The Beverly Hills Film Festival is now accepting submissions for its 27th edition after wrapping a massive 2026 run that drew 58,000 attendees across eight days.

This year’s festival screened 450+ films from over 70 countries, expanded its programming with industry panels and networking events, and took over major LA venues including TCL Chinese Theatres and The Beverly Hilton.

BHFF is calling for features, shorts, docs, animation, and screenplays across all genres. Founder Nino Simone says they’re looking for films that “challenge, inspire, entertain, and move audiences.”

The festival continues to prove its value as a launchpad. Alumni Curry Barker, who screened his short Contemplation at BHFF in 2021, just saw his feature Obsession break out in Hollywood. Other recent BHFF films like I’m Only Blind, Hello Beautiful, Sheep Dog, and Where Sweet Dreams Die have all landed distribution deals or Oscar qualification.

For indie filmmakers looking to connect with the industry, BHFF offers direct access to producers, distributors, and executives in the heart of the entertainment capital. Submissions are open now via FilmFreeway, and early submission is recommended as the festival’s international reach keeps growing.

The team behind Descender and Ascender is back with their darkest story yet.

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen announced Crowbound, a new ongoing series launching September 2 from Image Comics. The dark fantasy follows Rose, a factory worker whose daughter Ava is taken a year before she’s supposed to join the workforce. To get her back, Rose makes a deal with an ancient Scarecrow Queen.

The world they’ve built is bleak. A massive Factory cuts the world in two, with only desolate settlements, submerged villages, and deadly swamps left in its shadow. No one knows what’s on the other side.

“Crowbound is the darkest book Dustin and I have done together but still filled with heart and hope,” Lemire said. “It’s been rewarding building the expansive southern gothic sci-fi world of Crowbound and we can’t wait to unleash it on readers.”

Nguyen added he’s excited to explore new storytelling methods with Lemire again.

Image publisher Eric Stephenson called it one of the most “darkly beguiling” debuts he’s read, saying it “gets better with each issue.”

Think The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Road with Kill Bill revenge and Pan’s Labyrinth darkness. For indie comic fans who love when proven creators swing big, this one’s worth watching.

A powerful documentary portrait of dub poetry pioneer Linton Kwesi Johnson is finally getting its U.S. theatrical premiere, nearly 50 years after it was made.

Film Forum opens Franco Rosso’s DREAD BEAT AN BLOOD on July 24 in a new 4K restoration. The 1979 film follows the Jamaican-born, British-based artist through recording sessions, live performances, and street protests in Brixton as he fights for the release of wrongfully imprisoned George Lindo.

Johnson created dub poetry, a genre that fuses militant verse about Black liberation in Britain with heavy reggae rhythms. The documentary captures him at a crucial moment, just before the Brixton uprising, when frustration in the community was building toward rebellion.

Screening alongside the feature is LINTON KWESI JOHNSON IN CONCERT, a rarely-shown 1985 performance with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band.

The British Film Institute handled the restoration. Director Steve McQueen has called Johnson an example of longevity and integrity for young artists, noting his words remain relevant decades later.

For indie filmmakers and archivists, this is a reminder that some voices take time to reach the audience they deserve.

The first trailer just dropped for “Dreams in Nightmares,” a queer road movie from writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford that’s already drawing early festival buzz.

The film stars Denée Benton (“The Gilded Age”) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Scream,” “Yellowjackets”) alongside Sasha Compère, Charlie Barnett, Mars Storm Rucker, and Dezi Bing. The story follows a group of queer friends in their mid-30s navigating love, identity, and belonging across an American road trip.

Ford, building on her earlier work, leads a creative team that includes cinematographer Ludovica Isidori, editor Cyndi Trissel, and composer Lia Ouyang Rusli (OHYUNG). The film clocks in at 128 minutes.

Early critical response has been strong. IndieWire called it “a stunning new spin on what the American road trip film can be,” while Variety praised Ford for making “a giant leap forward with a powerfully political yet humanist narrative.” The Film Stage described it as “a cathartic work of healing and beauty.”

“Dreams in Nightmares” opens in New York on August 21 and Los Angeles on August 28 before expanding nationwide in September. It’s a rare theatrical release for an indie voice tackling queer identity and friendship through the classic American road movie lens.

