Category Archives: Independent Films

BOT LOVE Documentary Asks If AI Intimacy Can Replace Human Connection

Posted on by

A new documentary wants to know: if artificial intimacy feels real, does it matter that it isn’t?

BOT LOVE, from director Tyler Funk, premieres October 21 on CBC and CBC Gem. The film follows real people navigating relationships with AI companions, each for different reasons.

Nick, a young man on the autism spectrum, finds relief in an AI that offers consistency and patience where human relationships require exhausting effort. Denise turns to AI after painful experiences left her struggling to trust people. For both, this isn’t escapism. It’s survival.

The doc also tracks the developers building the systems that make this possible. Eugenia Kuyda created one of the world’s most popular AI companions. Anthony and Bryan Mitchell are fusing gaming, porn, and AI into an interactive sexual experience. Justin Harrison uses AI to reconstruct the dead so relationships can continue after loss.

“I never thought I’d see another technology transform our lives as quickly as the internet did,” Funk says. “AI has arrived with astonishing speed.” One developer told him AI could be “either the biggest existential threat or the most beautiful technology.” That tension runs through every frame.

Funk’s previous film, ANYTHING FOR FAME, premiered on Paramount+ and Showtime in 2024. This one feels more urgent. Millions of people are already using AI as a companion, advisor, or lover. BOT LOVE doesn’t judge them for it. It just asks what happens next.

Share

Clark Duke’s Crime Thriller STRANGLEHOLD Hits Digital This Friday

Posted on by

Clark Duke returns to his Arkansas roots with STRANGLEHOLD, a gritty crime thriller about desperation and bad decisions hitting digital platforms and VOD this Friday.

Ashley Benson stars as Bailey, a small-town Arkansas stripper tired of scraping by. With Christmas approaching and an infant daughter to think about, she hatches a plan to rob the club where she works. Her accomplice? Ex-military husband Tim, played by Jake Lacy. It’s a scheme fueled by Instagram envy and the desire to give their kid something better than barely getting by.

Duke, who made his directorial debut with the Vince Vaughn crime drama Arkansas, co-wrote STRANGLEHOLD with Chandler Duke and Billington Garrett. The cast includes Justin Long, Ron Perlman, Elle King, David Arquette, Brian Posehn, and Chris Redd.

For Duke, this marks his second feature behind the camera. Before directing, he built a career as an actor in projects like The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine, and Kick-Ass. He’s already prepping his third feature, an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s novel You Don’t Love Me Yet.

STRANGLEHOLD arrives at a moment when stories about economic struggle and morally messy characters feel especially urgent. Duke knows this territory, he’s from Arkansas, and he’s not afraid to show the ugly side of chasing the American dream.

Share

Sundance Hands Out Over $1 Million to 19 Doc Projects as Program Nears 25 Years

Posted on by

Sundance Institute just dropped over $1 million across 19 documentary projects from 14 countries. The grants support filmmakers at every stage, from early development through final edits.

The Documentary Film Program turns 25 next year. Since launching in 2002, it’s become a lifeline for nonfiction storytellers navigating everything from funding gaps to censorship threats. This year’s slate spans topics from Indigenous activism to internet preservation,gorilla communication to undocumented queer poets.

Nearly 65% of proposals came from outside the U.S. Projects have roots in Canada, Denmark, France, India, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Romania, Tunisia, the U.K., the U.S., and South Korea.

Several familiar names landed grants. Julian Brave NoiseCat, whose Sugarcane became the first Indigenous-directed doc nominated for an Oscar, returns with Alcatraz is an Idea about the 1969 occupation. Emmy winner Drew Xanthopoulos got support for My Friend the Bear. David Alvarado’s All Shall Be Saved follows his Luis Valdez doc that won the Library of Congress prize earlier this year.

The mix includes first-timers too. Thirty-seven percent of grantees are directing their first feature doc.

Past Sundance Doc Fund projects include All That Breathes, Crip Camp, No Other Land, Sugarcane, and The Territory. The program is backed by Open Society Foundations, John Templeton Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Free People.

For indie filmmakers working outside the system, this kind of unrestricted funding can mean the difference between finishing a film and abandoning it halfway through.

Share

Sundance Institute Grants Over $1 Million to 19 Documentary Projects

Posted on by

Nineteen documentary filmmakers from 14 countries are getting some serious financial backing from Sundance Institute’s Documentary Fund. The organization just announced over $1 million in unrestricted grants for nonfiction projects at every stage of production.

