Exclusive: Wavelength, the production company behind such films as On Swift Horses and Cusp, has revealed the 2023 recipients of its Wave Grant. Amanda Gordon, Karine Benzaria, Leena Kurishingal, Melina Kyomi Coumas and Neha Aziz each will receive $5,000 to create their first short film alongside production mentorship from Wavelength’s executive team. Read a bio for each recipient below.
The Wave Grant, which stands for “Women at the Very Edge,” aims to help a first-time female or non-binary filmmaker of color with the production of their first short documentary or narrative film (under 30 minutes). In addition to the $5,000 grant, Wavelength will provide mentorship in the producing, development and post-production of the filmmaker’s story as well as fundraising and distribution strategy.
“Each year, we are in awe of the outstanding talent that the Wave Grant attracts,” said Jenifer Westphal, Founder, CEO and Executive Producer at Wavelength. “This year’s class of...
The Wave Grant, which stands for “Women at the Very Edge,” aims to help a first-time female or non-binary filmmaker of color with the production of their first short documentary or narrative film (under 30 minutes). In addition to the $5,000 grant, Wavelength will provide mentorship in the producing, development and post-production of the filmmaker’s story as well as fundraising and distribution strategy.
“Each year, we are in awe of the outstanding talent that the Wave Grant attracts,” said Jenifer Westphal, Founder, CEO and Executive Producer at Wavelength. “This year’s class of...
- 3/8/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Mike Prall, Emily Katz to work closely with founder and CEO Jenifer Westphal, president Joe Plummer.
New York-based studio Wavelength, whose credits include Cusp, Athlete A, and The Cave Of Adullam, has hired Mike Prall as head of studios, Emily Katz as head of development.
The executives will be based in New York and arrive at a busy time as the company prepares to open its first international office in London following partnerships with international producers on seven of its 2022 films including Aisha, Radical Dreamer, and The Last Year Of Darkness.
Prall and Katz will work closely with Wavelength founder,...
New York-based studio Wavelength, whose credits include Cusp, Athlete A, and The Cave Of Adullam, has hired Mike Prall as head of studios, Emily Katz as head of development.
The executives will be based in New York and arrive at a busy time as the company prepares to open its first international office in London following partnerships with international producers on seven of its 2022 films including Aisha, Radical Dreamer, and The Last Year Of Darkness.
Prall and Katz will work closely with Wavelength founder,...
- 1/30/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“Dune” has been named the best-shot film of 2021 by the American Society of Cinematographers, which held its annual awards show on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.
Cinematographer Greig Fraser won the award over a field that included fellow Oscar nominees “The Power of the Dog,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Nightmare Alley,” as well as “Belfast.”
In the first 35 years of its existence, the ASC winner has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Cinematography less than half the time, although that percentage has improved recently. “Dune” is considered one of the front runners for this year’s cinematography Oscar, with Fraser seemingly in a close with Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog,” who could be the first woman ever to win in the category.
Other feature-film awards went to Jessica Beshir for “Faya Dayi” in the documentary category and Pat Scola for “Pig” in the spotlight category,...
Cinematographer Greig Fraser won the award over a field that included fellow Oscar nominees “The Power of the Dog,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Nightmare Alley,” as well as “Belfast.”
In the first 35 years of its existence, the ASC winner has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Cinematography less than half the time, although that percentage has improved recently. “Dune” is considered one of the front runners for this year’s cinematography Oscar, with Fraser seemingly in a close with Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog,” who could be the first woman ever to win in the category.
Other feature-film awards went to Jessica Beshir for “Faya Dayi” in the documentary category and Pat Scola for “Pig” in the spotlight category,...
- 3/21/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
“Dune,” “Belfast,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “The Power of the Dog” are among the films nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers in the feature film category.
The ASC nominees for feature film, documentary and television cinematography represent the organization’s picks for the most compelling visual filmmaking. Last year’s ASC feature film winner was “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt who upset “Nomadland” Dp Joshua James Richards, the Oscar favorite. Messerschmidt went on to win the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Cinematographer Ari Wegner was nominated in the theatrical film category for her work on Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog,” becoming the second woman ever nominated by the guild, after Rachel Morrison for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” (2017).
“Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion made history almost 30 years ago when she became the second woman ever to be nominated for best director for “The Piano” (1993) after Lina Wertmüller...
