Key Film Independent Fellow or Member Los Angeles Film Festival Alum Spirit Award Winner First-time Filmmaker Microbudget Female Filmmaker Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-04-27” author: “Doris Spears”
THE QUEEN OF SPAIN
When You Can Watch: August 29 Where You Can Watch: Theaters, VOD Director: Fernando Trueba Cast: Penélope Cruz, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin Why We’re Excited: Nominated for five Goya Awards earlier this year, this bilingual English/Spanish dramedy chronicles the antics of a Spanish film crew attempting to make a grand Hollywood picture in Franco’s Spain during the early 1950s. Film Independent Spirit Award winner Penélope Cruz (2009 Best Supporting Female, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) is perfectly cast as the Sophia Loren-esque Spanish screen diva—Macarena Granada—who returns to her native land after a successful Hollywood run to star in a musical financed by General Franco about Queen Isabella of Castille. Mandy Patinkin appears as a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter who’s found refuge for his career in Spain. Some brand this as a sequel to Trueba’s 1998 film The Girl of Your Dreams (La Niña De Tus Ojos), featuring a younger Macarena (also played by Cruz) and her adventures trying to film a movie in Nazi Germany.
VICEROY’S HOUSE
When You Can Watch: September 1 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Gurinder Chadha Cast: Gillian Anderson, Hugh Bonneville, Lily Travers, Michael Gambon Why We’re Excited: “New nations are rarely born in peace,” utters Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, portraying Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy of India, as he is tasked with the impossible: facilitating the peaceful transition of India back to its native people after more than two centuries of tumultuous British rule. He arrives in India five months before the historic handover, with wife Edwina (Gillian Anderson) and daughter Pamela (Lily Travers), as religious massacres and riots continue. Released in both English and Hindi, Viceroy’s House was inspired by writer/director Gurinder Chadha’s family history; her grandparents were amongst those forced from their homes during the largest mass migration in human history following the partition that birthed the new nation of Muslim-majority Pakistan.
THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT
When You Can Watch: September 1 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Tarik Saleh Cast: Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Yasser Ali Maher Why We’re Excited: Set in the tense days preceding the 2011 Arab Spring movement, Swedish-Egyptian director Tarik Saleh artfully employs the backdrop of political strife to tell the story of veteran police detective Noredin (Fares), as he digs into the murder of a singer in a Cairo hotel and engages the undocumented Sudanese maid who witnessed the crime. As the country dashes headfirst into the revolution that would ultimately depose Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Noredin unravels a scandal reaching the highest level of parliament. Spirit Award winner Signe Byrge Sørensen (2016 Best Documentary, The Look of Silence) is one of the films co-producers, and the film won the Grand Jury prize for Dramatic Film, World Cinema at Sundance earlier this year.
MEGAN LEAVEY
When You Can Watch: September 5 Where You Can Watch: VOD, Theaters Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite Cast: Kate Mara, Ramon Rodriguez, Tom Felton Why We’re Excited: Following her controversial SeaWorld documentary/exposé Blackfish, filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite turns her attention to this biopic of real-life Marine corporal Megan Leavey. The film shines a light on an underappreciated part of daily combat in Iraq and Afghanistan: the use of bomb-sniffing dogs to detect IEDs, and the military handlers who put themselves in harm’s way to protect their fellow soldiers. After surviving two tours and 100 missions in Iraq, service dog Rex is diagnosed with a nerve paralysis that bars him from doing his job—meaning he could be put to sleep, as he is considered too dangerous to be adopted by a civilian. Marine Megan Leavey’s (Kate Mara) quest to convince the Marine Corps to let her adopt the dog is a poignant and touching account of the love and bond between a soldier and her service dog.
FREE IN DEED
When You Can Watch: September 8 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Jake Mahaffy Cast: David Harewood, Edwina Findley Dickerson, Kathy Smith Why We’re Excited: Director Jack Mahaffy’s third feature is inspired by a true story of a faith healing gone bad. In 2003, Milwaukee pastor Ray Hemphill tried to “save” an autistic teenager by performing a “miracle”— only to have the boy die in the process. British actor David Harewood plays a Memphis janitor named Abe, who meets a single mother (Edwina Finley) with an autistic son at the Pentecostal church. Forming a relationship, Abe feels compelled to help the child. Needless to say, things do not go as planned. Harewood and Finley were both nominated for Spirit Awards, delivering understated-yet-powerful performances depicting the harrowing vulnerability of the downtrodden. Also nominated for Spirit Awards for Best Cinematography and the John Cassavetes Award earlier this year, the film won the award for Best Film in the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival in 2015. The film’s producers are Film Independent Members Brent Stiefel and Michael Bowes.
REBEL IN THE RYE
When You Can Watch: September 15 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Danny Strong Cast: Kevin Spacey, Lucy Boynton, Nicholas Hoult, Sarah Paulson, Zoey Deutch Why We’re Excited: “Through the course of my fascinatingly dull life, I’ve always found fiction more truthful than reality,” says J.D. Salinger, played by actor Nicholas Hoult. Actor Danny Strong’s directorial debut takes us through the famously reclusive writer’s origin story, beginning with his enrollment in Columbia University, where he meets mentor and professor-turned-friend Whit Burnett (Kevin Spacey). Following the soon-to-be author through a long stint in the Army after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Strong’s thoughtful biopic endeavors to show how the late literary icon was able to transform PTSD and writers’ block into his iconic debut novel, Catcher In The Rye. Film Independent Member Ellen H. Schwartz is one of the film’s executive producers.
MOTHER!
