Decentralized Pictures and Decrypt Studios To Discuss How Web3 Is Opening Doors For Indie Filmmakers

Posted on January 18, 2023 by admin

Decentralized Pictures and Web3 production company Decrypt Studios will present FILM3 On the Mountain in Park City on Saturday January 21. The event will feature a panel discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of blockchain technology for filmmakers, as well as a chance to network with leaders in film and television.

A 501c3 non-profit founded by Roman Coppola, Leo Matchett, Michael Musante, and American Zoetrope, Decentralized Pictures (DCP) is dedicated to elevating the voices of independent filmmakers through a fair blockchain protocol. DCP has launched partnerships with filmmaker/producer Kevin Smith and not-for-profit The Gotham to create financing awards for undiscovered talent.

At the conclusion of FILM3 on the Mountain, Steven Soderbergh will be on hand to announce the winner of the first Andrews/Bernard Award, which his production company Extension 765 launched on the DCP platform in 2022 to discover and support emerging talent in the film industry. The award will support three filmmakers with finishing funds for fiction features or shorts worth $100,000 each.

The winning projects are determined via transparent voting powered by blockchain technology on DCP’s film funding platform. The next two recipients will be voted on and announced later this year. To submit applications to be considered for these awards or to participate as a voter, please visit DCP’s website.

“Joonam” Sets World Premiere In U.S. Documentary Competition

Posted on January 12, 2023 by admin

“Joonam”, the documentary from director, editor, cinematographer Sierra Urich is set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Urich is a Persian-American interdisciplinary visual artist and filmmaker based in Vermont. The film features Behjat Samimi, Mitra Samimi-Urich, and Sierra Urich.

Named for a Farsi term of endearment, Joonam is infused with humor and heart like only a film about family could be.

Official film synopsis:
Spurred by a provocative family memory and a lifetime of separation from the country her mother left behind, a young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother’s complicated pasts, and her own fractured Iranian identity.

For screening times, go to programs list at festival.sundance.org.

Indigo Girls to Perform at Sundance Institute’s Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance Presented by IMDbPro

Posted on January 9, 2023 by admin

Indigo Girls – Sundance Film Festival

Indigo Girls is set to perform perform at Sundance opening night celebration Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance presented by IMDbPro on January 19 in Park City.

The folk rock duo is also set premiere their new documentary at the festival, with the “It’s Only Life After All” doc.

Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance presented by IMDbPro will honor inspiring new storytellers whose journeys have been connected to Sundance throughout the years while raising funds and awareness for the Institute. Proceeds raised will be used to support the Institute’s year-round work uplifting global independent voices, both new and established, through artist programs, granting, and other initiatives.

Released in 1989, Indigo Girls’ eponymous major label debut sold over two million copies under the power of singles “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” and turned Indigo Girls into one of the most successful folk duos in history.

“We are excited to have the Indigo Girls perform at our opening night celebration and help kick off the Festival as we honor inspiring storytellers. Emily Saliers and Amy Ray are bold independent artists who have spent their careers using their art to make an impact, like so many of the artists supported throughout the Institute’s history. We are honored that they will be part of this special evening, joining us after Alexandria Bombach’s documentary reflecting on their influential lives, It’s Only Life After All, premieres earlier in the evening,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort. A selection of films will also be available online across the country January 24–29, 2023. festival.sundance.org

2023 Sundance Film Festival To Go “Beyond Film”, Lineup of Conversations Announced

Posted on January 6, 2023 by admin

Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival Beyond Film conversations, all of which are open to the public. Made up of three series called Power of Story, Cinema Café, and The Big Conversation,

Beyond Film rounds out the Festival experience, providing a place for the community to engage through artist conversations, filmmaker panels, and audience discourse.

Beyond Film will take place in-person from January 19–23, 2023, with the Beyond Film offerings becoming available to audiences across the country on the online Festival Platform starting January 24, 2023. The Festival also shared details about additional free conversations and events from Sundance Collab and our Festival partners available in person and online.

