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RaMell Ross (left), director and co-writer of the upcoming Nickel Boys, accepts the Alumni of Distinction Award; Gina Duncan (President of BAM) accepts the Cultural Impact Honor.
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On Wednesday at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, The Gotham announced the winners of the inaugural Gotham Week Honors.
Winning the U.S. Features in Development honor was Here for the Weekend, written and directed by Jane Casey Modderno. The raunchy rom-com follows three transgender best friends chasing love, success, and connection in Palm Springs, while trying desperately to keep their found-family together.
Winning the U.S. Shorts to Features honor was Thirstygirl, written and directed by Alexandra Qin, which follows two sisters on a road trip from New York to a rehab in Kentucky after one of them relapses.
The winner of the Spotlight on Documentaries honor was Matininó, directed by Gabriela Díaz Arp, a powerful portrayal of the Villanueva family, a multi-generational family of Puerto Rican women transforming their experience of violence into a fantasy film.
The winner of the Global Producer of The Year honor was Sophie Luo, producer of Valley of the Tall Grass, which sees a trashed TV/VCR combo set that survives and circulates through the lives of various Indigenous characters in an Oregon town.
The Gotham Week Honors also celebrated Gina Duncan, President of BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), with the first-ever Gotham Week Cultural Impact Honor and filmmakers RaMell Ross and Sean Wang with the Alumni of Distinction Awards.
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RaMell Ross (left), director and co-writer of the upcoming Nickel Boys, accepts the Alumni of Distinction Award; Gina Duncan (President of BAM) accepts the Cultural Impact Honor.
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“Thou Shalt Not Steal,” an upcoming Australian series that premiered three of its eight episodes at the Toronto International Film Festival, is an entertaining road trip that cleverly tells an Aboriginal tale through use of humor and dozens of instantly recognizable Australia stereotypes. It is packaged as eight half-hour episodes that will upload to Australian […]
The Hoover family embarks on an eventful road trip to California for a junior beauty pageant in “Little Miss Sunshine.”
By Lucy Spicer
Summer is always a good time for film lovers, and Sundance’s history of July theatrical releases shows that it’s a great time for fans of indie film. Want some proof? We’ve selected five titles from the Sundance Film Festival annals, all released during the month of July, that may just inspire your next movie night. In fact, two of the films listed below — Little Miss Sunshine and Boyhood — were recently voted among the top 10 favorite Festival titles by the Sundance community.
Joining them are a meta satire revolving around an indie film set, a documentary following a blues legend’s foray into throat singing, and a screwball rom-com featuring Kyle MacLachlan as the ghost of Cary Grant.
Living in Oblivion (1995) — After screening his feature debut, Johnny Suede, at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, writer-director Tom DiCillo returned to Sundance with Living in Oblivion, a darkly comic satire about the challenges that accompany independent filmmaking. Divided into three parts, Living in Oblivion depicts a chaotic film set helmed by director Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi), who is desperately trying to hold production together while juggling a neurotic leading lady (Catherine Keener), an egomaniacal leading man (James LeGros), and a pretentious cinematographer (Dermot Mulroney) among other issues. DiCillo’s screenplay for Living in Oblivion won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
Genghis Blues (1999) — Renowned blind blues musician Paul Pena spent a decade teaching himself the art of Tuvan throat singing after hearing a broadcast about it on the radio. Director Roko Belic’s documentary follows Pena as he travels to Tuva to participate in a throat singing festival there after impressing Kongar-ol Ondar, a master of the craft, with an impromptu performance when the Tuvan singer was giving a stateside concert. Genghis Blues premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award: Documentary. Check here for viewing options.
Touch of Pink (2004) — In writer-director Ian Iqbal Rashid’s rom-com, Alim (Jimi Mistry) is a Kenyan-born Canadian who has moved to London to escape his family’s conservative Muslim values so that he can embrace his true identity as a gay man. His life is disrupted when his mother, Nuru (Suleka Mathew), announces an unexpected visit, complete with plans to find Alim a girlfriend. Alim is forced to play it straight, but at least he’s got some help — his imaginary friend happens to be the ghost of Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan). Touch of Pink is Rashid’s feature debut and premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) — Directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris spent 20 years directing music videos together before embarking on their first feature, which would prove to be so influential for the in
It’s time to spotlight all of the wonderful things our #ASFFAlumni have been getting up to! Here are all of the headlines, from Duncan Cowles’ Feature-Length Debut to Stacha Hicks’ film festival win.
Duncan Cowles Premiered
Feature-Length Debut at DocFest
Silent Men is award-winning ASFF alumnus Duncan Cowles’ first full length documentary and audiences had the opportunity to watch it for the first time at DocFest! Part therapy, part road trip, the movie follows a deadpan filmmaker who asks men how they show their emotions as he confront his own struggles with opening up.
Read our Interview
Guardian Documentaries Picked
up 2023’s Listening Pitch Winner
Megan McDonough’s powerful documentary Old Lesbians joins the list of remarkable projects that have been picked up by Guardian Documentaries after winning the incredible £20,000 Aesthetica x Audible film grant. Head over to their website to watch this powerful short about reclaiming queerness and old age.
Watch the Film
Stacha Hicks Took Home
the Prize for Best Film at CBFF
Stacha Hick’s _ELICIT_ screened at Aesthetica last year. It’s a “story for the isolated, the aging and the cruciverbalists” that follows the budding romance between a librarian and a crossword maker. We were thrilled to hear that this incredible project won the main prize at this year’s Carmarthen Bay Film Festival.
Meet the Director
Yasmin Afifi Takes Her
BAFTA-Winning Film to the USA
Jellyfish & Lobster screened at last year’s festival and went on to achieve massive success – including winning the BAFTA for Best British Short Film in 2024! Now, Californian audiences will get to watch this touching story of mischief and magic at the Oscar-Qualifying Palm Springs International ShortFest.
