is ahead of Bleecker Street’s Sept. 12 release of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

Box office domestic for This Is Spinal Tap was under $5M unadjusted for inflation per Box Office Mojo, however, this was a big 1980s video title for the Gen X bunch. In 2002, the movie was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.

This Is Spinal Tap marks Bleecker Street and Fathom Entertainment’s third partnership,...

Set amidst spring in wine country, every year the 28th Sonoma International Film Festival offers a festive fusion of food, film, and community. Opening March 19, the festival wrapped things up on March 23 after five days of specialty screenings and culinary pleasures with its Grand Jury and Audience awards (see below). This celebration of cinema showcased 93 films from 21 countries, accompanied by an array of film talent and culinary stars. The festival’s diverse lineup included 39 narrative features, 16 documentary features, and 38 short films.

The festival opened with the World Premiere of documentary “Sweet Störy” (Utopia), directed by Sarah Justine Kerruish and Matt Maude, about saving a colorful café in a remote area of Sweden. The Centerpiece Film was “On Swift Horses” (Sony Pictures Classics), a period relationship drama starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, and Will Poulter, and the festival closed with Andrew Ahn’s “The Wedding Banquet” (Bleecker), starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone,...

Bowen Yang is getting real about starring in Wicked and being the face of Saturday Night Live.

The American actor delighted audiences at BFI Flare, the London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival, during a screen talk on Thursday in the British capital.

Speaking with his podcast co-host Matt Rogers, Yang was asked about how much he was allowed to ad-lib on Jon M. Chu’s Wicked set and feeling daunted by the “passion” of fellow stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

“I was daunted by the biblical precision and just the passion that everybody was bringing to it,” Yang said. “[But] we’re all in over our heads, everyone except Jon, right? He was the only person who needed to be above water with it and steer the ship. The rest of us were kind of out to sea.”

Yang said that Chu would “prank” him by asking him to improvise after scripted takes,...

Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-Chan, Kelly Marie Tran, and Bowen Yang are hitting the red carpet at BFI Flare 2025!

The co-stars posed for photos together at the opening gala screening of their new movie The Wedding Banquet on Wednesday (March 19) held at BFI Southbank in London, England.

Fellow cast members in attendance included Joan Chen and Bobo Le along with director Andrew Ahn.

Nicola Coughlan and Matt Rogers also attended the screening.

Here’s a synopsis: Angela (Tran) and her partner Lee (Gladstone) have been unlucky with their IVF treatments, but can’t afford to pay for another round. Meanwhile their friend Min (Gi-chan), the closeted scion of a multinational corporate empire, has plenty of family money but a soon-to-expire student visa. When his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris (Yang) rejects his proposal, Min makes the offer to Angela instead: a green card marriage in exchange for funding Lee’s IVF. But their...

Andrew Ahn and James Schamus stepped into the spotlight to discuss their reimagining of Ang Lee’s Oscar-nominated 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet and their careers at a “The Makers” event held on Wednesday as part of BFI Flare, the London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival.

Director/co-writer Ahn was also asked about the backlash against queer rights in various parts of the world. “I wish it weren’t so fraught, and it makes me incredibly anxious. I can only hope that this film coming out … is is an opportunity for people to build community, watch this film together, gain some strength, and then be able to go out there and fight for what is portrayed on screen,” he said.

“It just shows you it’s never a guarantee. It’s always this pendulum swing.”

Added co-writer/co-producer Schamus: “It was that moment which we all experienced just recently at Sundance [where the movie premiered] and I...

Love is a beautiful thing, and at the core of its essence is sacrifice, and one friendship group is about to embody it in this upcoming rom-com. In a modern remaimaging of the 1993 film of the same name, a new kind of queer romantic comedy is being teased in this trailer of The Wedding Banquet. The Andrew Ahn-directed rom-com follows a quartet of main characters and friends who have to follow through on a risky plan that will see their dreams realized and their loves endure. The modern remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic will arrive in theaters on April 18.

