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CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS Lead 7th AACTA International Awards Nominations

[caption id="attachment_26086" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] LADY BIRD[/caption] CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI lead the way with five nominations each for the 7th AACTA International Awards from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . Best Film nominations follow American Film Institute Movie of the Year acknowledgements for all five nominees: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, DUNKIRK, LADY BIRD, THE SHAPE OF WATER and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. Winners of the 7th AACTA International Awards will be announced in Los Angeles on Friday January 5, 2018.
7th AACTA International Awards NOMINEES

AACTA International Award for Best Film
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME DUNKIRK LADY BIRD THE SHAPE OF WATER THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
AACTA International Award for Best Direction
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – Luca Guadagnino DUNKIRK – Christopher Nolan I, TONYA – Craig Gillespie LADY BIRD – Greta Gerwig THE SHAPE OF WATER – Guillermo del Toro
AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – James Ivory DUNKIRK – Christopher Nolan GET OUT – Jordan Peele LADY BIRD – Greta Gerwig THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Martin McDonagh
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress
Judi Dench – VICTORIA & ABDUL Sally Hawkins – THE SHAPE OF WATER Frances McDormand – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Margot Robbie – I, TONYA Saoirse Ronan – LADY BIRD
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor
Timothée Chalamet – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Daniel Day-Lewis – PHANTOM THREAD Hugh Jackman – LOGAN Daniel Kaluuya – GET OUT Gary Oldman – DARKEST HOUR
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
Mary J. Blige – MUDBOUND Abbie Cornish – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Allison Janney – I, TONYA Nicole Kidman – THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Laurie Metcalf – LADY BIRD
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe – THE FLORIDA PROJECT Armie Hammer – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Tom Hardy – DUNKIRK Ben Mendelsohn – DARKEST HOUR Sam Rockwell – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
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THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Leads 38th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards Nominations

[caption id="attachment_23572" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri[/caption] Martin McDonagh’s drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri lead the nominations for the 38th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards with seven nominations, including Film, Director, Screenwriter, Actress for Frances McDormand, and Supporting Actor for both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. In addition, as a British production the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year. Following close behind with six nominations each are William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Four films earned five nominations each: Luca Guagadino’s Call Me By Your Name, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Paul King’s Paddington 2, and Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country. The 10 films contending for Film of the Year are Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk, The Florida Project, Get Out, God’s Own Country, Lady Bird, Loveless, Phantom Thread, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Sunday, January 28th at The May Fair Hotel, at which Kate Winslet will receive the critics’ highest honor, The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film. Full List of Nominations: FILM OF THE YEAR Call Me By Your Name Dunkirk The Florida Project Get Out God’s Own Country Lady Bird Loveless Phantom Thread The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR Aquarius Elle The Handmaiden Loveless Raw DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR 78/52 Human Flow I Am Not Your Negro Jane The Work BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: The Attenborough Award Dunkirk God’s Own Country Lady Macbeth Paddington 2 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR Sean Baker – The Florida Project Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird James Ivory – Call Me By Your Name Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Jordan Peele – Get Out ACTRESS OF THE YEAR Annette Bening – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water Isabelle Huppert – Elle Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Florence Pugh – Lady Macbeth ACTOR OF THE YEAR Timothée Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread James Franco – The Disaster Artist Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR Lily Gladstone – Certain Women Holly Hunter – The Big Sick Allison Janney – I, Tonya Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project Hugh Grant – Paddington 2 Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Michael Stuhlbarg – Call Me By Your Name BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR Emily Beecham – Daphne Judi Dench – Victoria & Abdul/Murder on the Orient Express Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water/Maudie/Paddington 2 Florence Pugh – Lady Macbeth Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird/Loving Vincent BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread Colin Farrell – The Killing of a Sacred Deer/The Beguiled Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out Josh O’Connor – God’s Own Country Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour/The Space Between Us YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR Harris Dickinson – Beach Rats Tom Holland – The Lost City of Z/Spider-Man: Homecoming Noah Jupe – Suburbicon/Wonder/The Man With the Iron Heart Dafne Keen – Logan Fionn Whitehead – Dunkirk BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: The Philip French Award Alice Birch – Lady Macbeth Simon Farnaby – Paddington 2/Mindhorn Francis Lee – God’s Own Country Rungano Nyoni – I Am Not a Witch William Oldroyd – Lady Macbeth BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR The Cloud of Unknowing – Mike Hannon The Dog and the Elephant – Mike Sharpe Tuesday – Charlotte Wells We Love Moses – Dionne Edwards Your Mother and I – Anna Maguire TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Baby Driver – Darrin Prescott, stunts Blade Runner 2049 – Dennis Gassner, production design Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer, music God’s Own Country – Joshua James Richards, cinematography Lady Macbeth – Holly Waddington, costumes The Lost City of Z – Darius Khondji, cinematography The Love Witch – Emma Willis, hair & makeup Paddington 2 – Pablo Grillo, visual effects Phantom Thread – Mark Bridges, costumes Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Ben Morris, visual effects EXCELLENCE IN FILM: The Dilys Powell Award Kate Winslet
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7 Films Advance in Race for Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar at 90th Academy Awards

[caption id="attachment_25682" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Allison Janney in I, TonyaI, Tonya[/caption] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films that remain in competition in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 90th Academy Awards. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The films are listed below in alphabetical order: “Bright” “Darkest Hour” “Ghost in the Shell” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” “I, Tonya” “Victoria & Abdul” “Wonder”
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341 Feature Films Officially in Contention for Best Picture Oscar at 90th Academy Awards

Three hundred forty-one feature films are eligible for the 2017 Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. To be eligible for 90th Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days. Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format. Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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LADY BIRD Wins Big With Indiana Film Journalists Association, Named Best Film of 2017

[caption id="attachment_24371" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Lady Bird[/caption] “Lady Bird” scored with the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) awards, taking the top prize of best picture as well as best director and best original screenplay for Greta Gerwig, best Actress for Saoirse Ronan and Best Supporting Actress for Laurie Metcalf. Its five wins are the most for any film in IFJA awards history. “Faces Places” won the best foreign language film prize; and “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” won best documentary film. The Original Vision Award, which goes to a film that is especially original or innovative, went to “Loving Vincent.” The Breakout of the Year went to Timothée Chalamet for his work in “Call Me by Your Name” and “Lady Bird.” The Hoosier Award, which recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with roots in Indiana, or a film that depicts Hoosier State locales and stories, went to “Columbus,” the debut feature film of director Kogonada, which was set and shot in the southern Indiana city noted for its Modernist architecture. IFJA members issued this statement for the Hoosier Award: “Writer and director Kogonada made the architectural haven of Columbus, Indiana, an integral part of his debut film. As a meditation on time, responsibility and the influence of art on everyday life, ‘Columbus’ shows the introspective side of Hoosiers that is often left out in stereotypical portrayals.”
