Poland’s American Film Festival is continuing to bet on U.S. independent films, ignoring the Hollywood blockbusters and bigger budget auteur films from the mini-majors.
“The fest selects a very precise type of project – they are real independent films, not in that Independent Spirit Award, less-than-$40 million sense,” says director and producer Rob Rice.
“The people that come with them have a kind of shorthand with each other. We are all up against the same things and we are all trying to trick the industry into mistaking our films for ‘real movies.’”
“There are always lots of interesting things happening in American independent cinema. It’s enough to mention three alumni of [fest’s industry sidebar] U.S. in Progress: Anu Valia (“We Strangers”), India Donaldson (“Good One”) and Sarah Friedland. These are great examples of new female voices speaking about female experiences, and keeping things intimate and personal,” says artistic director Ula Śniegowska.
“The fest selects a very precise type of project – they are real independent films, not in that Independent Spirit Award, less-than-$40 million sense,” says director and producer Rob Rice.
“The people that come with them have a kind of shorthand with each other. We are all up against the same things and we are all trying to trick the industry into mistaking our films for ‘real movies.’”
“There are always lots of interesting things happening in American independent cinema. It’s enough to mention three alumni of [fest’s industry sidebar] U.S. in Progress: Anu Valia (“We Strangers”), India Donaldson (“Good One”) and Sarah Friedland. These are great examples of new female voices speaking about female experiences, and keeping things intimate and personal,” says artistic director Ula Śniegowska.
- 9/5/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The challenge is on: the industry sidebar of Poland’s American Film Festival, U.S. in Progress, is ready to top its “exceptionally successful” 2023 edition in November.
“U.S. in Progress alumni are taking festivals by storm,” says Aff’s artistic director Ula Śniegowska.
Presented as works-in-progress, India Donaldson’s “Good One” – awarded at the event last year – went on to premiere at Sundance and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May. Tyler Taormina’s “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” was also shown at the French fest, described by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as “a sweet, nostalgic love letter to suburban holiday-season rituals.”
“We Strangers” by Anu Vaila and Cutter Hodierne’s “Cold Wallet” screened at SXSW, and “Familiar Touch” was shown in Venice. Monica Sorelle’s “Mountains” and Shane Atkinson’s “Laroy, Texas” were selected for Tribeca, Georden West’s “Playland” for IFFR, while “Falling Stars,” directed by Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki,...
“U.S. in Progress alumni are taking festivals by storm,” says Aff’s artistic director Ula Śniegowska.
Presented as works-in-progress, India Donaldson’s “Good One” – awarded at the event last year – went on to premiere at Sundance and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May. Tyler Taormina’s “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” was also shown at the French fest, described by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as “a sweet, nostalgic love letter to suburban holiday-season rituals.”
“We Strangers” by Anu Vaila and Cutter Hodierne’s “Cold Wallet” screened at SXSW, and “Familiar Touch” was shown in Venice. Monica Sorelle’s “Mountains” and Shane Atkinson’s “Laroy, Texas” were selected for Tribeca, Georden West’s “Playland” for IFFR, while “Falling Stars,” directed by Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki,...
- 9/5/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Canada’s International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF) has unveiled its lineup. The festival will take place in Surrey, British Columbia and run from September 25 to 29.
Featuring 19 world premieres, eight North American premieres, and 23 Canadian premieres, the festival will open with Lakshmipriya Devi’s debut feature Boong. Boong will have its world premiere at TIFF on September 7.
The iSAFF’s closing film will be Amar Wala’s debut feature Shook, which stars Saamer Usmani and Amy Forsyth (Coda). The Canadian production is financed by Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates.
Under this year’s festival theme of “Crossroads,” the lineup also includes Usman Riaz’s The Glassworker, the festival’s first animated feature from Pakistan and dark comedy We Strangers, directed by Anu Valia.
Besides feature films, the festival will showcase 53 short films and five episodic series from South Asia and its diaspora.
Featuring 19 world premieres, eight North American premieres, and 23 Canadian premieres, the festival will open with Lakshmipriya Devi’s debut feature Boong. Boong will have its world premiere at TIFF on September 7.
The iSAFF’s closing film will be Amar Wala’s debut feature Shook, which stars Saamer Usmani and Amy Forsyth (Coda). The Canadian production is financed by Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates.
Under this year’s festival theme of “Crossroads,” the lineup also includes Usman Riaz’s The Glassworker, the festival’s first animated feature from Pakistan and dark comedy We Strangers, directed by Anu Valia.
Besides feature films, the festival will showcase 53 short films and five episodic series from South Asia and its diaspora.
- 9/3/2024
- by Sara Merican
- Deadline Film + TV
The 50th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) wrapped up on Sunday and announced the winners of the 2024 Golden Space Needle Audience and Juried Competition Awards.
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Maria Dizzia (My Old Ass), John Bedford Lloyd (Ozark) and Gabe Fazio (Maestro) have been set for supporting roles in Plainclothes, a new indie drama from writer-director Carmen Emmi.
