Pimienta has come on board as co-producer on Sujo, the Sundance Dramatic World Cinema grand jury prize winner that Paris-based Alpha Violet continues to sell in Cannes.
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sydney Film Festival (June 5-16) has unveiled the 12 titles that will play in competition at its 71st edition, including six features that are set to premiere at Cannes this month.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
- 5/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mexican directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo won the Grand Prix at this year’s Sofia International Film Festival (March 13-24).
The Mexican-French-us co-production about a boy who must fight against the temptation of local gangs premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and is being handled internationally by Alpha Violet.
The festival’s top prize has gone to a film from Mexico for the second year running after Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes won last year.
The international jury, presided over by Hungarian actor-writer-director Szabolcs Hadju and including outgoing EFM director Dennis Ruh,...
The Mexican-French-us co-production about a boy who must fight against the temptation of local gangs premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and is being handled internationally by Alpha Violet.
The festival’s top prize has gone to a film from Mexico for the second year running after Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes won last year.
The international jury, presided over by Hungarian actor-writer-director Szabolcs Hadju and including outgoing EFM director Dennis Ruh,...
- 3/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Filmmaker duo Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero have signed with CAA.
Valadez and Rondero co-directed and co-wrote “Sujo,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic competition. The film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Their previous film, “Identifying Features,” won best international feature at the 2021 Gotham Awards. Valadez directed, and Valadez and Rondero co-wrote, co-produced and co-edited.
“Identifying Features” premiered at Sundance in 2020, where it won the audience and screenwriting awards.
In 2017, Rondero’s directorial debut, “The Darkest Days of Us,” won two Ariel Awards in Mexico for best actress and best debut film.
Valadez and Rondero continue to be represented by Silent R Management.
In “Sujo,” a cartel gunman in Mexico is killed, leaving behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside.
Valadez and Rondero co-directed and co-wrote “Sujo,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic competition. The film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Their previous film, “Identifying Features,” won best international feature at the 2021 Gotham Awards. Valadez directed, and Valadez and Rondero co-wrote, co-produced and co-edited.
“Identifying Features” premiered at Sundance in 2020, where it won the audience and screenwriting awards.
In 2017, Rondero’s directorial debut, “The Darkest Days of Us,” won two Ariel Awards in Mexico for best actress and best debut film.
Valadez and Rondero continue to be represented by Silent R Management.
In “Sujo,” a cartel gunman in Mexico is killed, leaving behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside.
- 3/21/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Premiering in January to a Sundance Dramatic World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, “Sujo” from “Identifying Features” filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez has expanded its global reach, closing multiple distribution deals forged by Paris-based Alpha Violet, who heads international distribution.
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
- 3/20/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
A snapshot of the most exciting voices working in American and international cinema today––and with a strong focus on newcomers––the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look festival returns this week, taking place March 13-17.
As always, the annual festival brings together a varied, eclectic lineup of cinema from all corners of the world––including a number of films still seeking distribution, making this series perhaps one of your only chances to see these works on the big screen. Check out our top picks below, along with the exclusive premiere of the festival trailer.
Arthur&Diana (Sara Summa)
A lo-fi siblings road trip movie shot with a mix of MiniDV, Betacam, and 16mm, Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana marks an interesting, mostly successful gamble of personal storytelling, in which Summa stars alongside her-real brother, Robin Summa. Jared Mobarak said in his TIFF review, “As such, we glean...
As always, the annual festival brings together a varied, eclectic lineup of cinema from all corners of the world––including a number of films still seeking distribution, making this series perhaps one of your only chances to see these works on the big screen. Check out our top picks below, along with the exclusive premiere of the festival trailer.
Arthur&Diana (Sara Summa)
A lo-fi siblings road trip movie shot with a mix of MiniDV, Betacam, and 16mm, Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana marks an interesting, mostly successful gamble of personal storytelling, in which Summa stars alongside her-real brother, Robin Summa. Jared Mobarak said in his TIFF review, “As such, we glean...
- 3/11/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well has been set as the opening film of the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which has unveiled its full lineup today.
It will mark the Asian premiere of the Hong Kong feature, which debuted in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale last month and won the Teddy Award. Starring Patra Au and Maggie Li, it centres on a lesbian couple in their twilight years. After one of them dies, the other struggles to retain both her dignity and the home they shared for more than 30 years.
Miyake Sho’s All The Long Nights,...
It will mark the Asian premiere of the Hong Kong feature, which debuted in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale last month and won the Teddy Award. Starring Patra Au and Maggie Li, it centres on a lesbian couple in their twilight years. After one of them dies, the other struggles to retain both her dignity and the home they shared for more than 30 years.
Miyake Sho’s All The Long Nights,...
