Film Festival: Last News

Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North African rights for documentary Hollywoodgate, capturing Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal in August 21.

Overall Rating for this Program: ★★★★☆, CRITIC’S PICKThis year’s “Transitions” program kicks off with a sweet, honest portrayal of young love in Daisy Friedman’s As You Are (★★★☆☆).Millie and Piper, an inter-abled lesbian couple played by Bri Scalesse and Estefanía Giraldo, navigate their expectations around spending the night together for the first time and must reckon with their own sexuality and vulnerability as so many couples do.Although the two have an early moment of tension around Millie’s use of a wheelchair, that tension reveals itself to be about a deeper insecurity on Piper’s part. In this way, Friedman takes a refreshing approach to depicting disability on film, making sure it is present and acknowledged, but taking care to tell a three-dimensional love story around it, too.Honey & Milk (★★★☆☆) drops us into the end of a mature relationship, following the story of a couple who has decided to end their partnership and must dismantle their lives.We are dropped into the final weekend of the relationship between Grayson, who has begun to transition, and Alice, who loves and supports her partner but struggles to grieve the impending loss.While there is little in the way of narrative payoff and the short seems uncertain of exactly what it wants to build towards, the chemistry between the two is believable, it nevertheless stands as a beautifully shot portrait of a love that outlasts a relationship that must end so one half can be free to thrive.The program takes a heartrending turn with Our Males & Females (★★★★☆), a brief, deeply affecting short from Jordan.

Naman Ramachandran Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical rights for Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour‘s feature documentary “Call Me Dancer.” The deal was revealed on the sidelines of TIFFCOM, the film market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The film follows Manish Chauhan, a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai who struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path.

Follow the Protocol, set during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Brazilian filmmaker, who writes, directs, and stars as protagonist Francisco, opens on a familiar pandemic scene: the mind-numbing nothingness of being stuck indoors.

Follow the Protocol, set during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Brazilian filmmaker, who writes, directs, and stars as protagonist Francisco, opens on a familiar pandemic scene: the mind-numbing nothingness of being stuck indoors.

Reel Affirmations features three days of live screenings, from Friday, Oct. 21 to Sunday, Oct. 22, at the centrally-located Eaton Hotel‘s intimate, state-of-the-art screening facility.The festival will continue on Monday, Oct.

An attempt at a Kramer vs. Kramer-style custody battle through the lens of a gay marriage, Our Son (★★☆☆☆) offers an interesting premise and a semi-notable cast, but not much more.The biggest obstacle is a script that more often than not sounds like a 1980s soap opera.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Vying for the top Gold Shell at the 70th San Sebastian Film Festival, Basque native Mikel Gurrea’s debut feature “Suro” stems from Gurrea’s experience working in the cork forests north of Catalonia. He had just finished his studies and was at a loss when his then girlfriend’s parents suggested he work in the forests where they stripped cork from the trees. “I discovered a fascinating world that stayed with me; the work is tough but you’re in the middle of nature,” he said. “It was also a good workout!” he added. “Suro” revolves around a young couple, Helena and Ivan, who decide to leave Barcelona and start anew on the land that Helena has inherited. Ivan takes it upon himself to join the workers and learn how to strip the bark from the cork trees that now belong to them. But their contrasting viewpoints will jeopardize their future as a couple, the film broadening its sweep to examine modern-day capitalism and the rights to private property.

Diane Garrett On Friday, during the 18th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, organizers unveiled a Diane Weyermann Fellowship at Points North Institute.Weyermann, the former chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s documentary film program, died last October of cancer.

EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed writer-director and multidisciplinary artist Ja’Tovia Gary for representation in film and TV.

Caer, an innovative and illuminating semi-documentary about trans Latin women in present-day New York, particularly those willingly employed as sex workers.On the flipside of that is Framing Agnes, the latest from director Chase Joynt, which is just now starting to hit the festival circuit after its recent Sundance debut.The film features an all-star cast including Angelica Ross (Pose), Jen Richards (Disclosure), Zackary Drucker (Transparent), and Silas Howard (Tales of the City), helping to shed light on a little-known slice of real-life and scientific research, specifically the story of a pioneering transgender woman who participated in gender health research at UCLA in the 1960s.Also on tap is a special retrospective screening of By Hook or By Crook, the landmark trans buddy film from 2001 directed by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard. All screenings will be offered with subtitles or captions to maximize accessibility.Streaming starts on Thursday, May 5.