Category Archives: Independent Films

Sundance Announces Stanley Tucci as Emcee, Honors Jesse Eisenberg and Gina Prince-Bythewood at Boulder Gala

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Sundance Institute is bringing its annual fundraising gala to Boulder for the first time. Celebrating Sundance Institute: The Boulder Debut takes place January 22, 2027, at the Limelight Boulder hotel, with Stanley Tucci as host.

The event will honor four filmmakers. Jesse Eisenberg receives the Trailblazer Award. Gina Prince-Bythewood gets the second annual Robert Redford Luminary Award. Beth de Araújo and Dawn Porter will each receive a Vanguard Award Presented by Acura, for fiction and nonfiction respectively.

The gala raises money for the Institute’s labs, grants, and programs that support independent artists year-round. It marks the start of the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 21-31 in Boulder, with an online component from January 28-31.

Tucci, who has worked with the Feature Film Program labs as a creative advisor, called the Festival significant to his career for nearly 40 years. “I am very happy it has found a new home in Boulder so that it might continue to champion independent film,” he said.

Eisenberg has screened films at Sundance as both an actor and a filmmaker. He won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for A Real Pain at the 2024 Festival. “Every time I’ve been invited to the Sundance Film Festival, I’ve jumped for joy,” Eisenberg said. “This time, I’m jumping with joy and gratitude.”

Prince-Bythewood developed Love & Basketball through Sundance labs in 1998 before it premiered at the 2000 Festival. She returned as a creative advisor for the 2023 Directors Lab. “Every single studio and production company passed on Love & Basketball. And then the labs called,” she said. “Receiving this award that honors [Robert Redford] is incredibly meaningful and feels beautifully full circle.”

De Araújo’s second feature, Josephine, won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Porter is a four-time Sundance director and received the National Humanities Medal in 2024.

Single film tickets for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival go on sale January 8 at 10 a.m. MT.

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Sean Ono Lennon Makes Directorial Debut with Fashion Documentary threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE

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Sean Ono Lennon steps behind the camera for the first time with threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE, a documentary about three designers who have spent over 25 years pushing fashion into uncharted territory.

The film follows Gabi Asfour (Lebanese-Palestinian), Angela Donhauser (German-Tajikistani), and Adi Gil (Israeli), the trio behind avant-garde fashion collective threeASFOUR. Drawing from natural forms and pioneering techniques, they’ve built a cult following and landed their work in museums worldwide. Björk and Chloë Sevigny count themselves as fans.

But the documentary goes beyond the acclaim. It shows the ongoing struggle to keep creativity and cross-cultural collaboration at the center when the industry runs on commerce and profit.

Lennon co-directed with Brian C. González, who also served as cinematographer. Jenny Golden wrote and edited. Beth Levison produced, with Lauren Evangelista, González, and Daniel Sheppard as producers. The film features the three designers, Kai Kühne, and others.

threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE opens November 13 at Film Forum in New York, with a nationwide rollout this fall.

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Paolo Strippoli’s Folk-Horror Fable “The Holy Boy” Streams on Shudder November 27

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holy-boyPaolo Strippoli’s Italian folk-horror film “The Holy Boy” streams on Shudder starting November 27.

The film follows Sergio, a teacher haunted by his past, who transfers to Remis, a remote village known as Italy’s happiest town. He discovers the town’s dark secret: every week, villagers gather to hug Matteo, a fifteen-year-old whose embrace can erase pain and sorrow. When Sergio learns the village’s devotion to Matteo has a sinister side, his attempt to save the boy triggers the community’s wrath.

Strippoli co-wrote the script with Jacopo Del Giudice and Milo Tissone. The film stars Michele Riondino and Giulio Feltri.

“The Holy Boy” won the Audience Award and New Wave Best Director at Fantastic Fest, and screened at the Venice Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. Variety’s Jessica Kiang called it “a clever, creepy Italian chiller” that “investigates the dangers of displaced grief.”

Strippoli previously directed the Netflix film “A Classic Horror Story” with Roberto De Feo. His fourth film, “The Spiral,” is also set for release this year.

Screenings are scheduled in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Nashville between November 20 and November 23.

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Mayumi Yoshida’s Akashi Opens in Theaters November 13

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A multigenerational love story shot across Vancouver and Tokyo is heading to theaters. Mayumi Yoshida’s debut feature Akashi opens November 13 at VIFF Centre in Vancouver, with Toronto screenings to follow later in the month.

