Category Archives: Film Festivals

Queens-Based Festival of Cinema NYC 2024 Announces Film Lineup for Next Month’s Fest

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festival-of-cinema-nycFestival of Cinema NYC returns to the Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills for the 8th edition of the popular Queens-based film festival, running from August 2-11. Additional venues this year include the Queens Public Library at Forest Hills, and Yant Tattoo Studios – the Official Filmmaker Lounge. This year the festival expands its programming with special presentations at the Queens Center Mall in Rego Park. The festival opens with Ivy Vale’s coming of age musical Out of My Comfort Zone and closes with the world premiere of Delfine Paolini’s A Wonderful Way with Dragons.

Additional world premieres among the feature film lineup include Laura Angiulli’s I Know You, Harrison Dillingham’s Mortimer, and Charles Caracciolo’s The Old Ballgame: The QBH Story. North American premieres include Andrey Getov’s Bo Nan Za, Francois Manceaux’s Encontro, Penny Zhou’s Hollywood Takeover: China’s Control in the Film Industry, Roman Balmakov’s No Farmers No Food: Will You Eat the Bugs?, Holger Borggrefe’s Once And For Real, and Jordi Torrent’s Third Week. The short films lineup adds an additional 12 world premieres and 2 North American premieres, as well.
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Suspense Thriller “Somnium” World Premiere At 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival

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somniumWritten and directed by Racheal Cain, “Somnium” stars Chloë Levine (The OA), Will Peltz (Euphoria), Peter Vack (Someone Great), Johnathon Schaech (Ray Donovan), Clarissa Thibeaux (Runaways), and Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things).

“Somnium” follows small-town Gemma, who after a painful breakup, moves to Los Angeles with the hopes of making it big. To get on her feet, she takes a job working the overnight shift at Somnium – a mysterious, experimental sleep clinic where dreams are made real.

Meanwhile, Gemma throws herself into the cutthroat world of Hollywood auditions. But as the pressure to succeed mounts, she begins to experience strange and unsettling phenomena, and soon finds herself trapped in a nightmarish spiral as she discovers a darkness lurking within the clinic walls.

“With its gripping storyline and striking cinematography, SOMNIUM drags audiences through the horrifying consequences of tampering with the fabric of reality,” says the film’s synopsis.

See official trailer below:

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ESPN’s “Motorcycle Mary” Set To Reve UP Tribeca

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morotcycle-maryThe untold story of legendary motorsports pioneer Mary McGee a.k.a. MOTORCYCLE MARY will come to the big screen at the 2024 Tribeca Festival in New York where it will make its world premiere in the shorts competition on Friday, June 7th (with additional screenings June 13 and 15).

ESPN Films recently announced it has acquired the film. MOTORCYCLE MARY will become part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 Shorts catalog. Per the network (via Deadline), its premiere on ESPN will be announced at a later date. The film’s trailer was just released today and may be viewed here.

The 22-minute documentary short MOTORCYCLE MARY, directed by Haley Watson and produced by Rachel Greenwald and executive produced by two-time Oscar® winner Ben Proudfoot and seven-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, brings McGee’s life to the big screen with stunning never-before-seen archival footage and photographs. McGee’s racing career spanned thirty years and saw Mary shatter gender norms while mastering multiple racing disciplines. The film is Watson’s directorial debut.


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2024 Sundance Film Festival Announces Shorts Film Tour

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sundance-2024-short-filmsThe nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour, a 110-minute program of seven short films curated from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.  

The short film tour will play in locations across the country and internationally throughout 2024 and into 2025. Filmgoers can enjoy this assortment of short films in over 50 theaters and independent art house venues. This specially curated selection is full of drama and thrills, including eye-opening and heartwarming indie shorts and a few jury prize winners that offer a peek into the Festival program.

For four decades, the Sundance Film Festival has supported short filmmaking, showcasing the work of many now-prominent independent feature filmmakers such as Damien Chazelle, Destin Daniel Cretton, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Joey Soloway, Taika Waititi, Wes Anderson, and many others. 
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Dark Star Pictures picks up Brande Roderick’s 70s horror throwback “Wineville”

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winevilleDark Star Pictures has acquired the US and Canadian rights to Brande Roderick’s wine-soaked horror film Wineville going into the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The directorial debut from director/producer/star Roderick (Starsky and Hutch, Baywatch), Dark Star Pictures is planning a September 2024 release of the film in select theaters, followed by VOD/Digital and Physical Media.