2017 Indiana Film Journalists Association Awards

Best Film
Winner: “Lady Bird” Runner-up: “The Shape of Water” Other Finalists (listed alphabetically): “Blade Runner 2049” “Brigsby Bear” “Dunkirk” “The Florida Project” “Get Out” “The Post” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Best Animated Feature
Winner: “Coco” Runner-Up: “Loving Vincent”
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “Faces Places” Runner-Up: “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”
Best Documentary
Winner: “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” Runner-Up: “Liyana”
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, “Logan” Runner-up: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, “Blade Runner 2049”
Best Director
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Best Actress
Winner: Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Sally Hawkins, “Maudie”
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Best Actor
Winner: Harry Dean Stanton, “Lucky” Runner-up: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project” Runner-up: Doug Jones, “The Shape of Water”
Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Andy Serkis, “War for the Planet of the Apes” Runner-up: Sean Gunn & Bradley Cooper, “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2”
Best Ensemble Acting
Winner: “The Florida Project” Runner-up: “The Post”
Best Musical Score
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water” Runner-up: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, “Blade Runner 2049”
Breakout of the Year
Winner: Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name” and “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Kogonada, “Columbus”
Original Vision Award
Winner: “Loving Vincent” Runner-up: “Brigsby Bear
The Hoosier Award
Winner: “Columbus” (As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
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141 Scores in Contention for Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards

[caption id="attachment_23776" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] BATTLE OF THE SEXES[/caption] 141 scores from eligible feature-length films released in 2017 have qualified to be nominated in the Original Score category for the 90th Academy Awards. To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title: “Alien: Covenant,” Jed Kurzel, composer “All I See Is You,” Marc Streitenfeld, composer “All the Money in the World,” Daniel Pemberton, composer “Annabelle: Creation,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer “Band Aid,” Lucius, composer “Battle of the Sexes,” Nicholas Britell, composer “Baywatch,” Christopher Lennertz, composer “Beauty and the Beast,” Alan Menken, composer “The Big Sick,” Michael Andrews, composer “Blade Runner 2049,” Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer, composers “The Book of Henry,” Michael Giacchino, composer “Born in China,” Barnaby Taylor, composer “The Boss Baby,” Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, composers “Boston,” Jeff Beal, composer “Brad’s Status,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer “Brawl in Cell Block 99,” Jeff Herriott and S. Craig Zahler, composers “The Breadwinner,” Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers “Breathe,” Nitin Sawhney, composer “Brigsby Bear,” David Wingo, composer “Brimstone & Glory,” Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, composers “Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie,” Theodore Shapiro, composer “Cars 3,” Randy Newman, composer “The Circle,” Danny Elfman, composer “Coco,” Michael Giacchino, composer “Cries from Syria,” Martin Tillman, composer “A Cure for Wellness,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer “Darkest Hour,” Dario Marianelli, composer “Despicable Me 3,” Heitor Pereira, composer “The Disaster Artist,” Dave Porter, composer “A Dog’s Purpose,” Rachel Portman, composer “Downsizing,” Rolfe Kent, composer “Drawing Home,” Ben Holiday, composer “Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer, composer “Earth: One Amazing Day,” Alex Heffes, composer “A Fantastic Woman,” Matthew Herbert, composer “The Fate of the Furious,” Brian Tyler, composer “Father Figures,” Rob Simonsen, composer “Ferdinand,” John Powell, composer “Fifty Shades Darker,” Danny Elfman, composer “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” J. Ralph, composer “First They Killed My Father,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers “Get Out,” Michael Abels, composer “A Ghost Story,” Daniel Hart, composer “Gifted,” Rob Simonsen, composer “The Glass Castle,” Joel P. West, composer “Going in Style,” Rob Simonsen, composer “Good Time,” Daniel Lopatin, composer “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” Carter Burwell, composer “Gook,” Roger Suen, composer “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Tyler Bates, composer “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer “Hostiles,” Max Richter, composer “Human Flow,” Karsten Fundal, composer “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” Jeff Beal, composer “It,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer “Jane,” Philip Glass, composer “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Henry Jackman, composer “Justice League,” Danny Elfman, composer “Kepler’s Dream,” Patrick Neil Doyle, composer “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,” Daniel Pemberton, composer “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson, composers “Kong: Skull Island,” Henry Jackman, composer “LA 92,” Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, composers “LBJ,” Marc Shaiman, composer “Lady Bird,” Jon Brion, composer “Lake of Fire,” Qutub-E-Kripa, composer “Last Flag Flying,” Graham Reynolds, composer “The Lego Batman Movie,” Lorne Balfe, composer “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer “The Leisure Seeker,” Carlo Virzì, composer “Let It Fall,” Mark Isham, composer “Life,” Jon Ekstrand, composer “Logan,” Marco Beltrami, composer “The Lost City of Z,” Christopher Spelman, composer “Loveless,” Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine, composers “Loving Vincent,” Clint Mansell, composer “The Man Who Invented Christmas,” Mychael Danna, composer “Mark Felt – The Man Who Brought Down the White House,” Daniel Pemberton, composer “Marshall,” Marcus Miller, composer “Mary and the Witch’s Flower,” Takatsugu Muramatsu, composer “Maudie,” Michael Timmins, composer “Molly’s Game,” Daniel Pemberton, composer “Moomins and the Winter Wonderland,” Łukasz Targosz, composer “The Mountain between Us,” Ramin Djawadi, composer “Mudbound,” Tamar-kali, composer “The Mummy,” Brian Tyler, composer “Murder on the Orient Express,” Patrick Doyle, composer “My Cousin Rachel,” Rael Jones, composer “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer,” Jun Miyake, composer “Okja,” Jaeil Jung, composer “Oklahoma City,” David Cieri, composer “The Only Living Boy in New York,” Rob Simonsen, composer “Only the Brave,” Joseph Trapanese, composer “Our Souls at Night,” Elliot Goldenthal, composer “Paris Can Wait,” Laura Karpman, composer “Patti Cake$,” Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick, composers “Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood, composer “The Pirates of Somalia,” Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, composers “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” Geoff Zanelli, composer “The Post,” John Williams, composer “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” Tom Howe, composer “The Promise,” Gabriel Yared, composer “Pulimurugan,” Gopi Sundar, composer “Raw,” Jim Williams, composer “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” James Newton Howard, composer “Saban’s Power Rangers,” Brian Tyler, composer “Same Kind of Different as Me,” John Paesano, composer “The Second Coming of Christ,” Navid Hejazi, Ramin Kousha and Silvia Leonetti, composers “Served Like a Girl,” Michael A. Levine, composer “The Shack,” Aaron Zigman, composer “The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat, composer “Slipaway,” Tao Liu, composer “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” Christopher Lennertz, composer “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Michael Giacchino, composer “Split,” West Dylan Thordson, composer “The Star,” John Paesano, composer “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams, composer “Step,” Laura Karpman and Raphael Saadiq, composers “Stronger,” Michael Brook, composer “Suburbicon,” Alexandre Desplat, composer “Swing Away,” Tao Zervas, composer “Thank You for Your Service,” Thomas Newman, composer “Their Finest,” Rachel Portman, composer “Thelma,” Ola Fløttum, composer “Thor: Ragnarok,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell, composer “Tickling Giants,” Paul Tyan, composer “Tommy’s Honour,” Christian Henson, composer “Trafficked,” David Das, composer “Transformers: The Last Knight,” Steve Jablonsky, composer “XXX: Return of Xander Cage,” Brian Tyler and Robert Lydecker, composers “Victoria & Abdul,” Thomas Newman, composer “Voice from the Stone,” Michael Wandmacher, composer “Wakefield,” Aaron Zigman, composer “War for the Planet of the Apes,” Michael Giacchino, composer “Wilson,” Jon Brion, composer “Wind River,” Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, composers “Wonder,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer “Wonder Woman,” Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer “Wonderstruck,” Carter Burwell, composer “Year by the Sea,” Alexander Janko, composer
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70 Original Songs Qualify to Compete in 90th Academy Awards

[caption id="attachment_19920" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Patti Cake$[/caption] 70 songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2017 qualify for nomination in the Original Song category for the 90th Academy Awards. To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title and song title: “U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t” “Love And Lies” from “Band Aid” “If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes” “Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast” “How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast” “Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never” “She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” “Your Hand I Will Never Let It Go” from “The Book of Henry” “Buddy’s Business” from “Brawl in Cell Block 99” “The Crown Sleeps” from “The Breadwinner” “World Gone Mad” from “Bright” “Mystery Of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name” “Visions Of Gideon” from “Call Me by Your Name” “Captain Underpants Theme Song” from “Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie” “Ride” from “Cars 3” “Run That Race” from “Cars 3” “Tell Me How Long” from “Chasing Coral” “Broken Wings” from “City of Ghosts” “Remember Me” from “Coco” “Prayers For This World” from “Cries from Syria” “There’s Something Special” from “Despicable Me 3” “It Ain’t Fair” from “Detroit” “A Little Change In The Weather” from “Downsizing” “Stars In My Eyes (Theme From Drawing Home)” from “Drawing Home” “All In My Head” from “Elizabeth Blue” “Dying For Ya” from “Elizabeth Blue” “Green” from “Elizabeth Blue” “Can’t Hold Out On Love” from “Father Figures” “Home” from “Ferdinand” “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” from “Fifty Shades Darker” “You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way” from “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” “This Is How You Walk On” from “Gifted” “Summer Storm” from “The Glass Castle” “The Pure And The Damned” from “Good Time” “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” “The Hero” from “The Hero” “How Shall A Sparrow Fly” from “Hostiles” “Just Getting Started” from “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” “Truth To Power” from “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” “Next Stop, The Stars” from “Kepler’s Dream” “The Devil & The Huntsman” from “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” “Have You Ever Wondered” from “Lake of Fire” “I’ll Be Gone” from “Lake of Fire” “We’ll Party All Night” from “Lake of Fire” “Friends Are Family” from “The Lego Batman Movie” “Found My Place” from “The Lego Ninjago Movie” “Stand Up For Something” from “Marshall” “Rain” from “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” “Myron/Byron” from “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” “Longing For Summer” from “Moomins and the Winter Wonderland” “Mighty River” from “Mudbound” “Never Forget” from “Murder on the Orient Express” “Hold The Light” from “Only the Brave” “PBNJ” from “Patti Cake$” “Tuff Love (Finale)” from “Patti Cake$” “Lost Souls” from “The Pirates of Somalia” “How A Heart Unbreaks” from “Pitch Perfect 3” “The Promise” from “The Promise” “Kaadanayum Kaalchilambe” from “Pulimurugan” “Maanathe Maarikurumbe” from “Pulimurugan” “Stubborn Angel” from “Same Kind of Different as Me” “Dancing Through The Wreckage” from “Served Like a Girl” “Keep Your Eyes On Me” from “The Shack” “On The Music Goes” from “Slipaway” “The Star” from “The Star” “Jump” from “Step” “Tickling Giants” from “Tickling Giants” “Fly Away” from “Trafficked” “Speak To Me” from “Voice from the Stone” “Walk On Faith” from “Year by the Sea”