Having delivered one of the best queer rom-coms in recent years with 2022's Austenian blast Fire Island, all eyes have been on director Andrew Ahn to see what the Asian American filmmaker's next feature has in store for us. And what's in store, as it goes, is a buzzy reimagining of Ang Lee's seminal 1993 effort The Wedding Banquet, one of the best queer rom-coms of yesteryear. Led by Killers Of The Flower Moon Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, The Last Jedi's Kelly Marie Tran, SNL alum (and Fire Island collaborator) Bowen Yang, and South Korean star Han Gi-Chan, Ahn's movie follows two queer couples — Lee (Gladstone) and Angela (Tran), and Chris (Yang) and Min (Han) — whose efforts to help each other out quickly descend into chaos. Check out the trailer below;

Co-written by the original movie's co-scribe James Schamus, this first trailer for The Wedding Banquet neatly illustrates why...

The full trailer for the upcoming comedy The Wedding Banquet is here!

Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran and Han Gi-chan all star as two couples who are friends that help each other out with family, while navigating cultural expectations and more.

Keep reading to find out more…

Here’s a synopsis: Angela (Tran) and her partner Lee (Gladstone) have been unlucky with their IVF treatments, but can’t afford to pay for another round. Meanwhile their friend Min (Gi-chan), the closeted scion of a multinational corporate empire, has plenty of family money but a soon-to-expire student visa. When his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris (Yang) rejects his proposal, Min makes the offer to Angela instead: a green card marriage in exchange for funding Lee’s IVF. But their plans to quietly elope are upended when Min’s skeptical grandmother flies in from Korea unannounced, insisting on an all-out wedding extravaganza.

"This is absurd! All so you can get a green card." Bleecker Street has revealed the full official trailer for the ensemble comedy The Wedding Banquet, a brand new modern day remake of the 1993 Ang Lee movie of the same anme. This time the story features four people living together in one house: two gay men and two lesbian women in relationships. Korean Min makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for costly IVF treatments for her. But their plans to quietly elope are upended when Min's skeptical grandmother flies in right from Korea unannounced, insisting on an all-out wedding extravaganza. With a pitch-perfect cast of talent that includes Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Bobo Le, Joan Chen, and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung, this fresh reimagining of Ang Lee’s beloved, rom-com teems with humor & heart in a...

Audiences won’t have to wait too long to see Lily Gladstone (“Killers of The Flower Moon”) on the big screen as she’s part of a new romantic comedy “The Wedding Banquet” which is heading to theaters next month and we can share a trailer for the pic helmed and co-written by Andrew Ahn.

Gladstone co-stars alongside Bowen Yang (“Wicked”), Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-Chan (“Our Song”), Joan Chen (“Dìdi”), and Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung as we see a group of friends that attempt to solve growing adulthood problems such as staying in the country to avoid deportation and getting pregnant using IVF as complications arise.

Continue reading ‘The Wedding Banquet’ Trailer: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran & More Star In New Rom-Com On April 18 at The Playlist.

Bleecker Street and ShivHans Pictures released the trailer for Andrew Ahn’s upcoming romantic comedy The Wedding Banquet on Monday morning.

Starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Chan and Han Gi-Chan, the Seattle-set film is a reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name. The trailer shows two couples — Lee (Gladstone) and Angela (Tran), and Chris (Yang) and Min (Han) — at a crossroads. Lee and Angela want to start a family but don’t have the money for IVF treatments. Chris and Min want to stay together, but Min’s visa is about to run out and he hasn’t come out to his grandmother, who will will cut him off if he does.

Min, from a wealthy family in Korea, suggests Angela marries him to solve the visa (and grandmother) problem in exchange for him paying for the couple’s IVF treatments. The film, which premiered at Sundance last month,...

The latest from Driveways and Fire Island director Andrew Ahn is The Wedding Banquet, a remake of the Ang Lee classic. The film brings together Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, Joan Chen, Han Gi-chan, and Youn Yuh-jung, with a script co-written with James Schamus, who co-wrote and produced the original 1993 rom-com. Following its Sundance premiere and ahead of Bleecker Street’s spring release on April 18, a new trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “From Director Andrew Ahn comes a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating the disasters and delights of family expectations, queerness, and cultural identity. Angela and her partner Lee have been unlucky with their IVF treatments, but can’t afford to pay for another round. Meanwhile their friend Min, the closeted scion of a multinational corporate empire, has plenty of family money but a soon-to-expire student visa. When his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris rejects his proposal,...

If hearing him on “Las Culturistas” and seeing him in “Wicked” and on “Saturday Night Live” wasn’t enough, Bowen Yang is headed back to the big screen alongside Academy Award-nominee Lily Gladstone, and Kelly Marie Tran in “The Wedding Banquet.” Yang is also joined by “Fire Island” collaborator Andrew Ahn, who serves as director and co-writer on this remake of the classic 1993 LGBTQ rom-com from Ang Lee. Watch the trailer for the film below.