- 3/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Alpha Violet has acquired world sales rights for Uruguayan filmmaking duo Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s new drama Don’t You Let Me Go, exploring themes of friendship and death.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Museum of the Moving Image is pleased to announce the complete lineup for the 13th edition of First Look, the Museum's festival of new and innovative international cinema, which will take place in person March 13–17, 2024. Each year, First Look offers a diverse slate of major New York premieres, work-in-progress screenings and sessions, gallery installations, and fresh perspectives on the art and process of filmmaking. This year's festival introduces New York audiences to more than three dozen works from around the world. The guiding ethos of First Look is openness, curiosity, and discovery, aiming to expose audiences to new art, artists to new audiences, and everyone to different methods, perspectives, interrogations, and encounters. For five consecutive days the festival takes over MoMI's two theaters, as well as other rooms and galleries throughout the Museum—with in-person appearances and dialogue integral to the experience. Each night concludes with one of five...
- 2/14/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
A yearly highlight of New York (or American) programming, the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look will return on March 13 with an opening-night screening of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo, close on March 17 with Bill and Turner Ross’ Gasoline Rainbow, and in the intervening days combine programming of recent cutting-edge highlights with in-person talks and seminars.
First Look’s fixture “Working on It” will run between March 13 and 15, offering “a laboratory for works in progress and dialogues about process, bringing together festival guests, filmmakers, students, writers, and the general public.” Meanwhile, writers and editors from Reverse Shot “will continue discussions begun in last year’s Emerging Critics Workshop throughout the festival.”
So says MoMI’s Curator of Film Eric Hynes:
“Now in its 13th year, First Look has carved out a unique, and we think essential, place in New York’s film and cultural landscape.
First Look’s fixture “Working on It” will run between March 13 and 15, offering “a laboratory for works in progress and dialogues about process, bringing together festival guests, filmmakers, students, writers, and the general public.” Meanwhile, writers and editors from Reverse Shot “will continue discussions begun in last year’s Emerging Critics Workshop throughout the festival.”
So says MoMI’s Curator of Film Eric Hynes:
“Now in its 13th year, First Look has carved out a unique, and we think essential, place in New York’s film and cultural landscape.
- 2/12/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The annual Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look Festival has given IndieWire an exclusive “first look” at the lineup.
The 13th annual event, which takes place March 13 through 17 in Astoria, Queens, opens with the New York premiere of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo,” which recently took home the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The First Look Festival focuses on emerging talents and international voices, with the fest premiering 46 works, including 20 features that represent 21 countries. Highlights include Farhad Delaram’s “Achilles,” Graham Swon’s “An Evening Song (for three voices), and the U.S. premiere of Lois Patiño’s “Samsara.” Zhang Mengqi’s “Self-Portrait: 47 Km 2020,” which won the Award of Excellence winner at the 2023 Yamagata Documentary Festival, will also screen along with Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 2023 IDFA grand prize winner “1489,” the debut for the filmmaker. Returning First Look directors like Michaël Andrianaly...
The 13th annual event, which takes place March 13 through 17 in Astoria, Queens, opens with the New York premiere of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo,” which recently took home the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The First Look Festival focuses on emerging talents and international voices, with the fest premiering 46 works, including 20 features that represent 21 countries. Highlights include Farhad Delaram’s “Achilles,” Graham Swon’s “An Evening Song (for three voices), and the U.S. premiere of Lois Patiño’s “Samsara.” Zhang Mengqi’s “Self-Portrait: 47 Km 2020,” which won the Award of Excellence winner at the 2023 Yamagata Documentary Festival, will also screen along with Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 2023 IDFA grand prize winner “1489,” the debut for the filmmaker. Returning First Look directors like Michaël Andrianaly...
- 2/12/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A film about growing up in your father’s shadow that mostly (and unexpectedly) examines the role of women as community pillars and violence interrupters, Sujo is the compelling new Sundance award-winning feature from Identifying Features team Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez. The father in question Josue (Juan Jesús Varela Hernández) is a sicario, a brutal gang enforcer killed early in the film by his cartel. The first chapter unfolds as young Sujo (Kevin Uriel Aguilar Luna) watches his father conduct business at a distance, purposefully disorienting passages wherein we overhear conversations. Compounding the confusion, when his father doesn’t return home, we witness a chilling scene in which he’s hidden by his aunt Nemesia (Yadira Perez Esteban) when a member of the cartel comes to exact revenge after Sujo’s father killed his son.
The film’s later passages find Nemesia raising Sujo, who spends time as a...
The film’s later passages find Nemesia raising Sujo, who spends time as a...
- 2/5/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Although it might seem like male directors stand at the forefront of Mexican cinema right now — look at recent Oscar winners such as Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, and Alejandro González Iñárritu — it’s a new wave of female filmmakers who are actually the ones to watch.
Tatiana Huezo (“The Echo”), Fernanda Valadez (“Identifying Features”), and Issa López all shine bright, yet Lila Avilés (“The Chambermaid”) might be the first to come close to Oscar success of her own with “Tótem,” which was shortlisted at this year’s Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. While Avilés’ acclaimed debut followed a maid working to bring structure and order to empty, uninhabited spaces, her follow-up feature is teeming with life, even if the subject matter might not lend itself to that at first glance.
“Tótem” begins with seven-year-old Sol (Naíma Sentíes) and her mother, Lucia (Lazua Larios), laughing together in a public bathroom.