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15 Indie Films Projects Win 2017 Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Grants

Rooftop Films awarded fifteen cash and service grants to alumni filmmakers, including The Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Garbó NYC Feature Film Grants, which were awarded to directors Eliza Hittman for her new film, A, and Penny Lane for her upcoming Untitled Religious Activism Documentary. The Rooftop Films Brigade Festival Publicity Grant will be awarded to Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher for their Untitled Devil Project. Other grantees include awards supporting the feature film debuts of Michael Tyburski and Elizabeth Lo, and the upcoming films by Theo Anthony and Joanna Arnow, whose Bad at Dancing was also supported by the Filmmakers Fund and won a Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlinale. The Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund was created to help support up-and-coming independent filmmakers that have shown their work previously at Rooftop Films events, and over the past twenty years the fund has helped some of the most innovative filmmakers in the world to get their movies made. Previous grantees include Benh Zeitlin (for Beasts of the Southern Wild and Glory at Sea), David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child), Kitty Green (Casting JonBenet), Joshua Z Weinstein (Menashe), Trey Edward Shults (Krisha), Anna Rose Holmer (The Fits), Ana Lily Amirpour (The Bad Batch), 2017 Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Narrative Feature, Rachel Israel (Keep the Change), Jeremy Saulnier’s FIPRESCI Critics’ award-winner, Blue Ruin, and Jonas Carpignano’s Gotham Awards-winner Mediterranea. Past Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund grantees have consistently gone on to great success, and 2018 promises to be no different with six grantees selected for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: Robert Greene’s Bisbee ’17, Christina Choe’s Nancy, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men, Marc Johnson’s Ultraviolet, Alexa Lim Haas’ Aqua Viva, and Niki Lindroth Von Bahr’s award-winning animated short The Burden. “We’ve had the privilege of supporting a wide range of truly wonderful films over the years,” said Rooftop’s Artistic Director Dan Nuxoll, “but we are particularly happy with the spectacular variety of filmmaking talent in this year’s grantees. Twelve of our fifteen grantees are women and/or people of color, and the films they are working on cover the gamut of human (and animal) experience, from drag queens entertaining the bible belt, to stray dogs wandering the Turkish countryside, and vampires stalking their ex-husbands. It’s an exciting and talented group of artists, and each of their films will be unlike anything you have seen before.” Eliza Hittman is known for her depictions of class, sexuality, and adolescence, as well as her collaborations with non-actors. Her previous films include 2013’s It Felt Like Love, and 2017’s Beach Rats, for which she received a Directing Award at the 2017 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. Hittman’s latest project will take her to Western Pennsylvania to tell the story of a teenager struggling to find access to abortion care. Filmmaker Penny Lane’s documentary work mines absurd, stranger-than-fiction stories for nuanced analyses of history and accepted truths. This is clear in her past works Our Nixon and Nuts! and continues in her latest, most ambitious and surprising project yet, which will investigate one of the most controversial and entertaining religious movements in modern American history.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2017 ROOFTOP FILMMAKERS’ FUND GRANTS:
Rooftop Films / Garbó NYC $15,000 Feature Film Grant: Eliza Hittman, A When faced with an unwanted pregnancy, Autumn, a vulnerable teenager in rural Pennsylvania hops a greyhound bus to NYC on a transformative journey to reclaim her stolen youth.
Rooftop Films / Garbó NYC $15,000 Feature Film Grant:
Penny Lane, Untitled Religious Activism Documentary A wildly entertaining and surprising look at the intersection of faith and activism, that follows one of the most controversial religious movements in modern American history.
Rooftop Films / Brigade Festival Publicity Grant ($15,000 value):
Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, Untitled Devil Project A seriocomic look at evangelical and LGBT Christians in the American South that examines the complexities of faith through staged performance.
Rooftop Films / Nice Shoes Color Correction Feature Film Grant ($60,000 value):
Theo Anthony, All Light, Everywhere A feature documentary exploring past, present, and future relationships between technology, vision, and power. From arcane theories of sight to the emergence of virtual reality and police body camera programs, the film takes a kaleidoscopic investigation into how the reality of what we see is constructed through the tools that we use to see.
Rooftop Films / Eastern Effects Equipment Grant ($20,000 value):
Michael Tyburski, Palimpsest Peter, a self-taught scientist in New York City, has a unique, highly specialized profession of his own invention called house tuning. Working as a therapist, of sorts, he calibrates the sounds in peoples’ homes in order to adjust their moods. After years of collecting data, Peter believes he’s discovered naturally occurring harmonies around the city that are influencing the way people behave. Presented through a layered narrative, Palimpsest is a dramatic feature film that examines the subtle forces at play in our urban lives.
