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.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Marriage Story, and Parasite are among the films nominated by the Phoenix Critics Circle for the best films of 2019 awards. Members have narrowed the films from 2019 to the top nominees in each category. Voting is underway for the winners and they will be announced on Saturday, December 14th, 2019.
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.
Little Chief, a narrative short film directed by Indigenous filmmaker Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga), will world premiere as part of the Shorts Selection at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. The story stars an Indigenous cast, including Starring Lily Gladstone as Sharon, Julian Ballentyne as Bear and Lily Gladstone (Certain Women, Billions); and was produced through the Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
Watch as a typical night for a group of war veterans at the local VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival in the new trailer for Joe Begos’ VFW. The action/thriller/horror film starring Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Martin Kove, David Patrick Kelly, Sierra McCormick,Tom Williamson, Travis Hammer, Dora Madison with George Wendt and Fred Williamson opens in theaters, on demand and digital on February 14, 2020.
Sundance Film Festival announced the works selected across the Indie Episodic, Shorts and Special Events sections of the 2020 Festival. Of the projects announced, 48% were directed or created by one or more women, 33% were directed or created by one or more filmmaker of color, and 19% by one or more people who identify as LGBTQIA. 7 were supported by Sundance Institute in development, whether through direct granting or Labs.