Actor Chadwick Boseman will receive a posthumous Actor Tribute, and Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Viola Davis will receive an Actress Tribute at the 30th Anniversary of the IFP Gotham Awards ceremony set for Monday, January 11, 2021. The awards show will be presented live from Cipriani Wall Street New York in a hybrid format featuring virtual interactive tables in order to follow health and safety protocols brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the eve of the film’s release, MTV Documentary Films released the trailer for 76 DAYS – the documentary takes look at the struggles of the people of Wuhan, China, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sundance Institute today unveiled plans for the seven-day 2021 Sundance Film Festival, offered digitally via a custom-designed online platform (festival.sundance.org) alongside drive-ins, independent arthouses, and a network of local community partnerships. The online expression of the Sundance Film Festival will provide global access for storytellers and audiences alike to come together, experience artists new work, connect with one another, and participate in conversation. All films in the program will be available online in the United States, with certain films opting for global availability. The full talks and events program, as well as the New Frontier section for XR and emerging media, will be available globally. The Festival runs January 28 through February 3, 2021.
Production has commenced on All My Puny Sorrows, a dramatic feature film written and directed by Michael McGowan (Still Mine, One Week), adapted from the international award-winning and best-selling novel by Canadian author Miriam Toews.
On December 3rd, the RIFF – Rome Independent Film Festival online ends with the traditional Love & Pride Day – Il valore della diversità. For the third year, the whole day will be dedicated to the LGBTQ topic and, among others, the premiere of the out of competition film Asphalt Goddess by Julián Hernández (Mexico), winner of the Teddy Awards at the Berlin Film Festival in 2003 and 2009. Max, after becoming the lead singer of a rock band, returns to her shantytown. Once there, memories await her, but also news and truths that have remained silent for years.
Belarus has selected the WWII drama Persian Lessons (Persischstunden) directed by Vadim Perelman to represent the country in the best international feature film race at the 2021 Oscars.
GuadaLAjara Film Festival in Los Angeles set to run December 17-19, 2020, announced a 100% virtual 2020 program. Celebrating ten years since its premiere in Los Angeles, the festival, formerly known as FICG in LA also revealed its new name – GuadaLAjara Film Festival – as homage to the two cities in which it was founded.
Magnolia Pictures released the trailer for “Two Of Us” directed by Filippo Meneghetti and starring Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier. The film recently selected as France’s Official Submission for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards will open in theaters and on demand February 5th, 2021
Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story, a documentary from HBO Sports and Major League Baseball, debuts Tuesday, December 22 at 9:00 P.M. ET/PT on HBO.
Vision Films will release the poignant and timely film The Illegal in theaters on December 4, followed by VOD and DVD on January 12, 2021. The award-winning film about the struggles of immigration was written, produced, and directed by Danish Renzu.
Slamdance Film Festival announced the full lineup of 25 features along with 107 shorts and episodics for the 27th edition of the festival, a number that equals previous editions of the festival. This includes a new program titled Unstoppable, a showcase for creators with disabilities. Running February 12-25, 2021, this will also be Slamdance’s most accessible festival ever, with all films, Q&A’s and panels available on Slamdance.com, AppleTV, Roku, Firestick, and YouTube. In addition to a vibrant virtual experience, there will be a two-night drive-in presentation in Joshua Tree open to the public on February 13th and 14th as well as the closing night screening at a Los Angeles drive-in on February 25.
Waikiki directed by Christoper Kahunahana won the top prize for Best Feature Film along with a Special Mention (Cinematography) at the 40th Hawai’i International Film Festival. In the film described by the festival as a “cinematic allegory of love and loss,” a hula dancer fights for survival and her sanity in the shadows of Waikiki for an unflinching glimpse into paradise where there remains hope through human connection and re-connection to ʻaina (nature).