Rooftop Films / Technological Cinevideo Services Camera Grant ($20,000 value):
Elizabeth Lo, Stray Stray enters the lives of stray dogs in Turkey as the nation faces a profound state of flux. Ancient Greek philosophers thought stray dogs – marginalized and dispossessed – were the most honest observers of humanity. Stray brings this idea into the contemporary world.
Rooftop Films / Edgeworx Post-Production Grant ($15,000 value):
Joanna Arnow, Fucking Imaginary Friends Joanna is a filmmaker obsessed with her unavailable nudist collaborator, Max. Her growing feelings soon take the form of two imaginary Max doubles who become her partners on an absurd and sexually twisted adventure.
Rooftop Films / Adrienne Shelly Foundation Short Film Grant For Women:
Nikyatu Jusu, Suicide by Sunlight Valentina, a day-walking Black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, finds it difficult to suppress her bloodlust when a new woman is introduced to her estranged twin daughters.
Rooftop Films / DCTV Equipment and Services Short Film Grant:
Kelly Adams, Atlantic Sunrise A community’s struggle against the dark side of natural gas. Nathan Miller, Refuge At a schoolhouse-turned-sanctuary in upstate New York, the tired, poor, and huddled masses wait for their moment to settle in Canada. They wait for asylum that the U.S. cannot provide. This is a story of waiting – the emotional processing by those who have fled the horrors of their home country.
Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Short Film Grant:
Sarah Beeby, Bloom Leonora is a curious human on a mission to understand sexual desire. With the help of friends, lovers, and random acquaintances, Leonora learns what some of the most important questions are, and who should be asking. Marc Johnson, Ultraviolet A woman named Kanchana and several scorpions explore collaborative survival approaches in a posthuman future in which all living being are considered equal. Ultraviolet invites us to an encounter with other forms of life and experiences involving themes of inter-species sociability, the Anthropocene, the Capitalocene and speculative Fabulations. Inspired by a Chinese poem of the 3rd century BC – written by Zhuangzi – “The Butterfly’s Dream”, Ultraviolet conveys an allegorical narrative in which the parable and the fable unfold in a futuristic and enchanted world. Adele Han Li, Black Hair Human hair is sourced from poor women throughout Asia and purchased mostly by black women in the US and Africa in a billion-dollar global industry. This business of hair underscores the ways in which our history from colonization to globalization creates an intimate yet anonymous link between women oceans apart.
The Kayla Thomas Filmmaker Grant:
Ryan Gillis and Miguel Jiron, Fowl When the bars close in the Louisiana bayou, a girl stumbles home to find her kitchen overrun by a coven of satanic chickens. Obsessed with becoming human, the coven tries to force the girl into an unholy body-swapping ritual. She doesn’t respond well to being told what to do. Tess Martin, Orbit Orbit is a 5 minute short film about the relationship between humanity and the sun. Phonotropes (rotating discs which are filmed to bring the animation to life) reveal intimate scenes of our star’s effect on our lives. They let us ponder the life-giving energy that flows through our planet, and make us realize that we are but a blip in the grand scheme of time. Image: Pictured above: 2017 Rooftop Films/Brigade Festival Publicity Grantee Untitled Devil Project By Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher
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10 Films Remain in Visual Effects Oscar Race at 90th Academy Awards

[caption id="attachment_25167" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.The Shape of Water[/caption] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected the 10 films that remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 90th Academy Awards. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT. The films are listed below in alphabetical order: “Alien: Covenant” “Blade Runner 2049” “Dunkirk” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” “Kong: Skull Island” “Okja” “The Shape of Water” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” “War for the Planet of the Apes”
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Aaron Sorkin and Patty Jenkins to Receive Variety’s Creative Impact Award

Variety will present writer Aaron Sorkin with the Creative Impact in Screenwriting Award and director Patty Jenkins with the Creative Impact in Directing Award at the 2018 Palm Springs Film Festival on January 3, 2018. The award will celebrate Sorkin’s prolific screenwriting career, which includes an Academy Award^® for “The Social Network” and multiple Emmy Awards for “The West Wing”, as well as his directorial debut with the upcoming film, “Molly’s Game” from STX films and The Mark Gordon Company, opening Dec. 25. Aaron has received a Golden Globe nomination as well as a Critics Choice nomination for the screenplay of the film. “It’s no exaggeration to say that Aaron Sorkin has dramatically changed the art of modern film and TV writing,” said Steven Gaydos, VP and Executive Editor, Variety. “With intelligence, passion and wit in equal portions, his propulsive expressiveness has redefined the limits of character and dialogue, and his newest film, “Molly’s Game,” is a thrilling example of the maestro at the top of his game.” “Molly’s Game” star Jessica Chastain will be presenting Sorkin the award at the brunch. Chastain will receive the Chairman’s Award at the PSIFF Film Awards Gala the evening before. Jenkins will be the first female director to ever receive the honor, and the award will celebrate her career, from her award-winning first feature, “Monster,” to her most recent work directing Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Wonder Woman.” Among that film’s many accolades, it was recently named one of AFI’s Best Films of The Year, and Jenkins and the film’s star, Gal Gadot, will receive the National Board of Review Spotlight Award. “Patty Jenkins has directed one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the year with “Wonder Woman,” said Variety Co-Editor in Chief, Claudia Eller. “The film grossed $820 million worldwide and has inspired women-and men-old and young, to feel as empowered as the superhero at its center. Patty also scored a big one for female directors, which are in short supply in Hollywood.” “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot will be presenting Patty the award at the brunch. Gadot will receive the Rising Star Award at the PSIFF Film Awards Gala the evening before. Previous recipients of this award have included Jeff Nichols, Charlie Kaufmann, David O. Russell, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
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Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” Pulled from Sundance Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_26009" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken![/caption] Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” has being pulled from the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, just days after he published his online confession where he admitted to past sexual misconduct. The Washington Post is reporting that the other partners – Jeremy Chilnick and Matthew Galkin in his production company Warrior Poets, said Friday in a statement that “this is not the appropriate time” for the film to premiere. In his online confessional, titled “I am Part of the Problem” Spurlock wrote, that “When I was in college, a girl who I hooked up with on a one night stand accused me of rape.”