The timing matters. The Documentary Film Program turns 25 next year. Since 2002, it’s been a lifeline for indie doc makers, offering money, creative support, and industry connections without the usual strings attached.

This year’s slate spans from development to post-production. Four projects are still in early stages, 12 are actively shooting, and three are in post. The geographic spread is impressive. Almost 65% of proposals came from outside the U.S., with funded projects rooted in Canada, Denmark, France, India, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Romania, Tunisia, the U.K., the U.S., and South Korea.

The themes cut deep. Memory, archives, borders, environmental collapse, generational trauma. Several filmmakers are using science to blur the lines between human and nature.

Notable names include Julian Brave NoiseCat, whose Sugarcane made history as the first Oscar-nominated documentary feature directed by a North American Indigenous filmmaker. Emmy-nominated director Drew Xanthopoulos returns with My Friend the Bear after his Emmy-winning Fathom. David Alvarado’s All Shall Be Saved follows his 2025 Library of Congress prize winner American Pachuco.

Paola Mottura and Kristin Feeley, who run the Documentary Film Program, say the group reflects “the inventive and varied nonfiction work that continues to push the form forward.”

For indie doc makers fighting to get their stories seen, that million bucks isn’t just funding. It’s validation.

Share

New Doc Digs Into the Spectacular Failure of Exorcist II

Posted on by

After Point Blank and Deliverance made him a bankable name, John Boorman got the gig of a lifetime: directing the sequel to The Exorcist for Warner Brothers. What followed became one of Hollywood’s most legendary disasters, a bomb so complete it nearly killed his career and changed how studios greenlit projects.

Now there’s a documentary about it. Boorman and the Devil, directed by David Kittredge, pulls Boorman himself out of retirement to talk about what went wrong, along with Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, and filmmakers like Karyn Kusama, Mike Flanagan, and Joe Dante. The film digs into the wreckage, but it’s not a hit piece. It’s about ambition, risk-taking, and what happens when artists swing for the fences and miss.

Critics are calling it riveting, funny, and surprisingly poignant. IndieWire said it’s “magical” and “dazzling.” The Wall Street Journal called it “altogether fascinating.” Even Time Out weighed in: this doc “exorcises the demons of cinema’s biggest film failures.”

It’s available now on Prime, Apple, Google Play, and Fandango. For indie filmmakers, it’s a reminder that failure’s part of the deal, and sometimes the most interesting stories come from the biggest crashes.

Share

Blind Paralympian Attempts 3,600-Mile Solo Bike Ride in New Doc ‘Blind AF’

Posted on by

A blind Army veteran is about to do something nobody thought possible.

Shawn Cheshire, a 13-time U.S. National Champion in paracycling, rode a single, non-tandem bicycle 3,600 miles across America in 60 straight days. Completely blind. New documentary Blind AF chronicles the entire journey.

Directed by Gina LeVay Goldstein, the film follows Cheshire’s historic cross-country ride, but it’s really a story about trauma and healing. Cheshire lost her sight in 2009 after a brain injury while working as a paramedic. She was 36, an Army vet, a single mom of two. Depression hit hard. Treatment at a VA hospital, including adaptive sports and therapy for Complex PTSD, helped her rebuild.

By 2016, she was competing at the Rio Paralympics. She went on to set a world record as the first blind person to cross the Grand Canyon without a sighted guide.

“This film goes beyond the epic athletic achievement,” Goldstein says. “It’s a story about healing, transformation, and the power of vulnerability.”

The doc mixes vérité footage, journal entries, and immersive sound design to put you inside Cheshire’s world. Executive produced by five-time Emmy winner Jeff Zimbalist, Blind AF premiered at Geena Davis’s Bentonville Film Festival and won Best of Fest at the 2025 Sedona International Film Festival.

It drops October 28 on Amazon Prime, AppleTV, Tubi, Roku, YouTube, and Documentary+. For indie filmmakers tackling real stories, this is what it looks like when grit meets craft.

Share

Robot Abraham Lincoln Comic Sells Out Three Issues in a Row

Posted on by

A comic about a depressed robot Abe Lincoln searching for meaning after humanity goes extinct is flying off shelves. Image Comics is rushing the first three issues of *If Destruction Be Our Lot* back to print after all three sold out at the distributor level.

The series comes from co-writers Matthew Rosenberg (*We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us*, *4 Kids Walk Into A Bank*) and Mark Elijah Rosenberg (*Approaching the Unknown*, *Year Million*), with art by Andy MacDonald (*Doctor Strange*, *Wonder Woman*), colors by Francesco Segala, and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

“I think we all wildly underestimated how much people like robot Abe Lincoln,” said Rosenberg.

