The virtual 28th edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) will open with Desmond Ovbiagele’s The Milkmaid, Nigeria’s entry for the 2021 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Depicting the impact of extremism on the families of those it touches, the drama follows a Fulani milkmaid as she confronts the religious insurgents who kidnapped her sister.
The French Institute Alliance Française’s 2021 Animation First Festival taking place online from Friday, February 5 to Monday, February 15 will open with the US premiere of Calamity Jane (Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary) from director Rémi Chayé, who will be a festival Special Guest.
The lineup for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, taking place on a Sundance-built and feature-rich online platform, goes well beyond feature and short films, episodic work and the VR/XR of New Frontier — it also encompasses a curated program of free special events, conversations and activations available to the global public. These Talks and Events, presented on the Sundance platform, include the new Opening Ceremony, Sundance Dailies, and The Big Conversation series, trademark gatherings at Cinema Café and the Power of Story, Awards Night and the concluding “It’s A Wrap” session. Additional partner programming will take place in a bustling digital Festival Village, which includes Main Street, Satellite Screens and the Artist Lounge.
Vertical Entertainment released the trailer for the indie thriller “Burn It All” written and directed by Brandy Hall. The film starring Elizabeth Cotter, Emily Gateley, Ryan Postell, Elena Flory-Barnes, and Greg Michaels will open in theaters and VOD from February 19th, 2021.
YouTube Originals’ documentary, “Life In A Day 2020,” will debut February 6 and be available for audiences worldwide for free on the film’s YouTube channel following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on February 1.
The People vs Agent Orange, a documentary film by Kate Taverna and Alan Adelson – winner of the Jury Award at the 2020 Eugene Environmental Film Festival, will have a virtual release at the New Plaza Cinema in New York, at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles and in other cities on March 5, 2021.
The World Premiere of YouTube Originals docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil directed by Michael D. Ratner will kick off the 2021 Online South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals taking place entirely online March 16-20, 2021.
Quiver released the new trailer for Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut Falling, also starring Viggo Mortensen, along with Lance Henriksen, Sverrir Gudnason, Laura Linney, opening in theaters, on digital and on demand on February 5th, 2021.
ESPN will debut the documentary, “Al Davis vs. The NFL,” the next installment in the Peabody and Emmy award-winning 30 for 30 series on February 4. Directed by Ken Rodgers (“The Two Bills,” “Elway to Marino”), the documentary presents an intimate look inside one of the great rivalries in the history of the National Football League – former Raiders owner Al Davis and former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, whose battle grew so intense that players, owners, franchises – even the League itself – became characters in a three-decade long Shakespearean feud that changed football forever.
The 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF45) will go hybrid with both in-theatre and online screenings and audience-engagement events.
Three American Masters Pictures documentaries – Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, Ailey and Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir – will world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 28 – February 3. These films will have their exclusive U.S. broadcast premieres on American Masters on PBS at a later date. Additionally, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio: This is the Way We Rise, now streaming as part of American Masters and Firelight Media’s documentary short film series In the Making, will screen in Sundance’s Short Film program.
Julian Kim and Peter S. Lee’s acclaimed drama Happy Cleaners will open in theaters in February to coincide with the Korean New Year.