Tatiana Huezo (“The Echo”), Fernanda Valadez (“Identifying Features”), and Issa López all shine bright, yet Lila Avilés (“The Chambermaid”) might be the first to come close to Oscar success of her own with “Tótem,” which was shortlisted at this year’s Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. While Avilés’ acclaimed debut followed a maid working to bring structure and order to empty, uninhabited spaces, her follow-up feature is teeming with life, even if the subject matter might not lend itself to that at first glance.
“Tótem” begins with seven-year-old Sol (Naíma Sentíes) and her mother, Lucia (Lazua Larios), laughing together in a public bathroom.
- 1/29/2024
- by David Opie
- Indiewire
As the latest feature from writers/directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero (“Identifying Features”) draws to a close, it’s hard to ignore the starkness, pacing, and tone overall; this is hardly the sort of film one puts on as any sort of a palate cleanser. While superbly well-made, beautifully shot, and comprised of a cast firing on all cylinders in terms of acting ability, to make it through “Sujo” is akin to a slight exercise in endurance, though not without a noticeable crescendo as the film chugs along.
Continue reading ‘Sujo’ Review: Mexican Adolescence Meets Cartel Woes In This Slow Burner [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Sujo’ Review: Mexican Adolescence Meets Cartel Woes In This Slow Burner [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/29/2024
- by Brian Farvour
- The Playlist
The winner of the World Dramatic competition at Sundance, co-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s understated and essential Mexican drama “Sujo” is one of two films in this year’s lineup (the other being “Ponyboi”) in which children who were given distinctive names by doomed macho dads spend years wondering what those monikers mean. In both cases, the eventual reveal puts a poignant coda on stories of young Latinos struggling to escape the cycle of ignorance and unhealthy behavior that threatens to pull them under.
An optimistic entry in a traditionally brutal genre, “Sujo” is a story about defying gravity. Like Sleeping Beauty — who manages to prick her finger, even after all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were thought destroyed — or tragic figures from Greek mythology whose fates are dictated by the gods, the title character seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of his father, Josue...
An optimistic entry in a traditionally brutal genre, “Sujo” is a story about defying gravity. Like Sleeping Beauty — who manages to prick her finger, even after all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were thought destroyed — or tragic figures from Greek mythology whose fates are dictated by the gods, the title character seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of his father, Josue...
- 1/29/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The Sundance Film Festival announced its 2024 winners on January 26, two days before the festival’s end date. The Awards Ceremony took place at The Ray Theater in Park City, Utah. This year marks its 40th annual festival run taking place from January 18 to January 28.
In the Summer, a film director Alessandra Lacorazza, won the top honor, U.S. Grand Jury Prize, starring Lio Mehiel.
Last year, Mehiel told uInterview exclusively about the importance of trans representation.
“Whenever there is an uptick of queer or trans representation in the media, there is an equal and perhaps greater response from the other side … that are looking to suppress trans rights, trans agency [and] queer liberation,” Mehiel told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “While in Hollywood we are seeing trans representation and this film is able to be part of that movement, this film is more important now than ever because even just in Utah,...
In the Summer, a film director Alessandra Lacorazza, won the top honor, U.S. Grand Jury Prize, starring Lio Mehiel.
Last year, Mehiel told uInterview exclusively about the importance of trans representation.
“Whenever there is an uptick of queer or trans representation in the media, there is an equal and perhaps greater response from the other side … that are looking to suppress trans rights, trans agency [and] queer liberation,” Mehiel told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “While in Hollywood we are seeing trans representation and this film is able to be part of that movement, this film is more important now than ever because even just in Utah,...
- 1/27/2024
- by Ann Hoang
- Uinterview
A still from In ‘The Summers’ by Alessandra Lacorazza (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Sundance announced its winners on Friday morning, with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers took the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Brendan Bellomo’s Porcelain War the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sundance announced its winners on Friday morning, with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers took the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Brendan Bellomo’s Porcelain War the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony revealed winners Friday honoring the best of this year’s lineup in Park City.
The U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers, about two sisters who navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, Nm. Lacorazza also won a special jury prize for directing.
See the full list of winners below.
Other Grand Jury winners unveiled today in the ceremony at the Ray Theatre included Porcelain War in the U.S. Documentary competition, A New Kind of Wilderness in the World Cinema Documentary competition, and Sujo in the World Cinema Dramatic competition.
Angela Patton and Natalie Rae’s documentary Daughters received the Festival Favorite Award, which Park City audiences select across all new feature films presented at the festival, as well as the Audience Award for the U.
The U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers, about two sisters who navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, Nm. Lacorazza also won a special jury prize for directing.
See the full list of winners below.
Other Grand Jury winners unveiled today in the ceremony at the Ray Theatre included Porcelain War in the U.S. Documentary competition, A New Kind of Wilderness in the World Cinema Documentary competition, and Sujo in the World Cinema Dramatic competition.
Angela Patton and Natalie Rae’s documentary Daughters received the Festival Favorite Award, which Park City audiences select across all new feature films presented at the festival, as well as the Audience Award for the U.
- 1/26/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
While there’s still a few days left of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Ferrari, Sundance 2024, Once Within a Time, Four Daughters & More”>including the opportunity to watch many titles from the comfort of your own home, the juries have now handed out their awards. Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to: In The Summers (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Porcelain War (U.S. Documentary Competition), Sujo (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and A New Kind of Wilderness (World Cinema Documentary Competition).