Co-written by the original film’s scribe James Schamus and also starring Han Gi-Chan, Joan Chen, and Oscar-winner Yuh-Jung Youn, the official synopsis for the film reads, “‘The Wedding Banquet’ follows a chosen family of four friends each struggling to navigate their adulthood responsibilities and relationships. Angela (Tran) and her partner Lee (Gladstone) have had repeated unsuccessful IVF treatments, and the financial strain is worsening. Min (Han) and his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris (Yang), can’t...

Eight years ago, toxic Star Wars fans almost derailed Kelly Marie Tran’s career, whining non-stop on social media about her character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, ultimately forcing her to quit social media altogether. And while that completely unwarranted response led to an awkwardly reduced role in the last big-screen Star Wars entry, The Rise of Skywalker, Tran’s career continued, most notably as the voice of the title character in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon four years ago, and now, finally, three much-deserved, prominent roles in a single year, Andrew Ahn and James Schamus's remake of The Wedding Banquet (out next month), the well-received, SXSW-premiering Forge from writer-director Jing Ai Ng, and writer-director Shal Ngo’s (The Box) flawed, if often compelling, psychological horror film, Control Freak,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

This news goes to 11. The sequel to the masterpiece rock-doc parody film “This Is Spinal Tap” is set to hit theaters this fall. Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” the film from director Rob Reiner that has Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer all reprising their roles as England’s loudest — and most punctual — rock band.

The film will get a wide release on September 12, and in anticipation of that, Bleecker Street is also re-releasing a newly-restored edition of the 1984 original film back in to theaters this summer. That new version will also hit digital and streaming platforms, making it the first time the film has been available digitally in years.

“Spinal Tap II” was conceived by Guest, McKean, Reiner, and Shearer and follows Tap as they reunite after a 15-year hiatus for one final concert. Reiner is back playing documentarian Martin “Marty” Dibergi,...

“Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” a sequel to the 1984 music mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” will rock and roll into theaters this fall.

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to the rock comedy follow-up and set a theatrical release on Sept. 12. The indie studio, founded by Andrew Karpen in 2014, also landed the rights for the original “This Is Spinal Tap,” which has been newly restored and re-released in theaters over the summer. After returning to theaters, “This Is Spinal Tap” will subsequently land on digital and streaming platforms for the first time in years.

Directed by Rob Reiner, “Spinal Tap II” The End Continues” sees Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reprising their roles as members of “one of England’s loudest bands.” In the sequel, the fictional heavy metal group reunites after a 15-year hiatus for one final concert. Reiner returns Marty Dibergi, the documentarian who follows them on tour,...

What do a talking octopus, an Oscar winner, and a blockbuster star have in common? Look no further than Olivia Newman’s adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures, the debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt that has spent more than 64 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.

Remarkably Bright Creatures followsTova, an elderly widow who forms an unlikely friendship with the curmudgeonly Marcellus, a Pacific octopus at the aquarium where she works. Unbeknownst to Tova, the remarkably intelligent Marcellus is on a mission to solve a mystery that will heal her heart and lead her to a life-changing discovery.

Two-time Academy Award–winning actor Sally Field will play Tova, with Lewis Pullman co-starring. Field and Pullman are joined by Colm Meaney, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Beth...

The movie adaptation of that octopus book has rounded out its cast.

Lewis Pullman, Colm Meaney and Joan Chen have joined Sally Field in Netflix’s adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures, the wildly popular novel by Shelby Van Pelt. (How popular? It’s been on the New York Times best-seller list for 64 weeks.)

Also boarding the roll call are Kathy Baker (Picket Fences), Beth Grant (Little Miss Sunshine, No Country For Old Men) and Single Drunk Female star Sofia Black D’Elia.

Olivia Newman, best known for helming Where the Crawdads Sing, is directing the feature that is now shooting in Vancouver.

The novel tells of the unique relationship between a lonely elderly widow named Tova working as a janitor at an aquarium and a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus living at the facility. Tova forms an unlikely friendship with the curmudgeonly cephalopod, but unbeknownst to her, Marcellus is on a...

Andrew Ahn’s latest feature The Wedding Banquet opens this year’s BFI Flare Film Festival, which runs from March 19 – 30 at the BFI Southbank in London.