Beyond Film speakers will include talent from Festival films, such as Barry Jenkins (Producer, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt), Dakota Johnson (Actress, Producer), Jonathan Majors (Magazine Dreams), Randall Park (Shortcomings), Ruth Reichl (Food and Country), and Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings), as well as compelling speakers including Dr. Orna Guralnik (clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, Couples Therapy), Marlee Matlin (actor, CODA), and Lisa Taddeo (author, Ghost Lover).
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Sundance to honor Luca Guadagnino with International Icon Award

Posted on December 15, 2022 by admin

Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced that Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino will receive the International Icon Award at Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance presented by IMDbPro on January 19 in Park City. Guadagnino will join previously announced honorees of the evening, Ryan Coogler, W. Kamau Bell, and Nikyatu Jusu. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.

The Award recognizes an international auteur who creates distinctive cinematic universes and has made a lasting impact on filmmaking, most notably through a commitment to storytelling and an unwavering creative vision. Guadagnino is the writer, director, and producer of several celebrated films who most recently directed Bones and All. He has strong roots in the Sundance community going back over a decade.

He made his Sundance debut at the 2010 Festival with his film I Am Love, which he wrote, directed, and produced. In 2017, Guadagnino made his return to the Festival with the premiere of his Academy Award-winning film, Call Me By Your Name, starring Timothée Chalamet. Guadagnino also produced the documentary The Truffle Hunters, which played at the Festival in 2020. He has won and been nominated for several awards, including Venice Film Festival, Golden Lion BAFTA Award for Best Direction, and Nastro d’Argento for Best Director.
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Sundance Film Festival Announces 2023 Short Film and Indie Episodic Program

Posted on December 13, 2022 by admin

Top L–R: Oxytocin, The Vacation, Pro Pool, I AM HOME. Center L–R: Kylie, Willie Nelson and Family, The Night Logan Woke Up, Inglorious Liaisons. Bottom L–R: The Dalles, Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie, Pipes, Azeh

Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the Short Films and Indie Episodic projects selected for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. For in-person attendees, Indie Episodic works will have individual premieres and Shorts will screen in curated programs. Beginning January 24, all Indie Episodic projects and selected Shorts will also screen online through the end of the Festival. The 2023 Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.

In addition, Online Ticket Packages are now on sale and the full schedule of in-person and online screenings is now live! Please visit festival.sundance.org/tickets to start planning your Festival experience.

“Short films and episodic projects are an integral aspect of the overall mission of the Sundance Institute — to empower artists who are taking risks, bringing new perspectives to the forefront, and creating work that entertains and provokes conversation,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “These platforms provide artists with the ability to expand beyond the boundaries of traditional cinema, while also motivating a unique creativity through an ever expanding format.”

The 64 Short Films for the 2023 lineup were selected from 10,981 submissions, the highest number on record. Of these submissions, 4,996 were from the U.S. and 5,985 were international. The four Indie Episodic projects were selected from 519 submissions. This upcoming year’s Short Film program includes work from 23 countries and the Indie Episodic represents works from five countries.
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Sundance Film Festival 2023 Lineup to Showcase 99 Feature Films

Posted on December 7, 2022 by admin

In-Person Ticket Packages Now On Sale; Online Ticket Package Sales Begin December 13

The Sundance Film Festival has announced its 2023 features program. This also includes the titles that is set to compete in the narrative and documentary categories.

The 2023 Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023. Festivalgoers will once again return to theaters to discover this upcoming year’s most impactful independent stories. In-Person Ticket Packages are currently on sale through December 16, Online Ticket Packages go on sale December 13 at 10 a.m. MT, and single film tickets go on sale January 12 at 10 a.m. MT.

Setting the scene, Day One Features will open the Festival in Park City: 11 features, plus a Shorts program, will illustrate the scope of Festival work across genre and form. Day One Features are birth/rebirth, L’Immensità, It’s Only Life After All, Kim’s Video, Little Richard: I Am Everything, The Longest Goodbye, The Pod Generation, Radical, Shayda, Sometimes I Think About Dying, and Run Rabbit Run. In addition, on January 19, the Institute will host the inaugural Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance presented by IMDbPro.

The celebration will kick off the Festival welcoming everyone back together again while raising funds for the Institute’s critical year-round artist support. The evening will honor Ryan Coogler, Nikyatu Jusu, W. Kamau Bell, and more whose journeys have been connected to Sundance throughout the years. In addition, in-person attendees will get to experience a robust offering of talks and events during the Festival, with more details to be announced.

