Independent Film

VIDEO: Watch First Trailer for THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman

A24 today released the first trailer for psychological horror-thriller film The Killing Of A Sacred Deer from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (THE LOBSTER, DOGTOOTH), and starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. The film also starring Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Bill Camp and Alicia Silverstone will be released in theaters on October 27. The film’s synopsis: A prominent surgeon adopts a teenager into his family, but as the teen’s actions grow increasingly sinister, the doctor is forced to make a terrible decision. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQFdGfwChtw
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VIDEO: Sean Baker’s THE FLORIDA PROJECT, Starring Willem Dafoe, Releases First Poster and Trailer

Here is the new trailer for The Florida Project, Sean Baker’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed Tangerine, which takes a deeply moving and unforgettably poignant look at childhood. The film starring Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Valeria Cotto and Bria Vinaite will be released in theaters on October 6, 2017. Set on a stretch of highway just outside the imagined utopia of Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince in a stunning breakout turn) and her rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite, another major discovery) over the course of a single summer. The two live week to week at “The Magic Castle,” a budget motel managed by Bobby (a career-best Willem Dafoe), whose stern exterior hides a deep reservoir of kindness and compassion. Despite her harsh surroundings, the precocious and ebullient Moonee has no trouble making each day a celebration of life, her endless afternoons overflowing with mischief and grand adventure as she and her ragtag playmates—including Jancey, a new arrival to the area who quickly becomes Moonee’s best friend—fearlessly explore the utterly unique world into which they’ve been thrown. Unbeknownst to Moonee, however, her delicate fantasy is supported by the toil and sacrifice of Halley, who is forced to explore increasingly dangerous possibilities in order to provide for her daughter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4
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Watch Trailer + Poster for Sundance Award-Winning Indie Drama CROWN HEIGHTS

The official trailer and poster is here for the 2017 Sundance Film Festival award-winning indie drama Crown Heights, directed by Matt Ruskin and starring Lakeith Stanfield as Colin Warner, a man wrongful convicted in New York in the 1980s. The film also starring Nnamdi Asomugha, Nestor Carbonell, Natalie Paul, Bill Camp, and Amari Cheatom, is adapted from the popular “This American Life” podcast. Crown Heights will open in select theaters on August 25th. In the spring of 1980, a teenager is gunned down in the streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn. The police pressure a child witness to identify a suspect. As a result, Colin Warner, an 18-year-old kid from nearby Crown Heights, is wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Colin’s childhood friend Carl ‘KC’ King devotes his life to fighting for Colin’s freedom. He works on appeals, takes loans for lawyer fees and becomes a legal courier to learn the court system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgrFRyMsWiY
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Amman Abbasi’s Debut Indie Drama DAYVEON Gets a September Release Date | VIDEO

Dayveon, the feature-film debut of writer-director Amman Abbasi, will open in theaters on September 13, in New York at the Quad Cinema, and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Monica Film Center. More additional cities is expected to follow. Dayveon, an official selection of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, stars Devin Blackmon, Kordell “KD” Johnson, Dontrell Bright, Chasity Moore, Lachion Buckingham, and Marquell Manning. Struggling with his older brother’s death, 13-year-old Dayveon (newcomer Devin Blackmon) spends the sweltering summer days roaming around his rural Arkansan town. With no parents and few role models, he soon falls in with the local gang. Though his sister’s boyfriend tries to provide stability and comfort as a reluctant father figure, Dayveon becomes increasingly drawn into the camaraderie and violence of his new world. In this impressive feature directorial debut exec produced by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Prince Avalanche), multitalented filmmaker Amman Abbasi wrote, directed, edited, produced, and composed music for the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZycD635w0
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VIDEO: Watch New Trailer for Dark Comedy THE DEATH OF STALIN