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival awards were announced today at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
See the list of 2024 winners below, and congrats to all the winners.
Festival Favorite Award
Daughters (USA) – Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Grand Jury Prize
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
Directing Award
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance
Suncoast (USA) – Nico Parker
Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble
Dìdi – Sean Wang
Audience Award
Dìdi – Sean Wang
U.S. Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize
Porcelain War – Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
Directing Award
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Special Jury Award for Sound
Gaucho Gaucho (USA, Argentina) – Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
Special Jury Award for The Art of Change
Union (USA) – Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Frida...
See the list of 2024 winners below, and congrats to all the winners.
Festival Favorite Award
Daughters (USA) – Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Grand Jury Prize
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
Directing Award
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance
Suncoast (USA) – Nico Parker
Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble
Dìdi – Sean Wang
Audience Award
Dìdi – Sean Wang
U.S. Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize
Porcelain War – Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
Directing Award
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Special Jury Award for Sound
Gaucho Gaucho (USA, Argentina) – Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
Special Jury Award for The Art of Change
Union (USA) – Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Frida...
- 1/26/2024
- by Prem
- Talking Films
The human spirit can be remarkably resilient, but humankind’s capacity for violence sadly makes that resilience more necessary than it should be. Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo meditates, ponders and reaches touching heights as it follows the marked son of a dead sicario from childhood to young adulthood as he tries to escape the cycle of violence and death that plague his village and his family.
The movie is another triumph for writer/director Valadez, who made the 2020 Sundance hit Identifying Features with screenwriter Astrid Rondero, who collaborates with him again here, and actor Juan Jesús Varela, who plays the title character from his teenage years on. It captures danger, suspense, tenderness and hope as it considers how someone can escape their apparent destiny.
Set in a rural Mexican village where cartels call the shots and everyone else hopes to live life peacefully, the story follows Sujo and his family.
The movie is another triumph for writer/director Valadez, who made the 2020 Sundance hit Identifying Features with screenwriter Astrid Rondero, who collaborates with him again here, and actor Juan Jesús Varela, who plays the title character from his teenage years on. It captures danger, suspense, tenderness and hope as it considers how someone can escape their apparent destiny.
Set in a rural Mexican village where cartels call the shots and everyone else hopes to live life peacefully, the story follows Sujo and his family.
- 1/22/2024
- by Jeremy Mathews
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Goodbye Horses: Valadez & Rondero Explore a Valley of Violence
Working as co-directors on their latest feature Sujo, Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero once again explore families dismantled by circumstance and violence. Having previously worked together on the exceptional Identifying Features (2020), on which Valadez served as director/producer from a script by Rondero, they explore another intimate saga for their titular protagonist, a young boy haunted by the dangerous legacy of his father, threatened by a perpetual cycle of violence. Juxtaposing the inherent menace lurking beneath the rural idyll of Tierra Caliente with the submerged promises buried in the urban sprawl of Mexico City, this four part narrative is a slow burn slippery slope until it reaches the grace notes of a third act atonement, revealing the graceful answer to what’s in a name.…...
Working as co-directors on their latest feature Sujo, Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero once again explore families dismantled by circumstance and violence. Having previously worked together on the exceptional Identifying Features (2020), on which Valadez served as director/producer from a script by Rondero, they explore another intimate saga for their titular protagonist, a young boy haunted by the dangerous legacy of his father, threatened by a perpetual cycle of violence. Juxtaposing the inherent menace lurking beneath the rural idyll of Tierra Caliente with the submerged promises buried in the urban sprawl of Mexico City, this four part narrative is a slow burn slippery slope until it reaches the grace notes of a third act atonement, revealing the graceful answer to what’s in a name.…...
- 1/19/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Early in writer-directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero’s Sujo, the eponymous character (initially played by Kevin Aguilar) faces down the prospect of his own death. Josué (Juan Jesús Varela Hernández), a cartel sicario from Michoacán, Mexico, was branded a traitor and murdered, and now, Sujo, his only son, must be dealt with. The only indication that little Sujo even grasps the danger of the situation is when he wets himself while hiding under a table as a cartel assassin comes calling. But it doesn’t matter to the cartel that the boy is far too young to seek vengeance. What matters is Sujo’s connection to Josué, and that the burden of history and blood is such that it may very well shape him into his father’s son.
In this way, the film concerns itself with legacy and free will. Sujo’s aunt, Nemesia (Yadira Pérez), begs for the child’s life,...
In this way, the film concerns itself with legacy and free will. Sujo’s aunt, Nemesia (Yadira Pérez), begs for the child’s life,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Steven Scaife
- Slant Magazine
For the larger part of the last two decades, Mexican cinema has been over saturated with hard-to-stomach chronicles of the monstrous drug violence ravaging the country, but no one is approaching such darkness with the layered sensibility and aesthetic poetry of directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero. Proven by their soul-shattering and award-winning previous collaboration, “Identifying Features” (which Valadez directed and Rondero co-wrote), they see the ongoing crisis not for its potential for spectacle or tactless shock value, but for the unspeakable human tragedy that it is.
