Pete Ohs: Last News

As Hollywood finds its footing in a post-strike world, indies like The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick are shattering the industry’s arbitrary rules of filmmaking.

Although LGBTQ representation was few and far in between among the headliners at this year’s SXSW, several indie darlings broke the industry’s cis-heteronormative mold to stand out.

Carlos Aguilar Hand-labeled VHS tapes line the shelves of the living room where Conor Marsh (Albert Birney), a 36-year-old man living alone with his dog Sandy in 1987 Baltimore, spends many hours watching late-night horror movies and broadcast programs he’s recorded on a setup composed of three stacked CTR TV sets. This analog library of thrilling fictions and ephemeral images preserved on tape is part of the bevy of references in “Obex,” a miniature epic of melancholic whimsy endearingly conceived in black-and-white with a lo-fi aesthetic. This ingenious fantasy about the perils of finding comfort in screens while avoiding flesh-and-blood connections is the product of the close artistic partnership between Birney — who wrote, directed, edited and stars — and Pete Ohs, credited as the cinematographer, co-writer and co-editor.

Lauren Coates Magnify has acquired the international and U.S. sales rights to “Obex” ahead of its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by and starring “Sylvio” and “Strawberry Mansion” filmmaker Albert Birney, “Obex” is a black and white fantasy film that marks Birney’s first live-action directorial effort.

Charli XCX has filmed a movie in secret in Warsaw at the height of ‘Brat’ summer – find out more below.Earlier this August – two months after the release of ‘Brat’ – Charli XCX flew to Warsaw, Poland to film a movie in secret as the world was celebrating her latest album. Now, the film’s director Pete Ohs and actor Jeremy O.

Angelique Jackson As ‘Brat’ summer raged, Charli XCX snuck away to Poland for a couple weeks in August to make a secret movie with playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris and filmmaker Pete Ohs. The film’s title “ERUPCJA” is the Polish word for “eruption” and refers to, of course, the type of violent explosion of molten rock that comes from a volcano, but also any sudden release of pressure or tension.

Christopher Vourlias The first time he made the trip to Europe to take part in U.S. in Progress, an event dedicated to independent American filmmaking launched by Poland’s American Film Festival in 2011, L.A.-based director Pete Ohs admits he was “very green.” “It was my first narrative feature…[and I was] very much getting into this world of independent filmmaking,” Ohs tells Variety. U.S. in Progress, which this year takes place Nov. 9 – 11 in Wrocław, Poland, presents a selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. The event is often a crash course in the European market for directors like Ohs, who participated in 2016 with “Everything Beautiful Is Far Away.” For many it’s the first time that they’re exposed to film industry professionals on the continent, offering insight into an ecosystem of financing, production and distribution that’s a world apart from how independent movies are made and sold in the U.S.

Christopher Vourlias Building a bridge between American independent filmmakers and the European market is the goal of U.S. in Progress, which is hosted each year during the American Film Festival (AFF) in Wrocław, Poland. The event presents a carefully curated selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to sales agents, distributors and festival programmers. This year’s edition takes place Nov. 9 – 11. Along with offering a showcase of those films for European buyers, U.S. in Progress each year invites leading Polish post-production companies to the event, with Fixafilm, Orka Studio, Black Photon, XANF and Soundflower Studio this year each offering a $10,000 in-kind award. That’s alongside a newly added $50,000 cash award being handed out by the Polish Film Institute, to be spent by the winning filmmaker on post-production, image, sound and/or VFX in Poland.

Naman Ramachandran American narrative feature projects in rough or final cut seeking finishing funds are now invited to submit to the 2022 edition of U.S. in Progress, which takes place Nov. 9-11 during the 13th American Film Festival (Nov.8-13) in Wroclaw, Poland.