The Sundance Institute’s signature Directors Lab is heading home to Sundance Mountain Resort, thanks to a $3 million gift from The Hearthland Foundation, founded by Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg.

It’s one of the largest contributions in the Institute’s history. The multiyear commitment will support the Feature Film Program, fund the lab’s return to Utah, and expand fellowships and unrestricted grants for independent artists.

“Artists help us see what is, imagine what could be, and understand one another more fully,” said Rachel Levin, President of Philanthropy at The Hearthland Foundation. “Kate and Steven are proud to help carry that extraordinary legacy forward.”

The investment comes at a pivotal moment as Sundance carries forward founder Robert Redford’s vision of championing independent voices across fiction, nonfiction, episodic, and emerging media. The Directors Lab has historically provided a creative sanctuary for filmmakers, offering mentorship and resources from development through audience engagement.

“When you give artists time, trust, and a community that believes in their voice, transformation happens,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute.

For indie filmmakers, this means more support at every stage of the creative process, and a continued commitment to the bold risk-taking that defines independent cinema.

Sean Ono Lennon is stepping behind the camera for his documentary directorial debut, and it’s landing at Film Forum on November 13.

threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE follows three avant-garde designers, Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil, who’ve spent 25 years working together as a New York City fashion collective. Their clients include Björk, Marisa Tomei, and Chloë Sevigny. But despite the impressive reputation, they’re struggling to pay rent on their Chinatown studio while funding their intricate runway creations.

Co-directed by Brian C. González, the film mixes archival footage with intimate looks at the trio at work. It’s a portrait of artists who chose experimentation over commercial success, and a reflection on creative resilience and collaboration.

The doc had its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Lennon also co-wrote and produced War Is Over!, which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

It’s a story about staying true to your vision even when the rent’s due, the kind of struggle indie creators across every medium know all too well.

Sean Ono Lennon is making his directorial debut with a documentary about fashion outsiders who refuse to play by the rules.

threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE follows the avant-garde fashion collective threeASFOUR, made up of designers Gabi Asfour (Lebanese-Palestinian), Angela Donhauser (German-Tajikistani), and Adi Gil (Israeli). For over 25 years, they’ve pushed fashion into uncharted territory, drawing from natural forms and pioneering techniques that landed them museum exhibitions and fans like Björk and Chloë Sevigny.

But the film isn’t just about their creative wins. It’s about survival. About what happens when you center artistry and cross-cultural collaboration in an industry obsessed with profit margins.

Lennon co-directs with Brian C. González, who also handles cinematography. Jenny Golden wrote and edited. Beth Levison produces alongside Lauren Evangelista, González, and Daniel Sheppard.

The documentary opens exclusively at New York’s Film Forum on November 13, then rolls out nationwide this fall.

It’s a timely portrait of artists choosing creativity over commerce, and a reminder that the most interesting work often comes from the people willing to struggle for it.

Independent Film Company

Nicolas Cage is back in full eccentric mode. IFC just picked up Best Pancakes in the County, a shoot-’em-up thriller that traps a diner full of dangerous people in one explosive night.

Cage plays The S.O.B., a cunning criminal caught in a deadly standoff between rogue federal agents, a fast-talking con man (Justin Long), and a waitress with secrets (Shelley Hennig). As tensions boil over, survival comes down to who can outthink and outgun everyone else.

Writer-director Ken Sanzel reunites with Cage after their 2019 action thriller Kill Chain. He wanted a character who could be funny, dangerous, and unpredictable all at once. “And then he took it to wilder and more unexpected places than I could have imagined,” Sanzel says.

The film was shot in Arkansas with backing from Beno Films and CaliWood Pictures. The ensemble also includes Lauren German, Ravi Patel, and Brandon Mychal Smith.

IFC’s Mark Ward is clearly excited. “BEST PANCAKES IN THE COUNTY is exactly the kind of eccentric and wildly entertaining ride that Nicolas Cage does better than anyone else.”

The film hits select theaters and VOD on November 20.

SFFILM just handed its Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary, and they’re backing it up with a $20,000 check and a splashy event.

The prize celebrates films that make science central to the story, not just window dressing. Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling as a lone science teacher on a spaceship racing to save Earth’s dying sun, fits the bill. The adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel leans hard into physics, astronomy, and microbiology to solve its interstellar crisis.

“This deeply entertaining and emotional film never skirts the scientific process, but instead fully embraces it at every turn,” says Anne Lai, SFFILM’s Executive Director.

The celebration happens October 28 at San Francisco’s Premier Theater at One Letterman. Lord, Miller, and screenwriter Drew Goddard will join VFX Supervisor Paul Lambert, Sound Designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, and Dr. Ron Radeztsky, the astrophysical scientist who worked on the film’s astrometric modeling. Expect a deep dive into how they balanced spectacle with actual science.

Past winners include Oppenheimer, Twisters, Don’t Look Up, Hidden Figures, and The Martian. The Sloan Foundation has backed over 900 science and film projects, trying to close the gap between hard science and Hollywood storytelling.

For indie filmmakers chasing authenticity, this prize proves there’s an appetite for smart science on screen, not just CGI explosions.

They meet. They fall hard. Then reality kicks in.

In Spite of Ourselves, a new indie romantic comedy from writer-director Josh Loeb, follows Hannah, a baker in Portland, and Archie, a comedian based in LA, as they navigate what happens after an intense two-week romance ends and distance forces them back to their separate lives. The film opens Friday at New York’s Quad Cinema, with Portland and LA dates rolling out in the following weeks.

The story leans into the messy, relatable side of modern relationships. Chemistry is easy. Commitment, not so much. According to festival reviews, the film delivers both laughs and heart, with Unseen Films calling it “an absolute gem” and Film Snob Reviews praising the leads’ chemistry and gorgeous direction.