Currently shooting in New York, the film stars Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, with Amy Forsyth and Christian Cooke in additional supporting roles. Set in the ’90s and inspired by true events, it watches as a working-class undercover officer is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men, only to find himself drawn to one of his targets.
Producers include Arthur Landon, Colby Cote, and Eric Podwall on behalf of Page 1 Entertainment and Lorton Entertainment. Alex Wenger and April Kelley are co-producing.
Just recently wrapping a series regular role in the first season of Apple TV+’s Billy Crystal series Winston, Dizzia also appears in the comedy My Old Ass, which was snapped up by Amazon MGM after world premiering to rave reviews at Sundance,...
Currently shooting in New York, the film stars Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, with Amy Forsyth and Christian Cooke in additional supporting roles. Set in the ’90s and inspired by true events, it watches as a working-class undercover officer is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men, only to find himself drawn to one of his targets.
Producers include Arthur Landon, Colby Cote, and Eric Podwall on behalf of Page 1 Entertainment and Lorton Entertainment. Alex Wenger and April Kelley are co-producing.
Just recently wrapping a series regular role in the first season of Apple TV+’s Billy Crystal series Winston, Dizzia also appears in the comedy My Old Ass, which was snapped up by Amazon MGM after world premiering to rave reviews at Sundance,...
- 3/26/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
We Strangers
One of the highlights of this year’s South By Southwest, Anu Valia’s We Strangers follows Ray (Kirby), a cleaner whose life changes abruptly as a result of an impulsive lie. When she tells one of her wealthy white employers that she can see into the spirit world, she suddenly finds herself in a position of power, which changes the way that she looks at the world and the life she has been living. I was delighted to get the opportunity to talk to Anu, and although she was a little guarded, not wanting to say anything that might restrict viewer’s freedom to make up their own minds about the film, we still found a lot to discuss.
Ray, she suggests, is not just the lead character in the film, but is a person who perceives herself very much as the lead character in her own story,...
One of the highlights of this year’s South By Southwest, Anu Valia’s We Strangers follows Ray (Kirby), a cleaner whose life changes abruptly as a result of an impulsive lie. When she tells one of her wealthy white employers that she can see into the spirit world, she suddenly finds herself in a position of power, which changes the way that she looks at the world and the life she has been living. I was delighted to get the opportunity to talk to Anu, and although she was a little guarded, not wanting to say anything that might restrict viewer’s freedom to make up their own minds about the film, we still found a lot to discuss.
Ray, she suggests, is not just the lead character in the film, but is a person who perceives herself very much as the lead character in her own story,...
- 3/24/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
By Abe Friedtanzer
It’s rarely comfortable to hear the kinds of things that people say to those they hire to work in their homes. Most grin and bear it, letting a reductive comment or offensive statement go for the sake of keeping a paycheck and not starting something. The protagonist of We Strangers does something different, utilizing the gullibility of one woman whose house she cleans to make some extra money and realizing that it will only make her more valuable. It’s only a half-calculated gamble, which defines most of what this vexing main character does…...
It’s rarely comfortable to hear the kinds of things that people say to those they hire to work in their homes. Most grin and bear it, letting a reductive comment or offensive statement go for the sake of keeping a paycheck and not starting something. The protagonist of We Strangers does something different, utilizing the gullibility of one woman whose house she cleans to make some extra money and realizing that it will only make her more valuable. It’s only a half-calculated gamble, which defines most of what this vexing main character does…...
- 3/17/2024
- by Abe Friedtanzer
- FilmExperience
In “We Strangers,” Rayelle (Kirby) confesses to her mother (Tina Lifford) that she doesn’t have dreams. Perhaps she doesn’t have time for them, or else she’s simply too exhausted to hang onto anything else in her head after spending her days as a cleaning lady, monitoring her every move so as not to become any part of the mess she picks up for other people. Still, this isn’t to say she can’t have fantasies in Anu Valia’s absorbing character study, except like everything else her life, they’re not for herself when her observational skills lead some to think she’s psychic.
After honing her craft directing prestige TV shows such as “The Afterparty” and “Shrill,” Valia makes an aesthetically striking feature debut that may impress even more with the clear eyes she brings to the trickle effect of privilege, envisioning the ability to...
After honing her craft directing prestige TV shows such as “The Afterparty” and “Shrill,” Valia makes an aesthetically striking feature debut that may impress even more with the clear eyes she brings to the trickle effect of privilege, envisioning the ability to...
- 3/16/2024
- by Stephen Saito
- Variety Film + TV
It’s hard to imagine the Gary, Indiana janitorial community having many savvier political operators than Ray Martin (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). The commercial custodian knows that she’s every bit as smart as the people whose messes she spends her days cleaning up, but she takes bits of joy in adapting to whatever environment she ends up being thrust into. But at the start of “We Strangers,” Anu Valia’s feature directorial debut that seems destined to be one of the breakout hits of SXSW 2024, she finds herself in a puzzling situation that even she can’t quite wrap her mind around.
