The 27th annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival will be held virtually this spring, March 6 – 13, presenting a selection of documentary and feature films from around the world. While all films depict a piece of the Jewish experience, the themes are universal and are meant to appeal to all, regardless of faith. In addition to 13 compelling films, the Festival offers discussions with filmmakers and others associated with the films.
The American Diplomat explores the lives and legacies of three African-American ambassadors — Edward R. Dudley, Terence Todman and Carl Rowan — who pushed past historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. At the height of the civil rights movement in the United States, they were asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Colloquially referred to as “pale, male, and Yale,” the U.S. State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service’s elitist character and was one of the last federal agencies to desegregate.
Get the first look at Sirens, directed by LA-based filmmaker Rita Baghdadi, set to World Premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Executive produced by Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph (Animal Pictures), among others, Sirens follows the Middle East’s first all-female metal band as they wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars. The film will be shown as part of the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Apple TV+ announced a new four-part documentary series “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” a fresh exploration of President Lincoln and the complex journey to end slavery. Narrated by Jeffrey Wright and featuring the voices of Bill Camp as Abraham Lincoln and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Frederick Douglass, the series is a 21st century examination of a complicated man and the people and events that shaped his evolving stance on slavery. All four parts of “Lincoln’s Dilemma” will premiere globally on Friday, February 18 on Apple TV+.
Berlin International Film Festival 2022 revealed films in the two competition program Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus featuring 24 feature-length films and 28 short films. The focus of the overall Generation selection is on young people: how they perceive the world, how they appropriate it or how they oppose it.
The first international trailer debuted via Variety for Speak No Evil, the Danish horror film which is set to world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Christian Tafdrup, the film stars Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg, and Marius Damslev.
Here is the official trailer for Ghosts of the Ozarks, the horror film starring Thomas Hobson, Phil Morris, Tara Perry, Tim Blake Nelson, Angela Bettis and David Arquette that premiered at the 2021 Austin Film Festival.
Ahead of the World Premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Searchlight Picture acquired the thriller Fresh, directed by Mimi Cave and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) and Sebastian Stan (Captain America franchise, I, Tonya)
Following up on the big announcement to continue as an in-person festival, Berlin International Film Festival 2022 revealed films in the Berlinale Shorts, Forum, Forum Expanded, Perspektive and Deutsches Kino programs.
The new official trailer debuted for Moon Manor, the death comedy film starring James Carrozo, Debra Wilson, Richard Riehle, Lou Taylor Pucci, Reshma Gajjar, Galen Howard, Ricki Lake, Heather Morris, Gayle Rankin, and Whitmer Thomas. Directed by Erin Granat and Machete Bang Bang, the film debuts theatrically and On Demand on March 11th, 2022.
The Roku Channel released the official trailer for The Fix, featuring Samuel L. Jackson narrating the fascinating documentary series on drugs in America.
Shot and abandoned in 1984, martial arts legend John Liu’s NYC-set ninja epic New York Ninja has been meticulously completed by film preservationists – and is headed to theaters, opening first in Los Angeles on January 17, 2022, followed by other cities.