Brett Dier and Conor Leslie star, supported by Mo Mandel, Alyssa Limperis, and Glenn Morshower. Loeb produced alongside Michelle Lewitt, Gabe Mayhan, and Tim Harms, with cinematography also by Mayhan.

*In Spite of Ourselves* premiered earlier this year at Cinequest and made the rounds at Heartland, Portland, and Mystic film festivals. It’s the kind of small-scale romantic comedy that used to fill theaters before studios mostly abandoned the genre. For indie filmmakers still making them, that’s exactly the point.

The zombie outbreak continues. Prime Video is releasing Apocalypse Z: Part II (original title: Apocalipsis Z: Nuevo Mundo), the second installment in the Spanish post-apocalyptic franchise, on October 30. The film will premiere in the U.S. at Screamfest Horror Festival LA on October 13.

Director Carles Torrens returns to the franchise, working from a script by Ángel Agudo, adapted from novels by Manel Loureiro. The sequel picks up in the Canary Islands, now Europe’s last safe zone after the TSJ virus ravages the mainland. When a team ventures back to the continent for supplies, Roberto tags along with his own agenda. The mission quickly spirals into chaos, trapped between infected hordes and fractured loyalties.

The cast includes Carlos Alcaide (Killer Book Club), Julia Martínez (Subsuelo), Jose María Yazpik (Narcos), Berta Vázquez (Vis a Vis), and Mónica López (Rapa). Núria Valls and Adrián Guerra produce.

At its core, the film asks a timeless question: do you save yourself, or risk everything to hold onto what’s left of your humanity? For genre fans looking for fresh international horror, this one’s landing just in time for Halloween.

A slasher film shot inside a real Alabama haunted attraction is now playing in select theaters nationwide.

“Hellbilly Hollow” opened Friday in eight cities after a packed premiere on LA’s Sunset Strip. The film is the first ever shot at the actual Hellbilly Hollow haunt in Vincent, Alabama, a venue that’s been scaring visitors for years with its haunted barn and backwoods hayride.

Director Kevin Wayne got the idea while shooting a commercial at the attraction. Instead of rebuilding it on a soundstage, they filmed on location. Every corner fans recognize from the real haunt made it into the movie.

The story follows paranormal YouTubers who show up to film the night before Halloween. They quickly learn the scares aren’t staged. Killer siblings Tickles, a disfigured clown, and Bull, his manipulative brother, are real, and they’re hunting.

The film stars Kurt Deimer and Kevin Wayne, with an original score by metal drummer Roy Mayorga. Deimer’s Bald Man Films produced alongside Todd Slater of Convoke Media. Atlas Distribution is handling the U.S. release, with Jinga Films covering international sales.

“Hellbilly Hollow” is playing in Birmingham, Cincinnati, Columbus, Jacksonville, LA, Omaha and Orlando. Regal Edwards Long Beach is hosting a public Q&A after the 7:40 p.m. screening Friday.

For indie horror filmmakers, it’s proof you can turn a regional attraction into a theatrical release.

An all-girl heavy metal band’s worst gig just got a lot worse.

Epic Pictures and Dread are releasing *Devour* in select theaters and on digital October 13th. The supernatural horror film throws its musicians into a nightmare town controlled by a warlock and crawling with every monster imaginable.

Director Scott B. Hansen (*Bad Candy*) wrote the film with Desiree Hansen, starring KateLynn E. Newberry, Gus Langley, Alex Lucchesi, Chelsea LeSage, Gaven Wilde, and Butcher Babies vocalist Heidi Shepherd. When the band’s van breaks down and they try to help a woman in danger, they quickly realize they’re trapped. The only way out is to fight back using dark powers of their own.

What sets *Devour* apart is its commitment to practical effects. Creature designer Wayne Anderson (*Stranger Things*, *IT: Chapter One*, *Avatar: The Way of Water*) led the OX FX team in creating handcrafted creature suits, prosthetics, and animatronics. No digital shortcuts here, just old-school monster mayhem.

The film has racked up festival wins including Best Feature and Best Director at Freakshow Horror Film Festival, plus selections at Atlanta Horror Film Festival and Days of the Dead. Chris Jericho endorsed it on his *Talk Is Jericho* podcast.

For indie horror fans craving practical effects and genre chaos, *Devour* delivers exactly what Dread promised when they launched the original *Terrifier*.

A birthday gift from Cameo turned into a feature film. Lance Oppenheim’s narrative debut, Primetime, is now in theaters, and the director says it all started with a forty-dollar video from To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen.

In March 2024, Oppenheim’s wife bought him a Cameo as a gag. Hansen congratulated him on his documentary SPERMWORLD, asked him to “have a seat,” then pitched his own streaming network. Oppenheim was hooked. He spent hours watching Hansen’s Cameo page, fascinated by how a crusading journalist had become a self-aware meme. “A man had become a meme. A person had become a persona,” Oppenheim says.

Two weeks later, he showed the video to Robert Pattinson during a meeting. Turns out Pattinson was also a Hansen fan. A month after that, Pattinson’s producing partner Brighton McCloskey showed Oppenheim a script titled TO CATCH A PREDATOR. He read it in his car. “Everything I’d felt watching those Cameos was there,” he says.

Primetime isn’t a biopic. Oppenheim calls it a fever dream and media collage, inspired by Ace in the Hole and Natural Born Killers. It follows Hansen, a TV producer, and a Hollywood dreamer during the show’s peak, exploring what happens when ambition consumes you.

For documentary filmmakers crossing into narrative, this one’s proof that inspiration lives in the strangest places.