In 2012, Angela Patton delivered a viral TED Talk about her revolutionary Date with Dad prison program—a father-daughter dance between incarcerated dads and their daughters, giving separated families a unique chance to connect and reunite without any physical barriers. The CEO of Girls for a Change—a youth development nonprofit with a mission to empower Black girls in Central Virginia—Patton then found a partner in Natalie Rae, who reached out to collaborate on a film together. The result of their nearly a decade-in-the-making work is Daughters, a heartrending documentary that premiered in Sundance in January 2024, where it was bought by […]

The post “Be With the Girls, Be Active Listeners, Be in Awe of Their Imagination”: Angela Patton and Natalie Rae on Their Powerful Netflix-Premiering Doc, Daughters first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Battered and bloody, a blond woman — “Lady,” played by Willa Fitzgerald — in prison garb races across a field. A rifle-toting “Demon” (Kyle Gallner) chases her into an Oregon forest. From there, the balance of power shifts several times in Strange Darling, a serial-killer thriller that aims for a fresh approach to the genre. Written and directed by JT Mollner, Strange Darling unfolds in six chapters. Shown out of order, each reveals new details about the story’s two opponents. After screening at Fantastic Fest and Camerimage, the movie opens theatrically August 23, 2024. Strange Darling’s cinematographer is unexpected: actor […]

The post “I Had to Light Seven Rooms in Two Hours”: Giovanni Ribisi on Moving from Acting to Cinematography with Strange Darling first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Taking a page from Lost Highway‘s long-ago trick of using “Two Thumbs Down” as a blurb for the poster, the trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis pullquotes many of the negative responses to his work over the years, some from long-dead critics like Andrew Sarris and John Simon. (Here’s Vadim Rizov’s review from Cannes.) The film opens September 27 from Lionsgate. UPDATE: Lionsgate has pulled the Megalopolis trailer originally included in this post after critics and outlets pointed out that the negative blurbs contained in the trailer could not be sourced from the original reviews and may be fabricated. In a […]

The post Trailer Watch: Megalopolis first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

He was a model and MTV VJ, and then Simon Rex transitioned to acting, becoming widely recognized for his comedic roles in the Scary Movie franchise, where his sharp timing and parody skills made him a fan favorite. But more substantial parts were on the horizon. On this episode, he talks about the job that changed everything, Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, which won him wide acclaim, an Independent Spirt Award, and a fresh chapter in his career. He talks about the interesting new place he finds himself now at the intersection of “not caring and caring SO MUCH.” He explains […]

The post “I Just Turned 50 and I Feel Like I’m Just Getting Started”: Simon Rex, Back To One, Episode 305 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The biggest headline of the 77th Locarno Film Festival wasn’t a movie but a man: Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who attended to receive a career achievement award. Upon his arrival, he was photographed for the festival’s in-house daily publication, Pardo; when that image went live, photographer Davide Padovan saw his Instagram following swell from 191 to over 12,000 in 24 hours. It was a reminder (though none is needed) of the role red carpet celebrity plays in drawing money and attention to festivals who can then, aspirationally, redirect both towards smaller titles—though, even as the whole idea of “cinema” […]

The post “Cinema Forever” (?): Locarno Film Festival 2024 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The Shorenstein Center announced today the Fall 2024 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows. From the press release: The group joins the Center under the auspices of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the HKS community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on civic life. The Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative is designed to support new research, analysis, innovation, and provocation around core issues facing the documentary film sector. Through the Fellows’ projects, the Shorenstein Center will engage in examinations of public impact and […]

The post Shorenstein Center Announces Fall 2024 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Looking for the most competitive film incentives in Texas? Searching for a treasure trove of unique locations? On the hunt for a filming destination that will prioritize your project and welcome you with open arms, while providing untold added value, famous hospitality and film friendly support every step of the way?  Look no further than San Antonio, Texas—a best kept secret among filmmakers where history shines just as brightly as the city’s boundless future. Enjoy rolling Hill Country landscapes just a quick drive from the city’s European-influenced downtown or trek a few hours in either direction to access coastal or […]

The post Film in San Antonio, Texas: A Diverse & Vibrant Undiscovered Gem (Sponsored Post) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“It’s the light! Always the light!” exclaims a priest to the murderous Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott) as they bask in the glory of a Caravaggio painting in Netflix’s new adaption of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. There are a multitude of exquisite facets to cinematographer Robert Elswit’s work on the series, including the formal compositions that embrace the Italian setting’s architecture. But, more than anything else, it’s the light as Elswit harkens back to classic noirs, 1960s Italian cinema and the canvasses of the great masters of chiaroscuro. Elswit earned an Oscar nomination for his black and […]

The post Color in Black and White: DP Robert Elswit on Ripley first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“It’s interesting, more filmmakers this year are asking for laurels,” says Sam Fleischner when we spoke just a few days before the opening of the seventh annual Rockaway Film Festival. Fleischner’s the festival’s co-founder and artistic director, Courtney Muller is co-founder and program director, and the two, along with their small team, have grown the festival to the point where the schedule boasts more premieres, U.S. and world, than ever and, with that growth, directors wanting to add the Rockaway selection to their posters and websites.  “We never wanted to make a laurel,” admits Fleischner. “So it was like, alright, […]

The post Movies with Sand Under Your Feet: Previewing The Seventh Annual Rockaway Film Festival first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Following a decade of work in experimental and documentary cinema, director Courtney Stephens steps into fiction for the first time with Invention, a remarkably resourceful microbudget drama that nonetheless resists strict categorization. Starring and co-conceived by Callie Hernandez, the film draws upon the actress’s real-life relationship with her late father, a medical doctor turned small-time huckster who made a name for himself on local television talk shows and public access programs in the ’90s and 2000s. In this fictionalized telling set in the Berkshires, VHS footage of those TV appearances weave through a story in which Hernandez, playing a version […]

The post “America is Desperate for a Narrative”: Courtney Stephens and Callie Hernandez on Invention first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.