Set in the 70s, Wineville follows Tess (Brande Roderick), who is forced to return to the California winery that was her childhood home following the death of her brutal and abusive father. Now a single mom raising her 11-year-old son, Tess dreads setting foot again in the house filled with hateful and painful memories. Once there she is immediately confronted by her bitter and unforgiving aunt, who runs the place with her adult son. However, while trying to sort out her inheritance and dealing with an attraction to the mercurial young ranch hand, a violent murder reveals the evil still just below the surface there. In order to escape once again and save both herself and her boy, Tess will need to uncover the horrible truth of her own past and the roots of the murderous legacy that has been unleashed once again.

Additional cast include Carolyn Hennesy (General Hospital, Cougar Town), Texas Battle (Hard Kill, Coach Carter), Casey King (Star Trek: Pickard) and introducing Keaton Roderick Cadrez. Wineville was written by Richard Schenkman (The Man From Earth), who also produced alongside Roderick, Robin DeMartino, and Todd Slater.
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Tribeca Festival 2024 Announces Return Of Music Lounge At Baby’s All Right In Brooklyn, June 6-9

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tribeca-festival-music-loungeThe 2024 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today announced its third annual Music Lounge at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, featuring four days and nights of exclusive performances, special guest appearances, and more. The Music Lounge is open to the public from June 6-9 and offers Tribeca Festival attendees the opportunity to intimately experience the music celebrated in a selection of this year’s films.  
 
The 2024 Tribeca Music Lounge includes a rare performance by pop hitmaker Linda Perry, sharing the stage with Stella Rose following the world premiere of the documentary Linda Perry: Let It Die Here; the first-ever tribute to Genesis P-Orridge with members of Psychic TV, following the world premiere of S/He Is Still Her/e – The Official Genesis P-Orridge Doc; and an intimate set by Kneecap, the Irish language rapping trio who will be celebrating the New York premiere of their self-titled spotlight narrative film. Rounding out the weekend will be audiovisual performances by Actress, the stage name taken by British electronic artist Darren Cunningham, and Lower East Side multi-instrumentalist and Onyx Collective founder Isaiah Barr, who will present his project “THE RED ZONE.”
 
“This year’s music films showcase a wide variety of artists and genres, and we sought to bring diversity to our Music Lounge through unique events,” said Tribeca Curator of Music Programming Vincent Cassous.  “There is something for every music fan on our lineup, from pop to experimental.”
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Doris Duke Foundation Announces $1M Grant to Sundance Institute Expanding Commitment to Uplifting Muslim Storytelling

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Sundance-Doris-Duke-FoundationThe Doris Duke Foundation is pleased to announce its  continued commitment to uplifting Muslim stories through a $1 million grant to Sundance Institute. Through a three-year commitment, the grant establishes the Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund. The fellowship aims to provide financial and creative resources, mentorship, and support to filmmakers, producers, and other creators focused on telling Muslim-related stories while also offering community and network support with other creatives in the industry. The Completion Fund for features, shorts, and episodic content will offer non recoupable grants to support the launch of Muslim-focused films and episodic content. The fellowship and fund not only foster creativity but also equip fellows with the necessary skills and financial resources to navigate the entertainment landscape.

“Great stories change hearts and minds — but only those hearts and minds they can reach,” said Sam Gill, President and CEO of Doris Duke Foundation. “The Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund will elevate the fresh voices and stories we so desperately need in our fractured society.”