The story follows Abe, a robotic replicant of Abraham Lincoln, who believes there’s more to existence than the daily grind. With humanity extinct, robots have taken over and are perfectly content doing their jobs without interference. But Abe isn’t satisfied. He’s convinced there’s something beyond the city limits, and he’s willing to risk getting recycled to find it.

All three reprints hit shops September 2 with new cover art by MacDonald. Issue #4 drops August 19.

This matters because indie creators are proving readers want weird, original ideas over the same superhero retreads.

Share

Emmy Winner Minos Papas Unleashes Folk Horror “Motherwitch” at Fantasia

Posted on by

By Armando

motherwitchEmmy-winning filmmaker Minos Papas is bringing his psychological horror “Motherwitch” to Fantasia Film Festival on July 30th for its North American premiere.

The film follows Eleni, a painter in 1882 Cyprus who tries to resurrect her dead children but instead awakens the Kalikantzari, creatures from Cypriot folklore. Now she has to fight both grief and a curse threatening her village.

“Motherwitch” sold out its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam and has been making the rounds at EFM Market, Guadalajara, Transilvania, BIFAN, and Galway Film Fleadh. After Fantasia, it heads to Croatia, Brazil’s Festival Filmes Incriveis, and Fantasy FilmFest Germany.

Papas shot the film between Los Angeles and Cyprus, drawing on years spent listening to bereaved parents, healers, and war veterans. The result is what he calls a love letter to Cyprus, its mythology and landscape woven into every frame.

The director, known for “Shutterbug” and “Tango on the Balcony,” also produced “Take Me Home,” which premiered at Sundance 2026 and screened at Berlinale and Tribeca.

“Motherwitch” is a co-production between Cyprus, North Macedonia, Canada, and the USA. B Rated International is handling sales.

For indie horror fans who love atmospheric folklore films, this one’s worth tracking down.

Share

“The Town That Takes” Brings the Roanoke Mystery to Theaters This July

Posted on by

The-Town-That-TakesA supernatural horror thriller built around one of America’s oldest unsolved mysteries is heading to theaters next month.

Atlas Distribution Company picked up festival favorite “The Town That Takes” and will release it in select theaters across the top 20 North American markets starting July 10. The film takes the only clue left behind after the Lost Colony of Roanoke vanished in 1590, a single carved word, CROATOAN, and imagines a terrifying answer.

Director Britt Bankhead, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Blaze, stars alongside Miles Mussenden (Doom Patrol), Mike Markoff (Hit Man), and Grace Patterson (Slotherhouse). The story follows Dean Richardson, a troubled Army vet trying to reconnect with his estranged 12-year-old son after his ex-wife’s death. When they stop in a remote town haunted by whispers of Croatoan, a brutal murder puts Dean in the spotlight and his son suddenly disappears.

What starts as a murder investigation turns into something far more sinister as unexplained deaths and impossible encounters pile up across the region.

“Britt Bankhead took one of the oldest unsolved mysteries in American history and built a supernatural thriller that gets under your skin,” said Harmon Kaslow, President of Atlas Distribution.

For indie horror filmmakers, this is another example of festival buzz translating into theatrical distribution, proof the theatrical market for genre films remains alive.

Share

Two Indies Take Home Tribeca Awards for Screenplay and Cinematography

Posted on by

Tribeca handed out some major wins to the indie world this year. ZEJTUNE, a Maltese drama directed by Alex Camilleri, won Best Screenplay in the International Narrative Feature category. THE SIEGE OF PARADISE, a documentary from Irish filmmaker Gar O’Rourke, earned a Special Jury Mention for Best Cinematography.

ZEJTUNE follows Mar, a woman who returns to Malta after her estranged mother’s death, planning to sell inherited farmland and leave for good. Instead, she meets Nenu, an 80-year-old folk singer whose music pulls her back toward the island she wanted to escape. The film is a co-production between Malta, Germany, and Qatar, produced by Oliver Mallia, Ramin Bahrani, and Camilleri himself.

THE SIEGE OF PARADISE takes a sharp, funny look at Cinque Terre, where fewer than 3,000 locals deal with over four million tourists every summer. The doc follows six lives across one chaotic season, exposing what happens when social media driven tourism crushes a small Italian paradise.

Both films prove that strong storytelling and vision still cut through, even in a crowded festival landscape. For indie filmmakers grinding through the circuit, these wins matter.

Share
Page 1 of 23
1 2 … 23