Sundance Institute Partners With Rolex to Support Feature Film Program

Posted on October 15, 2025 by admin

The Sundance Institute has announced a new multi-year partnership with Rolex, naming the Swiss watchmaker as its Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece. The collaboration will provide direct support and funding to the Institute’s Feature Film Program, one of the organization’s cornerstone initiatives.

For more than four decades, Sundance’s Feature Film Program has championed independent filmmakers through its Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Screenwriters Intensive, and year-round ELEVATE professional development track. The new partnership will expand those efforts, providing emerging storytellers with creative resources, mentorship, and access to Sundance Collab, the Institute’s global online learning platform.

Rolex’s support comes through its Perpetual Arts Initiative, which promotes artistic excellence and mentorship across disciplines. “We are incredibly grateful to Rolex for collaborating with us to uplift artists and their stories,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute. “Together, we’re empowering a new generation of independent filmmakers to bring bold, original work to life.”

Since its founding by Robert Redford, the Institute has helped nurture leading filmmakers including Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and The Daniels, continuing its legacy as a vital incubator for independent voices.

Roberta Grossman’s “Extinguished Lives” to Premiere at DOC NYC

Posted on October 14, 2025 by admin

Award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman will debut her new documentary short Extinguished Lives at DOC NYC on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. at the IFC Center in New York.

Presented by DOC NYC and The Lost Shtetl Museum, the film explores a little-known chapter of the Holocaust, focusing on the massacre of Lithuanian Jews by Nazis and local collaborators during World War II. Blending documentary and narrative elements, Extinguished Lives tells the story of a young bride who, after fleeing the Nazi invasion, discovers that the greatest danger lies not with the invaders but with her former neighbors.

Based on survivor testimony, the film reflects Grossman’s ongoing commitment to uncovering overlooked stories of resilience and tragedy. Following the screening, DOC NYC Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen will moderate a panel discussion featuring Grossman, Dr. Jolanta Mickute (The Lost Shtetl Museum), filmmaker Denis Dobrovna (The Consequences of Truth), and exhibit designer Büke Kumyol (RAA).

Tickets are available through DOC NYC and the IFC Center.

‘Bouchra’ Directors Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani Spotlighted at NYFF and on New York Magazine Cover

Posted on October 9, 2025 by admin

Filmmakers Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani are having a standout festival moment with their feature Bouchra, which continues to draw acclaim at the New York Film Festival (NYFF) following its U.S. premiere in the Currents section.

The film’s warm reception comes alongside the duo’s appearance on the print cover of New York Magazine’s Look Book, released October 1. The feature highlights their creative partnership behind Bouchra, an 85-minute narrative exploring memory, artistic paralysis, and identity through the story of a Moroccan filmmaker in New York.

Produced by 2 Lizards, the film was financed by Fondazione Prada and executive produced by Hi Production. It marks a new chapter for Barki and Bennani, whose acclaimed animated series 2 Lizards premiered on Instagram in 2020 and was later added to the MoMA and Whitney Museum collections.

Bouchra follows its titular character as a phone call with her mother in Casablanca stirs buried memories and creative renewal. Told across Moroccan Arabic, French, and English, the film examines the intersections of family, migration, and the creative process.

The production team includes Cécile Winckler, Octavia Peissel, Ella Bishop, Pau Suris, with John Michael Boling and Jason Coombs serving as creative producers.

Selena Gomez, Mandy Teefey Executive Produce Docuseries “Suspicious Minds” Exploring AI and Delusion

Posted on October 8, 2025 by admin

Wondermind and Agoric Media have unveiled the trailer for Suspicious Minds, a new docuseries examining the intersection of artificial intelligence and mental health. Created and directed by Sean King O’Grady (The Mill, Our American Family), the eight-part series launches worldwide October 17 across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Substack, and additional platforms.