The ASC nominees for feature film, documentary and television cinematography represent the organization’s picks for the most compelling visual filmmaking. Last year’s ASC feature film winner was “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt who upset “Nomadland” Dp Joshua James Richards, the Oscar favorite. Messerschmidt went on to win the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Cinematographer Ari Wegner was nominated in the theatrical film category for her work on Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog,” becoming the second woman ever nominated by the guild, after Rachel Morrison for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” (2017).
“Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion made history almost 30 years ago when she became the second woman ever to be nominated for best director for “The Piano” (1993) after Lina Wertmüller...
- 1/25/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay and Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
It’s hard out there for a teenage girl. Especially for Autumn, Aaloni and Brittney, Bbf’s living in small, tired Texas town, in the award-winning observational documentary “Cusp.” These 15 and 16-year-olds spend the summer hanging out together in their bedrooms watching “Grey’s Anatomy,” going to the local fast-food restaurants, smoking blunts, swimming, drinking, partying. And at one point, one attempts to pierce their friend’s nipple. But these girls have grown-up fast. They have been victims of rape and abuse.
The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday noted that the first-time filmmakers Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill have made a “portrait that feels simultaneously specific and universal-a portrait of the inchoate desires and heedlessness that have always been a part of adolescence, as well as a snapshot of a particular point in time when such impulses feel breathtakingly high.” And dismaying, especially when the filmmakers “train their cameras on the...
The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday noted that the first-time filmmakers Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill have made a “portrait that feels simultaneously specific and universal-a portrait of the inchoate desires and heedlessness that have always been a part of adolescence, as well as a snapshot of a particular point in time when such impulses feel breathtakingly high.” And dismaying, especially when the filmmakers “train their cameras on the...
- 12/13/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Parker Hill and Isabelle Bethencourt, directors of the Showtime documentary Cusp, said their goal was to demonstrate the invisible burdens teenage girls face. They both spoke during Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary about their doc following three Texas teenagers.
“They’re wearing this invisible backpack that’s just weighing them down and it’s on their shoulders,” Hill said. “We really wanted to point to a lot of what’s going on at home but also out of the house socially.”
Bethencourt said she observed her subjects, as young as 15 and 16, learning to say no.
“One of the things we wanted to highlight is the process of growing up and finding your own agency,” Bethencourt said. “I think for a lot of girls, that process to say no or to value your own thoughts and feelings, it is something you have to contend with in youth.”
Hill added that the society around subjects Brittany,...
“They’re wearing this invisible backpack that’s just weighing them down and it’s on their shoulders,” Hill said. “We really wanted to point to a lot of what’s going on at home but also out of the house socially.”
Bethencourt said she observed her subjects, as young as 15 and 16, learning to say no.
“One of the things we wanted to highlight is the process of growing up and finding your own agency,” Bethencourt said. “I think for a lot of girls, that process to say no or to value your own thoughts and feelings, it is something you have to contend with in youth.”
Hill added that the society around subjects Brittany,...
- 11/21/2021
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
“Growing up is I don’t think I saw enough stories about complex female characters,” admits “Cusp” co-director Parker Hill. For our recent webchat, co-director Isabel Bethencourt adds, “We really wanted to show what it looks like to be a girl and how normal it all feels, but then also the darker realities of of what they’re going through.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“Cusp” is a verité documentary for Showtime that follows three teenage friends as then navigate life, family and relationships during a Texan summer. The pair of photographers-turned-directors shot the feature after meeting Brittney, Aaloni, and Autumn on a roadtrip. Hill describes, “We were on a photo road trip, and we met the group of girls at a gas station at three or two in the morning. We got to hanging out and became fast friends. That’s how this story came about. This just happened organically.
“Cusp” is a verité documentary for Showtime that follows three teenage friends as then navigate life, family and relationships during a Texan summer. The pair of photographers-turned-directors shot the feature after meeting Brittney, Aaloni, and Autumn on a roadtrip. Hill describes, “We were on a photo road trip, and we met the group of girls at a gas station at three or two in the morning. We got to hanging out and became fast friends. That’s how this story came about. This just happened organically.
- 11/16/2021
- by Matt Noble
- Gold Derby
In the documentary Cusp, a group of teens share the highs and lows of growing up in modern-day Texas, from social media to sexual assault
In summer 2018, photographers Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt were at the tail-end of a road trip from Montana to Austin when they were diverted to a gas station in a small Texas military town. It was two in the morning, but the truck that pulled up next to them was thrumming with energy — music blasting, a group of barefoot teenage girls spilling out of the cab, charisma free-flowing and uncut.