In the middle of one of her shifts cleaning the office of Dr. Neeraj Patel (Hari Dhillon), the wealthy therapist propositions her to become his personal housekeeper. It’s not immediately clear why he took an interest in her, but she accepts the curious gig with the hope of making a little extra money.
In the middle of one of her shifts cleaning the office of Dr. Neeraj Patel (Hari Dhillon), the wealthy therapist propositions her to become his personal housekeeper. It’s not immediately clear why he took an interest in her, but she accepts the curious gig with the hope of making a little extra money.
- 3/9/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
March fest announces multiple competition sections.
SXSW announced on Wednesday that Netflix series 3 Body Problem from Game Of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss is the festival’s opening night TV premiere, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is the centrepiece screening.
Top brass at the Austin, Texas, festival (March 8-16) also unveiled feature and short competitions and Midnighters and Global sections, as well as select titles from other categories and Xr Experience for the 31st edition.
Headliners selections include world premieres of Pamela Adlon’s Babes starring Ilana Glazer,...
SXSW announced on Wednesday that Netflix series 3 Body Problem from Game Of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss is the festival’s opening night TV premiere, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is the centrepiece screening.
Top brass at the Austin, Texas, festival (March 8-16) also unveiled feature and short competitions and Midnighters and Global sections, as well as select titles from other categories and Xr Experience for the 31st edition.
Headliners selections include world premieres of Pamela Adlon’s Babes starring Ilana Glazer,...
- 1/10/2024
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
SXSW Film & TV Festival announced multiple categories for the 2024 event, including Opening Night TV Premiere, Centerpiece Screening and more.
Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” executive produced and written by “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, along with “True Blood” writer Alexander Woo is set to debut as the Opening Night TV Premiere. The highly anticipated series, which stars Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Marlo Kelly, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce, is an adaptation of the best-selling novel.
For the Centerpiece Screening, SXSW will debut the feature film adaptation of the 1980s series “The Fall Guy,” directed by “Atomic Blonde” helmer David Leitch, and starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Gosling portrays a battle-scarred stuntman sent back to work on his a film his ex-wife (Blunt) is directing, when the leading star goes missing. “The Fall Guy” is described as a “big-screen...
Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” executive produced and written by “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, along with “True Blood” writer Alexander Woo is set to debut as the Opening Night TV Premiere. The highly anticipated series, which stars Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Marlo Kelly, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce, is an adaptation of the best-selling novel.
For the Centerpiece Screening, SXSW will debut the feature film adaptation of the 1980s series “The Fall Guy,” directed by “Atomic Blonde” helmer David Leitch, and starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Gosling portrays a battle-scarred stuntman sent back to work on his a film his ex-wife (Blunt) is directing, when the leading star goes missing. “The Fall Guy” is described as a “big-screen...
- 1/10/2024
- by Emily Longeretta
- Variety Film + TV
The 2024 SXSW Film and TV Festival has announced its lineup, with Netflix’s splashy sci-fi series 3 Body Problem opening the fest and the Ryan Gosling and Emily Bunt action comedy The Fall Guy acting as a centerpiece screening.
David Benioff and Dan Weiss are behind 3 Body Problem, based on the book of the same name. David Leitch directed the Universal feature about a Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who is tasked with tracking down the star of the latest movie he is working on.
The Pamela Adlon movie Babes will also act as a centerpiece screening. The narrative competition features include Crystal Moselle’s latest, The Black Sea, and Barbie Ferreira starrer Bob Trevino Likes It. Elsewhere in the lineup are a Cheech and Chong doc, Tommy Dorfman’s directorial debut, Lilly Singh comedy Doin’ It, and My Dead Friend Zoe, exec produced by NFL star Travis Kelce.
The film...
David Benioff and Dan Weiss are behind 3 Body Problem, based on the book of the same name. David Leitch directed the Universal feature about a Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who is tasked with tracking down the star of the latest movie he is working on.
The Pamela Adlon movie Babes will also act as a centerpiece screening. The narrative competition features include Crystal Moselle’s latest, The Black Sea, and Barbie Ferreira starrer Bob Trevino Likes It. Elsewhere in the lineup are a Cheech and Chong doc, Tommy Dorfman’s directorial debut, Lilly Singh comedy Doin’ It, and My Dead Friend Zoe, exec produced by NFL star Travis Kelce.
The film...
- 1/10/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sundance Film Festival short film award-winning filmmaker Anu Valia has been hitting the pavement on a slew of television directing gigs with her passion project being adjacent for the better part of an almost decade now. Her debut is set to launch in 2024 and it is backed by five producers including Mirmade’s Miranda Kahn (Scare Me) and Killjoy Films’ Joy Jorgensen (Runner). Kirby Howell-Baptiste toplines We Strangers — where a cleaning lady decides to shift the power dynamic ultimately moving from her insular world into a mischievous land of dusting surface anarchy.…...
- 12/5/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
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