“The Art of Adventure” Doc on Robert Bateman to World Premiere at Vancouver International Film Festival

the-art-of-adventureAlison Reid’s new documentary The Art of Adventure will make its world premiere at the 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival. The feature follows acclaimed Canadian wildlife painter Robert Bateman and biologist Bristol Foster, revisiting their 1957 global expedition and decades of work at the intersection of art and environmental activism.

Screenings are set for October 5 at the Vancouver Playhouse and October 7 at the Granville Island Stage, with Reid, Bateman, and Foster scheduled to attend.

The film traces Bateman and Foster’s early journey in their Land Rover, “The Grizzly Torque,” across Africa and Asia, weaving in Bristol’s original 16mm footage and Bateman’s paintings. It also explores their lasting impact as artists, naturalists, and advocates for conservation.

The Art of Adventure is directed and produced by Reid, whose credits include The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. The film also features appearances by Wade Davis, David Suzuki, Guujaaw, Briony Penn, and others.

Share

Marion Cotillard Leads Hadžihalilović’s Surreal Drama The Ice Tower

the-ice-towerAcclaimed French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence, Evolution, Earwig) returns with her fourth feature, The Ice Tower, which is set to open in theaters on October 3, 2025. The film stars Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, and Gaspar Noé.

Co-written with Geoff Cox, The Ice Tower premiered earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival. The project reunites Hadžihalilović with Cotillard, who also starred in her 2004 debut feature Innocence. Known for her surreal and unsettling narratives, the director brings her distinctive style to another collaboration with long-time creative partner Noé, with whom she co-founded the production company Les Cinémas de la Zone in the early 1990s.

Hadžihalilović’s work has previously received recognition at international festivals including San Sebastián, Toronto, and Cannes. The Ice Tower continues her exploration of atmospheric, psychological storytelling, blending elements of fantasy and existential unease.

The film will be released in U.S. theaters on October 3.

Share

Tetsuya Mariko’s “Dear Stranger” Sets International Premiere at Busan Film Festival

dear-strangerBusan International Film Festival has set the international premiere of Dear Stranger, the latest feature from Japanese director Tetsuya Mariko (Destruction Babies), for its 2025 edition in the “A Window on Asian Cinema” program.

Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car) and Gwei Lun-Mei (Girlfriend, Boyfriend), the Japan-Taiwan-U.S. co-production was filmed entirely in New York and follows a couple whose lives fracture after the disappearance of their young son forces them to confront buried secrets.

The film reunites Mariko with top collaborators, including cinematographer Yasuyuki Sasaki (Asako I & II), editor Matthieu Laclau (A Touch of Sin), and Grammy-winning musician Jim O’Rourke. The project was shot with a multilingual cast and crew across English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and sign language.

Mariko, who won Locarno’s Best Emerging Director Award for Destruction Babies, shifts his focus from violent social critiques to an intimate immigrant drama exploring identity, family, and loss.

Share

Hawai’i Drama Chaperone Sets Theatrical Run and Digital Release Dates

ChaperoneChaperone, the debut feature from writer-director Zoë Eisenberg, will screen in Hawai’i theaters from September 11–28, 2025, before arriving on digital and VOD platforms October 3.

Set in rural Hawai’i and featuring an entirely AANHPI cast, the drama centers on 29-year-old Misha Miyamoto, who lives alone in her grandmother’s house and resists pressures from family, work, and relationships to change her unambitious lifestyle. When Misha befriends Jake, an 18-year-old athlete who mistakes her for a high school student, their growing relationship draws her into increasingly reckless behavior.

The film, which explores themes of alienation, identity, and unconventional connection, stars a predominantly local cast and features original music by Taimane. It is produced by Alison Week and Devin Murphy, with executive producers Adam Wong, Lauran Bromley, Gill Holland, and Gerard Elmore.

Eisenberg, a Hawai’i-based filmmaker, has described Chaperone as a story about “finding dangerous comfort in places that reflect what we’re running from.”

Share

Animated Short Pigasus Launches Globally on YouTube

pegasusThe award-winning animated short Pigasus is now available worldwide following its debut on YouTube on August 21, 2025. Produced by Arcana Studio and directed by Sean Patrick O’Reilly, the film has screened at nearly 200 international festivals and earned more than 60 awards.

Based on Don McDowell’s book Pigasus: The Lost Paradise Elysium, Battle for Evermore, the story follows a young pig on a fantastical journey of self-discovery, accompanied by creatures like Pegasus and Unicorn. The film blends adventure and fantasy while exploring themes of growth, resilience, and hope.

Originally released in 2023, Pigasus has been recognized at festivals including the World Film Festival in Cannes, the Vegas Movie Awards, and the Hollywood Gold Awards. Its online release marks the first time the short is widely accessible to a global audience.

Share

Fantastic Fest to Host World Premiere of Brooke H. Cellars’ “The Cramps: A Period Piece”

The-Cramps--A-Period-PieceFantastic Fest 2025 will present the world premiere of The Cramps: A Period Piece, the debut feature from filmmaker Brooke H. Cellars. Produced under Warped Witch Cinema, the 89-minute film blends comedy, fantastical horror, and surrealist flourishes.

The story follows Agnes Applewhite (Lauren Kitchen), a young woman who takes a job as a shampoo girl at a bustling beauty salon against her family’s wishes. As she pursues independence and self-discovery, Agnes suffers from intense menstrual cramps that distort her perception of reality, creating a nightmarish collision of body and psyche for herself and those around her.