While “Identifying Features” followed a mother searching for her son, a migrant victim of the horrors, their slightly more hopeful latest, “Sujo,” flips the focus to trace how young men from small, impoverished towns are trapped by the inescapable cycles of violence and become ruthless perpetrators. Here, Valadez and Rondero, now officially co-writing and co-directing, extend their cinematic empathy even to those society...
While “Identifying Features” followed a mother searching for her son, a migrant victim of the horrors, their slightly more hopeful latest, “Sujo,” flips the focus to trace how young men from small, impoverished towns are trapped by the inescapable cycles of violence and become ruthless perpetrators. Here, Valadez and Rondero, now officially co-writing and co-directing, extend their cinematic empathy even to those society...
- 1/19/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? We think our most significant location was Nemesia’s house, the protagonist’s aunt. It’s the place where Sujo grows up, physically but also spiritually. We have scouted that area for years now: a rural community in the outskirts of Guanajuato, Mexico, Fernanda’s hometown. […]
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? We think our most significant location was Nemesia’s house, the protagonist’s aunt. It’s the place where Sujo grows up, physically but also spiritually. We have scouted that area for years now: a rural community in the outskirts of Guanajuato, Mexico, Fernanda’s hometown. […]
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Sujo, the Sundance 2024 World Cinema Dramatic Competition premiere directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, follows the life of a Mexican boy who is orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. Below, cinematographer Ximena Amann, who also shot Rondero’s previous film, The Darkest Days of Us, discusses the challenges and delights of working with children and shooting in a protected natural area with minimal equipment. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sujo, the Sundance 2024 World Cinema Dramatic Competition premiere directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, follows the life of a Mexican boy who is orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. Below, cinematographer Ximena Amann, who also shot Rondero’s previous film, The Darkest Days of Us, discusses the challenges and delights of working with children and shooting in a protected natural area with minimal equipment. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In Sujo, co-directed by Astrid Rondero (The Darkest Days of Us) and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features) and premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the eponymous child is left orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. The film then follows the turbulence that echoes throughout his life as he grows older. The film’s editor, Susan Korda, is best known for the Oscar-nominated For All Mankind, but she also edited Rondero’s The Darkest Days of Us and Valadez’s Identifying Features. Rondero and Valadez also worked on each other’s films, making this […]
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In Sujo, co-directed by Astrid Rondero (The Darkest Days of Us) and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features) and premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the eponymous child is left orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. The film then follows the turbulence that echoes throughout his life as he grows older. The film’s editor, Susan Korda, is best known for the Oscar-nominated For All Mankind, but she also edited Rondero’s The Darkest Days of Us and Valadez’s Identifying Features. Rondero and Valadez also worked on each other’s films, making this […]
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Ahead of its international bow in World Cinema Dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, Beverly Hills-based United Talent Agency’s Independent Film Group has pounced on domestic sales representation for the unconventional narco narrative “Sujo,” from “Identifying Features” creators Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez.
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
- 1/18/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Festival selection includes Nikolaj Arcel’s ‘The Promised Land’ and Ernst De Geer’s ‘The Hypnosis’.
Goteborg Film Festival has selected almost 250 films for its 47th edition, including recent Nordic favourites The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelsen and The Hypnosis by Ernst De Geer.
The festival, which runs from January 26 to February 4, has also programmed events including a talk between Ruben Ostlund and Cannes director Thierry Fremaux; and selected Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen to receive its Nordic Honorary Dragon award.
Scroll down for the list of festival titles
The 10 films competing in the Nordic Competition include Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land,...
Goteborg Film Festival has selected almost 250 films for its 47th edition, including recent Nordic favourites The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelsen and The Hypnosis by Ernst De Geer.
The festival, which runs from January 26 to February 4, has also programmed events including a talk between Ruben Ostlund and Cannes director Thierry Fremaux; and selected Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen to receive its Nordic Honorary Dragon award.
Scroll down for the list of festival titles
The 10 films competing in the Nordic Competition include Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Göteborg Film Festival has unveiled the competition titles selected for its 47th edition, which runs from January 26 to February 4. (Scroll down for the full list).
Göteborg is split into four competition strands. The main strand is the Nordic Competition, which features nine films from the Nordic region. The competition’s winner takes home the Dragon Award and a Sek 400,000 cash prize. The rest of the festival comprises the Nordic Documentary Competition, the Ingmar Bergman Competition for first-time filmmakers, and the International Competition.
Among the Nordic highlights is Madame Luna, Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa’s return to Nordic filmmaking following a series of Hollywood titles such as Morbius and Safe House. Inspired by real-life events, the film follows an Eritrean refugee who gets stuck in Libya and becomes a notorious human trafficker known as “Mama Luna” with deep ties to the Italian Mafia. When she is forced to flee to...
Göteborg is split into four competition strands. The main strand is the Nordic Competition, which features nine films from the Nordic region. The competition’s winner takes home the Dragon Award and a Sek 400,000 cash prize. The rest of the festival comprises the Nordic Documentary Competition, the Ingmar Bergman Competition for first-time filmmakers, and the International Competition.