Here is the trailer for the new comedy/drama film, The Death of Stalin, directed by Armando Iannucci, creator of Veep, surrounding events in the days following the fall of Stalin in 1953. The film stars Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Palin, Paddy Considine and Simon Russell Beale; and is set to world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, kicking off the festival’s Platform Program. The internal political landscape of 1950’s Soviet Russia takes on darkly comic form in a new film by Emmy award-winning and Oscar-nominated writer/director Armando Iannucci. In the days following Stalin’s collapse, his core team of ministers tussle for control; some want positive change in the Soviet Union, others have more sinister motives. Their one common trait? They’re all just desperately trying to remain alive. A film that combines comedy, drama, pathos and political maneuvering, The Death of Stalin is a Quad and Main Journey production, directed by Armando Iannucci, and produced by Yann Zenou, Kevin Loader, Nicolas Duval Assakovsky, and Laurent Zeitoun. The script is written by Iannucci, David Schneider and Ian Martin, with additional material by Peter Fellows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukJ5dMYx2no
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RLJE Films to Release BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 Starring Vince Vaughn

Brawl in Cell Block 99 starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Marc Blucas, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson has been acquired by RLJE Films for release in the US. RLJE Films plans to release Brawl in Cell Block 99 in theaters on October 6, 2017. The film will first make its World Premiere at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival and will continue on to screen at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. In Brawl in Cell Block 99, a former boxer named Bradley (Vince Vaughn) loses his job as an auto mechanic, and his troubled marriage is about to end. At this crossroads in his life, he feels that he has no better option than to work for an old buddy as a drug courier. This improves his situation until the terrible day that he finds himself in a gunfight between a group of police officers and his own ruthless allies. When the smoke clears, Bradley is badly hurt and thrown in prison, where his enemies force him to commit acts of violence that turn the place into a savage battleground. Writer/director S. Craig Zahler is an award-winning screenwriter, director, novelist, cinematographer and musician. Zahler’s newest novel Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child is set for publication this fall.
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VIDEO: Watch Robert Redford and Jane Fonda Reunite in Official Trailer for OUR SOULS AT NIGHT

Watch Robert Redford and Jane Fonda Reunite in the official trailer for “Our Souls at Night” based on the best-selling novel written by Kent Haruf. The film will be released on Netflix and in select theaters on September 29. Fifty years since playing newlyweds in Barefoot in the Park, Academy Award (R) winners Robert Redford and Jane Fonda come together onscreen for the fourth time in Netflix’s Our Souls at Night, this time playing a couple who find love unexpectedly later in life. Based on the best-selling novel written by Kent Haruf and adapted for the screen by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Fault in Our Stars), Our Souls at Night is set in Colorado and begins when Addie Moore (Jane Fonda) pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters (Robert Redford). Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they’d been neighbors for decades, but had little contact. Their children live far away and they are all alone in their big houses. She seeks to establish a connection, and make the most of the rest of the time they have. In addition to Redford and Fonda, the film stars Bruce Dern, Matthias Schoenaerts, Judy Greer and Iain Armitage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVzSnkmF2Q
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Sony Pictures Classics Grabs FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Starring Annette Bening

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool starring Academy Award nominee Annette Bening, BAFTA Award winner Jamie Bell, Academy Award nominee Julie Walters, and Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for release in the US. The film directed by Paul McGuigan is premiering in Gala Presentations at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control. “Annette Bening in the role of a lifetime as an elusive personality whose dramatic true story defies belief. Supported to perfection by Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Vanessa Redgrave and the rest of the cast, embodied by Paul McGuigan’s precise direction. And then there’s producer Barbara Broccoli whose diligence over many years made it all happen. Independent filmmaking doesn’t come better than this. It is a privilege to be involved in bringing this remarkable film to the public,” said Sony Pictures Classics. Sony Pictures Classics has also acquired rights for North America, Eastern Europe, Germany and Asia Pay Television.
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VIDEO: Watch Trailer for Summer Gay Romance Drama CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Here is the first official trailer for Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted from André Aciman’s novel of the same name, about a summer love affair between two young men. The film which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival starring newcomer Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer will be released in theaters on November 24. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows wit h natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AYPxH5NTM
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VIDEO: Watch First Trailer for Religious Drama NOVITIATE Starring Melissa Leo, Margaret Qualley

