The family food drama Abe starring Noah Schnapp of Stranger Things, arrives on DVD on June 2. Noah Schnapp stars as twelve-year-old Abe, an aspiring chef, who wants his cooking to bring people together–but his half-Israeli, half-Palestinian family has never had a meal that didn’t end in a fight. He soon meets an adventurous street chef who encourages him to think outside his old cuisines.
SXSW unveiled their new collaboration, SXSW 2020 Virtual Cinema on Oculus TV set to globally launch on May 22, 2020. This event will present seven 360 projects that were entered into the SXSW Virtual Cinema Competition, prior to its cancellation by the City of Austin due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these works showcases how virtual reality can take users to places they can’t go and experience stories alongside the storytellers, in a time when so many people are isolated or socially distancing. Participating projects will be available on Oculus TV from May 22-31, 2020.
The 1st Annual Big Bear Film Summit, announced the film lineup for the festival’s debut which will take place virtually on June 12-July 12, 2020. The inaugural edition will present 52 films (12 feature length and 40 short films and music videos). Created to encourage artistic production in and around Big Bear Lake, California, the Big Bear Film Summit made a quick pivot to the virtual space like many film festivals have done since March.
The Academy Award(R) nominated documentary St. Louis Superman, directed by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan will premiere Monday, May 18 at 9PM ET/PT on MTV, VH1 and MTV2 via simulcast.
Magnolia Pictures released the official trailer and poster for the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (Trapped, Gideon’s Army). The film which was originally set to world premiere at this year’s now-canceled Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in theaters (tbd) and on demand on July 3rd.
Actor Jerry Stiller known for playing brash but love-able characters Frank Costanza on Seinfeld and Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens has died. He was 92.
The 58th New York Film Festival (NYFF), set to take place from September 25th through October 11th, will feature changes to the festival’s programming structure and new selection committee and advisory roles.
Monument Releasing dropped the new trailer for Alice, the award winning French drama directed by Josephine Mackerras that won the top prize – Grand Jury Award at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival.
Kino Lorber released Lifeline: Clyfford Still, the critically-acclaimed documentary by Dennis Scholl (The Last Resort) about the influential and groundbreaking artist Clyfford Still. An Official Selection of DOC NYC, Lifeline: Clyfford Still is now available on DVD, and digital/VOD
Vertical Entertainment released the official trailer for the indie drama/thriller Hammer written & directed by Christian Sparkes, and starring Will Patton, Mark O’Brien along with Ben Cott.
Syndicado, an international film and television distribution and sales group, is releasing four acclaimed and award-winning documentaries on VOD in North America starting June 2 on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vimeo. Three out of the four films are directed by female filmmakers, but each film tells stories about extraordinary women from all walks of life and generations, from millennials to Baby Boomers, and from around the globe.
Fernando Botero, one of the world’s most popular living artists, is the subject of the documentary Botero, from documentary filmmaker Don Millar. Beginning May 1 Corinth Film will virtually release Botero, the definitive documentary profile of the artist in conjunction with theaters in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Boulder and more.