It’s a big-ticket title, arriving in London following a debut bow at Sundance with a red-hot cast including Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, and serves as a sign of the festival’s continued relevance and mainstream appeal.

Currently the UK’s largest queer film event, Flare is also one of the world’s longest-running queer film festivals. It turns 40 next year. The BFI is already planning a series of celebrations to mark the milestone. Highlights from this year’s lineup, however, include screenings of Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Berlinale title Hot Milk starring Emma Mackey and Vicky Krieps, Lamin Leroy Gibba’s buzzy German series Black Fruit, and Truong Minh Quy’s beloved Cannes title Viet and Nam. The festival will close...

The Miami Film Festival today revealed the lineup for its upcoming 42nd edition, a slate of almost 200 narratives, documentaries, and short films, including 35 world premieres.

The cinematic showcase, set to unfold April 3-13, will open with Meet the Barbarians, directed by and starring two-time Oscar nominee Julie Delpy. The French-born star and filmmaker will receive the festival’s Impact Award on April 3. The festival, a presentation of Miami Dade College, will close with On Swift Horses, the drama directed by Daniel Minahan that stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle.

Musician Willy Chirino

Mff will host the world premiere of Chirino directed by Jorge A. Soliño, “the story of Willy Chirino, one of the greatest musicians in the history of Cuban music.” Among the festival’s other world premieres are Ethan Bloom, directed by Herschel Faber; A Line of Fire, directed by Matt Shapira; Interstate,...

Miami Dade College’s (Mdc) Miami Film Festival has announced its lineup for its upcoming festival taking place from April 3 – 13 in Miami. This year’s festival includes a number of highly-anticipated premieres, plus special honoree events, anniversary celebrations, and a raft of awards-focused entrants.

Mostly, it will be quite the event for fans of Julie Delpy (count us in), whose latest directorial effort, “Meet the Barbarians,” will open the festival on April 3. The multihyphenate will also be on hand to receive the festival’s Impact Award, and on April 4, she will offer an extended introduction to a 30th-anniversary screening of Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise.” The festival will close with “On Swift Horses,” directed by Daniel Minahan, on April 12.

Other highlights include honors for Mark Duplass, Paul Feig, Melanie Lynskey, Roger Ross Williams, and Billy Zane. Other anniversary specials include “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” “Center Stage,” and “Pride & Prejudice.

As we noted yesterday, new festivals are bringing a bouquet of new films this spring (many looking for homes). One movie that will be making its world premiere at the Sonoma International Film Festival later this month is “Café Chairel,” a new drama from Fernando Barreda Luna. The Playlist has an exclusive first look at the trailer embedded in this post.

Read More: “The Wedding Banquet,” “Sweet Story,” “Dreams’” to screen at 2025 Sonoma International Film Festival

Starring Mauricio Isaac (“Narcos: Mexico”), Tessa Ia (“On the Road”), and Leo Deluglio (“Who Killed Sara?”) and set in a Mexican seaside enclave, the official synopsis for the film is as follows: “Two lonely people cross paths while working in a coffee shop.

Continue reading ‘Café Chairel’ Exclusive Trailer: Fernando Barreda Luna New Drama Finds Tranquility In Coffee at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Producer Daniel Bekerman and his Scythia Films have signed with WME for representation.

Bekerman served as the EP on The Wedding Banquet, which premiered at Sundance this year, directed by Andrew Ahn and starring Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang.

Bekerman’s recent projects include Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, which received three BAFTA and two Golden Globe nominations along with Oscar nominations for Stan and Strong. He also had Endless Cookie, which premiered at this year’s Sundance; I Object, directed by Oscar-nominee Andrew Niccol, starring Anna Faris and Karl Urban, and Close to You, directed by Dominic Savage starring Elliot Page. Bekerman also produced Sundance-winner The Witch, Cold Copy featuring Tracee Ellis-Ross and Bel Powley, and Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut Falling.

He also executive produced three films that premiered at Sundance 2024; including Love Me, starring Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun, My Old Ass,...

The spring film festival season is upon us. SXSW will begin this weekend, and Cannes is almost two months away. Later this month, the 2025 Sonoma International Film Festival will unspool and is set to feature some major premieres. Most notably, the Golden Bear winner at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Dag Johan Haugrud’s “Dreams (Love Sex),” will have its North American debut in Sonoma.

