Oscilloscope Laboratories released the trailer for Saint Frances, winner of the SXSW 2019 Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature. The film which also won the SXSW 2019 Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice is directed by Alex Thompson and stars Kelly O’Sullivan, Ramona Edith Williams, Jim True-Frost, Francis Guinan, Lily Mojekwu, Mary Beth Fisher, along with Charin Alvarez.
Dark Star Pictures released a new trailer for the indie film Goalie, based on the true story of professional hockey player Terry Sawchuk.
Actor/Producer Cate Blanchett will be the president of the International Jury of the Competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival taking place September 2 to 12, 2020, which will assign the Golden Lion for Best Film, as well as other official awards.
HBO has confirmed their slate of captivating documentaries for the first half of 2020, including ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS (working title), a documentary series reexamining the missing and murdered children of Atlanta in the late-’70s and early-’80s in collaboration with Show of Force, Roc Nation and Get Lifted Film Co.; WELCOME TO CHECHNYA, directed by David France, chronicling a group of brave activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya; NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND, intimately exploring Natalie Wood’s life, career and tragic death through the unique perspective of her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner and others who knew her best; and McMILLION$, from executive producer Mark Wahlberg and directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, a six-part documentary series chronicling the stranger-than-fiction story of the mysterious McDonald’s Monopoly game promotion scam and the mastermind who developed the complex scheme, stealing millions of dollars and building a vast network of co-conspirators across the U.S.
HBO is in production on the first project in its multi-film deal with best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow. Farrow will collaborate with Academy Award nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady of Loki Films to investigate threats, intimidation and violence directed at journalists working to expose corruption and abuse by governments, corporations and other powerful interests. The film will follow subjects in the United States and internationally.
Showtime Documentary Films announced upcoming titles from its 2020 slate from preeminent documentarians, including LOVE FRAUD from Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, THE TRADE from Matthew Heineman, THE LONGEST WAR from Greg Barker, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, KINGDOM OF SILENCE from Alex Gibney, Rick Rowley and Lawrence Wright, and THE KINGMAKER from Lauren Greenfield.
The 2020 Athena Film Festival (AFF) will open on Thursday, February 27, with the New York premiere of “I Am Woman.” The film, directed by Unjoo Moon and written by Emma Jensen, stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey as singer-songwriter Helen Reddy, whose song “I Am Woman” became the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s.
The Oscar® qualifying New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF), now in its 23rd year, runs February 21 through March 15, 2020, will present a slate of new animated, live action, and documentary features, alongside 10 short film collections, for audiences of all ages, with a dedicated focus for those aged 3-18. Tickets go on sale January 15 for Members and January 22 for the general public.
Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, starring Pete Davidson will open the 2020 South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals. In total, SXSW selected 102 features and episodics for the 27th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, running March 13 to 22, 2020 in Austin, Texas.
The 28th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) will open with the film “HERO: Inspired by the Extraordinary Revolutionary Life and Times of Diplomat and Judge Ulric Cross,” directed by Caribbean filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon.
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji and Gay Chorus Deep South (USA), directed by David Charles Rodrigues are the winners of the Audience Awards at the 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).
Fernanda Valadez’s striking debut feature Identifying Features (Sin señas particulares), is set to have its world premiere in the World Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival taking place January 23 – February 2 in Park City, Utah.