Closing Dynasty directed by Lloyd Lee Choi won the Grand Jury Prize – Live Action Short at AFI FEST 2023. Other prizes went to Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma) (奶奶跟外婆)directed by Sean Wang won Grand Jury Prize – Documentary Short and Chutes directed by Kenzie Sutton won Grand Jury Prize – Animated Short.
The 67th BFI London Film Festival wrapped on Sunday October 15th with the World Premiere of Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s The Kitchen.
The San Pedro International Film Festival (SPIFF) returns next month for screenings, panels, and events, November 2-5. Highlights include a special presentation of Nick Broomfield’s documentary The Stones and Brian Jones, and a focus on Croatian films, including Dubravka Tulic’s Academy Awards Best Foreign Film submission Traces (Tragovi). Special appearances include veteran producer Carol Baum, who will do a book signing following an Closing Night screening of the Robert DeNiro/Ed Harris starrer Jacknife (1989), and a book reading and signing of Evelyn McDonnell’s The World According to Joan Didion.
The satire American Fiction took home the coveted Best Feature Film prize at the 2023 Twin Cities Film Fest. Starring Jeffrey Wright, the comedy marks Cord Jefferson’s (Watchmen, Succession, Master of None) memorable directorial debut, as he confronts America’s obsession with the reducing of people to outrageous stereotypes. The film recently won the People Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, often viewed as a bellwether of success at the Academy Awards.
The 15th edition of Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival, taking place Monday, November 6 through Saturday, November 11, in Los Angeles will open with Pictures of Ghosts directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, which is also the official selection to represent Brazil for Best International Feature at the upcoming Oscars®. The Opening Night screening will take place at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The 26th Indie Memphis Film Festival, announced this year’s award winners with top Jury Awards including Best Narrative Feature for Mountains (Dir. Monica Sorelle $1K cash prize), Best Documentary Feature to Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (Dirs. Joe Brewster & Michèle Stephenson, $1K cash prize), Best Hometowner Feature to The Spirit of Memphis (Dir. Alicia Ester, $1K cash prize), Best Departures Feature to La Bonga (Dirs. Sebastián Pinzón Silva & Canela Reyes, $500 cash prize), and Best Sounds Feature to Even Hell Has Its Heroes (Dir. Clyde Petersen, $500 cash prize), among others.
Oscilloscope debuted the official trailer for This Much We Know, a free-wielding documentary about a suicide in Las Vegas and the dumping of nuclear excess in a mountain.
The 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) announced its 2023 Awards winners with Jury Awards for Best Feature going to Monster directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, and Best Feature Documentary to The Michoacán File directed by Bernardo Arsuaga. Monster also won Jury Awards for Best Screenplay for Yûji Sakamoto and Best Actor for Eita Nagayama.
Breaking Glass Pictures will release Pig Killer, described as “a spine-chilling and thought-provoking true crime drama” film based on the horrifying true story of Canadian serial killer Robert ‘Willy’ Pickton, the infamous Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher. Starring in the film are Jake Busey and Bai Ling
Andrew Bowser’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls won the prestigious prize of Best Horror/Comedy film at the 2023 HorrorFest International Film Festival. Joe Reilly’s horror comedy Charlie the Cancelled Skeleton took Best Gross Out and the Audience Choice Award, and Eric Woods’ Utah-produced The Cave took the award for the Scariest Film.
Filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo embarks on a quest to reconcile her tortured teen years in the HBO documentary You Were My First Boyfriend.
The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) announced the award winners for the 26th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival with Fanatic, directed by Taran Killam winning the Audience Award.