The groups hit it off, and soon Hill and Bethencourt were careening down a dirt road toward a high school party of about 15. Cameras out, they asked the teens about their lives: what’s it like to be you? What are you dealing with? What do you want to talk about?...
In summer 2018, photographers Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt were at the tail-end of a road trip from Montana to Austin when they were diverted to a gas station in a small Texas military town. It was two in the morning, but the truck that pulled up next to them was thrumming with energy — music blasting, a group of barefoot teenage girls spilling out of the cab, charisma free-flowing and uncut.
The groups hit it off, and soon Hill and Bethencourt were careening down a dirt road toward a high school party of about 15. Cameras out, they asked the teens about their lives: what’s it like to be you? What are you dealing with? What do you want to talk about?...
- 11/11/2021
- by Adrian Horton
- The Guardian - Film News
An official selection at Sundance (where it picked up the 2021 Emerging Filmmaker Special Jury Award) and AFI Docs, Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt’s meditative documentary Cusp is now set for a Showtime debut on Thanksgiving weekend and the first trailer has arrived.
The documentary follows Brittany, Aaloni, and Autumn, who live in a rural Texas Military town. They spend the remainder of their summer aimlessly getting drunk, high, and spending time with boys to pass the time. Through vignettes, the girls begin to open up about their past and present trauma, conveying the interwoven experiences of these individuals on the cusp of adulthood.
In our review, Matt Cipolla praised aspects of the film, “While Cusp benefits from its distant filmmaking for stretches, it sometimes depersonalizes its subjects by mistake. Perhaps there’s some intent there. After all, the directors fixate on nature, neon, and Americana as much as they do suffering,...
The documentary follows Brittany, Aaloni, and Autumn, who live in a rural Texas Military town. They spend the remainder of their summer aimlessly getting drunk, high, and spending time with boys to pass the time. Through vignettes, the girls begin to open up about their past and present trauma, conveying the interwoven experiences of these individuals on the cusp of adulthood.
In our review, Matt Cipolla praised aspects of the film, “While Cusp benefits from its distant filmmaking for stretches, it sometimes depersonalizes its subjects by mistake. Perhaps there’s some intent there. After all, the directors fixate on nature, neon, and Americana as much as they do suffering,...
- 10/15/2021
- by Margaret Rasberry
- The Film Stage
"Girls are scared 'cause they know..." Showtime has revealed an official trailer for the documentary Cusp, marking the feature debut of talented filmmakers Isabel Bethencourt & Parker Hill. This premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to numerous rave reviews, where it also won a Special Jury Prize for Emerging Filmmakers. It also played at AFI Docs, and debuts on Showtime this November. Cusp chronicles one formative year of teenage life for three friends in a Texas town where there's little to do but party—and where liquor, drugs, and guns are found everywhere. "Followed through lazy hangouts, fast-food outings, and bonfire parties, Autumn, Brittney, and Aaloni allow directors Parker Hill & Isabel Bethencourt to observe intimate moments within their homes and social circles. The film's raw vérité approach creates a sensitive, multifaceted portrait of adolescent girlhood and the time and place in which these girls experience it." This doc...
- 10/13/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Updated: Showtime Documentary Films has unveiled the first official trailer for Cusp, a feature debut doc from directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, which will premiere on Showtime on November 26 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt.
Set in a small military town in Texas and filmed in vérité style, Cusp follows three wild-spirited teenager girls as they live out a fever-dream summer, watching as the strictures of adolescence clash with their growing desire for personal agency. The coming-of-age pic captures authentic moments of female friendship, while also addressing what it means to grow up in a culture of toxic masculinity.
The film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, with Hill and Bethencourt winning the Emerging Filmmaker Special Jury Award.
More information on the project can be found below.
Previously, April 14: Showtime Documentary Films has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary Cusp, from first-time feature directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt.
Set in a small military town in Texas and filmed in vérité style, Cusp follows three wild-spirited teenager girls as they live out a fever-dream summer, watching as the strictures of adolescence clash with their growing desire for personal agency. The coming-of-age pic captures authentic moments of female friendship, while also addressing what it means to grow up in a culture of toxic masculinity.
The film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, with Hill and Bethencourt winning the Emerging Filmmaker Special Jury Award.
More information on the project can be found below.
Previously, April 14: Showtime Documentary Films has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary Cusp, from first-time feature directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt.
