Alfonso Cuarón Joins How to Clean a House in Ten Easy Steps Ahead of True/False World Premiere

Posted on March 5, 2026 by admin

A new hybrid documentary backed by Alfonso Cuarón is set to debut at the 2026 True/False Film Festival.

How to Clean a House in Ten Easy Steps, the debut feature from director Carolina González Valencia, will have its world premiere at the 23rd edition of the festival, taking place March 5–8 in Columbia, Missouri. The film is executive produced by the Academy Award–winning filmmaker alongside labor leader Ai-jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

The documentary follows Beatriz Valencia, a Colombian-born domestic worker living in the United States, and her daughter Carolina — the filmmaker herself — as they create a fictional alter ego together: a writer. Blending documentary storytelling with elements of fiction, the film explores immigration, labor, family separation, and the power of imagination to reclaim personal narratives.

Structured in ten chapters, the film shifts between everyday routines, docu-fiction, and surreal moments as mother and daughter confront questions of identity, migration, and belonging.

The project was also selected as the 2026 recipient of the True Life Fund, a philanthropic initiative connected to the True/False Film Festival that supports documentary subjects.

Berlin Silver Bear Winner Living the Land Opens at Film Forum April 3

Posted on March 4, 2026 by admin

The Berlin International Film Festival award-winning drama Living the Land will have its U.S. theatrical premiere at Film Forum on April 3.

Directed by Huo Meng, the film earned the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and marks the filmmaker’s second feature. The coming-of-age story unfolds in rural China during the early 1990s, a period of rapid industrial change.

The film follows Chuang, a sensitive 10-year-old boy whose parents leave their wheat-farming village to seek work in the city. Left in the care of his extended family, Chuang witnesses the rhythms of rural life through the guidance of his outspoken great-grandmother and independent-minded aunt.

Told from the child’s perspective, Living the Land captures a community at the edge of transformation as traditional village life begins to disappear.

Following its Berlin premiere, the film has also screened at international festivals including Vancouver, Valladolid, and the International Film Festival of India. The film is distributed in the United States by Film Movement.

Daughters of the Forest Set for SXSW North American Premiere After CPH:DOX Debut

Posted on March 2, 2026 by admin

The documentary Daughters of the Forest (Hijas del bosque), directed by Otilia Portillo Padua, is set for its North American premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, following its world premiere at CPH:DOX.

The film will first debut in competition for the Dox Award at CPH:DOX (March 11–22) before screening in the Visions section at SXSW (March 12–18).

Daughters of the Forest follows Lis and Juli, two Indigenous women and trained mycologists from communities in Oaxaca and Mexico State who study the complex ecosystems of mushrooms in the forests where they live. As environmental pressures and deforestation threaten their surroundings, the pair work to bridge scientific research with ancestral knowledge to better understand and protect the fungi that sustain their communities.

Blending documentary storytelling with speculative elements, the film explores the connections between humans, nature, and knowledge systems, offering a reflective look at coexistence and ecological resilience.

Dear Lara World Premieres at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Posted on February 6, 2026 by admin

The documentary Dear Lara makes its world premiere tonight, February 6, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The film is directed by violinist Lara St. John and centers on her decision to publicly speak in 2019 about being sexually assaulted as a teenager while studying at the Curtis Institute of Music. After her account was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, St. John received messages from musicians around the world who shared similar experiences.

The documentary follows St. John as she meets with some of those individuals across North America and Europe. The film focuses on personal accounts from musicians who describe abuse, institutional inaction, and the professional consequences of speaking out within the classical music world.

Dear Lara is St. John’s first feature as a director. She also serves as a cinematographer on the film alongside Patrick Hamm, who produced the project. The film includes original music by St. John and is edited by Christie Herring. Blood Sweat Honey is handling sales.

Following the screening, St. John will participate in a panel discussion alongside several of the documentary’s featured subjects. The film is supported by partnerships with advocacy organizations, including Child USA, and is intended for future screenings at festivals, universities, and music institutions.

SFFILM Will Close Its 69th Festival With The Empire Strikes Back at the Castro

Posted on February 4, 2026 by admin

SFFILM already has its Closing Night set, and it lands right on May the Fourth.

The 69th San Francisco International Film Festival will wrap on Monday, May 4 with a screening of Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back at the newly renovated Castro Theatre. The event is being presented with Lucasfilm and Another Planet Entertainment, and it doubles as a high-profile moment for the Castro as it reopens its doors to major public screenings.

After the film, Anthony Daniels, best known as C-3PO, will take the stage for a conversation with longtime Lucasfilm executive Howard Roffman, who spent decades helping shape the franchise’s reach well beyond the movies themselves.

It’s an on-the-nose choice in the best way. Empire remains the most emotionally grounded film in the series, and San Francisco’s connection to Star Wars runs deeper than most cities, with Lucasfilm’s history rooted just across the bay. Putting it in the Castro, freshly restored and unapologetically theatrical, feels right.

Closing Night begins at 7:00 pm, with tickets available first to SFFILM members on February 4, followed by a general onsale on February 6. The full festival lineup will be announced April 1.

2026 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners

Posted on January 30, 2026 by admin

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival revealed its award winners during a ceremony at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah, honoring standout films across U.S., international, documentary, and NEXT categories ahead of the festival’s final weekend.

