Director Joshua Erkman’s feature debut, “A Desert,” will be launched for world sales by Yellow Veil Pictures ahead of its Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
The film stars Kai Lennox, David Yow (“I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”) and Sarah Lind (“A Wounded Fawn”). Cinematographer Jay Keitel shot the film and Ty Segall composed its soundtrack and original score.
“A Desert” marks the first production from Yellow Veil Pictures in partnership with Capes & Fog, a production company founded by Erkman.
The film follows a past-his-prime photographer on a road trip across the American Southwest hoping to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into the nightmare world with him.
“Moving into the production space has always been a...
The film stars Kai Lennox, David Yow (“I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”) and Sarah Lind (“A Wounded Fawn”). Cinematographer Jay Keitel shot the film and Ty Segall composed its soundtrack and original score.
“A Desert” marks the first production from Yellow Veil Pictures in partnership with Capes & Fog, a production company founded by Erkman.
The film follows a past-his-prime photographer on a road trip across the American Southwest hoping to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into the nightmare world with him.
“Moving into the production space has always been a...
- 4/17/2024
- by Selena Kuznikov
- Variety Film + TV
Minari, Sound Of Metal deliver best supporting actor prizes.
Nomadland was named best feature and Chloe Zhao best director while Carey Mulligan and Riz Ahmed took lead acting honours at the virtual 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Thursday night (April 22).
Searchlight Pictures’ Nomadland won four prizes on the night including Joshua James Richards for cinematography, and editing for Zhao, who was one of four women nominated in the directing category and has enjoyed a magnificent awards season.
Amazon Studios’ Sound Of Metal earned three awards for Ahmed, supporting actor Paul Raci, and first feature for Darius Marder.
Focus Features’ Promising...
Nomadland was named best feature and Chloe Zhao best director while Carey Mulligan and Riz Ahmed took lead acting honours at the virtual 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Thursday night (April 22).
Searchlight Pictures’ Nomadland won four prizes on the night including Joshua James Richards for cinematography, and editing for Zhao, who was one of four women nominated in the directing category and has enjoyed a magnificent awards season.
Amazon Studios’ Sound Of Metal earned three awards for Ahmed, supporting actor Paul Raci, and first feature for Darius Marder.
Focus Features’ Promising...
- 4/23/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The 36th Independent Spirit Awards aired Thursday, April 22 on IFC in a virtual ceremony hosted by Melissa Villaseñor (“Saturday Night Live”). (Read our live blog to see how it all went down.) By the end of the evening, “Nomadland” had emerged as the biggest winner with four trophies: Best Picture, Best Director (Chloe Zhao), Best Film Editing (Zhao) and Best Cinematography (Joshua James Richards). With the Oscars just three days away, can we expect “Nomadland” to prevail there as well in all of these crucial categories?
See 2021 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners list in all film and TV categories
The Searchlight film about a woman (Frances McDormand) who travels the country in her van searching for work beat out fellow Spirit nominees “First Cow,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Minari” and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” At the Oscars, “Nomadland” is Gold Derby’s pick to win Best Picture after claiming recent prizes at the Golden Globes,...
See 2021 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners list in all film and TV categories
The Searchlight film about a woman (Frances McDormand) who travels the country in her van searching for work beat out fellow Spirit nominees “First Cow,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Minari” and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” At the Oscars, “Nomadland” is Gold Derby’s pick to win Best Picture after claiming recent prizes at the Golden Globes,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Spirit Awards 2021 Winners List: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘I May Destroy You,’ Riz Ahmed, Carey Mulligan Win Big
“Mank” is the big leader at the 2021 Oscars with 10 nominations, but that wasn’t the case at the 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards. The nomination leader at this ceremony was Eliza Hittman’s acclaimed “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” which the Academy shut out from the Oscars. The same goes for other beloved Spirit Award nominees like “First Cow,” “Miss Juneteenth,” and “The Assistant.” In other words, the Indie Spirit Awards were a breath of fresh air in this elongated awards season where underdog indie contenders finally get their due in the spotlight.
“Minari” also preformed strong at the Indie Spirits, earning six nominations to match its six Oscar nominations. Fellow Oscar nominees “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” each picked up five Spirit Award nominations. Netflix was the most nominated studio with 16 nominations, followed by Focus Features with 10 and A24 with 9.
“Nomadland” was the big winner, taking home the prizes...
“Minari” also preformed strong at the Indie Spirits, earning six nominations to match its six Oscar nominations. Fellow Oscar nominees “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” each picked up five Spirit Award nominations. Netflix was the most nominated studio with 16 nominations, followed by Focus Features with 10 and A24 with 9.
