Under the theme “Beyond Borders: Storytelling Across Time,” this year the citywide 26th edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) launches at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinématek in May, heads to Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) from May 30 through June 4, and closes at Maysles Cinema. The festival lineup includes 68 films of multiple genres from 31 countries across the diaspora, and is presented by FLC and African Film Festival, Inc.
The World Premiere of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s new film The Specials, starring Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb, in Official Selection 2019, will be the Last Screening of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The Specials was submitted at the last minute to the selection committee.
The Cuban horror film Is That You? (¿Eres tu, Papá) directed by Rudy Riverón Sánchez was awarded the top jury prize for Best Film at the 2019 Richmond International Film Festival. Prescience starring Eric Roberts, and the psychological thriller Nesting Dolls tied to win the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.
Plus One, written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, was honored with the Narrative Audience Award and Gay Chorus Deep South, directed by David Charles Rodrigues, was given the Documentary Audience Award at the 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T. The winner of each receive a cash prize of $10,000.
Fresh off the heels of winning a Tribeca X award for best episodic short series, HP Inc. struck a deal to distribute its film series The History of Memory through Cinedigm’s dedicated documentary channel Docurama by July.
Cannes Film Festival announced the Un Certain Regard jury chaired by Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki; and the short films and Cinéfondation jury chaired by Claire Denis, French director and screenwriter.
CineYouth Festival announced award winners for the 2019 edition led by Best Overall Film winner No Such Sunrise by 22 year olds Dana Brandes-Simon, Laura Li, and Cella Wright from Oberlin, OH. The Audience Award was won by 22 year old Kylie Murphy of Shrewsberry, NJ for her short film Mad Lib Pixie Dream Girl which screened in the “She Persisted: Women in Cinema” program.
The 29th annual Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival (Inside Out), championing innovative LGBTQ filmmakers from across the globe, revealed its short film lineup. This year’s festival will take place May 23 to June 2, 2019.
The 30 Anniversary of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City will showcase 13 timely and provocative films, from June 13 to 20, 2019. As racism and xenophobia continue to rise within the highest echelons of power, this year’s festival presents cinematic works that expose and humanize cases of legalized and legitimized oppression of the disenfranchised that demand the world’s attention.
Rooftop Films announced the lineup for the first three weeks of Summer Series 2019, including an outdoor sneak-preview screening of David Modigliani’s behind-the-scenes HBO documentary, Running with Beto; a special free presentation of Melvin Van Peeble’s ground-breaking classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song in Fort Greene Park, with a live score performance by Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber; and a free short film program of audacious and Dangerous Documentaries, at MetroTech Commons.
The highly anticipated Elton John biopic ROCKETMAN, starring Taron Egerton will kick off this year’s 29th annual Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival (Inside Out), and the festival will close with the Canadian premiere of the Sundance crowd-pleaser LATE NIGHT, from director Nisha Ganatra, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling.
Burning Cane, directed and written by teen filmmaker Phillip Youmans won the top honor at the 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival – the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature. The film also won the prizes for Best Cinematography and Best Actor for Wendell Pierce. Other top awards went to House of Hummingbird (Beol-sae) for Best International Narrative Feature, and Scheme Birds for Best Documentary Feature.