Category Archives: Independent Films

2025 Sundance: Trailer And Poster Premiere For Thriller “The Things You Kill”

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the-things-you-killDirected and written by Alireza Khatami, “The Things You Kill” stars Ekin Koç, Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, and Hazar Ergüçlü.

Khatami’s third feature is premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic competition, and is considered one of the year’s best entries.

The film follows Ali, a university professor who, haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance. As long-buried family secrets resurface, the police tighten their noose, and doubts begin eroding his conscience. Ali has no choice but to look into the abyss of his own soul.

Watch the intense trailer for “The Things You Kill” below:

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Trailer For “The Ballad Of Wallis Island”: Focus Features’ Sundance Movie

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theballadThe Carey Mulligan starrer is set to premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, before it hits select US theaters.

The film tells the of Charles, an eccentric lottery winner who lives alone on a remote island and dreams of getting his favorite musicians, Mortimer-McGwyer back together, says the official synopsis.

“His fantasy quickly turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show at his home on Wallis Island. Old tensions resurface as Charles tries desperately to salvage his dream gig.”

Carey Mulligan, Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen

“The Ballad of Wallis Island” is set to premiere on March 28 in limited theaters. Check out the trailer below.

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2025 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Members

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Top Row L–R: Kaniehtiio Horn, Vinnie Malhotra, Celine Song, Sam and Andy Zuchero, Kevin Macdonald, Wanuri Kahiu Second Row L–R: Nicholas Ma, Arian Moayed, Daniel Kaluuya, Elijah Wood, Nia Imara, Michael Almereyda Third Row L–R: Dr. Monica Lopez, Maggie Mackay, Marcia Smith, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Daniela Alatorre, Ava Cahen Bottom Row L–R: Steven Bognar, Kibwe Tavares, Laura Kim

The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 16 jurors granting awards honoring excellence in cinematic and artistic achievement at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, along with the five jury members who present the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. The 2025 Festival will kick off on Thursday, January 23, with premieres in Park City every day through the end of Tuesday, January 28. Additional showings will take place in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the Festival until Sunday, February 2. Over 11 days, world debuts of projects across program categories will highlight fresh voices, entertaining stories, and groundbreaking works.

Select awarded films in competition will be screened in person from February 1–2. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings go on sale Thursday, January 16, at 10 a.m. MT. Visit the Sundance Film Festival website for more information: festival.sundance.org.

The 16 jury members, reflecting a range of diverse and influential perspectives, will select the winners to be announced during the Awards Ceremony held at The Ray Theatre on Friday, January 31. The 2025 Sundance Film Festival jury includes: Reinaldo Marcus Green, Arian Moayed, and Celine Song for the U.S. Dramatic Competition; Steven Bognar, Vinnie Malhotra, and Marcia Smith for the U.S. Documentary Competition; Ava Cahen, Wanuri Kahiu, and Daniel Kaluuya for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition; Daniela Alatorre, Laura Kim, and Kevin Macdonald for the World Cinema Documentary Competition; Kaniehtiio Horn, Maggie Mackay, and Kibwe Tavares for the Short Film Program Competition; and Elijah Wood for the NEXT section.
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Sundance 2025: “Hold Me Close” Documentary Short Film by Aurora Brachman & LaTajh Simmons-Weaver

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“Hold Me Close” will have its world premiere in the Documentary Short Film category at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Emmy Award-winner Aurora Brachman (2020 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship) & LaTajh Simmons-Weaver, Hold Me Close is “a chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two Queer Black womxn who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share”

Watch the “Meet The Artist” feature below:

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Annual Annie Awards 2025: “The Wild Robot” Leads Nominations

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The-Wild-RobotDreamworks Animation “The Wild Robot” topped the nominations for the feature competition of the 52nd Annie Awards for animation. The Chris Sanders’ animated science fiction led with 10 nominations.

Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and Aardman and Netflix’s “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” received norminations seven apiece; while Locksmith Animation and Netflix’s “That Christmas,” followed with six.

Honoring excellence in the field of animation, the 52nd Annual Annie Awards will be presented in 37 categories including Animated Feature, Animated Feature-Independent, Television/Media Production(s), Sponsored Production, Short Subject and Student Film, as well as the Achievement and Honorary awards.

The 52nd Annual Annie Awards is set to be held on February 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm PT at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Here are the nominees:

Best Feature
Inside Out 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Kung Fu Panda 4 – DreamWorks Animation
That Christmas – Locksmith Animation for Netflix
The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation
Ultraman: Rising – Netflix Presents in association with Tsuburaya Productions
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Aardman and Netflix

Best Feature – Independent
Chicken for Linda! – Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma.
Flow – Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Paramount Pictures
Look Back – Studio Durian
Mars Express – Everybody on Deck, Je Suis Bien Content
Memoir of a Snail – Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia
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2025 Sundance Film Festival Unveils Short Film Program Presented by Vimeo

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Top L–R: View From the Floor, THE LILY (เดอะลิลลี่), Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites, Hold Me Close
Center Row L-R: Azi, Debaters, Platanero, Sweetheart
Bottom L–R: Somebody Cares, Hoops, Hopes & Dreams, Entre le Feu et le Clair de Lune, Inkwo for When the Starving Return

Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 57 short films being presented at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. These shorts will screen as part of eight curated Short Film Programs presented by Vimeo that will include fiction, nonfiction, and animated titles from the U.S. and globally. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with a selection of titles available online from January 30–February 2, 2025, for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling. Access to watch almost all the short films on-demand (January 30–February 2) is available by purchasing a Short Films Pass: Online, now on sale. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online go on sale January 16 at 10 a.m. MT. Members have access to a Single Film Ticket pre-sale. Visit the Sundance Film Festival site for more information: festival.sundance.org.