“Nomadland” was the big winner, taking home the prizes...
- 4/23/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The last major awards show before the Oscars has finally arrived, the 36th Independent Spirit Awards. The virtual ceremony aired Thursday, April 22 on IFC at 7 p.m. Pt/10 p.m. Et and was hosted by “Saturday Night Live” star Melissa Villaseñor. The Spirit Awards celebrated the best in indie filmmaking for the 2020 calendar year, and this year they invited TV shows to the party, too. Don’t forget, only American-made fare with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration. Winners were chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who signed up for membership.
Heading into the ceremony, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was the nominations leader with seven overall bids. “Minari” came in right behind it with six noms, followed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” (the Oscar front-runner) with five bids each. On the TV side, both “Little America” and...
Heading into the ceremony, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was the nominations leader with seven overall bids. “Minari” came in right behind it with six noms, followed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Nomadland” (the Oscar front-runner) with five bids each. On the TV side, both “Little America” and...
- 4/23/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
The 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards are finally upon us, after the nominations were announced three months ago, and the ceremony is taking place just a few days ahead of the Academy Awards. This year, the Spirit Awards won’t be held midday in a hangar in Santa Monica, but will instead live-stream on IFC on Thursday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m. Pt/10:00 p.m. Et. In addition to the linear broadcast, the Spirit Awards will also stream simultaneously on AMC+. Following the broadcast, the full awards ceremony will be made available on demand across AMC+ and IFC platforms starting Friday, April 23. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by “Saturday Night Love” comedian Melissa Villaseñor.
If you’re cord cutter who doesn’t have cable, you can watch IFC live with one of these streaming services, many of which offer a free trial: Philo, fuboTV, Sling TV, YouTube TV,...
If you’re cord cutter who doesn’t have cable, you can watch IFC live with one of these streaming services, many of which offer a free trial: Philo, fuboTV, Sling TV, YouTube TV,...
- 4/21/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards are set to take place this week as a welcome reprieve to this elongated Oscar season. Unlike the Academy Awards, where David Fincher’s “Mank” reigns supreme with 10 nominations, the 2021 Indie Spirit Awards are dominated by Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” which was shut out of the Oscar nominations. “Never Rarely” boasts seven Spirit Award nominations this year, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Unlike the Oscars, the Spirit Awards also boast a Best First Feature category to honor the greatest directorial debuts of the last year. The 2021 nominees in this category are “I Carry You With Me,” “The 40 Year Old Version,” “Sound of Metal,” “Miss Juneteenth,” and “Nine Days.” Only “Sound of Metal” broke into the Oscars among these nominees.
As always, the budget cutoff for films to be eligible for the Spirit Awards is $22.5 million. For this reason, several high...
Unlike the Oscars, the Spirit Awards also boast a Best First Feature category to honor the greatest directorial debuts of the last year. The 2021 nominees in this category are “I Carry You With Me,” “The 40 Year Old Version,” “Sound of Metal,” “Miss Juneteenth,” and “Nine Days.” Only “Sound of Metal” broke into the Oscars among these nominees.
As always, the budget cutoff for films to be eligible for the Spirit Awards is $22.5 million. For this reason, several high...
- 4/19/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Minari earns six nods including feature, director, two for supporting actress.
Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations with six nods on Tuesday (January 26) including best film and director, and female lead.
A24’s Minari placed second on six nods including best feature in a field that includes Nomadland, First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always.
Women dominated the directing category as Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), and Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) picked up nods alongside the sole male, Lee Isaac Ching for Minari.
Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations with six nods on Tuesday (January 26) including best film and director, and female lead.
A24’s Minari placed second on six nods including best feature in a field that includes Nomadland, First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always.
Women dominated the directing category as Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), and Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) picked up nods alongside the sole male, Lee Isaac Ching for Minari.
- 1/26/2021
- ScreenDaily
Minari earns six nods including feature, director, two for supporting actress.
Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations with six nods on Tuesday (January 26) including best film and director, and female lead.
A24’s Minari placed second on six nods including best feature in a field that includes Nomadland, First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always.
Women dominated the directing category as Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), and Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) picked up nods alongside the sole male, Lee Isaac Ching for Minari.
Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations with six nods on Tuesday (January 26) including best film and director, and female lead.
A24’s Minari placed second on six nods including best feature in a field that includes Nomadland, First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always.
