
Noah Baumbach’s divorce drama Marriage Story leads all films in the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s international section with five nominations including Best Picture.

Noah Baumbach’s divorce drama Marriage Story leads all films in the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s international section with five nominations including Best Picture.

The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) announced the nominees for their top film honors of 2019. Nominees include Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite plus Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

The new trailer debuted this week for VHYes, billed as the retro head-trip comedy from parents/producers Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. Written and directed by Jack Henry Robbin, VHYes opens in theaters nationwide on January 17th.

Gravitas Ventures will release filmmaker Emily Ting’s second directorial feature Go Back to China, which made its world premiere in competition at SXSW Film Festival earlier this year. The film starring veteran Hong Kong actor Richard Ng, Lynn Chen, and Kelly Hu, will make a limited theatrical bow in select cities March 6, 2020 and simultaneous with a wide cross-platform cable/satellite/telco and internet VOD release on the same day.

32 projects from 21 countries at the dynamic crossroads of film, art and technology will be showcased in the New Frontier program for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. This curated collection of cutting-edge independent and experimental media works are by creators who are pushing artistic innovation across mediums that include rocket travel, biotech, facial recognition, mixed reality (MR), smartphone AR, underwater VR, game engines, big data, AI, the human archive, and innovative uses of SMS text & iPhone video capture.
![[From left to right] Haley Bennet as “Hunter,” Austin Stowell as “Richie,” David Rasche as “Michael” and Elizabeth Marvel as Katherine. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.](https://images.vimooz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/13170628/swallow-restaurant-1024x532.jpg)
The indie drama Swallow, written and directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, in his directorial debut will open in select theaters and on demand on March 6th, 2020. Swallow which world premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival stars Haley Bennett, Austin Stowell, Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche and Denis O’Hare.

Showtime will air the television premiere of the documentary Pavarotti from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard on Monday, December 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

HBO Documentary Films has acquired the powerful and eye-opening documentary Welcome to Chechnya, from Academy Award nominated director David France (“How to Survive a Plague,” “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson”). This searing documentary shadows a group of brave activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. With unfettered access and a commitment to protecting anonymity, this documentary exposes these underreported atrocities, while highlighting an extraordinary group of heroic people confronting crushing brutality.

Participant and Magnolia Pictures have acquired North American rights to the documentary JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (TRAPPED, GIDEON’S ARMY). The film chronicles the life and career of the legendary civil rights activist and Democratic Representative from Georgia. Magnolia is planning a Spring 2020 theatrical release.

The Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS) has again nominated five indie films to compete for this year’s 2019 TIFA (Texas Independent Film Award) awarded to an independently financed film shot in Texas.

Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 period piece “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster film “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s intimate portrait of divorce “Marriage Story” lead the nominations for St. Louis Film Critics Association’s 2019 awards.