Described as a mix of John Waters’ irreverence, Mario Bava’s horror aesthetics, and the dreamlike style of Federico Fellini, the film stars Kitchen alongside Brooklyn Woods, Harlie Madison, Martini Bear, Wicken Taylor, and Michelle Malentina.

Cellars, who has directed eight short films since 2018, has built a reputation in the horror festival circuit. Her short The Chills won Best Screenplay at Houston Horror Fest in 2020, and her most recent work Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, earning multiple jury and audience awards.

Share

Film Forum Launches Screen Deco, Festival of 1920s and 1930s Art Deco Classics

art-deco-classicsFilm Forum in New York will present Screen Deco, a festival showcasing more than 25 films from the 1920s and 1930s that exemplify the style later dubbed Art Deco. Running from September 8, 2025, through January 1, 2026, the series commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which helped introduce the movement to the world.

Highlights include silent-era landmarks such as Our Dancing Daughters with Joan Crawford, A Woman of Affairs with Greta Garbo, Pandora’s Box with Louise Brooks, and the French production L’Inhumaine. Pre-Code features include Michael Curtiz’s Female, Edgar G. Ulmer’s The Black Cat with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, William Wyler’s Counsellor at Law with John Barrymore, Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise, and Busby Berkeley’s Footlight Parade. Musicals such as Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers also feature in the lineup.
Continue reading

Share

Lucía Garibaldi’s Dystopian Sci-Fi A Bright Future to World Premiere at Tribeca

bright-futureAward-winning Uruguayan director Lucía Garibaldi returns with her second feature, A Bright Future (Un futuro brillante), set to premiere in the Viewpoints section of the 2025 Tribeca Festival, running June 4–14 in New York City.

Building on the acclaim of her Sundance-winning debut The Sharks, Garibaldi presents a dystopian sci-fi tale centered on Elisa, an 18-year-old girl chosen to journey to the elusive “North”—a supposed promised land no one has ever returned from. As Elisa prepares for her departure, doubts emerge, especially after a mysterious nurse’s arrival disrupts her tightly controlled world. What unfolds is a defiant coming-of-age story about resistance, agency, and the myth of a better future.

Starring newcomer Martina Passeggi in a standout role, alongside Soledad Pelayo, Sofía Gala Castiglione, and Alfonso Tort, A Bright Future paints a stylized yet eerily familiar world where youth is a commodity and escape comes at a cost. The film blends bleak sci-fi vision with ironic clarity and emotional depth, offering a sharp critique of generational sacrifice and institutional control.

Garibaldi’s bold narrative and visually immersive world mark her as a leading voice in Latin American cinema, with A Bright Future positioned as a festival standout.

Share

Cannes 2025: ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Wins Palme d’Or Amid Strong Year for Global Cinema

cannes-2025The 78th Cannes Film Festival concluded with Iranian director Jafar Panahi winning the Palme d’Or for It Was Just an Accident, a tense moral thriller inspired by his own imprisonment in Iran. The film, which follows a group of former detainees confronting their alleged torturer, marked Panahi’s first in-person appearance at Cannes in over two decades. His emotional return and the film’s urgent themes of oppression and justice drew widespread acclaim and a standing ovation at the ceremony.

Panahi, long banned from leaving Iran, dedicated the prize to artists exiled from their home countries. His win also extended indie distributor Neon’s streak to six consecutive Palme d’Or victories, including previous titles like Parasite and Anora.

Beyond Panahi’s triumph, the festival showcased a wide range of standout films. Joachim Trier won the Grand Prix for Sentimental Value, while the Jury Prize was split between Óliver Laxe’s Sirât and Mascha Schilinski’s Sound of Falling. Brazil’s The Secret Agent took home Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho and Best Actor for Wagner Moura. Best Actress went to Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister.

The Camera d’Or for best first film was awarded to Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake, the first Iraqi film to win at Cannes. A special award was given to Bi Gan for Resurrection.

Despite a power outage affecting the region hours before the ceremony, the festival concluded without major disruption, ending what many considered one of Cannes’ strongest years in recent memory.

Share

World Premiere of ESTA ISLA in the U.S. Competition at the Tribeca Festival

ESTA-ISLAEsta Isla (This Island), the powerful debut narrative feature from Puerto Rican filmmakers Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero, will have its world premiere in the U.S. Narrative Competition at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, taking place June 4–14 in New York City.

Starring Zion Ortiz, Fabiola Brown, Xavier Morales, Teófilo Torres, and Audicio Robles, the gripping yet tender drama unfolds in a small seaside town in Puerto Rico. Bebo, a teenager living with his older brother in a public housing complex, fishes to survive. As economic pressures mount, the brothers turn to illicit means for quick money. When a deal goes awry, Bebo is forced to flee with Lola, his girlfriend from a wealthy but troubled family.

Their escape into Puerto Rico’s mountainous interior becomes a journey into the island’s living past. Taken in by Cora in a rural community, Bebo and Lola uncover buried family histories intertwined with the pro-independence movement and Taino traditions. But even in the mountains, danger lurks. With hitmen in pursuit and the sea—their former lifeline—looming as a possible grave, the young couple must face their inner demons and decide whether redemption is possible.
Continue reading

Share
Page 1 of 12
1 2 12