Multitalented film, television and music video artist Melina Matsoukas (AFI Class of 2005) will receive the 2019 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal at the AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Denzel Washington in Hollywood on June 6, 2019. This honor recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of AFI Conservatory alumni who embody the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television.
Winner of the award for Best Documentary at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival For Sama documents Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to her daughter Sama. The documentary film takes the form of a letter from Waad al-Kateab to Sama. For Sama directed by Waad al-Kateab along with Edward Watts opens in US theaters on July 26.
Actors Sean Patrick Flanery of The Boondock Saints and Lew Temple from The Walking Dead have joined the cast of the upcoming horror film Spirit Reckoning from Heart Fire Productions and Spirit Reckoning LLC. In this horror-western epic, Sean will play gunfighter Lawson Lovette whose psychotic tendencies and skills with a revolver make him the perfect candidate to aid our hero Sam Conley AKA The Skull Cowboy on his blood-soaked journey of revenge. While Lew Temple will play Ottis Clement who is just as crazed as Lawson, sparking an intense rivalry between the two men. Ottis causes chaos and anarchy in the Wild West alongside his brother Ed and leader of their posse Savage Bill. Spirit Reckoning will begin filming this year in both Colorado and California.
Cambodian director Rithy Panh who debuted his first fiction film, The Rice People, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 returns this year to preside over the Caméra d’Or Jury. Accompanied by a jury of industry professionals, he will award the prize among one of the 22 first works presented by the Official Selection, the Directors’ Fortnight and the Semaine de la Critique.
After featuring many of the world’s best films on archaeology and cultural heritage, the competitive results are now available for 2019 The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival, for which films were screened the at The Shedd Institute in Eugene, Oregon.
Dark Star Pictures will premiere the Spanish Civil War whimsical comedy The Bastards Fig Tree in theaters this May. The theatrical season kicks off with a Los Angeles run on May 10, with the title to expand to other markets in the weeks following.
After her husband dies, an elderly woman embarks on a trip to fulfill her longtime dream of climbing a mountain in Edie, the uplifting feature film directed by Simon Hunter (Lighthouse, Mutant Chronicles), and starring British actress Sheila Hanc (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Carry On Cleo). The film will receive a theatrical release this fall followed by a home entertainment release via Music Box Films.
Under the theme “Beyond Borders: Storytelling Across Time,” this year the citywide 26th edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) launches at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinématek in May, heads to Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) from May 30 through June 4, and closes at Maysles Cinema. The festival lineup includes 68 films of multiple genres from 31 countries across the diaspora, and is presented by FLC and African Film Festival, Inc.
A sensitive fisherman transforms into a prolific human smuggler to pay his debts in Kareem Mortimer’s award-winning drama Cargo, starring Warren Brown (”Strike Back”) and Jimmy Jean Louis (”Heroes”), inspired by true events.
The World Premiere of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s new film The Specials, starring Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb, in Official Selection 2019, will be the Last Screening of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The Specials was submitted at the last minute to the selection committee.
The Cuban horror film Is That You? (¿Eres tu, Papá) directed by Rudy Riverón Sánchez was awarded the top jury prize for Best Film at the 2019 Richmond International Film Festival. Prescience starring Eric Roberts, and the psychological thriller Nesting Dolls tied to win the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.
Plus One, written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, was honored with the Narrative Audience Award and Gay Chorus Deep South, directed by David Charles Rodrigues, was given the Documentary Audience Award at the 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T. The winner of each receive a cash prize of $10,000.