The film follows Kana, a struggling artist in Vancouver who returns to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral after a decade away. She carries a secret shared only with her grandmother: her grandfather had another lover. Back in Tokyo, Kana reconnects with an old love, Hiro, while the film cuts between timelines to trace her grandfather’s decades-long affair. Kana confronts hidden family truths as she navigates love, sacrifice, and the choices between desire and duty.

Akashi won the Audience Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and swept the Whistler Film Festival with five wins, including the Borsos prize for Best Canadian Feature.

Yoshida, born in Japan and raised across three continents, is a Vancouver-based director, actor, writer, and producer. She starred in The Man in the High Castle and was recently associate producer on the Apple TV+ series Sunny. In 2025, she was selected for JETRO and CAPE’s Beyond Japan Filmmakers Directing Program, where she was mentored by Hirokazu Koreeda.

The cast includes Yoshida, Hana Kino, Ryo Tajima, Chieko Matsubara, Kunio Murai, Shun Sugata, Bun Kimura, Sayaka Kunisada, Hiro Kanagawa, and Jess McLeod.

KinoSmith is releasing the film in Canada, and Rabbit House will handle the Japan release.

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Cheri Gaulke’s “Acting Like Women” Chronicles 1970s L.A. Feminist Performance Art Movement

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acting-like-womenA new documentary revisits The Woman’s Building, the Los Angeles feminist art space that became a proving ground for performance artists in the 1970s.

“Acting Like Women,” directed by feminist artist Cheri Gaulke, premieres at DOC NYC on November 18. The film is produced by Iambe Films, with Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner on board as executive producers.

Through interviews, archival footage, and her own story, Gaulke traces how a collective of women turned their bodies and voices into tools for activism. The documentary weaves personal history with the larger movement, following Gaulke’s path from daughter of a Midwestern Lutheran minister through the sexual revolution to her career as a performance artist, lesbian, educator, and mother of twins.

The film argues that California feminist performance art wasn’t a side story but central to the medium’s development. Interviews and footage of performances show what the era meant for women defining themselves then and now.

The premiere takes place November 18 at 6:45 PM at Village East by Angelika, 181-189 2nd Ave, New York.

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Larry Fessenden Brings Three Classic Monsters Together in “Trauma Or, Monsters All”

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Larry Fessenden is merging his takes on the vampire, Frankenstein’s monster, and the werewolf into one film. “Trauma Or, Monsters All” opens at IFC Center in New York November 4, followed by a Los Angeles screening at Lumiere Music Hall November 11 and a nationwide VOD release November 24.

The film brings together creatures from Fessenden’s previous work, Habit, Depraved, and Blackout, into a single story set in the upstate town of Talbot Falls. Visiting writer Cassandra (Laëtitia Hollard, who plays Nurse Emma Nolan on NBC’s The Pitt) arrives to research a book on George Washington Carver. After she publishes an article about the town’s past, buried secrets surface and the three monsters emerge, forcing the town to confront generations of fear and guilt.

Dark Sky Films is releasing the film, continuing a partnership with Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix that stretches back nearly two decades and includes Ti West’s The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, along with Stake Land, Hypothermia, Late Phases, and Blackout.

The cast includes Aitana Doyle, Addison Timlin, Alex Hurt, Alex Breaux, John Speredakos, Marc Senter, Micheál Neeson, Joshua Leonard, Barbara Crampton, and James Le Gros.

“I’ve spent my career reimagining classic monsters because they reveal something deeply human about us,” Fessenden said. “TRAUMA OR, MONSTERS ALL brings those stories together into one film about memory, identity, and the wounds we carry.”

The New York opening coincides with IFC Center’s ongoing OPTIC NERVE: A Tribute to Glass Eye Pix, marking the 40th anniversary of Fessenden’s production company.

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Animated Series Monkey King Adventures Hits 1 Million Views on GJW+

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Monkey King Adventures, the first original animated series from streaming service GJW+, has surpassed 1 million combined views across its first six episodes, theme song, teasers, and trailers since its October 2 premiere.

The series adapts Journey to the West, the 16th century Chinese classic considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Season 1 follows Sun Wukong, a monkey born from a magical stone, on his rise to become the Monkey King. New episodes arrive weekly, with Episode 7 dropping November 6.

The milestone comes as Gan Jing Kids launched Kids Mode, a simplified viewing space where children can watch shows including Monkey King Adventures on their own. Kids Mode removes extra menus, notifications, and comment sections, using large picture-based icons to help young viewers navigate.

“With Monkey King Adventures on GJW+, we are going to great lengths to preserve the novel’s spiritual core and strive to give audiences a true version of this beloved classic finally restored to its rightful glory for new generations,” said Terry Wu, producer of the series.