- 10/12/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The first movies in the lineup for the Montclair Film Festival were unveiled Friday, with the 10th annual New Jersey fest to open with Wes Anderson’s The Last Dispatch on October 21 and close October 30 with Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.
The fest, which will be in-person with attendees vaccinated and masked, also will feature Jeymes Samuel’s Western The Harder They Fall as its Fiction Centerpiece on October 22, and will host New Jersey native Dionne Warwick and director Dave Wooley for a post-screening Q&a after the Non-Fiction Centerpiece film, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over.
This year’s festival will also feature a free outdoor screening of The Mitchells vs. The Machines on October 14 and a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on October 30 at organizer Montclair Film’s new art house venue The Clairidge.
Tickets for Montclair Film members go on sale...
The fest, which will be in-person with attendees vaccinated and masked, also will feature Jeymes Samuel’s Western The Harder They Fall as its Fiction Centerpiece on October 22, and will host New Jersey native Dionne Warwick and director Dave Wooley for a post-screening Q&a after the Non-Fiction Centerpiece film, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over.
This year’s festival will also feature a free outdoor screening of The Mitchells vs. The Machines on October 14 and a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on October 30 at organizer Montclair Film’s new art house venue The Clairidge.
Tickets for Montclair Film members go on sale...
- 9/17/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Company had two projects selected at Sundance this year – Cusp and The Blazing World.
Jenifer Westphal’s Brooklyn-based Wavelength Productions, the producer of Farewell Amor and Sundance winners Cusp and Feels Good Man, has rebranded as Wavelength and established two divisions.
Wavelength Films is the documentary and narrative film production arm of the company, while Wavelength Studios is the commercial division aimed at creating elevated content for brands.
Five-year-old Wavelength will continue to develop, produce and finance “content that reveals out common humanity”.
Founder, CEO and executive producer Westphal said the rebrand and expansion were “the result of the hard...
Jenifer Westphal’s Brooklyn-based Wavelength Productions, the producer of Farewell Amor and Sundance winners Cusp and Feels Good Man, has rebranded as Wavelength and established two divisions.
Wavelength Films is the documentary and narrative film production arm of the company, while Wavelength Studios is the commercial division aimed at creating elevated content for brands.
Five-year-old Wavelength will continue to develop, produce and finance “content that reveals out common humanity”.
Founder, CEO and executive producer Westphal said the rebrand and expansion were “the result of the hard...
- 5/5/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Wavelength Productions, the company founded and led by producer Jenifer Westphal, unveiled a rebrand on Tuesday. The newly named Wavelength will now operate as two divisions: Wavelength Films, the documentary and narrative film production arm, and Wavelength Studios, its nascent commercials division.
The company, which counts as producing credits the documentaries Where’s My Roy Cohn?, Knock Down the House and Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? as well as the Sundance Film Festival-winning pics Cusp, Feels Good Man and Farewell Amor, will continue to focus on developing, producing and financing content with a special focus on early-career filmmakers and marginalized voices.
In addition to the rebrand, Wavelength Films said it has promoted associate producer Taylor Wildenhaus to production manager.
The Wavelength Studios division has been working behind the scenes on the commericals side but is getting its own unit as part of the new structure. It will...
The company, which counts as producing credits the documentaries Where’s My Roy Cohn?, Knock Down the House and Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? as well as the Sundance Film Festival-winning pics Cusp, Feels Good Man and Farewell Amor, will continue to focus on developing, producing and financing content with a special focus on early-career filmmakers and marginalized voices.
In addition to the rebrand, Wavelength Films said it has promoted associate producer Taylor Wildenhaus to production manager.
The Wavelength Studios division has been working behind the scenes on the commericals side but is getting its own unit as part of the new structure. It will...
- 5/4/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The youth party culture, as portrayed in the mass media, tends to be driven by a certain debauched and glamorous energy: the clubbing, the drugs, the “freedom,” the your-life’s-a-soap-opera excitement that turns the rituals of hooking up into a flame that lures everyone. But in “Cusp,” a documentary about three small-town Texas teenagers wiling away the summer, the party imperative may be just as compulsive, but it’s the scaled-down, middle-of-nowhere version, where a party is a bonfire and a bunch of dudes standing around with beer and blunts and a jug of moonshine and whatever girls they can get to show up. It’s a slovenly frat house without walls. So unlike the average party you’d see on a reality show, it actually looks as selfish and dangerous as it is.