Green Day is stepping off the stage and onto the big screen. The punk rock trio just dropped the trailer for “Nimrods,” a comedy hitting theaters August 14th.

Details are still thin, but the film features a fictional band called the Analog Dogs opening for Green Day. The band hasn’t clarified whether they’re starring in the movie or if it’s inspired by their decades on the road.

The title nods to “Nimrod,” Green Day’s 1997 album that gave us “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” and showed the band could do more than three-chord ragers. Whether the film connects to that era or just borrows the name remains to be seen.

In other Green Day news, the band launched “Idiot Nation” on SiriusXM Channel 314, a station playing their influences, peers from the East Bay punk scene, and deep cuts from their own catalog.

This isn’t Green Day’s first screen rodeo. They’ve dabbled in documentaries and the “American Idiot” stage musical. But a straight comedy? That’s new territory for Billie Joe Armstrong and company. For a band that’s never taken themselves too seriously, it tracks.

A dystopian thriller that already won the Special Jury Prize at Manchester Film Festival is heading to Los Angeles. “Littermates” will make its North American premiere at Dances With Films on June 21.

The 87-minute sci-fi mystery follows two disoriented survivors, Liam and Mel, who take shelter at a remote English cottage during a mysterious war. Their host, Chester, takes them in after they arrive bloodied and unable to speak. He feeds them, bathes them, and teaches them language again.

But there’s a catch. Chester runs the cottage like a controlled experiment, rewarding “good behavior” with “nifties” that can be traded for karaoke sessions, hot tub time, and dance parties. As sirens and smoke close in, Mel starts questioning Chester’s rules, drawn to the locked gate and the woods beyond. Liam’s more willing to stay put. The tension between safety and curiosity starts pulling their fragile setup apart.

Directors Scott Tinkham and Michael Woloson built the film around three strong lead performances from Joey Bader, Kaylee McGregor, and Oliver Woolf. The filmmakers blend absurdist humor with dystopian dread, creating a mystery about trust, control, and what’s actually real.

For indie filmmakers working in genre storytelling, “Littermates” shows how contained settings and psychological tension can deliver big scares on a tight budget.

Film Forum is going all in on slapstick this summer. The New York repertory house is rolling out over 50 Laurel & Hardy films across two weeks, from July 10 to 23, marking a century since Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy first teamed up for producer Hal Roach.

This is the duo’s first major retrospective in decades, and it’s stacked with new 4K restorations. Think Sons of the Desert, Way Out West, The Music Box (the 1932 Oscar winner), Blotto, and Brats. Silent films get live piano accompaniment from Steve Sterner, because why not do it right.

Festival programmer Bruce Goldstein points out what makes Laurel & Hardy different. They’re still beloved worldwide, a century later. In Italy, they’re “Stanlio e Ollio.” In Germany, “Dick und Dorf.” The festival includes rare Spanish, French, Italian, and German versions of their films, shot phonetically before dubbing existed, so international audiences could follow along.

The lineup digs deep. There are programs of rarely-seen silent two-reelers, pre-team solo work from both comedians, and a rarities reel curated by restoration expert Jeff Joseph. You can even catch Stan & Ollie, the 2018 biopic with Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly.

For comedy fans and film historians, this is the deep dive. Laurel & Hardy endure because their timing is flawless and their chemistry is universal. Film Forum is giving them the showcase they deserve.

A political murder mystery is making its way to select theaters, and it’s got a cast full of familiar faces from TV’s biggest shows.

“Death on the Brandywine” stars Kate Burton (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”), Tuc Watkins (“Paradise,” “The Rookie”), Jay Huguley (“Cape Fear”), Guy Nardulli (“Tulsa King”), Rena Sofer (“General Hospital”), and Walt Willey (“All My Children”) as Senator Riley, the politician whose sudden death kicks off the whole thing.

Directed by Nick Wilkinson, the film digs into family secrets and political betrayal after the senator dies. It’s the kind of indie thriller that leans on strong performances and a twisty plot to keep you hooked.

The movie opens in select theaters on June 25 in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Delaware, where it was actually filmed. Some screenings will include Q&As with the cast. Then it goes wide on July 16 via Apple, Amazon, and Fandango.

It’s a solid example of what indie filmmakers can pull off with the right cast and a story that taps into political intrigue. For creators working outside the studio system, this is the kind of project that proves you don’t need a massive budget to make something people want to watch.