The Russian Film Week in New York kicks off the New Year with an online edition that brings the latest in Russian cinema to US audiences from January 23-29, 2021. Last year’s edition expanded the event’s program to audiences in Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, Chicago, Denver and Palo Alto with next year’s online edition opening up fresh Russian films to nationwide viewers.
Ammonite, Francis Lee’s remarkable historical drama starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, is the 2020 recipient of the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Prize, an award that celebrates the compelling depiction of scientific themes or characters in a narrative feature film. Presented through a partnership between SFFILM and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this annual award carries a $25,000 cash prize and shines a light on special achievement in rendering the worlds of science and technology through the language of film with a screening event and conversation with the film’s creators and experts in the scientific fields being depicted.
Casey Feigh took home the Best Film Grand Prize for his comedic short Beginner’s Luck at the 5th annual Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival. The comedic short stars Lauren Lapkus (The Wrong Missy), Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds), Ego Nwodim (Saturday Night Live), and Mary Holland (Happiest Season). Patrick Norman won Best Feature Script for his screenplay Derby Dolls.
Writer and director Nicholas Jarecki’s (Arbitrage) dramatic thriller “Crisis” stars Academy Award-winner Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, Mank) and Golden Globe-nominees Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name, The Social Network) and Evangeline Lilly (Antman and The Wasp, The Hurt Locker) alongside an outstanding ensemble cast that includes: Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious series), Luke Evans (The Girl on the Train), Lily-Rose Depp (The King), Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (“We Are Who We Are”), Duke Nicholson (Us), Veronica Ferres (Salt and Fire), and Martin Donovan (Tenet). Quiver will release the film in theatres nationwide on February 26, 2021 followed by a digital and on-demand release on March 5, 2021.
Former President Barack Obama revealed his favorite movies of 2020 which include Nomadland, Bacurau, Boys State, Martin Eden and, Crip Camp, the documentary produced by the Obamas’ company Higher Ground.
The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) announced the nominees for their top film honors of 2020 with Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland leading the field with seven total nominations. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow and Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things each earned six nominations, while Mank and Promising Young Woman are each recognized with five. Chadwick Boseman posthumously earns dual acting nominations for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Da 5 Bloods.
A Glitch in the Matrix, the mind-bending new sci-fi documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Rodney Ascher (Room 237, The Nightmare) that offers viewers a red or blue pill before entering the funhouse of simulation theory has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures ahead of the world premiere at 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Show Me What You Got, the award-winning directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Svetlana Cvetko, will open on the Labz Live platform and via theatrical partners on February 12, and continue throughout the Valentine’s week.
Ahead of the world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight section, a teaser trailer debuted for “Knocking” from director Frida Kempff, and starring Cecilia Milocco.
The true-crime documentary thriller After the Murder of Albert Lima, from director and producer Aengus James (American Harmony, Scandalous) will be released as a Crackle Original in the first quarter of 2021.
The WWI epic drama Blizzard of Souls (Dvēseļu putenis), directed by Dzintars Dreibergs and Latvia’s Official Oscar Submission will open in virtual cinema in the U.S. on January 8, 2021. The film is based on the true story of young Arthur (16), enlisted in WW1’s Eastern Front; too young to fight, but old enough to die.
Stony Brook Film Festival hosted its LIVE Virtual Awards Ceremony for the 2020 festival and The Subject directed by Lanie Zipoy and written by Chisa Hutchinson, won the Jury Award for Best Feature. The Subject tells the story of a successful documentary filmmaker haunted by his last film, which captured the murder of his Subject, a black teen in Harlem; a timely film that explores the relationship between an artist and their subject and addresses the harsh reality of race and class among the privileged. The film features Jason Biggs, Aunjanue Ellis, Anabelle Acosta, Carra Patterson, Nile Bullock, and Caleb Eberhardt,