Two new documentaries — The Alabama Solution from Andrew Jarecki and The Stringer from Bao Nguyen – have been added to the Premieres category of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute announced today. Both directors have histories with the festival. Each of the projects are directed by filmmakers who have presented their works at previous editions of the Sundance Film Festival. Nguyen premiered Be Water in 2020 and The Greatest Night in Pop in 2024, while The Alabama Solution director Andrew Jarecki’s previous Sundance titles are Capturing the Friedmans (2003), Just a Clown (2004), and The Jinx: The […]

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The U.S. premiere of Hard Truths at the New York Film Festival in October brings director Mike Leigh back to the podcast for the third time (Ep. 54 and Ep. 204). He talks about working again with Marianne Jean-Baptiste after nearly 30 years, how a lower budget didn’t change his process but made him “dig vertically,” why American actors are unofficially not allowed in his films. Plus he shares his hope for cinema after he’s gone, but explains why he refuses to officially pass down his process. And much more! Hard Truths opens in select U.S. theaters on Friday January […]

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Josh Welsh, Film Independent’s President, died December 31, 2024 at home following a five-year battle with colon cancer. He was 62. Welsh began his association with the non-profit nearly 30 years ago, volunteering at its annual Spirit Awards in 1996 while working in L.A. as an actor. After joining the staff, Welsh worked his way up through various positions: Filmmaker Labs Coordinator, Filmmaker Labs Manager and Director of Talent Development. In the latter position, he oversaw and helped create all the organization’s talent development programs, including the Labs, Project:Involve and the Fast Track Film Financing Market. He also administered Film […]

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Innovation in cameras, lenses, lighting, batteries, and more pressed on in 2024, despite production doldrums and pain points across the industry. These advances arrive at a time when all the world walks around with a capable 4K video camera in their pockets, when a youngest generation pivots to vertical videos from social media. While the future of the film business as we knew it may seem cloudy, the steadily rising quality and capability of low-cost gear does continue to lift all boats.  Below are brief notes on some of the tech standouts of 2024. Let’s hope that ginned-up xenophobia—manufactured panics […]

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Tiffany Boone’s breakout role was Jerrika Little on the series The Chi. Little Fires Everywhere, The Midnight Sky, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Hunters followed. Now she voices Sarabi in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. She explains how getting back to her childlike imagination was a must for that role. She tells the story of trying to break up with acting but acting wouldn’t break up with her. She talks about the importance of knowing the character better than anyone else, how focusing on connecting with people through her art allowed her to “let go of the desperation,” and much more. […]

The post “Letting Go of Judgement of Myself and Just Having My Imagination Be So Big”: Tiffany Boone, Back To One, Episode 324 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The five years between Bob Dylan’s arrival in New York and his performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival marked a huge shift in popular culture. It wasn’t just the songs Dylan wrote and performed. The politics he espoused, relationships he formed, causes he endorsed, even the clothes he wore were critiqued and copied by a growing number of acolytes and fans. Dylan helped shape the culture in ways few other artists could match. Based in part on Elijah Wood’s book Dylan Goes Electric!, director James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown follows Dylan as he finds and develops a voice and […]

The post “Film No Longer Has the Texture I Was Looking For…”: DP Phedon Papamichael on Shooting A Complete Unknown first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Tommy Dewey is best known for playing Alex Cole on the Hulu series Casual for five seasons. This year, two movies benefit from his talents—the Jason Reitman ensemble comedy Saturday Night, and Caroline Lindy’s romantic/horror/comedy Your Monster, where he brilliantly plays the titular character. On this episode, he talks about what went into deciding on the proper mixture of absurdity and tenderness  for that special role. He explains why, if a comedy script connects with him, he “maybe reads it once and stay the hell away from it.” Plus how writing can help you as an actor, the increased pressure […]

The post “There Was an Opportunity to Make the Movie More Romantic and Luckily We Took It”: Your Monster Star Tommy Dewey, Back To One, Episode 323 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Every Tuesday Tyler Coates publishes his new Filmmaker newsletter, Considerations, devoted to the awards race. To receive it early and in your in-box, subscribe here. It’s my last dispatch of the year—I’ll be back with another newsletter the first full week of January—as the Oscar campaigning unofficially pauses for the holidays. The last major awards event of the year will take place on Dec. 17, when the Academy announces the shortlists for 10 categories: documentary feature, international feature, animated short, documentary short, live-action short, original score, original song, makeup/hairstyling, sound and visual effects. Then, the Golden Globes on Jan. 5 […]

The post Considerations: The Best Picture Shortlist first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When she competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, Claressa Shields became the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing. It was the culmination of a lifelong struggle to make her way as a fighter. Growing up on the edge of poverty in Flint, Michigan, Shields trained with coach Jason Crutchfield in a long-term collaboration. Nicknamed “T-Rex” for her short arm span, she was the subject of the 2015 documentary T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold.  In 2019, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison chose a project about Shields for her feature directing debut. Working from a script by Barry Jenkins, […]

The post “I Keep My Local 600 Card So I Can Operate”: Rachel Morrison on The Fire Inside first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

As the year draws to a close, the urge to compile “best of the year” lists feels both inevitable and deeply complicated. In a world grappling with profound crises—most notably the genocide in Palestine and ever-deepening fractures in democratic institutions globally—such an exercise risks seeming trivial, detached from the urgent realities shaping our collective experience. Yet cinema at its best has always offered a lens to confront, process and perhaps even find meaning in the chaos. This list emerges not as an escape but as a form of engagement, a way to reflect on the artistic vitality that endures and […]

The post The Best Films of 2024 As Chosen by Some of Its Key Filmmakers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.