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Angela Bassett To Receive 38th Annual SBIFF Montecito Award

Posted on December 1, 2022 by admin

Angela Bassett will be honored with the Montecito Award at the 38th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Bassett will receive the award on Thursday, February 9th, 2023 at an in-person conversation about her career leading up to this year’s performance in Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER directed by Ryan Coogler from Disney Studios.

“Ms. Bassett has had an illustrious career as an actor, director and producer and in WAKANDA FOREVER reminds us why she’s so greatly revered. She’s regal, fierce and commanding as Queen Ramonda. We bow down.” SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling stated.

Angela Bassett is an actress, director, and executive producer known for captivating, emotionally-tinged performances full of dignity in treasured films such as MALCOLM X, BOYZ IN THE HOOD, WAITING TO EXHALE, HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, and of course, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. She has since made star-turns in the historic BLACK PANTHER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-FALLOUT, BUMBLEBEE from Paramount, as well as the television hits 9-1-1, and MASTER OF NONE. Other recent projects include Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award-winning animated feature SOUL, for which she lent her melodious voice for the character, Dorothea Williams; feature films OTHERHOOD and GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE from Netflix; and THE FLOOD from National Geographic, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Further, she was nominated for two Emmys, including Outstanding Narrator for the IMAGINEERING STORY: THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW. Bassett recently wrapped production on the Netflix Originals feature film, DAMSEL, opposite Millie Bobby Brown.

The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Penélope Cruz, Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Javier Bardem.
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Cate Blanchett To Receive Honor At Palm Springs Film Festival

Posted on November 21, 2022 by admin

Focus Features

The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Cate Blanchett is set to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award.

“Cate Blanchett is truly one of the best actresses of this generation, whose performances are always extraordinary no matter the role. In her latest film Tár, Cate perfectly embodies Lydia Tár as an orchestra conductor at the height of her career whose life begins to unravel,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. ” There is no one better suited for this role and it is our honor to present the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress, to Cate Blanchett.”

Two-time Oscar winner Blanchett will receive the honor during a ceremony at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 5, 2023.

Her film Tar saw its initial theatrical release Oct. 7 through Focus Features.

Blanchett was honored at the festival previously with the Desert Palm Achievement Award: Actress (2016) for Carol and Truth, Career Achievement Award and Ensemble Performance Award Babel (2007).

Cate Blanchett To Receive 38th Annual SBIFF Outstanding Performer Of The Year Award

Posted on November 8, 2022 by admin

Cate Blanchett will receive the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 38th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Blanchett will be honored on Friday, February 10, 2023 for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Lydia Tár in Todd Feld’s TÁR from Focus Features. Setting a historic record, this is the second time Blanchett will be feted at the festival as the Outstanding Performer of the Year.

In 2014, she received the honor for her role as Jasmine French in BLUE JASMINE. In 2008, she was crowned the Modern Master Award for her role as Queen Elizabeth in ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE and as multi-faceted Bob Dylan in I’M NOT THERE.

“Cate Blanchett is an artist that has nothing left to prove; she is one of the most brilliant actresses ever – yet she keeps challenging herself and proving over and over again that she’s the most outstanding performer!” SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling noted.

Cate Blanchett is an internationally acclaimed, Academy Award-winning actor, producer, artistic director, humanitarian, and dedicated member of the arts community. Blanchett plays the titular role and executive produces Todd Field’s highly anticipated feature film “TÁR,” which marks the writer-director-producer’s first film in over 15 years. The film was warmly welcomed at the Telluride Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival, where Blanchett was awarded the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress for her second time since I’m Not There. This fall, Blanchett will appear in Guillermo Del Toro’s latest film, “PINOCCHIO,” and the mockumentary hit series “Documentary Now!” She has now begun production in Australia on Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy,” in which she stars and produces via the production company Dirty Films. She most recently wrapped production on “Disclaimer,” directed by Alfonso Cuaron, in which she also stars and executive produces. In 2021, Blanchett appeared in Adam McKay’s smash hit, Don’t Look Up, as well as Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley.
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