Early viewer reactions have been positive. One viewer who watched the first two episodes with children from an after-school program wrote, “They were completely captivated, and so was I. The animation is stunning and beautiful, the story is gripping, and it carries positive messages.”

The 12-episode first season streams on GJW+ and Gan Jing Kids. The first two episodes are free to watch.

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“General Hospital” Alumni Lead Film Noir “Love Loaded,” Arriving on Digital November 13

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A crime shatters the smoky world of Club Figaro in “Love Loaded,” a new film noir whodunnit set in 1958 Los Angeles. Buffalo 8 releases the film on TVOD and digital platforms November 13.

Director Jan Miller Corran (“Snapshots,” “Along Came Wanda”) centers the story on torch singer Didi Scanlon, whose voice and presence draw a crowd of admirers and enemies to the late-night club. When violence breaks the club’s illusion of elegance, lovers, rivals, detectives, and desperate souls all become suspects.

“LOVE LOADED is a mystery where every character has something to hide,” Corran said. “It’s a story about longing, ambition, betrayal, and the dangerous choices people make when love and power collide.”

The cast includes several “General Hospital” alumni: Adam Huss (“Power,” “The Bay”), Erin Chambers (“Scandal,” “Shameless”), and Monica Young (“Days of Our Lives,” “Criminal Minds”). Max Adler (“Glee,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7”), Rich Ceraulo Ko (“The Walking Dead,” “Tenet”), Emily Goss (“The House on Pine Street”), and Adam Bucci (“Eastsiders,” “Halt and Catch Fire”) round out the ensemble.

The film uses period sets and cinematography to recreate the neon lights, shadowy bars, and smoke-filled stages of late-1950s Los Angeles. Corran put complex female characters at the center of the mystery rather than in supporting roles.

“Love Loaded” won awards for best feature film, best film noir, best actor/actress, best original song, and best ensemble cast. It premiered at Cinema Diverse Palm Springs and screens November 14 at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

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Ellie Gravitte Directs Her Real-Life Family in Musical Feature “Get Happy” at Connecticut Home

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A Connecticut family is shooting a musical feature film in their own house. Production is underway on “Get Happy”, the debut feature from writer/director Ellie Gravitte. The film stars her mother, Tony Award-winning actress Debbie Gravitte, her father Beau Gravitte, and other family members. Filming runs through November 9 in Redding, CT.

“I’d been waiting a long time for a ‘yes’ from big-name talent and financiers who were hesitant to take a chance on a first-time filmmaker,” Gravitte says. “This summer, I decided to stop waiting. So I wrote a film for my entire family to star in, and we’re shooting it in our house.”

The film follows the Williams family over a single day. When three adult children bring their significant others home for an annual gathering, musical performances, botched meals, and interpersonal dramas pile up.

The film features eight songs captured live on camera, including standards like “Get Happy” and “Fascinating Rhythm”, plus an original song, “No One Has It Worse”, written by Gravitte and Carlo Ladd.

The cast has more than a dozen Broadway credits between them. Debbie Gravitte won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a Grammy for “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway”. She’s currently on Broadway in “Just in Time”. Beau Gravitte spent a year in the national tour of “The Notebook” and has Broadway credits including “The Light in the Piazza”. Sam Gravitte made his Broadway debut in “Wicked” and later starred as Fiyero.

The production is raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign that ends November 20. Producers are Lavinia Jones Wright and Lindsey Formes of I Play Different Productions.

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Documentary Follows Paramedics Through a Year of Emergency Calls

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into-the-unknownA new documentary puts a camera inside ambulances and emergency rooms across the country, following paramedics as they respond to calls that could be anything from a heart attack to a car crash.

Into the Unknown follows EMS crews in Santa Barbara, Sparks, Denver, Baton Rouge, and Crozet over the course of a year. Director Tom Putnam, who made the firefighter documentary Burn, captures the split-second decisions, physical danger, and emotional weight that come with the job.

The film features paramedics Dr. Richard Carmona, Pat Coyle, Heather Edwards, Nicole Jagers, Niki Johnson, Anthony Judkins, Anne Kellogg, Trevor Oakley, John Tinsley, and Jenn Vazquez.

Executive producers include Steve Buscemi and Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe, who played paramedics on the 1970s show Emergency! Mantooth and Tighe say the documentary is a tribute to the real professionals whose work helped inspire that series.

“Behind every uniform is a human being navigating trauma, loss, exhaustion, and the immense responsibility of making split-second decisions under extraordinary pressure,” according to the filmmakers.

Into the Unknown opens on digital platforms December 4.

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