Women dominated the directing category as Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), and Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) picked up nods alongside the sole male, Lee Isaac Ching for Minari.
- 1/26/2021
- ScreenDaily
The 2021 Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced Tuesday, January 26. So who made the cut at these kudos, which celebrate the best in American independent films? Scroll down to see the full list of nominees for the 2021 Indie Spirits. Remember, only American-made movies with budgets under $20 million were eligible for consideration.
These Spirit contenders were decided by nominating committees that included film critics, film programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, actors, past nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s Board of Directors.
Winners will be chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who sign up for membership starting at $95 per year.
These awards have come to be a significant preview of the Oscars as the motion picture academy embraces more independent films. Five of the last 10 Spirit champs for Best Feature went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
These Spirit contenders were decided by nominating committees that included film critics, film programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, actors, past nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s Board of Directors.
Winners will be chosen by all of Film Independent’s eligible members, including industry insiders and any movie fans who sign up for membership starting at $95 per year.
These awards have come to be a significant preview of the Oscars as the motion picture academy embraces more independent films. Five of the last 10 Spirit champs for Best Feature went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
- 1/26/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The fear of impending death is contagious in Amy Seimetz's new movie She Dies Tomorrow. Although the film explores a grim and timely topic, it's shot with a dreamlike beauty by director of photography Jay Keitel, and we were thrilled to discuss the film's indelible visuals with Keitel in a new Q&a feature.
Congratulations on She Dies Tomorrow, Jay! When did you first find out about this movie, and how long did you have to prepare for filming it?
Jay Keitel: Thank you! The director, Amy Seimetz called me early on and shared with me what she was writing. We talked about her thoughts on what direction the script was taking, the mood she was going for, and some character emotions and transitions. From there I did some personal creative exploration, gathering images and taking photos. And then we made some tests to kind of flesh out some visual ideas.
Congratulations on She Dies Tomorrow, Jay! When did you first find out about this movie, and how long did you have to prepare for filming it?
Jay Keitel: Thank you! The director, Amy Seimetz called me early on and shared with me what she was writing. We talked about her thoughts on what direction the script was taking, the mood she was going for, and some character emotions and transitions. From there I did some personal creative exploration, gathering images and taking photos. And then we made some tests to kind of flesh out some visual ideas.
- 8/14/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Cinematographer Jay Keitel, a CalArts alum, credits his cinematic sensibilities to his time in experimental filmmaking and animation. Such background pushes him to go beyond traditional narrative form. In Amy Seimetz’s sophomore feature “She Dies Tomorrow,” (bowing across virtual cinemas this weekend) about a woman (Kate Lyn Sheil) certain she is living her final hours, he got to dive into abstract visuals and unorthodox lighting choices for powerful sensorial stimulation.
“There’s this foreboding feeling that a lot of people started to feel after the 2016 election,” said Keitel. “Amy wanted to talk about fear, anxiety, and isolation.” He previously collaborated with Seimetz on her directorial debut “Sun Don’t Shine,” the Starz series “The Girlfriend Experience,” and the short film “When We Lived in Miami.”
Multi-color washes illuminate the characters’ faces as they each have a terrifying realization served as one of the most effective artistic decisions, as these evoke great dreadfulness and heighten tension.
“There’s this foreboding feeling that a lot of people started to feel after the 2016 election,” said Keitel. “Amy wanted to talk about fear, anxiety, and isolation.” He previously collaborated with Seimetz on her directorial debut “Sun Don’t Shine,” the Starz series “The Girlfriend Experience,” and the short film “When We Lived in Miami.”
Multi-color washes illuminate the characters’ faces as they each have a terrifying realization served as one of the most effective artistic decisions, as these evoke great dreadfulness and heighten tension.
- 8/7/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety Film + TV
With the evocative title of She Dies Tomorrow, one might think they can predict where Amy Seimetz’s second feature is going, but the writer-director is keen to pull the rug out from under the viewer every step of the way. Her story of a woman (Kate Lyn Sheil) thinking that it’s her last full day left on this mortal coil and the contagious effect she has on people is not full of twists and turns, but it’s in the subtle ways Seimetz is able to upend expectations in the structure and visual approach that will have the viewer themselves entranced and perturbed by the spell that is cast.
Ahead of the film’s digital release this Friday by Neon, following its drive-in debut last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Seimetz about subverting a classical structure, her number one piece of advice for filmmakers, her...
Ahead of the film’s digital release this Friday by Neon, following its drive-in debut last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Seimetz about subverting a classical structure, her number one piece of advice for filmmakers, her...