“Cusp,” the first feature directed by Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, is a documentary hang-out movie...
“Cusp,” the first feature directed by Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, is a documentary hang-out movie...
- 2/15/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
- 2/5/2021
- by Jean Bentley
- Indiewire
A sun-flared and bong-addled tumble into a teenage Texan summer rife with bombshells and boyfriend problems, “Cusp,” from debut directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt is one of those fractal-style documentaries, in which any given sliver contains all the colors and contours of the whole. The opening is a case in point: Long-haired girls lounge on a swing in the park, scoffing, wriggling, idly shooting the shit – it could be any year from any of the last five or six decades, except for the phones they glance at every now and then.
Continue reading ‘Cusp’: A Beautiful And Bruised Teenage Summer Fling [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Cusp’: A Beautiful And Bruised Teenage Summer Fling [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 2/4/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
It’s never been harder to be a teenager than right now, an age when all the trials and tribulations of growing up follow you no matter where you go thanks to the smart phone that everyone has in their pockets or hands at all times. It’s even worse when there’s nothing to do, which is […]
The post ‘Cusp’ Review: Teen Girls Hit the Highs & Lows of Summer Love and Partying in This Candid Doc [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Cusp’ Review: Teen Girls Hit the Highs & Lows of Summer Love and Partying in This Candid Doc [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
- 2/3/2021
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
Chicago – The 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be long remembered as the “virtual” version due to the pandemic, but there are always the real films, and the festival announced their competition honorees on February 2nd, in a virtual ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt.
After six days, 73 feature films and 50 Short Films, the Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to “Coda” (U.S. Dramatic) … Coda is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and highlights the character of Ruby. “Summer of Soul” (U.S. Documentary) … the “Black Woodstock” of Harlem in the same Summer of 1969. “Flee” (World Cinema Documentary) … a child immigrant grows up to be a respected academic, but still harbors a secret. And “Hive” (World Cinema Dramatic) … a woman has a husband missing in action during the Kosovo war – should she continue to support herself or wait?
The list of all award winners are below.
Grand Jury Prize
Coda
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
U.
After six days, 73 feature films and 50 Short Films, the Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to “Coda” (U.S. Dramatic) … Coda is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and highlights the character of Ruby. “Summer of Soul” (U.S. Documentary) … the “Black Woodstock” of Harlem in the same Summer of 1969. “Flee” (World Cinema Documentary) … a child immigrant grows up to be a respected academic, but still harbors a secret. And “Hive” (World Cinema Dramatic) … a woman has a husband missing in action during the Kosovo war – should she continue to support herself or wait?
The list of all award winners are below.
Grand Jury Prize
Coda
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
U.
- 2/3/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The mostly virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close. The festival announced awards winners Tuesday night, trading an in-person ceremony for one broadcast live and hosted by Patton Oswalt. The biggest winner was Sian Heder’s coming of age drama “Coda,” which earned four U.S. Dramatic Competition awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Other Big winners were “Summer of Soul,” which took home the two top U.S. Documentary awards.
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The narrative feature “Coda” and the documentary “Summer of Soul” swept the top categories at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prizes and also taking the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
- 2/3/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The evocative closing shot in Cusp — a documentary whose aesthetic beauty counterpoints the raw experiences mostly shrugged off by its unguarded subjects — shows three young women at a local swimming hole as one takes a flying leap off the rocks high above the water. The image conjures associations with countless American coming-of-age stories, incisively capturing the exhilaration and fear of having a whole life ahead of you. Debuting directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt’s vérité portrait of a tight-knit trio of teenage girlfriends in a small Texas military town has many similar moments of illumination, even if its poignant ...
The evocative closing shot in Cusp — a documentary whose aesthetic beauty counterpoints the raw experiences mostly shrugged off by its unguarded subjects — shows three young women at a local swimming hole as one takes a flying leap off the rocks high above the water. The image conjures associations with countless American coming-of-age stories, incisively capturing the exhilaration and fear of having a whole life ahead of you. Debuting directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt’s vérité portrait of a tight-knit trio of teenage girlfriends in a small Texas military town has many similar moments of illumination, even if its poignant ...
Despite the myriad ways in which teenagers so readily share their lives online these days — Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, surely something else brand-new by the time this is published — there is something distinctly brave about the three subjects at the heart of Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill’s intimate documentary “Cusp.” Following a trio of very different friends during a shiftless summer in small-town Texas, the pair’s feature debut And while Bethencourt and Hill’s documentary finds magic during the strange liminal space between childhood and adulthood, “Cusp” also makes the case for a continuing series focused on its compelling subjects.