I am Part of the Problem
Read: https://t.co/MfRAtm3fcv — Morgan Spurlock (@MorganSpurlock) December 14, 2017
I am Part of the Problem As I sit around watching hero after hero, man after man, fall at the realization of their past indiscretions, I don’t sit by and wonder “who will be next?” I wonder, “when will they come for me?” You see, I’ve come to understand after months of these revelations, that I am not some innocent bystander, I am also a part of the problem. I’m sure I’m not alone in this thought, but I can’t blindly act as though I didn’t somehow play a part in this, and if I’m going truly represent myself as someone who has built a career on finding the truth, then it’s time for me to be truthful as well. I am part of the problem. Over my life, there have been many instances that parallel what we see everyday in the news. When I was in college, a girl who I hooked up with on a one night stand accused me of rape. Not outright. There were no charges or investigations, but she wrote about the instance in a short story writing class and called me by name. A female friend who was in the class told be about it afterwards. I was floored. “That’s not what happened!” I told her. This wasn’t how I remembered it at all. In my mind, we’d been drinking all night and went back to my room. We began fooling around, she pushed me off, then we laid in the bed and talked and laughed some more, and then began fooling around again. We took off our clothes. She said she didn’t want to have sex, so we laid together, and talked, and kissed, and laughed, and then we started having sex. “Light Bright,” she said. “What?” “Light bright. That kids toy, that’s all I can see and think about,” she said … and then she started to cry. I didn’t know what to do. We stopped having sex and I rolled beside her. I tried to comfort her. To make her feel better. I thought I was doing ok, I believed she was feeling better. She believed she was raped. That’s why I’m part of the problem. Then there was the time I settled a sexual harassment allegation at my office. This was around 8 years ago, and it wasn’t a gropy feely harassment. It was verbal, and it was just as bad. I would call my female assistant “hot pants” or “sex pants” when I was yelling to her from the other side of the office. Something I thought was funny at the time, but then realized I had completely demeaned and belittled her to a place of non-existence. So, when she decided to quit, she came to me and said if I didn’t pay her a settlement, she would tell everyone. Being who I was, it was the last thing I wanted, so of course, I paid. I paid for peace of mind. I paid for her silence and cooperation. Most of all, I paid so I could remain who I was. I am part of the problem. And then there’s the infidelity. I have been unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I have ever had. Over the years, I would look each of them in the eye and proclaim my love and then have sex with other people behind their backs. I hurt them. And I hate it. But it didn’t make me stop. The worst part is, I’m someone who consistently hurts those closest to me. From my wife, to my friends, to my family, to my partners & co-workers. I have helped create a world of disrespect through my own actions. And I am part of the problem. But why? What caused me to act this way? Is it all ego? Or was it the sexual abuse I suffered as a boy and as a young man in my teens? Abuse that I only ever told to my first wife, for fear of being seen as weak or less than a man? Is it because my father left my mother when I was child? Or that she believed he never respected her, so that disrespect carried over into their son? Or is it because I’ve consistently been drinking since the age of 13? I haven’t been sober for more than a week in 30 years, something our society doesn’t shun or condemn but which only served to fill the emotional hole inside me and the daily depression I coped with. Depression we can’t talk about, because its wrong and makes you less of a person. And the sexual daliances? Were they meaningful? Or did they only serve to try to make a weak man feel stronger. I don’t know. None of these things matter when you chip away at someone and consistently make them feel like less of a person. I am part of the problem. We all are. But I am also part of the solution. By recognizing and openly admitting what I’ve done to further this terrible situation, I hope to empower the change within myself. We should all find the courage to admit we’re at fault. More than anything, I’m hopeful that I can start to rebuild the trust and the respect of those I love most. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I will work everyday to earn it back. I will do better. I will be better. I believe we all can. The only individual I have control over is me. So starting today, I’m going to be more honest with you and myself. I’m going to lay it all out in the open. Maybe that will be a start. Who knows. But I do know I’ve talked enough in my life … I’m finally ready to listen Spurlock stepped down from the company after the publication of the online confessional. Warrior Poets released a statement confirming his departure to Deadline, signed by Chilnick and Matthew Galkin, who is listed as a partner of the company along with Spurlock. On behalf of Warrior Poets, we as partners have always supported our company and its endeavors. As of today, Morgan Spurlock will be stepping down effective immediately. We will continue to lead the company as equal partners, producing, distributing & creating from our independent production company. Respectfully, Co-Founder & Partner Jeremy Chilnick and Partner Matthew Galkin YouTube Red also announced that the streaming company will no longer release his film Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! which was snagged for a reported $3.5 million after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. A spokesman for YouTube said: “We feel for all of the women impacted by the recent statements made by Morgan Spurlock. In light of this situation, we have decided not to distribute Super Size Me 2 on YouTube Red.”
