Apple released the official trailer for Swan Song, starring two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Golden Globe winner Awkwafina and Adam Beach. Written and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Benjamin Cleary, the film will world premiere at the 2021 AFI Fest, followed by the release in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ on December 17th 2021.
Netflix released the new official trailer for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film won Campion the award for Best Director at this year’s 2021 Venice Film Festival.
The 13th edition of the Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival will take place November 19-21, 2021, in Los Angeles. The festival will open with the North American Premiere of Aly Muritiba’s Private Desert (Deserto Particular). The film was selected as the official submission to represent Brazil for Best International Feature at the Oscars® and had its World Premiere in Venice where it won the People’s Choice Award. The Opening Night screening will take place at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival handed out the awards for the 2021 season, with We Are Conjola snagging the Feature Awards Supreme Feature Award, Castro Spies won the Best International Feature Award and Inferno Without Borders took the Audience Choice Award.
A Choice of Words: Inspired by Gordon Parks explores the enduring legacy of photographer, writer, composer, activist and filmmaker, Gordon Parks, and spotlights his visionary work and its impact on the next generation of artists. The film debuts Monday, November 15 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), commemorating Gordon Parks birthday (November 30) and will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.
Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s moving autobiographical tale of life as a young boy in Belfast in 1969 in the midst of the Troubles, lead the nominations for the 2021 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 11 nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Caitríona Balfe, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench, Best Supporting Actor for Ciarán Hinds and a Breakthrough Performance nomination for newcomer Jude Hill.
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) announced the first confirmed titles for its 51st edition which takes place in Rotterdam from January 26 to February 6, 2022. The festival is planned as a physical event that celebrates the reunion of audiences, filmmakers, industry and press with a full festival program. As IFFR veterans including Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tan Chui Mui return, there are world premieres for feature debuts by Alberto De Michele and David Easteal.
Netflix released the official trailer for 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible set to world premiere at the upcoming 2021 DOC NYC film festival. In the documentary, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja in 2019, sets out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. Following the premiere, the documentary, directed by Torquil Jones, will then debut on Netflix starting November 29th, 2021.
The documentary The Hunt for Planet B, directed by Academy Award nominee Nathaniel Kahn follows scientists as they build and plan for the December launch of NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, a massive machine that will be able to peer more than 13 billion light-years into deep space, towards the very first stars and galaxies in the universe. It will also yield new data into the search for possible signs of life on “exoplanets,” planets outside of our solar system.
Whistler Film Festival (WFF) announced the full film lineup of 81 epic, bold and inspiring films, for its 21st edition with a hybrid offering of online and in-theatre screenings. 20 of 40 features and 25 of 41 shorts directed or co-directed by women or non-binary individuals.
Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the recording of the landmark Cuban album “Buena Vista Social Club,” Cuban-American director Hugo Perez is set to premiere his latest feature documentary Omara on the life of Afro-Cuban singer and cultural icon Omara Portuondo in the Sonic Cinema section at the 12th edition of DOC NYC, taking place in-person and online from November 11-18, 2021. Notably, Perez will also have a second title in its world premiere at this year’s festival, the documentary Once Upon a Time in Uganda, co-directed with Cathryne Czubek.
The Calgary Underground Film Festival revealed the first look at the CUFF.Docs 2021 film lineup, as CUFF gets ready to celebrate its first in-person festival in two years. The 9th CUFF.Docs will take place from November 24-28 at Globe Cinema and Online.