Executive produced by Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez, Suspicious Minds investigates how emerging technologies like chatbots and machine learning can act as catalysts for delusional thinking. Through firsthand accounts and expert commentary, the series highlights individuals who have developed AI-related psychoses and explores the thin line between perception, paranoia, and reality in the digital age.

The docuseries features psychiatrist Dr. Joel Gold and philosopher Ian Gold, PhD—who first identified the Truman Show Delusion—as well as AI researcher Nick Haber, ethicist Nate Sharadin, and Dr. Amy Levy of the American Psychoanalytic Association. O’Grady also appears on camera, guiding viewers through the growing psychological phenomenon.

Suspicious Minds is produced by Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy, and O’Grady, with Teefey and Gomez executive producing under their Wondermind banner.

Film Forum to Host 36-Film Tribute to Kevin Brownlow Featuring ‘Napoleon,’ ‘The Wind,’ ‘Unknown Chaplin’

Posted on September 28, 2025 by admin

Film Forum will present a 36-film retrospective honoring filmmaker, historian, and preservationist Kevin Brownlow from October 24 to November 6 in New York.

The two-week series will feature works Brownlow directed, films he helped restore, and silent classics that influenced him. Highlights include the first New York screening since 1981 of Abel Gance’s 1927 epic Napoleon in its full 5½-hour version, Brownlow and Andrew Mollo’s WWII drama It Happened Here (1964), Winstanley (1975), and the documentary Unknown Chaplin (1983). Screenings of silent landmarks such as The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Intolerance (1916), Safety Last (1923), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925) will feature scores by the late composer Carl Davis, with select titles accompanied live on piano by Steve Sterner.

The retrospective will also include Victor Sjöström’s The Wind (1928) in a restored 35mm print, opening night introductions from filmmakers and authors including Diane Baker and Daniel Kehlmann, and a special daylong presentation of Napoleon.

Brownlow, who received an Academy Honorary Award in 2010 and TCM’s Robert Osborne Award in 2019, is recognized as one of the most influential voices in film history and preservation. His books, including The Parade’s Gone By, and documentaries such as Hollywood and Cinema Europe have been credited with reshaping the way silent cinema is viewed and valued.

Film Forum’s tribute is supported by the Robert Jolin Osborne Trust and the Ira M. Resnick Foundation.

Japan Society to Spotlight Shiguéhiko Hasumi With October Film Series in New York

Posted on September 17, 2025 by admin

Japan Society will present Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan, a ten-day retrospective honoring Japan’s most influential living film scholar, running October 9–18, 2025.

Curated by Hasumi, a longtime critic, theorist, and mentor to directors including Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinji Aoyama, the program explores the intersections of American and Japanese cinema through a personal lens. Highlights include Michael Mann’s Collateral, Makoto Sato’s 1992 documentary Living on the River Agano, and a rare pairing of shorts by Kurosawa and Aoyama.

The series will also feature Richard Fleischer’s The Boston Strangler, Robert Aldrich’s …All the Marbles, and Mikio Naruse’s Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro. Locarno winner Sho Miyake will attend the second weekend, presenting his 2022 boxing drama Small, Slow But Steady and participating in a closing-night discussion on Hasumi’s critical legacy.

Hasumi, celebrated for his groundbreaking writings on Yasujiro Ozu and John Ford, was President of the University of Tokyo from 1997 to 2001. His work has shaped generations of filmmakers and critics, influencing both Japanese and international cinema.

Robert Redford, Hollywood Icon and Architect of Independent Cinema, Dies at 89

Posted on September 16, 2025 by admin

Robert Redford during the filming of The Sting (1973). Photo by Ken Dare, Los Angeles Times / Courtesy of the Dutch National Archives.

Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director, and visionary who built Sundance into the home of independent film, has died at his home in Utah. He was 89. Redford was first known as one of Hollywood’s most magnetic leading men, but his greatest impact came later, as he reshaped the future of filmmaking by giving independent voices a place to be heard.

