The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved Oscars rules for the 92nd Academy Awards, including changing the Foreign Language Film category name to International Feature Film. The category name change does not change any existing category rules, the submission process, or eligibility requirements; however the shortlist for the International Feature Film award will be expanding to ten films.
Jim Allison: Breakthrough is the story of Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Dr. Jim Allison, and his journey to discover how the immune system can cure cancer. Filmed before his Nobel nomination, the documentary paints a richly entertaining portrait of an unconventional, iconoclastic scientist who for decades waged an often-lonely fight to bring his revolutionary cancer therapy to patients.
The Orphanage (Parwareshgah), the second part of Shahrbanoo Sadat’s pentalogy, has been selected as one of the feature films at the 2019 Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs). Her first feature film, Wolf and Sheep, the first of a total of 5 films planned, screened at the sidebar in 2016 and was awarded with the main prize. The pentalogy is based on an unpublished autobiography by Shahrbanoo’s friend, Anwar Hashimi.
The lineup of feature films and short films was revealed this morning for the 51st Directors’ Fortnight which takes place May 15 to 25, 2019, running alongside the Cannes Film Festival. Directors’ Fortnight 2019 will open with the World Premiere of Deerskin (Le Daim) directed by Quentin Dupieux, and close with the World Premiere of Yves directed by Benoît Forgeard.
DocLands Documentary Film Festival announced the five finalists for DocPitch, a program designed to connect filmmakers, with projects currently in development or post-production, to potential funders, distributors, organizations, philanthropists, fellow filmmakers, and future audiences.
Showtime is producing a four-part documentary series that will chronicle the history of the iconic L.A. club The Comedy Store, directed and executive produced by Mike Binder (Black or White) and executive produced by Oscar(R) nominee and Emmy(R) winner Mike Tollin (THE FRANCHISE). The project is expected to premiere on SHOWTIME in 2020.
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage month, HBO will premiere three short films from the 2019 Asian Pacific American Visionaries, a short film program in its third year featuring the works of emerging Asian American directors.
Netflix released the trailer for the award winning documentary Knock Down the House that follows four women – US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin as they mount grassroots campaigns against powerful incumbents in the the 2018 midterm elections. Knock Down the House will open in select theaters and launch globally on Netflix May 1, 2019.
Barbara Rubin and The Exploding NY Underground a documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Chuck Smith, shines the spotlight on Barbara Rubin, one of the creative women in NYC’s influential avant garde scene in the 1960’s. The film which won the Metropolitan Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC will open theatrically at the IFC Center in NYC on May 24, and at Laemmle Theaters in LA and Roxie in SF on June 14. Other cities will follow.
The Grand Jury and Audience Awards of the 2019 Florida Film Festival were presented at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, with the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature going to Chained for Life directed by Aaron Schimberg, and the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Roll Red Roll directed by Nancy Schwartzman.
Eleven feature films, including eight first and three second films along with fifteen short films, have been selected for the 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week. Litigante, the second film by Colombian director Franco Lolli, will open the 58th edition, which will close with the first part of a trilogy, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun jiang shui nuan), the first film from the young Chinese prodigy filmmaker Gu Xiaogang.
Mark Blanchard’s award winning independent film A World Away will screen at the upcoming Myrtle Beach International Film Festival 2019 on Saturday, April 27, 2019. A World Away is Official Winner of Chicago Independent Film Festival 2019 for Best Film Feature, Best Ensemble Cast, Audience Choice For Best Film.