The Bosnian war film Quo vadis, Aida? took the top prize for Best European Film at the 2021 European Film Awards hosted by German actress Annabelle Mandeng. The film also won Best European Director for Jasmila Žbanić and Best European Actress for Jasna Đuričić. The Danish animated documentary Flee directed Jonas Poher Rasmussen was also a big winner, taking the awards for European Documentary and European Animated Feature.
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the 2022 Documentary Motion Picture nominees that will advance to the final round of voting for the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. Last year, producer Craig Foster was honored with the award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture for “My Octopus Teacher,” which documented a year spent by Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest.
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival announced the Short Film program well as the “From the Collection” program, a line-up of 40 short films that will screen online during the Festival to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the nonprofit Sundance Institute. The 2022 short films will all screen in programs or preceding features in-person in Utah, the majority of them will screen online along with the 40th collection, and a small collection will screen in person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the Festival’s second weekend.. The Festival takes place from January 20-30, 2022.
Saban Films released the official trailer for The Requin, the shark attack thriller film starring Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) and James Tupper (Big Little Lies). Directed by Le-Van Kiet (Furie), the film opens in theaters, on demand and digital on January 28, 2022.
MUBI will release Great Freedom (Große Freiheit), the Austrian submission for Best International Feature at 2022 Academy Awards, which received its World Premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival set to take place January 20–30, 2022, announced the films selected in the Feature Film, Indie Episodic, and New Frontier categories. The full slate of works announced includes 82 feature-length films representing 28 countries, and 39 of 92 (42%) feature film directors are first-time feature filmmakers.
The New Yorker Studios will release the animated short film “The Vandal” on Monday, December 13th on The New Yorker’s digital platforms. The film is a stunning technical feat, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky; directed by award-winning filmmaker Eddie Alcazar; starring Bill Duke, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Harry Goaz, Maurice Compte, Thomas Hildreth, and Abbey Lee; and scored by Oscar-nominated filmmaker and composer Kris Bowers. “The Vandal” débuted in July at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and had its North American première at the Telluride Film Festival.
Lady Gaga will receive the Icon Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards for her performance in House of Gucci. The Film Awards will take place in-person on January 6, 2022 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through January 17, 2022.
Netflix released the official trailer for Munich – The Edge of War, the British WWII drama starring George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner and Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons. Set in 1938, a British civil servant and a German diplomat cross paths in Munich and conspire to prevent war in Europe. Directed by Christian Schwochow, Munich – The Edge of War opens in select theaters on December 31, 2021 and on Netflix on January 21, 2022
Slamdance Film Festival announced the full lineup of 28 features, 79 shorts, and 7 episodes for its 28th edition hybrid festival, which returns to its original home in Park City, Utah for its physical festival January 20-23, 2022, bridged with an accessible and robust program of virtual screenings, running January 20-30, 2022.
AFI announced the 2021 honorees – 10 outstanding films and 10 outstanding TV programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image. Belfast and Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) were honored in a category for “Special Awards,” designated for works of excellence that fall outside of the Institute’s criteria of American film and television.
Henry Vallejo’s film Powerful Chief (Manco Cápac) is Peru’s official Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards taking place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.