The queer action romantic comedy Artist Unknown, directed by Cinder Chou, is the winner of the Jury prize at the 2023 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. The film tells the story of an insecure unlucky-in-love martial artist who must find out the origins of a painting after two thieves attempt to steal it from her. Kerry Lacy also won the award for Outstanding Performance in a Narrative Feature for her performance in the film.
Dark Star Pictures will release Bad Girl Boogey, the Australian slasher film directed, produced, and co-written with Ben Pahl Robinson – by then seventeen year old transexual filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay. The film ushers in an inclusive slasher film proudly representing the queer community and loudly announcing an exciting new directorial voice.
Mubi revealed the official trailer for Passages, the French drama described as a “sexy portrait of romantic chaos,” starring Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw as a gay couple in a long term relationship, when one of them begins an affair with a woman, played by Adèle Exarchopoulos.
Netflix revealed the official trailer for Wham!, the documentary charting George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s four year journey from teenage school friends to global superstars with Wham!.
The North American premiere of the Korean genre mashup Killing Romance, directed by Lee Won-suk will kick off the 22nd edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF). The director will be joined at Film at Lincoln Center on opening night by his lead actor, Lee Sun-kyun (Parasite, A Hard Day), who turns in an unforgettable performance as the indescribably overbearing husband of a disgraced supermodel-movie star, fully armed with his history of versatile roles in everything from art-house collaborations with Hong Sang-soo to rom-coms to his SAG Award-winning turn in Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. Director Lee Won-suk has a rich history with NYAFF—his first film, How to Use Guys with Secret Tips, premiered at NYAFF 2013, and Lee won the Audience Award at NYAFF 2015 with his second feature, the big-budget period drama The Royal Tailor.
Cypher, a riveting pseudo-documentary on rapper Tierra Whack by director Chris Moukarbel won the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the 22nd annual Tribeca Festival. Moukarbel brilliantly documents her astronomical rise, going behind the scenes of concerts and music videos as she navigates fame. Jury commented on the win, saying “For its kaleidoscopic use of music, created imagery and found materials, in service of an interrogation of celebrity, conspiracy culture and the nature of narrative reality itself.”
Sony Pictures Classics unveiled the official trailer for Shortcomings, the comedy-drama film developed from the award-winning graphic novel by Adrian Tomine, and starring Justin Min as Ben, a struggling filmmaker, Sherry Cola as his girl friend, along with Ally Maki as Ben’s best friend. Also starring in the film are Debby Ryan, Tavi Gevinson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jacob Batalon and Timothy Simons.
Magnolia Pictures shared the official trailer for Kokomo City, a documentary chronicling the lives of four transgender sex workers. Featured in the film are Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver.
Check out the first clip from The Gullspång Miracle, Maria Fredriksson’s fascinating documentary, that begins as an eerie story of family reunification but transforms into a stranger-than-fiction drama about identity and family secrets.
Welcome to the future, where the entertainment is us.
Oscar-winning Swedish actress Alicia Vikander and Scottish actor, director and producer Ewan McGregor will receive the President’s Award and present their latest films at the 57th Karlovy Vary Festival.
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are Executive Producers of In The Shadow Of Beirut, a powerful new feature documentary on modern-day Lebanon.