“For nearly 20 years, the Doris Duke Foundation has worked to create inclusive spaces for artists and creators to tell authentic Muslim stories,” said Zeyba Rahman, Director of the Building Bridges Program at the Doris Duke Foundation. “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with the Sundance Institute and Islamic Scholarship Fund to create the Building Bridges Fellowship program, ensuring these emerging talents have access to the very best the industry has to offer and greater opportunities to bring their stories to life. The Building Bridges Completion Fund aims to reduce the barriers for filmmakers to connect with their audiences to ensure that their stories reach and resonate with them.”
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Acclaimed Composer Ólafur Arnalds Joins ARI’S THEME as EP Ahead of Hot Docs World Premiere

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aris-theme-hot-docsSalazar Film announced today that award-winning Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and composer Ólafur Arnalds has joined the TELUS original documentary feature ARI’S THEME as an Executive Producer ahead of the film’s world premiere at Hot Docs on April 30th, 2024. The film, directed by filmmaking duo Salazar, Nathan Drillot and Jeff Lee Petry (Wizard Mode, Tegan and Sara Get Along), will screen to audiences for the first time in Toronto on April 30th and again on May 2nd, 2024 with the team in attendance. They also officially launched the ARI’S THEME trailer ahead of the fest.

Filmed in Victoria, B.C., ARI’S THEME follows Ari Kinarthy, a 34 year old music composer with a rare genetic condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2. The condition causes his muscles to deteriorate and will shorten his life. By sixteen Ari had lost the ability to move his arms but through a music therapy program he was introduced to composing, finding his life’s purpose. Now 18 years later with his diploma from Berklee College of Music, Ari feels the negative progression of his SMA. Focused on his legacy, Ari sets out to create the soundtrack of the most impactful memories of his young life.

“We can’t ever know how long we’ll be remembered or what impact we really made. But today I’m happy with the thought that if you find yourself humming one of my melodies, you will have invoked me and my story, and you will in turn remember me,” says composer & ARI’S THEME subject Ari Kinarthy.
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American Cinematheque’s 2nd Annual PROOF Film Festival Announces Call For Entries

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PROOF-Film-FestivalThe American Cinematheque’s PROOF Film Festival returns for a 2nd edition of the L.A.-based proof-of-concept focused festival October 18-20. The festival is conducting an open call for its popular PROOF Pitch Deck Show & Tell, and CALLO joins this year to facilitate in-person matching for creative collaboration. PROOF will take place once again at the Culver Theater (9500 Culver Blvd.) in the heart of film industry hub Culver City.

Last year, PROOF established itself as one of the first-ever film festivals dedicated solely to the presentation of proof-of-concept short films looking to be expanded into feature-length productions or series. The uniquely focused film festival presented innovative work from up-and-coming filmmakers, as well as putting much attention on panel conversations looking at the art and business of filmmaking.

Regarding the success of last year’s edition and the continued development of PROOF’s mission to build the entirety of the film festival experience around building artist relationships and project development, American Cinematheque Film Programmer and Proof Film Festival Founder, Imani Davis, said, “Being located in Los Angeles in the heart of the film industry, we sought to not only give a platform to our selected filmmakers, but to also create the best environment for future success that we could. Last year’s inaugural edition of the festival was great, but we took notes as we went along to bring on more partners and add more tools to give our filmmakers an even better experience, show off their work in the best way, and create that essential platform so each of them could take the next step in their artistic careers.”

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Tribeca Festival 2024 Announces Audio Storytelling And Games Lineup

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Tribeca-FestivalThe 2024 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today announced its lineup of live events and official selections for audio storytelling and games. This year’s audio storytelling program, exclusively sponsored by Audible, takes place June 9-13 and the games lineup runs June 12-16.

Tribeca’s 2024 audio storytelling live events program includes the 10th anniversary of Vox Media’s Criminal, an award-winning podcast that explores the unexpected side of true crime, with special guest Melissa McCarthy; Stitcher Studios’ Vibe Check, a dissection of news, entertainment, politics, and everything in between through a Black, queer lens, with special guest Lena Waithe; IMI and Audio Flux Presents Pet Sounds, three-minute audio stories inspired by the artwork of NYC-based pet portrait artist Ben Lenovitz; Slate’s Slow Burn, a narrative history podcast exploring the Briggs Initiative; Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny, an in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities; and Slate’s Death Sex & Money, a special event on the art of the interview, with special guest Kara Swisher.

Tribeca is also recognizing the impact of audio journalism and celebrating achievements in the medium by honoring the New York Times’ The Daily with an inaugural Excellence in Audio Journalism Gala.
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