Check out the first trailer for the Novitiate, written and directed by Maggie Betts, which premiered at earlier this year at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The film starring Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Julianne Nicholson and Dianna Agron will be released in theaters in NY and LA on October 27. Spanning over a decade from the early 1950s through to the mid-60s, Novitiate is about a young girl’s first experience with love. In this case, her first love is God. Raised by a vehemently non-religious, single mother in rural Tennessee, a scholarship to Catholic school soon finds Cathleen drawn into all the mystery and romanticism of a life devoted to the worship and servitude of God. With the dawn of the Vatican II era, radical changes in the Church are threatening the course of nuns’ lives. Cathleen finds herself struggling with issues of faith, sexuality, and the changing administration. As she progresses from the postulant to the novitiate stage of training, she finds her faith repeatedly confronted and challenged by the harsh, often inhumane realities of being a servant of God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kKexutLfE0
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Watch Trailer + Poster for Kevin Phillips’ SUPER DARK TIMES

The Orchard has released the trailer and poster for Super Dark Times, described as a harrowing but meticulously observed look at teenage lives in the era prior to the Columbine High School massacre. The film marks the feature debut of gifted director Kevin Phillips, whose critically acclaimed 2015 short film “Too Cool For School” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Super Dark Times, starring Owen Campbell, Charlie Tahan, Elizabeth Cappuccino, Max Talisman, Sawyer Barth, Amy Hargreaves, will be released in NY, LA and additional markets on September 29th, and on digital and on-demand on October 3rd. Zach (Owen Phillips) and Josh (Charlie Tahan) are best friends growing up in a leafy Upstate New York suburb in the 1990s, where teenage life revolves around hanging out, looking for kicks, navigating first love and vying for popularity. When a traumatic incident drives a wedge between the previously inseparable pair, their youthful innocence abruptly vanishes. Each young man processes the tragedy in his own way, until circumstances grow increasingly complex and spiral into violence. Phillips dives headlong into the confusion of teenage life, creating evocative atmosphere out of the murky boundaries between adolescence and adulthood, courage and fear, and good and evil.
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Award Winning Indie Film YEAR BY THE SEA, Starring Karen Allen Sets Release Date | Trailer

[caption id="attachment_15583" align="aligncenter" width="975"] Year By The Sea (USA) – Alexander Janko, Director[/caption] The award-winning independent film Year By The Sea is based on the New York Times and international best-selling memoir by Joan Anderson and stars highly acclaimed screen and stage actress Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Animal House). Written, directed and composed by Alexander Janko, the film will open at Lincoln Plaza in New York on September 8 and at Laemmle Royal, Town Center and Playhouse 7 in Los Angeles on September 15. A national release will follow. After a season of high-powered female super heroes, Year By The Sea settles the pace with a crowd-pleasing journey of self-discovery and friendship featuring three women of the baby-boomer generation. Winner of 16 festival awards – from Audience Choice to Best Feature/Actress/Music and Screenplay – Year By The Sea chronicles empty-nester Joan Anderson’s (Karen Allen) decision not to follow her relocated husband to Kansas. Instead, she retreats to Cape Cod to rediscover herself and redefine her life. Plagued with guilt, she questions her decision until stumbling upon a spirited mentor, Joan Erikson (Celia Imrie) – author and wife of famed psychologist Erik Erikson, who coined the term “identity crisis.” With a support group that includes her literary agent and a host of locals, Joan learns to embrace the ebb and flow of life – ultimately discovering the balance between self and sacrifice, obligation and desire. It was Joan Anderson’s honesty and courage to embrace change that attracted filmmaker Alexander Janko (composer, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) to her work nearly nine years ago—and a labor of love that propelled his journey to bring it to the big screen as writer, director and composer. Karen Allen (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), and S. Epatha Merkerson (Chicago Med) headline this Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning cast alongside Yannick Bisson (Murdock Mysteries) and Michael Cristofer (Mr. Robot). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAlD3YxZCGw
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