- 8/6/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There isn’t anything else even close to She Dies Tomorrow out there. That sort of comment is bandied about in independent cinema a lot, especially when something is a little bit unique. This week’s high profile indie in She Dies Tomorrow, however, is the real deal. Not only is the premise wholly singular and unlike anything you’ve seen before, its execution is just as one of a kind. Filmmaker Amy Seimetz has absolutely knocked this one out of the park, crafting a genre-defying flick that will leave you equal parts confused, shaken, and blown away. It’s kind of a must-see, for that alone. The film is a psychological horror/thriller/comedy/drama (for real), with a hell of a central concept. What if you just got the notion that you were about to die? For Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil), that’s just what happens. She wakes...
- 7/29/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Even if you haven’t experienced one, you might be familiar with the sensation of a panic attack or a supposedly irrational fear like claustrophobia, both of which can suffocate their victims with a feeling of impending death. Once triggered, those internal alarms present a lonely state of being — an alternate plane of existence with its own set of survival rules, hard to describe, even harder to reason with. In the lean, lurid and slow-burning psychodrama “She Dies Tomorrow,” filmmaker Amy Seimetz ingeniously expresses the feeling of being stuck in such a fugue, inexplicable to anyone other than those clutched by its claws in a given moment.
Indeed, a type of existential dread akin to that of “Mulholland Drive” and “It Follows” lies at the root of “She Dies Tomorrow,” which was set to premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, before the event became a casualty of the contagion. Seimetz...
Indeed, a type of existential dread akin to that of “Mulholland Drive” and “It Follows” lies at the root of “She Dies Tomorrow,” which was set to premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, before the event became a casualty of the contagion. Seimetz...
- 7/29/2020
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
A haunted house film in which the only ghosts exist within the protagonists' minds, The Sideways Light utilizes audio and visual elements of the horror genre but steers clear of any real frights. Expressing an exuberant amount of directorial patience in the methodical pacing of the film, writer-director Jennifer Harlow approaches this female-centric story as a meticulous exercise in mood and tone. With the help of cinematographer (Jay Keitel), composer (Daniel Hart) and editor (Don Swaynos), Harlow places the audience in the same disorientingly claustrophobic mindset as the protagonists. In practically every frame of this film, sources of light are blown out to the point of distortion, stretching horizontally across the screen and blurring the on screen images, making it unclear what (if anything) might be lurking in the shadows.
- 10/26/2014
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Sun Don’t Shine, Amy Seimetz’s sun-blasted neo-noir opening today in New York at Cinema Village, stars Kate Lyn Sheil and Kentucker Audley as a couple, Crystal and Leo, on the run in steamy, sweaty Florida. Leo loves Crystal, and he’s not going to let the body in the trunk of their car get between them. Shot strikingly with a rough-hewn style by Jay Keitel and anchored by two powerful performances, the film owes as much to Barbara Loden’s seminal Wanda as it does to noir classics like They Live By Night. Sun Don’t Shine is acutely aware of the ways …...
- 4/26/2013
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Orange State: Seimetz ninety minutes.
Between them, they barely own one T-shirt. Crystal and Leo, two people with next to nothing, roam the deserted highways and murky backwaters of central Florida, running away from something, something really bad, toward something else, something they hope is good. Written and directed by actress/producer Amy Seimetz, and starring Kentucker Audley and Kate Lyn Sheil, Sun Don’t Shine seethes with an intensity that burns through its character’s eyeballs, through the Florida heat they’re trapped in, through the love they need but can’t fully understand. Crystal and Leo are so desperate, so deprived, so doomed, it’s not clear they even know what they’re trying to do. Seimetz has made a crime film but one after the act and before the punishment, a romance that only hints at the good times, a nightmare from which its characters are trying to awake.
Between them, they barely own one T-shirt. Crystal and Leo, two people with next to nothing, roam the deserted highways and murky backwaters of central Florida, running away from something, something really bad, toward something else, something they hope is good. Written and directed by actress/producer Amy Seimetz, and starring Kentucker Audley and Kate Lyn Sheil, Sun Don’t Shine seethes with an intensity that burns through its character’s eyeballs, through the Florida heat they’re trapped in, through the love they need but can’t fully understand. Crystal and Leo are so desperate, so deprived, so doomed, it’s not clear they even know what they’re trying to do. Seimetz has made a crime film but one after the act and before the punishment, a romance that only hints at the good times, a nightmare from which its characters are trying to awake.
- 4/23/2013
- by Jesse Klein
- IONCINEMA.com
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