Redford began his career in television and on Broadway before breaking through in film. His first leading role that brought him recognition was Barefoot in the Park (1967) opposite Jane Fonda. Two years later, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) made him a household name. His pairing with Paul Newman became one of the most beloved duos in film history. They reunited in The Sting (1973), which became a massive hit and earned Redford an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

An American Icon

In the 1970s, Redford wasn’t just a star. With his blond hair, windswept style, and natural charisma, he became a cultural symbol of American masculinity. But he quickly proved he was more than an image. In The Candidate (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and All the President’s Men (1976), he pursued stories with political and social weight. By the end of the decade, he had become both a top box office draw and one of the most respected actors of his generation.

Behind the Camera

In 1980, Redford made his directing debut with Ordinary People, a family drama that went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film marked his transformation from leading man to accomplished filmmaker and proved he could command just as much respect behind the camera.
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“Darling” 4K Restoration to Open at Film Forum for 60th Anniversary Run

Posted on September 14, 2025 by admin

John Schlesinger’s Darling (1965), starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Harvey, returns to the big screen in a new 4K restoration for its 60th anniversary. The bittersweet satire of Swinging London will screen at Film Forum in New York from October 10 to October 23.

The film, which helped define the British New Wave, earned five Academy Award nominations, winning Best Actress for Christie, Best Original Screenplay for Frederic Raphael, and Best Costume Design for Julie Harris. Christie’s performance as ambitious model Diana Scott launched her to international stardom.

Darling also earned four BAFTAs and three New York Film Critics Circle Awards, cementing its place as a cultural landmark of the 1960s.

The Armory Show Returns to Javits Center September 5 to 7, 2025

Posted on September 5, 2025 by admin

The Armory Show, New York’s largest modern and contemporary art fair, opens its 2025 edition at the Javits Center with a VIP preview on September 4, followed by public days September 5 to 7.

Founded in 1994 and now organized by Frieze, the fair continues to anchor the city’s fall art season with a wide range of international exhibitors and curated programming.

This year’s edition features approximately 230 galleries from 35 countries, including more than 50 first-time participants and a number of major names returning after hiatus. Highlights include the repositioned Focus section spotlighting artists from the American South, the central Platform program of large-scale installations and sculptures, a special Solo format interspersed among gallery booths, and a grouping of works under the banner New York Sculpture. Tickets and schedule details are available at thearmoryshow.com/tickets.

Film Forum Celebrates 100 Years of Peter Sellers With Two-Week Retrospective

Posted on August 31, 2025 by admin

Film Forum will honor one of cinema’s greatest comic actors with 100 Years of Peter Sellers: From Britcoms to International Icon, running September 19–October 2. The series spans Sellers’ career from early U.K. comedies like The Ladykillers (1955) and his BAFTA-winning role in I’m All Right Jack (1959), to Hollywood landmarks including The Pink Panther series, Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964), and his Oscar-nominated turn in Hal Ashby’s Being There (1979).

Eighteen features are included, alongside rare 35mm screenings of Casino Royale (1967), What’s New Pussycat? (1965), A Shot in the Dark (1964), and Sellers’ Oscar-nominated short with Richard Lester, The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959).

Film critic Siddhant Adlakha will introduce the opening-night screening of Blake Edwards’ The Party (1968) on September 19.

Highlights include:

The Ladykillers (1955) – Sept 19, 21, 22, 29
I’m All Right Jack (1959) – Sept 19, 21, 26, 27, 30, Oct 1
Dr. Strangelove (1964, 35mm) – Sept 19, 20, 22, 28, Oct 1–2
Lolita (1962) – Sept 20, 21, 25, 27, Oct 2
The Pink Panther (1963) – Sept 21, 24, 30
Casino Royale (1967, 35mm) – Sept 23
Being There (1979, 35mm) – Sept 26–28, Oct 2

(Additional titles include Two Way Stretch, Only Two Can Play, Heavens Above!, The World of Henry Orient, What’s New Pussycat? and more.)

The full schedule and ticket information are available at filmforum.org.