Read More: “The Wedding Banquet” Teaser: Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, and Lily Gladstone star in Andrew Ahn’s Sundance world premiere

Other major screenings include the Opening Night world premiere of Sarah Justine Kerrisch and Matt Maude’s “Sweet Story,” the centerpiece screening of Daniel Minahan’s “On Swift Horses,” and Andrew Ahn’s “The Wedding Banquet,” which will close the festival.

Continue reading ‘The Wedding Banquet,’ ‘Sweet Story,’ ‘Dreams’ To Screen At 2025 Sonoma International Film Festival at The Playlist.

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to horror film The Third Parent from Walters Media Group starring Rob Lowe, Crispin Glover, and Roselyn Sanchez as it continues to build a diverse theatrical slate.

David Michaels will write and direct the story based on the viral “creepypasta” series of internet-based stories from writer Elias Witherow. It takes place during a US Independence Day celebration when a disturbing figure named Tommy Taffy disguises himself as a human to infiltrate a suburban family.

Lowe will produce alongside Gary Michael Walters, the Whiplash and Nightcrawler producer who produced Colette for Bleecker Street, as...

Exclusive: The Sonoma International Film Festival announced the lineup for the 28th annual edition of the event, running March 19-23 in California’s bucolic wine country. Kicking off the festival will be the world premiere of Sweet Störy, a documentary that follows “a heartfelt journey to save a charming café” on a remote Swedish island.

Siff also will feature the world premieres of Roush Niaghi and Greg Morris’s Ali Eats America; Fernando Guillermo Barreda Luna’s Cafe Chairel, and Fatal Watch, directed by Mark Benjamin and Katie Carpenter. The festival will host the North American premiere of Dreams, the film directed by Dag Johan Haugerud that won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last month.

Daisy Edgar-Jones in ‘On Swift Horses’

The Siff Centerpiece Film will be the California premiere of On Swift Horses, the drama starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi that’s based on the Shannon Pufahi novel.

The history of any important film festival is the history of the films and filmmakers they’ve showcased and championed: what’s their tally of breakthrough filmmakers and esteemed auteurs who have defined the past century of cinema?

This is why Berlin, Cannes and Venice, after nearly a century of annual unspoolings (as Variety likes to call them) retain their reputations and the vitality of their programming and festival operations.

There is a parallel history as well, one that charts the important fests’ cultural and economic impacts upon the communities and countries where they’re held.

The French film industry is a primary European powerhouse of collaborative private and public financing and film promotion, and it has coordinated beautifully for decades with the Cannes Film Festival. To the good fortunes of both.

Itay’s official cinematic and cultural organizations and departments have partnered effectively with the Venice Festival, even if...

Hulu has revealed first look photos of Control Freak, a new horror movie featuring Star Wars franchise star Kelly Marie Tran. A release date for the film has also been announced.

Per Hulu,Control Freak will start streaming exclusively on Hulu on March 13, 2025. From WorthenBrooks and Hulu Originals, the movie will be made available on Disney+ internationally on a later date yet to be determined. The feature film was spawned from the short film Control featured in the second season of Hulu's Bite Size Halloween event in 2021. Shal Ngo, the writer and director of the original short, returned to write and direct Control Freak as well. The filmmaker's previous work includes The Park, The Box, and The Last Fisherman.

RelatedHulu Pulls the Plug on Series Adaptation of Popular Fantasy Novel After 4 Years Spent in Development Hell

The series was to have been produced by Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore...

BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 19-30) has unveiled its full line-up, with 56 features across three strands, exploring subjects such as Kenya’s ballroom scene and the appeal of dating apps.

The programme has films and shorts from 41 countries, with six world premiere features. These include Kenyan filmmaker Njoroge Muthoni’s documentaryHow To Live, which explores Nairobi’s vibrant ballroom scene and celebrates queer African joy.

In Yu-jin Lee’s Manok, the owner of a South Korean lesbian bar must return to her small hometown after clashing with the city’s younger queer community.

Buenos Aires-set comedy drama Few...

After two short features, Taiwanese-born director Ang Lee made “Pushing Hands”, which not only marked the beginning of what would later be known as the “Father Knows Best”-trilogy, but also the foundation of what would define him as a filmmaker. It is also the first collaboration with esteemed actor Sihung Lung, who would revisit the role of the family father in “The Wedding Banquet” and “Eat Drink Man Woman”, as well as work with Lee on his “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. “Pushing Hands” refers to a tai chi-routine Lung’s character goes through every morning and teaches to his students, which is supposed to be a defense against brute force, which you can see in some scenes in the movie. At the same time, we are introduced to what would be Lee’s career-defining themes, most importantly the conflict of tradition and modernity as well as the differences between cultures,...