Among the Nordic highlights is Madame Luna, Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa’s return to Nordic filmmaking following a series of Hollywood titles such as Morbius and Safe House. Inspired by real-life events, the film follows an Eritrean refugee who gets stuck in Libya and becomes a notorious human trafficker known as “Mama Luna” with deep ties to the Italian Mafia. When she is forced to flee to...
- 1/9/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Girls Will Be Girls To Premiere At Sundance Film Festival 2024: Here’s Everything You Should Know About Chadha & Ali Fazal’s Debut Production! ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Shivani Negi
- KoiMoi
Exclusive: Carmen Jaquier and Mohamed Kordofani, a pair of fast-rising international filmmakers whose respective films Thunder and Goodbye Julia have both recently been submitted for International Feature Oscar consideration, have signed with Jewerl Ross at Silent R Management.
Representing Switzerland is Jaquier, whose first solo feature world premiered at TIFF last year. Pic is set in 1900 and stars Lilith Grasmug as Elisabeth, a 17-year-old girl on the cusp of taking vows to become a nun, whose life is set on another course following the sudden death of her older sister. She returns to her family after five years in the convent to help on their farm in a mountain village. The mysteries surrounding her sister’s death prompt her to fight for her right to self-determination and to rebel against the strict expectations of the village community.
Thunder scored a sustained standing ovation at its European premiere in San Sebastian...
Representing Switzerland is Jaquier, whose first solo feature world premiered at TIFF last year. Pic is set in 1900 and stars Lilith Grasmug as Elisabeth, a 17-year-old girl on the cusp of taking vows to become a nun, whose life is set on another course following the sudden death of her older sister. She returns to her family after five years in the convent to help on their farm in a mountain village. The mysteries surrounding her sister’s death prompt her to fight for her right to self-determination and to rebel against the strict expectations of the village community.
Thunder scored a sustained standing ovation at its European premiere in San Sebastian...
- 9/28/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Alpha Violet founding co-heads Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato are at the Venice Film Festival this year with Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak’s first film Autobiography, which plays in Horizons ahead of trips to Toronto and London among other festivals.
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
- 9/2/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
For many working in the film industry, winning an Oscar marks the pinnacle of a Hollywood career, the end goal, the most major of major achievements. And while this year’s Academy Awards brings back many stalwart nominee regulars, the most exciting thing about the 2022 pool is the number of rising stars and emerging talents.
As the Oscars 2022 telecast strives to bring in a wider audience, its brightest new stars — some celebrating their first nominations, others enjoying renewed attention or simply a part of the year’s best films — make it clear that the future of Hollywood is shaping up to be fresh and new indeed.
As we inch ever-closer to the big night on March 27, let’s celebrate its breakouts right now.
The “Coda” Cast and Crew
“Coda” star Marlee Matlin has no need to break out. The iconic actress/activist has already knocked down plenty of Hollywood barriers,...
As the Oscars 2022 telecast strives to bring in a wider audience, its brightest new stars — some celebrating their first nominations, others enjoying renewed attention or simply a part of the year’s best films — make it clear that the future of Hollywood is shaping up to be fresh and new indeed.
As we inch ever-closer to the big night on March 27, let’s celebrate its breakouts right now.
The “Coda” Cast and Crew
“Coda” star Marlee Matlin has no need to break out. The iconic actress/activist has already knocked down plenty of Hollywood barriers,...
- 3/17/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Ballad of a White Cow (Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam)
The cruelty of the Iranian justice system is in the spotlight again in Ballad of a White Cow, the compelling debut of directing team Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam that unfurled in competition at Berlin. Just last year, Mohamad Rasoulof won the festival’s top prize for his anti-capital punishment polemic There Is No Evil, a masterful weaving of four storylines that showed how a morally bankrupt state corrodes those forced to carry out its functions, a searing portrait of the banality of evil. – Ed F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Bigbug (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Bigbug is set in the year 2045 and centers on a group of mismatched suburbanites who,...
Ballad of a White Cow (Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam)
The cruelty of the Iranian justice system is in the spotlight again in Ballad of a White Cow, the compelling debut of directing team Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam that unfurled in competition at Berlin. Just last year, Mohamad Rasoulof won the festival’s top prize for his anti-capital punishment polemic There Is No Evil, a masterful weaving of four storylines that showed how a morally bankrupt state corrodes those forced to carry out its functions, a searing portrait of the banality of evil. – Ed F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Bigbug (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Bigbug is set in the year 2045 and centers on a group of mismatched suburbanites who,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Though we aim to discuss a wide breadth of films each year, few things give us more pleasure than the arrival of bold, new voices. It’s why we venture to festivals and pore over a variety of different features that might bring to light some emerging talent. This year was an especially notable time for new directors making their stamp, and we’re highlighting the handful of 2021 debuts that most impressed us.
Below one can check out a list spanning a variety of different genres, and many are available to stream here. In years to come, take note as these helmers (hopefully) ascend.
Azor (Andreas Fontana)
An almost suffocating air of secrecy permeates Azor, a Swiss-Argentinean coproduction concerning the mutual suspicion and damnable complicity of patrician North Atlantic capitalism and repressive regimes in the postcolonial Global South. The year is 1980, and a private banker from Geneva circulates among the Buenos Aires elite.