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16 Indie Screenwriters Selected for Sundance Institute’s 2018 Screenwriters Lab

Sixteen up-and-coming screenwriters have been selected to attend Sundance Institute’s 2018 Screenwriters Lab, an immersive five-day writers’ workshop taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah, January 12-17, 2018. The Lab brings independent screenwriters together with accomplished writers, in an environment that encourages the art and craft of writing and creative risk-taking. Through one-on-one story sessions with Creative Advisors, Fellows work intensively on their feature film scripts and engage in an artistically rigorous process that offers them indispensable lessons in craft. The Lab is the first step in a year-round continuum of customized creative and tactical support for each project and team. The team of Creative Advisors includes Artistic Director Scott Frank, Andrea Berloff, D.V. DeVincentis, Naomi Foner, Richard LaGravenese, Kasi Lemmons, Jenny Lumet, Ole Christian Madsen, Walter Mosley, Jessie Nelson, Nicole Perlman, Howard Rodman, Michael Showalter, Zach Sklar, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler and Tyger Williams. Twelve films supported by the Feature Film Program will premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In U.S. Dramatic Competition, those films include American Animals, written and directed by Bart Layton; Blindspotting, co-written by Rafael Casal & Daveed Diggs and directed by Carlos López Estrada; I Think We’re Alone Now, written by Mike Makowsky and directed by Reed Morano; Monsters and Men, written and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green; Nancy, written and directed by Christina Choe; and Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley. In World Cinema Dramatic Competition, those films include Butterflies, written and directed by Tolga Karaҫelik, and Un Traductor, written by Lindsay Gossling and co-directed by Rodrigo and Sebastián Barriuso. Other FFP-supported films include Night Comes On, co-written by Angelica Nwandu and Jordana Spiro and directed by Jordana Spiro; Skate Kitchen, co-written by Crystal Moselle and Aslihan Unaldi and directed by Crystal Moselle; and We the Animals, co-written by Daniel Kitrosser and Jeremiah Zagar and directed by Jeremiah Zagar, all of which will premiere in NEXT. Additionally, What They Had, written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, will screen in the Premieres section of the Festival. The projects and fellows selected for the 2018 January Screenwriters Lab are: Afrika (Bulgaria) / Maya Vitkova (writer/director): Afrika weaves together the stories of a family over the course of one year, a fantastical journey of love and loss, across three generations. Maya Vitkova is a director, screenwriter, and producer, whose debut film, Viktoria, was the first Bulgarian feature in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The film played at more than 70 international festivals, including Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, Busan, AFI Fest and BFI London, and received praise from the Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Vogue Magazine and other publications. The New Yorker listed it at number 4 of the best films of 2016, and named Maya Vitkova one of the five best directors in the world. Vitkova was chosen as a European Film Promotion’s “Producer on the Move” in Cannes and is an EAVE 2017 graduate. Broadway (Greece) / Christos Massalas (writer/director): A band of young street performers and pickpockets find an unlikely home in an abandoned mall in Athens. The balance of their makeshift family is threatened when a former member of their group returns after being released from prison. Born in Greece, Christos Massalas is a graduate of the London Film School. His short films have received awards from around the world and have screened at international film festivals including Cannes, Locarno, AFI Fest, Guanajuato, BFI, and Nouveau Cinéma, among others. His latest short film Copa-Loca is nominated for the European Film Academy Award. Broadway will be his feature directorial debut. Doha (U.S.A. / Morocco) / Eimi Imanishi (writer/director): Disheartened by her deportation from Europe, Mariam is forced to return home to Western Sahara. Adrift in the very place that’s supposed to be her home, she searches for the means to assert agency over her own life. Eimi Imanishi is a Japanese American filmmaker. She earned her BFA at the Slade School of Art, University College London where she majored in sculpture. She has directed two award-winning short films, Battalion to My Beat and One Up, that have played at numerous festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival and Clermont Ferrand. The Huntress (U.S.A. / Mexico) / Suzanne Andrews Correa (writer/director): In Juarez, Mexico, where violence against women goes unnoticed and unpunished, an unlikely heroine emerges to seek justice. This project is the recipient of the Feature Film Program Latina Fellowship. Suzanne Andrews Correa is a Mexican American director and screenwriter based in New York City. A recent MFA graduate of the Film Program at Columbia University, she has worked in the industry for almost a decade as a member of IATSE. Her latest short, La Casa de Beatriz, premiered at the 2017 Morelia International Film Festival and received awards from the Princess Grace Foundation and Directors Guild of America. The Huntress will be her feature directorial debut. Josephine (U.S.A.) / Beth de Araújo (writer/director): After accidentally witnessing a rape in Golden Gate Park, eight-year-old Josephine is plunged into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. Surrounded by adults helpless to assuage her and unable to understand her, she acts out with increasing violence, searching for any way to regain control of her own safety. This project is the recipient of the Asian American Fellowship. Beth de Araújo is a Los Angeles-based writer and director recently featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. In 2017, her feature screenplay Josephine participated in IFP No Borders and was a recipient of the SFFILM Rainin Filmmaking Grant. Araújo has directed two episodes of television for Lifetime Movie Network and is currently in post on two short films, one of which she shot through the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Josephine will mark her feature directorial debut. Katie Wright (U.S.A.) / C. Wrenn Ball (writer): Just as the Wright Brothers are about to capitalize on the invention of their airplane, Orville is badly injured in a public crash, and sister Katie unexpectedly emerges to lead their business. Fighting resistance from businessmen, society, and even her own brothers, she strives to keep the family together and claim her place as part of their legacy. Based on the forgotten true story. This project is the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. Hailing from North Carolina, C. Wrenn Ball exchanged life in the Southeast for work as an assistant on network