Sabrina Elba will join the cast of “Nuur.” The upcoming feature from director Lula Ali Ismaïl (“Dhalinyaro”) is being produced by Scythia Films, the banner behind the Oscar-nominated “The Apprentice.” Elba joins previously announced cast members Omar Abdi (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”) and Hamza Fouad (“Riverdale”).

The film is adapted from the novel “The Youth of God” by Hassan Ghedi Santur, who also wrote the script. In it, Nuur, the title character, is a sensitive and academically gifted 17-year-old boy growing up in Toronto’s Somali community in Dixon. Elba will portray Haawo, the resilient Somali mother to Nuur and his older brother, Ayuub. When Haawo lived in Mogadishu, Somalia, she worked as a flight attendant and was married to a successful architect. Years later, she is depressed, grappling with a failed marriage and stuck in a dead-end job at Walmart. When Nuur goes missing, she goes on a journey to bring him home.

Santa Monica, California – February 04: Josh Ruben and Jay Wadley attend a special Beyond Fest screening of Screen Gems and Spyglass Media Group’s Heart Eyes at Aero Theatre on February 04, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Sony Pictures via Getty Images)

For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe…

Hitting theaters this February is the Valentine’s Day horror-comedy Heart Eyes from director Josh Ruben.

Screen Gems and Spyglass Media Group present a Divide/Conquer production, Heart Eyes. Starring Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, with Devon Sawa and Jordana Brewster. Produced by Christopher Landon, Greg Gilreath, and Adam Hendricks. Written by Phillip Murphy and Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy.

The director of photography is Stephen Murphy, Bsc, Isc. The production designer is Rob Bavin.

The fourth entry in the popular Bridget Jones film franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, is set to debut on Peacock and theatrically in other parts of the globe in time for Valentine's Day. Released nine years after the previous film, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy sees Renée Zellweger reprise her iconic role as Bridget Jones, who is attempting to re-enter the dating scene as a single mother after the death of her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth in the previous films). The reviews are in, and it looks like Bridget Jones is back baby...but not to be confused with Bridget Jones Baby.

Bridget Jones Baby debuted on Rotten Tomatoes at 83% based on 12 reviews. Donald Clarke of The Irish Times gave the movie a 4/5 rating and said, "Mad About the Boy says things worth hearing about grief and the realities of aging. It is hard to imagine...

This article contains some spoilers for "Heart Eyes."

The filmmaking team behind the new Valentine's Day-set slasher movie "Heart Eyes" seems to be rallying around their film with a particular spin on the "see it in theaters!" agenda. Namely, that new horror movie icons cannot be born if no one goes to see them when they're brand new. While this is unimpeachably true, it feels important to point out at least one of the reasons why horror fans — traditionally a very loyal and easy-to-please group — have not shown up for one of the several attempts at creating a new horror icon over the last decade and change. While some have not been given a fair shake at all, others have either had a pretty lackluster start, been too singular to franchise (I don't think we'll be seeing "Skinamarink V: The Skinamarinking" anytime soon), arrived too late (the eventual "Thanksgiving" movie...

The niche space of queer Asian-American cinema is not necessarily brimming with films, but it has borne one of the more influential and diverse films of the '90s: The Wedding Banquet. This 1993 movie had its heyday, and many people felt its impact, including director and screenwriter Andrew Ahn. Subsequently, he decides to re-ignite the film's initial success and bring it back into pop culture through this 2025 reboot, where the concepts are modernized, but love still exists at its core.

One of the best experiences at a film festival is walking in to see a film not expecting to care much about it, and walking out so blown away you can't stop talking about it and thinking about it. This is what happened with me watching Andrew Ahn's new take on The Wedding Banquet at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival this year. You never know when this will happen, you never know which film this will happen with, but when it does happen it's my duty to make sure I spend some extra time and attention talking about the film. The Wedding Banquet is a 2025 remake of Ang Lee's 1993 film of the same name (which I have not actually seen before). This version of the story is updated to focus on a group of four friends - a lesbian couple and a gay couple, all of whom live together...