Below one can check out a list spanning a variety of different genres, and many are available to stream here. In years to come, take note as these helmers (hopefully) ascend.
Azor (Andreas Fontana)
An almost suffocating air of secrecy permeates Azor, a Swiss-Argentinean coproduction concerning the mutual suspicion and damnable complicity of patrician North Atlantic capitalism and repressive regimes in the postcolonial Global South. The year is 1980, and a private banker from Geneva circulates among the Buenos Aires elite.
- 12/13/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Condor Entertainment acquires French rights
Paris-based Alpha Violet has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Bolivia and Uruguay to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s anticipated Utama and will show footage at the virtual Cannes market next month.
The sales agent has licensed French rights on the Bolivia/Uruguay drama to Condor Distribution, whose slate includes Quo Vadis, Aida?, and First Cow. Buyers have been tracking the Alma Films production since it won three key awards at Films In Progress 39 in Toulouse earlier this year.
Currently in post, Utama is expected to land prestige festival slots this year and is set against...
Paris-based Alpha Violet has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Bolivia and Uruguay to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s anticipated Utama and will show footage at the virtual Cannes market next month.
The sales agent has licensed French rights on the Bolivia/Uruguay drama to Condor Distribution, whose slate includes Quo Vadis, Aida?, and First Cow. Buyers have been tracking the Alma Films production since it won three key awards at Films In Progress 39 in Toulouse earlier this year.
Currently in post, Utama is expected to land prestige festival slots this year and is set against...
- 5/19/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
First-time director Fernanda Valadez conjures up a vision of real evil in her story of the terrors faced by migrants into the US
There is unbearable heartbreak in this migrant drama from first-time Mexican film-maker Fernanda Valadez – and also a vision of real evil. At times, it looks something like social-realist folk horror. Mercedes Hernández plays Magdalena, a middle-aged woman from Guanajuato in central Mexico whose teenage son Jesús left home three years before, with a friend, on a bus bound for the border, where he’d hoped to take his chances on disappearing into the US as an illegal. But the body of Jesús’s friend has been found on Mexican territory, in an unspeakably grim holding area where the corpses of teen runaways are routinely kept in container boxes awaiting identification – though there is still no proof that Jesús himself is dead.
There is unbearable heartbreak in this migrant drama from first-time Mexican film-maker Fernanda Valadez – and also a vision of real evil. At times, it looks something like social-realist folk horror. Mercedes Hernández plays Magdalena, a middle-aged woman from Guanajuato in central Mexico whose teenage son Jesús left home three years before, with a friend, on a bus bound for the border, where he’d hoped to take his chances on disappearing into the US as an illegal. But the body of Jesús’s friend has been found on Mexican territory, in an unspeakably grim holding area where the corpses of teen runaways are routinely kept in container boxes awaiting identification – though there is still no proof that Jesús himself is dead.
- 4/27/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
New Indie
When I’m once again free to move about the cabin and see movies in theaters again, I hope I get the chance to give the hilarious “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar” (Lionsgate) a second look with a rowdy and engaged audience. In the meantime, this new Blu-ray offers this comic gem for those who missed out during its streaming debut, along with plenty of extras, including deleted scenes, a fashion show, and a commentary track featuring director Josh Greenbaum and co-writers and co-stars Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig.
Also available: The provocative “Test Pattern” (Kino Lorber) mixes horror, social drama, and the zeitgeist, as a couple in search of a rape kit that hits one roadblock after another; frustrated filmmaker Gillian (played by writer-director Gillian Wallace Horvat) puts aside her documentary dreams in favor of committing the perfect murder in the dark satire “I Blame Society...
When I’m once again free to move about the cabin and see movies in theaters again, I hope I get the chance to give the hilarious “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar” (Lionsgate) a second look with a rowdy and engaged audience. In the meantime, this new Blu-ray offers this comic gem for those who missed out during its streaming debut, along with plenty of extras, including deleted scenes, a fashion show, and a commentary track featuring director Josh Greenbaum and co-writers and co-stars Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig.
Also available: The provocative “Test Pattern” (Kino Lorber) mixes horror, social drama, and the zeitgeist, as a couple in search of a rape kit that hits one roadblock after another; frustrated filmmaker Gillian (played by writer-director Gillian Wallace Horvat) puts aside her documentary dreams in favor of committing the perfect murder in the dark satire “I Blame Society...
- 4/2/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
New hire brings close to 20 years of experience in arthouse film.
Clemence Taillandier has joined Kino Lorber as director of theatrical sales after working for the past year as a virtual cinema consultant and theatrical booker.
Taillandier brings close to 20 years of experience in arthouse film distribution and audience development, booking and promotion, and has worked in theatrical sales and bookings for boutique distributors such as Zeitgeist Films, Film Movement, Music Box Films, and Good Deed Entertainment.
She reports to Kino Lorber senior VP theatrical, non-theatrical distribution and acquisitions Wendy Lidell.
Taillandier’s recent role in virtual cinema consultancy dovetails...
Clemence Taillandier has joined Kino Lorber as director of theatrical sales after working for the past year as a virtual cinema consultant and theatrical booker.
