Category Archives: Films

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

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luke-skywalker-and-darth-vaderSFFILM 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.

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Lou Ferrigno Returns to the Screen in Backwoods Horror The Hermit

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the-hermitLou Ferrigno is back on screen and stepping into new territory. The legendary actor best known for The Incredible Hulk makes his first-ever horror appearance in The Hermit, a backwoods thriller that leans dark, strange, and unapologetically grim.

Released by Uncork’d Entertainment, The Hermit arrives on Digital and On Demand March 3, following a Los Angeles premiere on March 2. Ferrigno stars as a reclusive pig farmer with a gruesome secret, selling jerky made from human flesh. It’s his first creature-style role in decades, and easily his most unsettling.

The film also stars Malina Weissman (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Anthony Turpel (Love, Victor) as two teenagers whose vacation into the woods turns into a fight for survival. What starts as an uncomfortable trip quickly spirals into something far worse.

Directed by Salvatore Sclafani, The Hermit marks the filmmaker’s first English-language feature after his earlier work on Tyger Tyger. The tone walks a fine line between horror and dark absurdity, embracing its B-movie roots while pushing into more disturbing territory.

“I’ve always been a big fan of scary movies,” Ferrigno said in a statement. “I hope this one ends up on everyone’s must-watch list.”

The Hermit premieres March 3 on Digital and On Demand.

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Shame and Money Wins World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance

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shame-and-moneyVisar Morina’s Shame and Money was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, marking a major moment for the filmmaker following his earlier Sundance entry Exile.

Set between rural Kosovo and the capital, the film follows a family forced to rebuild their lives after losing their livelihood, tracing how pride, financial pressure, and quiet desperation shape everyday choices. Morina approaches the story with restraint, letting tension build through small moments rather than spectacle.

The film stars Astrit Kabashi and Flonja Kodheli, whose performances anchor the story with emotional clarity and lived-in realism. Shame and Money represents Germany and Kosovo and continues its festival run following its Sundance win.

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2026 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners

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sundance-2026The 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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Inception, Clueless, and Before Sunrise Added to the National Film Registry

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cluelessChristopher Nolan’s Inception, Amy Heckerling’s Clueless, and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise are among 25 films newly selected for preservation by the National Film Registry, the Library of Congress announced.

The annual list recognizes films deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” with this year’s selections spanning more than a century of cinema. Additions range from silent-era works dating back to 1896 to modern classics like The Truman Show, The Incredibles, and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Notable inclusions also feature Glory, Philadelphia, The Karate Kid, Frida, and The Big Chill, alongside six silent films, several of which were recently restored or rediscovered. With this year’s additions, the National Film Registry now contains 925 titles.

Turner Classic Movies will mark the announcement with a televised special on March 19, showcasing select new entries from the 2025 class.

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Guillermo del Toro Returns to Sundance With Cronos Restoration

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By Armando

Director Guillermo del Toro at Sundance 2026

Guillermo del Toro made a low-key appearance Tuesday night at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival for a Park City Legacy screening of Cronos, his 1994 debut feature, at The Ray Theatre in Park City. The screening coincided with the presentation of a newly restored 4K version of the film, more than 30 years after it first premiered at Sundance.

The Academy Award winning director, appeared in good spirits and posed for photographers during a press line ahead of the screening.

Originally released in the early 1990s, Cronos follows an antique dealer who discovers an ancient device promising eternal life, setting off a quiet but unsettling chain of consequences.

The film has long been viewed as an early blueprint for del Toro’s recurring themes: mortality, monstrosity, and tenderness existing side by side.

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Time and Water Premieres at Sundance in Park City

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By Armando

Sara Dosa, directory, writer, producer

Sara Dosa, directory, writer, producer

Time and Water premiered January 27, 2026, at the Library Center Theatre in Park City as part of the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival.

Before the screening, director Sara Dosa and Icelandic writer and subject Andri Snær Magnason stepped out for a press line alongside members of the producing team, a quiet, unhurried moment that felt entirely in keeping with the film they were there to present.

The documentary grew out of Magnason’s deeply personal reckoning with two parallel losses, the death of Iceland’s glaciers and the passing of his grandparents. Rather than approaching climate grief through data or alarm, Dosa weaves together science, myth, and personal history, using Magnason’s own generational archives to craft something closer to a time capsule than a traditional environmental documentary.

At its core, the film traces a striking paradox: while Magnason’s family were among the first to explore Iceland’s glaciers, he has become one of the first to witness their disappearance.

The atmosphere around the premiere matched the film’s tone — contemplative and intimate, circling the question at the heart of Dosa’s work: how do you say goodbye to what you never thought you could lose? National Geographic Documentary

Films is set to release Time and Water in theaters globally beginning May 29.

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One Battle After Another Leads Online Film Critics Society Awards

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onebattle-after-anotherPaul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another emerged as a major winner at the 2025 Online Film Critics Society Awards, taking Best Picture and Best Director among five total wins. The film’s strong showing places it firmly among the most critically embraced releases of the year.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ultimately led the awards overall, collecting 10 wins across major categories including acting, writing, cinematography, score, and multiple technical honors. With more than 38 films recognized across 22 categories, this year’s OFCS awards reflected an unusually broad spread of genres, from studio releases to international and independent titles.

One notable takeaway from this year’s results is how concentrated the wins were at the top: just two films accounted for nearly half of all awards handed out, underscoring a rare level of consensus among the Society’s nearly 300 voting critics worldwide.

The organization also presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to Colleen Atwood, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Vittorio Storaro, and Walter Murch, alongside Special Achievement Awards recognizing sustainability efforts in filmmaking and advocacy within the industry.

Here’s the complete list of Online Film Critics Society Award winners and nominations for 2025.

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Sundance Producers Celebration Honors Apoorva Guru Charan and Dawne Langford

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sundanceThe 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.

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Levitating (Para Perasuk) Makes Its Sundance Debut at World Cinema Dramatic Competition Red Carpet

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Wregas Bhanuteja

Director Wregas Bhanuteja
(aipimaging.com)

Levitating (Para Perasuk) premiered today at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, with a press line and red carpet held at The Yarrow Theatre in Park City ahead of its first public screening.

Director Wregas Bhanuteja appeared alongside cast members Angga Yunanda, Maudy Ayunda, Anggun, Bryan Domani, and Chicco Kurniawan, joined by producers and executive producers representing the film’s international production team. The group paused for photographs and brief press moments before heading inside for the morning screening.

Set in a town where trance possession is both ritual and livelihood, Levitating follows Bayu, a gifted spirit channeler whose flute music guides dancers into altered states as he struggles to protect his community and his home amid growing outside pressures. The film blends music, movement, and spirituality into a coming-of-age story rooted in tradition and collective survival.

The premiere marks Indonesia’s presence in this year’s competition lineup, with additional in-person and online screenings scheduled later in the festival’s run.

Photos from the red carpet capture the filmmakers and cast moments before the film’s Sundance journey officially began.

Photos: AIPImaging.com

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