Top Grand Jury Prizes went to Josephine (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Nuisance Bear (U.S. Documentary Competition), Shame and Money (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and To Hold a Mountain (World Cinema Documentary Competition). The festival’s NEXT Innovator Award, presented by Adobe, was awarded to The Incomer, while TheyDream received the NEXT Special Jury Award.

Audience Awards reflected strong viewer engagement across categories. Josephine also claimed the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic, alongside American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez for U.S. Documentary. International audience honors went to HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) and One In A Million, with Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] taking the NEXT Audience Award.

This year’s festival showcased 97 feature-length projects and 54 short films, selected from more than 16,000 submissions, underscoring Sundance’s continued role as a launchpad for emerging voices and bold storytelling. Award-winning films remain available online nationwide through February 1, with select titles screening in person for passholders.

The 2026 edition also marks one of the final Sundance gatherings in Utah, ahead of the festival’s planned move to Boulder, Colorado in 2027.
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Sundance Producers Celebration Honors Apoorva Guru Charan and Dawne Langford

Posted on January 25, 2026 by admin

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival Producers Celebration took place January 25 in Park City, bringing together filmmakers and industry guests to recognize producing excellence across this year’s festival lineup. Presented in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios, the event was held at The Park and centered on the Sundance Institute Producers Awards.

Two producers were honored with $10,000 grants during the ceremony. Apoorva Guru Charan received the Fiction Producers Award for Take Me Home, premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, while Dawne Langford was awarded the Nonfiction Producers Award for Who Killed Alex Odeh?, debuting in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Both films are part of the 2026 Sundance program.

The celebration also featured a keynote from producer Shane Boris, whose recent work includes Navalny and Fire of Love. Boris spoke about collaboration, uncertainty, and the often unseen role producers play in sustaining creative work. The event highlighted producers as connective forces within independent filmmaking, emphasizing long-term relationships and shared risk rather than outcomes or accolades.

The Producers Celebration is an annual Sundance tradition, offering a moment to pause amid premieres and screenings to spotlight the behind-the-scenes work that brings films to the festival.

Sundance ’26: BURN Brings Hyper-Color and Chaos to the NEXT Section

Posted on January 13, 2026 by admin

One of the films at Sundance this year that feels like it’s daring people to either love it or walk out is BURN, the new feature from Makoto Nagahisa, who previously made We Are Little Zombies. It’s premiering in the festival’s NEXT section, which feels like exactly where it belongs.

The movie centers on Ju-Ju (played by Nana Mori), a runaway teen who ends up in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district, falling in with a loose group of kids living on the edge. At first, it feels like she’s finally found somewhere to land. That doesn’t last. What starts as freedom slowly turns into something tighter, darker, and harder to escape.

Visually, BURN is doing a lot, neon colors, hyper-stylized shots, constant motion. It’s bright, almost playful on the surface, even when the story underneath is clearly heading somewhere painful. That contrast is the point. The movie looks fun right up until it very much isn’t, and it doesn’t really warn you when the switch happens.

Nagahisa has always been good at capturing youth culture in a way that feels chaotic instead of nostalgic, and BURN seems to push that even further. It’s not trying to explain its characters or soften their choices. It just drops you into their world and lets things unravel.

Director Bong Joon Ho has already weighed in on the film, calling it intense and even frightening, which tracks. This feels like one of those Sundance titles people will be arguing about afterward, not whether it’s good or bad, but whether they were ready for it at all.

BURN premieres January 25, with additional screenings throughout the festival.

2026 Sundance Film Festival Unveils Beyond Film Talks and Events

Posted on January 9, 2026 by admin

Sundance isn’t just about the films, it’s also where a lot of the conversations around them happen.

The Sundance Institute has announced the Beyond Film lineup for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, featuring talks and events with Olivia Wilde, Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, Billie Jean King, Salman Rushdie, John Turturro, Nicole Holofcener, Elijah Wood, Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Wan, and more.

The Beyond Film program runs January 23–30, alongside the Festival, which takes place January 22–February 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, with select events available online.

New this year is Sundance Institute’s Story Forum: Exploring Art and Innovation, a one-day event on January 26 focused on how storytelling is evolving across creative and technological spaces.

The free public program includes filmmaker conversations, artist talks, and live events like Cinema Café and The Big Conversation, with participants ranging from filmmakers and writers to cultural figures across disciplines.

The 2026 Festival will also spotlight Robert Redford’s legacy through the Park City Legacy program, featuring archival screenings, alumni talks, and community events celebrating Sundance’s history.

Most Beyond Film events are free to attend, with full schedules and access details available at festival.sundance.org.

Documentary Glendora to World Premiere at Dances With Films NY 2026

Posted on December 21, 2025 by admin

The feature documentary Glendora will make its world premiere at Dances With Films: New York 2026. Directed by Isabelle Armand in collaboration with the Glendora community, the 74-minute film screens January 16 at Regal Union Square.

Set in the Mississippi Delta, Glendora offers an intimate portrait of a small, predominantly African American town, shaped by decades of economic hardship yet sustained by strong communal bonds and cultural traditions.

Developed over five years, the documentary is told through the voices of multiple generations and captures everyday rituals that define life in the town.

Blending personal testimony with observations of daily life, the film situates Glendora’s present-day experiences within a broader American history marked by racial injustice and structural inequality, while emphasizing the community’s resilience and collective memory.