What’s most enthralling about the material, however, is the sense that its subjects would likely scoff — like all good teens — at the thought that their experiences are somehow unique or worthy of being viewed as anything more than just a slice of their own lives. Such are the...
What’s most enthralling about the material, however, is the sense that its subjects would likely scoff — like all good teens — at the thought that their experiences are somehow unique or worthy of being viewed as anything more than just a slice of their own lives. Such are the...
- 1/31/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
This year’s Sundance is shorter, virtual, is not local to just Park City and has a new director for the first time in years. But what has not changed is that Sundance remains one of the best marketplaces for independent films. This year’s lineup for the festival set for Jan. 28-Feb. 3 even has some hopeful Oscar contenders such as Robin Wright’s “Land” and “Judas and the Black Messiah” from Warner Bros., and we’ve already seen a few titles such as “Together Together,” “The World to Come” and “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” find homes. But while there may be fewer films overall and without the in-person wheeling and dealing, the market figures to be just as robust with some exciting movies up for sale.
“Passing”
Actress Rebecca Hall is making her directorial debut on “Passing,” a psychological thriller set in 1920s New York and...
“Passing”
Actress Rebecca Hall is making her directorial debut on “Passing,” a psychological thriller set in 1920s New York and...
- 1/28/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Wavelength Productions is giving shine to more underrepresented voices with its second annual Wave Grant, which stands for “Women at the Very Edge.” The grant helps first-time, female or non-binary filmmakers of color with the production of their first short documentary or narrative film. This year’s recipients include Fiona Kida, Camille Ramos, and Geena Hernandez.
The three filmmakers will receive $5,000 grant as well as mentorship in the producing, development and post-production of their story as well as fundraising and distribution strategy.
Wavelength, which is the production company behind Sundance pics Feels Good Man and Farewell Amor, received an overwhelming number of candidates and as a result, they tripled their current initiative with the aforementioned three winners.
“Wavelength is honored to expand the Wave Grant to include Fiona, Camille, and Geena to pursue their careers as young filmmakers,” said Jenifer Westphal, Founder, CEO and Executive Producer at Wavelength. “We found their projects to be nuanced,...
The three filmmakers will receive $5,000 grant as well as mentorship in the producing, development and post-production of their story as well as fundraising and distribution strategy.
Wavelength, which is the production company behind Sundance pics Feels Good Man and Farewell Amor, received an overwhelming number of candidates and as a result, they tripled their current initiative with the aforementioned three winners.
“Wavelength is honored to expand the Wave Grant to include Fiona, Camille, and Geena to pursue their careers as young filmmakers,” said Jenifer Westphal, Founder, CEO and Executive Producer at Wavelength. “We found their projects to be nuanced,...
- 1/21/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Wavelength, the New York-based indie studio behind Sundance players like “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” and “Farwell Amor,” has named producer Joe Plummer as president.
Founded by CEO Jenifer Westphal in 2015, the company recently saw Plummer serving as supervising producer across the slate. As president, he will oversee operations and spearhead development, production and investment efforts across both the film division and the newly-launched commercial division. He’s also been elevated to executive producer across all titles.
“At Wavelength, I have had the opportunity to produce ground-breaking and beautiful films and to build an unparalleled team, I’m beyond excited about what Wavelength has planned for the future,” Plummer said. “In my role as President, I will continue to develop our slate with Jen while expanding our efforts to launch emerging filmmakers and growing our commercial and branded work.”
Wavelength’s mission is to develop, produce and finance films that reveal common humanity.
Founded by CEO Jenifer Westphal in 2015, the company recently saw Plummer serving as supervising producer across the slate. As president, he will oversee operations and spearhead development, production and investment efforts across both the film division and the newly-launched commercial division. He’s also been elevated to executive producer across all titles.
“At Wavelength, I have had the opportunity to produce ground-breaking and beautiful films and to build an unparalleled team, I’m beyond excited about what Wavelength has planned for the future,” Plummer said. “In my role as President, I will continue to develop our slate with Jen while expanding our efforts to launch emerging filmmakers and growing our commercial and branded work.”
Wavelength’s mission is to develop, produce and finance films that reveal common humanity.
- 1/13/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
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