David Lynch, the maverick avant-garde filmmaker who died last month, is an inspiration for Daniel Bekerman, the plucky producer behind challenging indie films like “The Witch” and “The Apprentice,” that somehow bucked the odds to get made. “I can’t deny that I’m here for the art, and I want it to be as pure and true as possible,” Bekerman said in an interview shortly before this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “And I want to support bold visions from the directors I work with.”

But Bekerman, who founded and leads Scythia Films, also can’t deny that the business part of the entertainment industry often threatens to silence its boldest voices. That was certainly the case with “The Apprentice,” an incisive look at Donald Trump’s early years as a media-hungry developer which scared off studios and streamers who were worried about getting on the wrong side of...

If there’s one word to describe this year’s Sundance Film Festival, it’s “uncertainty.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as this year’s festival was far more interesting than any festival has been since the Covid-19 pandemic. And, amazingly, despite all the challenges that came their way, Sundance’s organizers were able to make the event feel genuinely fun and memorable. So they deserve massive kudos for that.

The question that was in everyone’s minds at this year’s festival: where will the festival be come 2027? Next year, at least, will still be in Sundance’s long-time home of Park City, Ut, but after that, we could see the festival move to Boulder, Co, or Cincinnati, Oh — with the possibility of still staying in Park City and nearby Salt Lake City.

Then, there’s the issue of the festival’s online component, which saw two...

Don’t call it a remake, it’s a reimagining. In the case of Andrew Ahn’s take on Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy “The Wedding Banquet,” that couldn’t be more true. For the “Driveways” filmmaker’s latest film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival before its upcoming spring release, reimagining, freshening up, and contemporizing the story of a young gay Taiwanese immigrant who lies to his parents about his romantic status and ends up falling into a green card marriage to a woman, was top of mind.

Ahn’s take on the film has some canny tweaks: Our star (Han Gi-chan) and his character are now Korean, while his eventual fake wife Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) is already in her own same-sex relationship with Lee (Lily Gladstone). There are plenty more updates to the story, but the personal touches the cast and crew brought to it seem particularly special.

February 2 Update: Ryan White’sCome See Me in the Good Light won theFestival Favorite Award on Sunday, marking the final piece of business for the festival, which endedon February 2.

The US film charts two poets’ “journey through love, life and mortality”.

Original January 31 Report:Sundance Film Festival announced its awards winners on Friday, with grand jury prizes going to Atropia, Seeds, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), and Cutting Through Rocks.

In the audience awards, Twinless, André Is An Idiot, DJ Ahmet, and Prime Minister prevailed.The Next Innovator Award went to Zodiac Killer Project and Next Audience Award was presented to East Of Wall.

As my first Sundance Film Festival comes to a close amid a precarious time for my community and many others, I look back on this year’s cinematic lineup with some optimism for LGBTQ representation when it’s needed most. From dark comedies about human connection to heartfelt family dramas about the shared queer experience and documentaries about the detriments of censorship and anti-trans legislation, filmmakers are holding space for progress, despite growing government-facilitated rollbacks on transgender and LGBTQ rights.

While discussing her new Mark Anthony Green-helmed A24 horror Opus at Deadline’s Sundance Studio, Ayo Edebiri admitted it “feels maybe slightly psychotic at times” to look at the news in what happened to be the first days of 2025 amid President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

“But my hope is that for me and that for other artists, that we continue to just champion each other’s work.

Recent years have seen many filmmakers take a less linear approach to the biopic, inviting audiences to learn more about the subject than a superficial understanding of their life events. Ira Sachs’s latest film, Peter Hujar’s Day, takes the slice-of-life genre to its extreme, delivering an experimental work that many may dismiss as uneventful but has many fascinating layers to unpack. In taking this unorthodox approach, Sachs helps audiences know more about Hujar and the world in which he worked than any simple biopic could.

Peter Hujar’s Day Review

Peter Hujar’s Day is, as the title implies, a narration of a day in the life of Peter Hujar, a gay portrait photographer who has recently become acclaimed for being the seminal figure he was despite the lack of recognition he received at the time. And because of this, the film — like its subject — is incredibly humble and minimalistic in nature,...