television. He directed web series pilots in Los Angeles before completing an MFA at USC’s John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television. Obsessed by the twang and rhythm of life, Ball is constantly merging his Southern sensibilities with feature and television writing. Let’s Not Get Crazy (U.S.A.) / Joey Ally (co-writer/director) and Catie Ally (co-writer): It’s the night before Christmas, and two estranged sisters are about to do something crazy to help their mom get sane. Joey Ally is a writer, director, and actor who first realized she wanted to make films while volunteering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Her short film Partners screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and can be seen on Vimeo Premieres. Her most recent film, Joy Joy Nails, was made for American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and can be viewed as part of The New Yorker’s “The Screening Room.” She is a fellow of the Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program: Through Her Lens, the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group’s Directors Intensive, and the Fox Filmmakers Lab. Catie Ally graduated from the New School with honors in Creative Writing and Film Theory. She is between hometowns and careers right now as she makes the move from copywriter in Brooklyn to screenwriter in Seattle. When she’s not packing her entire life into the back of her car, she enjoys small dogs and Chopped reruns. Ally’s lifelong passion for movies is largely thanks to a mother who indulged her love of film from a young age (and took her to see Boogie Nights when she was eight years old.) Nobody Nothing Nowhere (U.S.A.) / Rachel Wolther (co-writer/co-director) and Alex H. Fischer (co-writer/co-director): Just like everyone she knows, Ruth is a “non-person” in a solipsistic universe built around the only being to truly exist, a congenial Midwestern bachelor named Dave. Tired of serving someone else’s story, she unexpectedly upends the narrative when she has the audacity to demand a life of her own. Rachel Wolther is a director and producer whose work has screened at the Berlinale, BFI, Rotterdam, and New York Film Festivals, among others. Since 2015, she has directed episodes of GE Podcast Theater’s science fiction series The Message, which was the #1 podcast on iTunes and won numerous awards. Wolther was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Film in 2017, along with her directing partner, Alex Fischer. Alex H. Fischer is a writer and director with a body of work including music videos, experimental shorts, ads, and funny videos. His longest movie yet, Snowy Bing Bongs Across the North Star Combat Zone (co-directed with Rachel Wolther) premiered at BAM Cinemafest this year. Silhouette (U.S.A.) / Amman Abbasi (writer/director): Pakistani immigrant Raju is chasing his dreams of success, trying to work his way up the ladder of an unsavory pyramid scheme and pursuing MMA matches for which he is woefully underprepared. But when someone who strikingly resembles him commits a local terrorist act, Raju becomes increasingly isolated and identifies with the perpetrator in progressively unsettling ways. Amman Abbasi is a Pakistani American writer/director, editor and composer from Little Rock, Arkansas. His first feature film, Dayveon, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and screened at the 2017 Berlinale. For Dayveon, Abbasi has been nominated for the Someone To Watch Award and the John Cassavetes Award at the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards. The Sugar Hill Express (U.S.A.) / Christopher Grant (writer/director): Found to be an unfit parent because of her mentally ill husband, a desperate mother steals her children from New York City’s Child Protective Services and goes on a raucous journey to evade the cops and finally find a safe home for her family. Based on a lot of people’s true stories. Christopher Grant is an African American filmmaker based in New York City. His short film work has won numerous festival awards including screenings in the Showtime Black Filmmaker’s Showcase, the Clark Atlanta Festival, and the Mill Valley Film Festival. After a prolific career as a television producer, Grant has most recently worked as a Creative Director at two of the Discovery Networks: Destination America and The American Heroes Channel. Additionally, he’s received multiple New York Foundation of the Arts Grants for improvisational theater and film production. Thomas in 10 Dimensions (Norway) / Jakob Rørvik (writer/director): Quantum physicist Thomas believes he is about to crack the code of the universe, but he can’t seem to untangle the mysteries of his own life, even as the people he loves most—his young son, ex-wife, and mother—all try to bring him back to earth. Norwegian writer/director Jakob Rørvik received his MA from the National Film & Television School in the UK. His award-winning shorts have screened at numerous festivals including Cannes, Cinéfondation, South By Southwest and Aspen Shortsfest. His latest short, Nothing Ever Really Ends, was recently selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere. He is currently in development on both a television series and Thomas in 10 Dimensions, which will be his feature directorial debut. Wolf in White Van (U.S.A.) / Andrew Bruntel (director), Ben Collins (co-writer), and Luke Piotrowski (co-writer): Isolated by a disfiguring injury since the age of 17, Sean Phillips is the sole creator of the The Trace Italian, a turn based, fantasy role-playing game run entirely through the mail. When tragedy strikes two of his young players, Sean is forced to re-examine his self-inflicted departure from the world in which most people live. Based on the novel by John Darnielle. Andrew Bruntel was born and raised in a rural town on the edge of Pennsylvania’s rust belt. After studying experimental filmmaking and design in Baltimore, he moved to Los Angeles to work for Mike Mills at The Directors Bureau. He has since become a director and writer, creating award winning short films, commercials and music videos for artists such as Will Oldham, St. Vincent, No Age, and Liars. Ben Collins was born in Alabama and spent the first 24 years of his life in the south. Collins and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 2009, where he worked in commercial casting for several years. He co-wrote the film Super Dark Times, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released in 2017. Luke Piotrowski was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago before moving with his family during his sixth grade year to the suburbs of Atlanta, where he stayed until he was able to make a family of his own and move them to the suburbs of Los Angeles, where he currently resides. Along with Ben Collins, he co-wrote the 2017 feature Super Dark Times. Image: Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Director Michelle Satter at the 2015 Screenwriters Lab. (c) 2015 Sundance Institute | Photo by Brandon Cruz.
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