“Nature will always win in the end,” notes Native American environmental activist Betty Osceola, one of several intriguing characters, human and not, that star in River of Grass, Sasha Wortzel’s highly personal love letter to a region both she and the Miccosukee tribal member call home. In fact, Osceola, a fiery grandmother, has dedicated her entire life to protecting her family — the Everglades itself. (Another thoughtful protagonist, a Miccosukee environmentalist and poet, likewise refers to his tropical surroundings as relatives, adding that “Chosen family is a survival strategy.”) As the strong-willed Osceola sees it, the question is really, “Do […]

The post “An Invitation to Connect More Deeply with Our Environment, Ourselves, and Our Collective Power”: Sasha Wortzel on Her Hot Docs-Premiering River of Grass first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The Native Lab, the signature initiative of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, kicks off in person today through May 3 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Directors Lab, a core component of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, returns for its 45th year from June 1–16 in Estes Park, Colorado. Fellows will then participate in the Screenwriters Lab held online from June 24–27. Sundance Institute’s signature labs offer filmmakers a nurturing, immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors. This year’s Native Lab supports four fellows and two artists-in-residence. The Directors Lab […]

The post Sundance Institute Announces 2025 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs Fellows first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The Popcorn List has released its second annual survey of recommended feature films. From the press release: The Popcorn List (TPL), an annual survey of acclaimed feature films returns for its second year with 19 film recommendations. TPL was founded in 2024 as a discovery and visibility initiative to amplify independent films that deserve to be seen more widely, highlight the discovery nature of film festivals and the craft of film curation, and respect audiences’ desire for story-driven movies. The result is an open-source database of acclaimed  films without U.S. distribution (theatrical, VOD, self-distributed), as recommended by festival programmers across […]

The post The Popcorn List Releases Second Annual Survey of 19 Recommended Feature Films first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

In 2002, a George W. Bush aide coined the phrase “reality-based community”—a label meant pejoratively, anticipating the present belligerent moment. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” that (still!) anonymous official ranted. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” This psychotic assertion is paraphrased—nearly word-for-word, surely inadvertently—by the […]

The post Visions du Réel 2025: Choose Your Illusion first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Even before its smashing opening weekend theatrical success, Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s first original directorial outing since his 2013 indie hit Fruitvale Station, was knocking loud on the box office doors. Early reviews praised the film’s unique genre-bending vision, weaving vampire lore and Irish songs into a 1932-set horror-musical dramatic thriller about identical Black twin brothers leaving behind their Chicago gangster lives to return to their sharecropper roots in the Mississippi Delta and start their own juke joint—that is, before the vampires come a-seducing. Before that, Smoke and Stack, twins played by Michael B. Jordan in a bravura dual performance, throw […]

The post “We Literally Burned Our Actual Set”: Writer-Director Ryan Coogler and Producers Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian on Sinners first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Back in 2008, Isaiah Saxon and his collaborators—Daren Rabinovitch and Sean Hellfritsch—appeared on Filmmaker’s annual 25 New Faces of Film list based on the strength of their impressive work on indie rock music videos. Saxon himself had a direct hand in helming iconic filmic accompaniments for Björk’s “Wanderlust,” Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” and Panda Bear’s “Boys Latin.” All three narratives hinge on an intensely surreal collision of human and natural forces—utilizing puppetry, animation, stop-motion and special effects—endearingly lo-fi yet intensely meticulous in its execution.  The same can be said of The Legend of Ochi, Saxon’s feature debut. Produced by A24 after […]

The post “Me and My Friends and a Bunch of Romanians”: Isaiah Saxon on The Legend of Ochi first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Adeel Akhtar is a versatile British actor known for his powerful performances across film, television, and theatre. He gained widespread acclaim for his BAFTA-winning role in the BBC drama Murdered by My Father, and won another one, a few years later, for Sherwood. His other credits in front of the camera include Four Lions, The Big Sick, Enola Holmes, Utopia, and Sweet Tooth. On stage, Akhtar has appeared in productions at the National Theatre and the Royal Court. Currently he wows audiences as Lopakhin in a new production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. On […]

The post “That’s the Beauty of Theater, It Parallels Your Life In Sort of Mysterious Ways”: Adeel Akhtar, Back To One, Episode 338 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Nearly 1,100 vendors spread across three halls of the massive Las Vegas Convention Center for the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show which, over five days each April, covers a lot of ground, both physically and with the wide scope of technology encompassed under “broadcast.” In a press conference, Karen Chupka, NAB’s managing director and executive vice president, highlighted this Show’s new points of focus, including sports and content creators; ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was a featured guest speaker at NAB earlier that same morning. Scrolling through each day’s list of scheduled panels and talks illustrates just how […]

The post NAB 2025: LED Screen Advancements, Tariff Concerns and Hybrid Lenses first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

There are a set of rules that have long-guided ultra-low and microbudget production. Lots of daylight exteriors, one or two central locations (to minimize company moves and location rental cost), a small cast, no stunts, no child actors and a compressed shooting schedule. If today it’s not uncommon to see a 24-day schedule on films of $12 million, and most independents with sub $3-million budgets are boarded between 18 and 24 days, a filmmaker considering their first ultra-low-budget picture should think about going even lower, to 11 or 12 days, even. And, of course, shooting digital is probably the economically […]

The post “A Redemption Story That Gets Derailed By a Revenge Story”: Ariella Mastroianni and Ryan Sloan on Gazer first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When it comes to the work of cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera, you’ll find two consistent elements – 1970s inspirations and Panavision glass. Both are present in Daredevil: Born Again, a new Disney+ series that continues the story of lawyer by day/vigilante by night Matt Murdock originally begun on Netflix. The season opens with Murdock (played by Charlie Cox) and his nemesis Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) trying to forsake their daker halves before they’re ultimately pulled back into their respective alter egos as crime fighter and crime lord. The show’s final arc took a circuitous route to fruition. Nearly six […]

The post “Two Giant Oners Put Together into One Piece”: DP Hillary Fyfe Spera on Daredevil: Born Again first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.