It's common knowledge that our society has such a long way to go before truly, fully normalizing and accepting people of color and queer artists and narratives in the mainstream. Yet despite the continuing struggle, it's important to recognize just how far minorities in cinema have come, and how enduring these films continue to be. As evidence, filmmaker Andrew Ahn's remake of "The Wedding Banquet" just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and the movie marks a milestone of sorts in Poc and queer cinema. As Ahn told the premiere screening's audience, he first saw the 1993 Ang Lee version of "The Wedding Banquet" as a child thanks to his mother renting it one night during a trip to the video store, telling her son that she wanted to see the movie about Asian-Americans that all the white people were watching.

As Ahn confessed, viewing that film at a young age was a formative experience,...

The American gay rights movement’s focus on marriage equality in the early 21st century wasn’t without controversy. For some, putting a premium on an arrangement so associated with heterosexual orthodoxy sold out the promise of gay liberation. Legally recognized unions represented to them an attempt to erase, not embrace, the differences within a community whose members had each other’s backs long before the federal government did.

Such conflicting views are highlighted in Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet, a film whose very title speaks to the nature of nuptials. The ceremony to which the film builds is flashy but also a façade covering up true acceptance for a coterie of queer characters. Leave it to Lily Gladstone’s Lee, an Indigenous organizer devoted to making youth of all sexual orientations feel empowered, to harmonize the opposing feelings about marriage. She’s less concerned about honoring the institution...

Roadside Attractions has revealed the trailer for the crime comedy caper ‘Riff Raff’ featuring Bill Murray and Pete Davidson.

Vincent is an ex-criminal who more than anything, just wants a normal, peaceful life. He and his wife Sandy have built a loving family with their son DJ and are spending the winter break in a cabin before he goes off to college. Chaos ensues when Vincent’s disowned son Rocco, his girlfriend Marina and Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth abruptly show up to spoil the festivities with an ominous warning: the famed gangsters Leftie and Lonnie are coming for them.

Directed by Dito Montiel, the cast also includes Ed Harris, Gabriel Union, Miles J. Harvey, Lewis Pullman, Emanuela Postacchini, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Covino, P.J. Byrne and Brooke Dillman.

Also in trailers – “Everything in this house is gay…” Teaser trailer drops for the remake of ‘The Wedding Banquet’

The post “What did you do?...

In the struggle between hope and despair, “The Wedding Banquet” explores Angela and Lee’s journey through IVF, where each setback reveals the raw emotions of unfulfilled dreams. Their path unfolds in a society wrestling with unspoken expectations and silent heartaches. The quest for parenthood becomes a profound exploration of human resilience and desire.

The narrative weaves through the lives of Chris and Min, whose relationship challenges traditional boundaries. Their marriage emerges as a complex negotiation—part genuine connection, part survival strategy. The proposal becomes a pivotal moment, capturing the intricate dance between personal longing and societal constraints.

This interpretation transcends a simple retelling of Ang Lee’s original work. It dissects the nuanced experiences of individuals navigating identity, belonging, and familial connections in a world that rarely accommodates personal truths. The wedding banquet transforms from a mere celebration into a powerful statement about choice, love, and the intricate ways...

Bowen Yang is ready to celebrate half a century of Saturday Night Live with cast members from every generation in SNL50: The Anniversary Special.

As the 4x Emmy nominee stopped by Deadline’s Sundance 2025 Studio with his The Wedding Banquet co-stars and director Andrew Ahn, he teased what’s to come in the Feb. 16 special and admitted that Lorne Michaels still hasn’t shared many details with the cast.

“I’m just excited that it’s gonna be a true holistic celebration of 50 years of the show. I mean we’re having such a wide swath of performers and people who have been impacted by the show and people whose careers got started because of the show. I’m just excited for the concert on the 14th. And I just think it’s been a nice moment of pause and reflection, and the documentaries that have come out on Peacock have been really wonderful.

The cast of “The Wedding Banquet” had a blast filming the remake of the landmark 1993 dramedy by Ang Lee — all except for Joan Chen and writer-director Andrew Ahn.

Kelly Marie Tran, Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone and “Our Song” actor Han Gi-chan play the principal characters: Yang is Chris, a gay man whose boyfriend, Min (Han), agrees to marry their lesbian friend, Angela (Tran), for a green card in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatment. When word gets out to their older, more traditional family overseas, a larger wedding banquet is thrown together and Chris is in part responsible with planning the ruse.

“These four kids, I was so envious of them. They were always having fun,” recalled Chen, who plays Chris’ mom, at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt.

“You just wanted the gummies!,” Yang teased her, revealing that CBD gummies were available on the set, just not for Chen.