Read our Interview
Jessi Gutch is Elected to
First-Ever DFC Board of Trustees
Members of the Documentary Film Council (DFC) have elected eight representatives and we are delighted to see that Jessi Gutch is on the board! The filmmaker has won many awards at ASFF, from the Listening Pitch grant with Blind as a Beat in 2022 to the Best of Fest Prize in the following year with Until the Tide Creeps in.
Read our Interview
Submit Your Game to be Part of #ASFF2024!
The post June: Exciting News from #ASFFAlumn
Quiver Distribution Takes North American Rights
on Terrifying New Horror Film,
DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS (fka Blue Light),
From Acclaimed Director Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain, The Game Plan, Heathers: The Musical, She’s The Man)
Fans of horror movies can brace themselves for a spine-chilling new film that is set to amaze audiences with a unique take on a trusted genre based on true and terrifying unexplained events, and a new hardcore ARG site, designed by the creator of “The Tinman,” where fans can put themselves in the movie.
Could sit alongside Bodies, Bodies, Bodies and Talk to Me
– The Hollywood News
Pulls off some brilliantly effective scare moments
– The Hollywood News
Plays a game with viewers and characters alike
– Projected Figures
CANNES (May 17, 2024) – Quiver Distribution acquires North American rights on Film Mode Entertainment’s spine-chilling horror film based on true and terrifying unexplained events, DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS (fka BLUE LIGHT), directed by the acclaimed Andy Fickman, who has grossed nearly $1B at the worldwide box office and has had a storied career with hits like Race to Witch Mountain, Parental Guidance, The Game Plan, Heathers: The Musical and She’s The Man. The deal was negotiated between Clay Epstein of Film Mode Entertainment and Larry Greenberg of Quiver Distribution.
“We’re excited to be working with our good friends at Quiver on Don’t Turn Out The Lights,” said Clay Epstein, President of Film Mode Entertainment. “They are a fantastic group of individuals who can always be relied upon to do an amazing job.”
“It’s hard to believe that Don’t Turn Out the Lights is inspired by a real-life encounter, but we are glad that Andy Fickman made it out in one piece to be able to tell this chilling story,” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman. “Being able to partner up again with Clay and the team at Film Mode on another film is an added benefit.”
The ensemble cast includes Bella DeLong (The Winchesters, Wuthering Heights, Twelfth Night with the Montana Shakespeare Company), Amber Janea (Lifetime’s A Predator Returns), Daryl Tofa (Two-Bit in The Outsiders on Broadway), Ana Zambrana (La Traición en la Amistad), Crystal Lake Evans (Starz’s Hightown), Jarrett Brown (Netflix’s Colin in Black and White), John Bucy (CBS/Paramount’s Frasier Reboot), and Finley Rose Slater (Days of Their Lives, The Idol) who worked previously with Fickman on Playing with Fire.
DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS is a horror film based on true and terrifying unexplained events. The film follows a group of friends on a road trip who soon realize something terrifying and unworldly is threatening their lives.
Producers include Andy Fickman (Anaconda), Todd Slater (King of Killers), Grant Sla
Multi award-winning documentarian Duncan Cowles will premiere his first feature-length project at Sheffield DocFest this summer. The film is called Silent Men and it explores the stigma and taboo surrounding male mental health in the UK. It’s a project that digs deep into our notions of masculinity and how such societal pressures hold men back from opening up about their emotions. What are the consequences of keeping them bottled up? And how does it feel to express these long-suppressed feelings and receive support? Today, Duncan explores how these questions – paired with his own desire to get better at being vulnerable – served as the starting point for this documentary. Read on to learn more about his experience doing group therapy at a men’s retreat; what he wants to achieve with Silent Men as well as the personal significance of making his short Outlets (2023), which won the prize for Best Editing at ASFF 2023.
ASFF: It’s exciting to hear that Silent Men, your first feature-length film, is set to premier at DocFest this summer! Could you give us an introduction to the film?
DC: Silent Men is a (hopefully moving and entertaining) journey through male mental health. It’s part road trip, part therapy as I travel across primarily Northern parts of the UK and ask men how they deal with their emotions. I think it explores aspects of masculinity that are often little discussed in an open and honest way. The film is underpinned by my deep personal motivation to get better at opening up to my family and loved ones since it’s something I’ve always struggled with and could feel myself getting worse at as I aged. So, we also see my own personal journey as the narrative of making the film itself plays out on screen.
ASFF: What sparked the idea for this project?
DC: I think a deep frustration and worry about my own uselessness at being able to open up and show my feelings to loved ones. Around the time that the idea came about (2016-ish), there was a bit of a surge of male mental health stuff in the UK. Lots of statistics were being flagged about men and mental health. For example, research shows that avoiding or hiding your emotions can be linked to dark outcomes, such as suicide, and that suicide was the biggest killer of men under the age of 50.
Around that time, I also became aware of how many people in my own life – or who I knew in some way – had battled with these things, and had also struggled with the same issues surrounding opening up. It frightened me just how bad the statistics with men were in the UK – and so I decided to do a film about it.
ASFF: Male mental health is at the heart of this documentary. How do you approach this topic?
DC: I think the stats and themes around male mental health are very uncomfortable for people to talk about. With that in mind, I was keen to make a film that felt accessible. I wanted it to contain a lot of humour in addition to the more serious moments. So, from the get-go I wanted this film to feel fun and like something you’d actually want to watch, rather than some doom-and-gloom documentary about mental health. That way, hopefully more people will see it and it will potentially make more of an impact.
ASFF: Could you share with us some of the themes that came up after interviewing men on this road trip? What are your reflections on the experience?
DC:
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