“Our program would never be complete without a curation of outstanding short films, and we’re excited to share the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program today,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “These projects are varied in style and substance, but across all categories they represent the power of short-form storytelling beautifully.”

“Our Short Film Program celebrates fresh styles and unique stories. The short run time encourages innovation,” said Mike Plante, Senior Programmer, Short Film. “Audiences will find much of the next generation of film talent here, with raw, exciting and inspired filmmaking from around the world in each of our eight programs.”

The 57 short films selected for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival were chosen from 11,153 submissions. Of these submissions, 4,909 were from the U.S. and 6,244 were international. Work from 28 countries and territories represented in this upcoming year’s program.
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A.I. from METROPOLIS to EX MACHINA | 30+ Film Festival Runs January 3-23 at Film Forum

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AI-from-Metropolis-to-Ex-Machina-film-forumA.I. FROM METROPOLIS TO EX MACHINA…, a three-week festival of movies that helped introduce the world to the concept of “artificial intelligence” (a term not coined until the 1950s), will run at Film Forum from Friday, January 3 to Thursday, January 23. The series includes more than 30 films, most of them offering a dystopian view of a society run by A.I., along with profound ethical and existential questions.

Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent masterpiece METROPOLIS (written by his wife Thea von Harbou, who adapted it from her own 1925 novel), broke new ground in science fiction storytelling, with the creation of Maria, a robot designed to look human and control the workers in an underground city. Gort, a massive robot that serves as enforcer for an alien peace mission in Robert Wise’s THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), provided an early example of a machine with a higher purpose.

Five years later, Robby the Robot of FORBIDDEN PLANET (based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest!) both defined what a “robot” looked like for generations and offered a more benign depiction of what would later be called “artificial intelligence.” Later lovable movie robots include Johnny 5 in SHORT CIRCUIT, R2D2 in the Star Wars movies, and Wall-E in the Pixar movie of that name. The “Emerac” computer in the Tracy-Hepburn comedy DESK SET is also less malevolent, merely threatening to take jobs away from humans – probably the first film to raise that possibility.
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2025 Sundance Film Festival Features & Episodic Lineup Announced

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Top L–R: The Legend of Ochi, Rabbit Trap, East of Wall, Seeds Center Row L–R: Rebuilding, Together, Love, Brooklyn, Jimpa Bottom L–R: Hal & Harper, Selena y Los Dinos, The Dating Game, Brides

Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 87 feature films and six episodic projects selected for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, revealing a lineup full of bold independent storytelling. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with all of the competition films and more available online from January 30–February 2, 2025, for audiences across the country. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings go on sale January 16 at 10 a.m. MT. Members have access to a Single Film Ticket pre-sale, and limited quantities of passes and packages remain on sale. Visit the Sundance Film Festival site for more information: festival.sundance.org.

The 2025 Festival will kick off on Thursday, January 23, with premieres in Park City every day through the end of Tuesday, January 28. Additional showings will take place in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the Festival until Sunday, February 2. Over 11 days, world debuts of projects across program categories will highlight fresh voices, entertaining stories, and groundbreaking works.

Beginning January 30, more than half the feature program will be available online for audiences nationwide to watch from home at festival.sundance.org. The curated online program will include all competition titles (U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT presented by Adobe), as well as additional selections from the feature, episodic, and Short Film Program presented by Vimeo.

“The Sundance Film Festival remains steadfast in its commitment to elevating unique and urgent voices in independent storytelling. Audiences can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally,” said Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President.
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Festival Hit “Birdeater” Sets Release Date

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birdeaterDark Sky Films has set the upcoming release of BIRDEATER, the psychological thriller from Australian directing duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir.

Written by Jack Clark, the film is set for release in theaters and on digital platforms on January 10.

A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.

The Dark Sky Film thriller stars Mackenzie Fearnley, Shabana Azeez, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson and Caroline McQuade.

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Film Feature: “The Man in the White Van” Poster and Trailer

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the-man-in-the-white-vanDirected and xo-written by Warren Skeels, the suspense thriller film stars Madison Wolfe, Brec Bassinger, Skai Jackson, Ali Larter, and Sean Astin.

Based on a true story, “The Man in the White Van” delves into the eerie underbelly of a seemingly idyllic 1975 Florida town, and follows the harrowing experience of young Annie Williams, a spirited girl whose carefree existence is turned upside down as she becomes stalked by an ominous man in a white van.

The tranquility of Annie’s world, from her love of horseback riding to her leisurely strolls home from school in the nearby woods, begins to crumble as the menacing white van inches closer and closer. As her parents’ skepticism increasingly grows, Annie finds herself psychologically isolated, and on Halloween night her worst fears materialize into a full-blown nightmare.

The film is set for release in select US theaters on Friday, December 13.

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