Taillandier brings close to 20 years of experience in arthouse film distribution and audience development, booking and promotion, and has worked in theatrical sales and bookings for boutique distributors such as Zeitgeist Films, Film Movement, Music Box Films, and Good Deed Entertainment.
She reports to Kino Lorber senior VP theatrical, non-theatrical distribution and acquisitions Wendy Lidell.
Taillandier’s recent role in virtual cinema consultancy dovetails...
- 3/11/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Following in the footsteps of last year’s Boys State, Maisie Crow’s At the Ready is another documentary about an education program in Texas that pushes young people toward conservative ideology. It’ll make you just as worried for the next generation of Americans as Boys State did, although unfortunately this rather standard doc isn’t nearly as compelling or insightful.
Crow documents a group of high school seniors at El Paso’s Horizon High School as they take a law enforcement education class, which essentially trains them up to be police officers, and in some cases, work in border patrol. It was interesting to see the film just weeks after watching Fernanda Valadez’s brilliant Identifying Features, which deals with the harrowing dangers that await Mexicans trying to cross the US/Mexico border. Notably, the majority of Crow’s subjects are Mexican immigrants or the children of immigrants.
Crow documents a group of high school seniors at El Paso’s Horizon High School as they take a law enforcement education class, which essentially trains them up to be police officers, and in some cases, work in border patrol. It was interesting to see the film just weeks after watching Fernanda Valadez’s brilliant Identifying Features, which deals with the harrowing dangers that await Mexicans trying to cross the US/Mexico border. Notably, the majority of Crow’s subjects are Mexican immigrants or the children of immigrants.
- 1/31/2021
- by Orla Smith
- The Film Stage
With the Sundance Film Festival less than a week away (and available to anyone in the U.S. willing to buy tickets to a Covid-safe 2021 virtual edition), late January sees more streaming options than virtually any week since the pandemic began. That doesn’t necessarily mean big movies for home viewers, but at least it offers a raft of new options.
For those seeking diversion with familiar faces, genre movies such as “Brothers by Blood” (featuring Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman), “No Man’s Land” (with George Lopez) and “Born a Champion” (starring Sean Patrick Flanery). Jason Segel plays a family friend who helps a couple (played by Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson) through the ugliness of cancer in “Our Friend,” based on a true story. If that sounds too serious, try “Psycho Goreman,” in which resourceful low-budget horror director Steven Kostanski makes a deliberately schlocky family film.
On the foreign language front,...
For those seeking diversion with familiar faces, genre movies such as “Brothers by Blood” (featuring Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman), “No Man’s Land” (with George Lopez) and “Born a Champion” (starring Sean Patrick Flanery). Jason Segel plays a family friend who helps a couple (played by Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson) through the ugliness of cancer in “Our Friend,” based on a true story. If that sounds too serious, try “Psycho Goreman,” in which resourceful low-budget horror director Steven Kostanski makes a deliberately schlocky family film.
On the foreign language front,...
- 1/22/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
If you are looking to stir emotions and grab some tissues this weekend Our Friend has got you covered.
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
- 1/22/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Atlantis (Valentyn Vasyanovych)
In Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-apocalyptic Atlantis, the sky above Ukraine hangs like a sheet of steel, a uniform mass of clouds bucketing water onto the mud-covered wasteland down below. The year is 2025, and the country has just emerged victorious–if shattered–from a war with Russia. It’s a conflict all too steeped in the decade’s real-life skirmishes between Ukraine and its neighbor to come across as strictly fictional, and that’s the thing that makes Atlantis so disturbing. It’d be tempting to call Vasyanovych’s a dystopia, were it not for that fact that, all through its 108 minutes, everything about it feels almost...
Atlantis (Valentyn Vasyanovych)
In Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-apocalyptic Atlantis, the sky above Ukraine hangs like a sheet of steel, a uniform mass of clouds bucketing water onto the mud-covered wasteland down below. The year is 2025, and the country has just emerged victorious–if shattered–from a war with Russia. It’s a conflict all too steeped in the decade’s real-life skirmishes between Ukraine and its neighbor to come across as strictly fictional, and that’s the thing that makes Atlantis so disturbing. It’d be tempting to call Vasyanovych’s a dystopia, were it not for that fact that, all through its 108 minutes, everything about it feels almost...
- 1/22/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A week after Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela) announces his immigration dreams to his mother Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) — a simple plan, consisting of alighting to Arizona with his best friend Rigo (Armando García), getting a job, and not much else — the young Mexican teenager is gone. Months later, the boys have yet to announce their arrival in the United States, nor have they returned to the landlocked state of Guanajuato. They, like so many before and likely after them, have simply gone missing, and in a country where such a tragedy is all too common, it falls on the people they’ve left behind to figure out what has happened to their beloved boys.
Fernanda Valadez’s feature directorial debut “Identifying Features” takes that seemingly tear-jerking concept — one beset by knotty bureaucratic issues, painful language barriers, and the sense of further danger around every bend — and turns it into an artfully...
Fernanda Valadez’s feature directorial debut “Identifying Features” takes that seemingly tear-jerking concept — one beset by knotty bureaucratic issues, painful language barriers, and the sense of further danger around every bend — and turns it into an artfully...
- 1/21/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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