Pauline Mwaura

Sundance 2020 Announces New Frontier Lineup of Cutting-Edge Indie and Experimental Works

Lindsey Normington appears in Anti-Gone by Theo Triantafyllidis, an official selection of the New Frontier Exhibitions program at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

32 projects from 21 countries at the dynamic crossroads of film, art and technology will be showcased in the New Frontier program for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. This curated collection of cutting-edge independent and experimental media works are by creators who are pushing artistic innovation across mediums that include rocket travel, biotech, facial recognition, mixed reality (MR), smartphone AR, underwater VR, game engines, big data, AI, the human archive, and innovative uses of SMS text & iPhone video capture.

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PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, MARRIAGE STORY, PARASITE Among Films Nominated for Phoenix Critics Circle 2019 Awards

Portrait of a Lady On Fire (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Marriage Story, and Parasite are among the films nominated by the Phoenix Critics Circle for the best films of 2019 awards. Members have narrowed the films from 2019 to the top nominees in each category. Voting is underway for the winners and they will be announced on Saturday, December 14th, 2019.

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5 Indie Films Nominated for Houston Film Critics Society 2019 Texas Independent Film Award

Bull directed by Annie Silverstein

The Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS) has again nominated five indie films to compete for this year’s 2019 TIFA (Texas Independent Film Award) awarded to an independently financed film shot in Texas.

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MARRIAGE STORY, BOOKSMART, WAVES Receive St. Louis Film Critics Association 2019 Awards Nominations

Beanie Feldstein stars as Molly and Kaitlyn Dever as Amy in Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, BOOKSMART, an Annapurna Pictures release. Credit: Francois Duhamel / Annapurna Pictures

Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 period piece “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster film “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s intimate portrait of divorce “Marriage Story” lead the nominations for St. Louis Film Critics Association’s 2019 awards.

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Sundance Film Festival 2020 Reveals Indie Episodic, Shorts and Special Events Lineup

A Love Song For Latasha by Sophia Nahli Allison, an official selection of the Shorts Programs at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Sophia Nahli Allison

Sundance Film Festival announced the works selected across the Indie Episodic, Shorts and Special Events sections of the 2020 Festival. Of the projects announced, 48% were directed or created by one or more women, 33% were directed or created by one or more filmmaker of color, and 19% by one or more people who identify as LGBTQIA. 7 were supported by Sundance Institute in development, whether through direct granting or Labs.

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PARASITE and STATE FUNERAL Top Film Comment’s 2019 End-of-Year Survey

State Funeral directed by Sergei Loznitsa

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took the top spot among films released in 2019 in Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Sergei Loznitsa’s State Funeral, Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro’s Endless Night, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth received the top rankings.

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RIP: TANGERINES Director Zaza Urushadze Dead at 53

Zaza Urushadze

Georgian film director Zaza Urushadze known internationally for his film Tangerines passed away on December 7th, reportedly of heart attack, according to local news sites. He was 53.

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2020 Palm Springs Film Festival Announces Lineup. Opens with AN ALMOST ORDINARY SUMMER

An Almost Ordinary Summer, directed by Simone Godano

The 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will screen 188 films from 81 countries, opening with An Almost Ordinary Summer, directed by Simone Godano, on Friday, January 3, and close with Military Wives, directed by Peter Cattaneo on Sunday, January 12.

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WAVES, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO Among African American Film Critics 2019 Winners

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) named Jordan Peele’s “Us” Best Film of 2019 with other awards going to “The Black Godfather” for Best Documentary, and “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” for Best Independent Film.

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PARASITE, APOLLO 11, PEANUT BUTTER FALCON Score Southeastern Film Critics 2019 Awards

The Peanut Butter Falcon

South Korean, director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” was also a hit with the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) receiving the top honor of Best Film of 2019, in addition to Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay.

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Thomas Heise’s HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME Sets a March 2020 Release Date

Heimat Is A Space in Time (Heimat ist ein Raum aus Zeit) directed by Thomas Heise. Courtesy Icarus Films

In the powerful and luminous black-and-white film Heimat is a Space in Time, Thomas Heise explores “heimat,” his family home and homeland, through the upheavals of 20th-century German history. Winner of the Caligari Film Prize at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and Best Film in the International Competition at Visions du Réel 2019, and official selections of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, Heimat is a Space in Time will make its U.S. theatrical debut via Icarus Films on March 13, 2020 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City, followed by engagements in Los Angeles and nationwide.

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PARASITE, BOOKSMART, AMERICAN FACTORY Win Toronto Film Critics Honors

GISAENGCHUNG (Parasite) directed by BONG Joon-Ho

Parasite, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s dark, class-based comedy about a poor family that scams a rich one, took three top awards from the Toronto Film Critics Association – Best Picture, Best Director and Best Foreign Film.

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