When You Can Watch: September 15 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer Why We’re Excited: Debuting earlier this month at the Venice International Film Festival where it competed for the Golden Lion Award, Mother! has been referred to as director Darren Aronofsky’s most fearless film yet—and this is a filmmaker whose repertoire includes three Film Independent Spirit Awards including Black Swan (Best, Director, 2011), The Wrestler (Best Director, 2009), Pi (Best First Screenplay, 1999) and a Best Director nomination for Requiem for a Dream (2001)! This tale of psychological horror stars Spirit Award winners Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a young couple renovating their remote country home against the wishes of the suspicious couple they happen to be hosting, played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris. Currently sitting at 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like Aronofsky is ushering us into Halloween and fall horror movie season a wee bit early this year.
SHOT
When You Can Watch: September 22 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Jeremy Kagan Cast: Jorge Lendenborg Jr., Noah Wyle, Sharon Leal Why We’re Excited: While arguing with his wife on the street on a normal day in Los Angeles, a Hollywood sound mixer named Mark Newman (ER’s NoahWyle) is struck with a stray bullet in his chest. Veteran filmmaker Jeremy Kagan’s POV shooting approach then painstakingly follows Newman through every stage of his injury, pain and struggle—from street to stretcher and onto the hospital gurney. The film also sheds light on the other side of the crime, following the teenage boy who is scared out of his mind because the gun his cousin gave him (to protect himself from bully gang members) just accidentally discharged—and quite possibly killed a man.
THE KING’S CHOICE
When You Can Watch: September 22 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Erik Poppe Cast: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Jesper Christensen, Karl Markovics, Tuva Novotny Why We’re Excited: An Irish-Norwegian co-production, The King’s Choice was presented as Norway’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards earlier this year. Taking place over the course of three days during April 1940—during which Norway’s King Haakon VII must decide between fighting against the coming Nazi invasion or capitulating to Hitler’s forces—the film presents a rare glimpse of the war as seen from the perspective of a nation other than Britain, France, Germany, Japan or the United States. Aside from a few combat scenes, a must for any WWII film, director Poppe has chosen to focus almost entirely on the sordid behind-the-scenes political gamesmanship that is the true driver behind every global conflict.
LOVING VINCENT
When You Can Watch: September 22 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman Cast: Douglas Booth, Aidan Turner, Saoirse Ronan, Chris O’Dowd Why We’re Excited: Billed as “the world’s first fully-painted feature film,” Polish animator and director Dorota Kobiela’s sophomore feature is an experiment, made up of nearly 65,000 frames, each produced by hand with oil paints in the style of the Dutch master’s iconic canvases—a 90-minute film, told entirely in oil paintings created by a team of 115 painters. The story begins a year after van Gough’s death and explores his life, last days in Arles, France, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his suicide at the age of 37. Kobiela and co-director Hugh Welchman spent seven precious years of their lives working on this labor of love, which combines flashbacks, reenactments and scenes fabricated from what purports to be van Gogh’s POV.
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
LA Film Festival Alum
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
First-time Filmmaker
Microbudget
Female Filmmaker
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-05-18” author: “Matthew Quattlebaum”
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Reed Morano Cast: Elle Fanning, Peter Dinklage, Charlotte Gainbourg, Paul Giamatti Why We’re Excited: Filmmaker Reed Morano has been justly praised as both a cinematographer (Frozen River, The Skeleton Twins) and director, for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale as well as her debut, the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award nominated Meadowland. Her sophomore directorial feature is a dark, post-apocalyptic fable about a lone man, Del (Dinklage), contented to live in his solitude after the near-extinction of the human race. His routine is disrupted, however, when his idyllic life is discovered by Grace (Fanning)—a curious young woman who may or may not be trustworthy. As with Meadowland, Moreno does double-duty, also acting as the film’s cinematographer. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year, to critical acclaim.
THE BOOKSHOP
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Isabel Coixet Cast: Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Nighy Why We’re Excited: From prolific Catalan director Isabel Coixet, this English-language period drama examines the plight of Florence, played by Emily Mortimer, a 2003 Spirit Award winner for Best Supporting Female. Florence is a young widow determined to open up a bookstore in a small English seaside town, in part because another quaint little bookshop (as they call it on the other side of the pond) is where she had met her husband—a recent casualty of WWII. Lamentably, the site she chooses to realize her dream is the old abandoned house coveted by well-to-do antagonist Mrs. Gamart (Clarkson) as the site for her new arts center. This adaption from the 1978 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald has garnered three wins at the Spanish Goya Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
BLAZE
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Ethan Hawke Cast: Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn Why We’re Excited: Premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, this musical drama chronicles the troubled life of Austin, TX native and ‘70s outlaw country star Blaze Foley (Dickey), leading up to his untimely death in 1989 at age 39. A three-time Spirit Award acting nominee, the film is Hawke’s fourth as director, featuring a script co-written by Foley’s real-life partner Sybil Rosen (Shawkat) and based on Rosen’s autobiographical novel Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze. It was a daring move on Hawke’s part to cast first-timer Dickey (himself an accomplished musician)—but by all accounts, the actor has turned in a breakout performance.
WHITE BOY RICK
When You Can Watch: September 13 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Yann Demange Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Jennifer Jason Leigh Why We’re Excited: This gritty crime caper from French filmmaker Yann Demange takes as its setting Detroit, MI at the height of the Reagan-era crack cocaine epidemic. Based on the true story of the FBI’s youngest-ever confidential informant, first-time actor Richie Merritt plays Richard Wershe, Jr.—who at the ripe old age of 14 (that’s right… 14!) was duped into becoming the youngest undercover informant in the history of law enforcement, when the FBI convinced him that by snitching, he’d be able to save his low-level arms dealer father (Spirit Award winner McConaughey) from prison. Premiering just last week at the Telluride Film Festival, this tense biopic will also be screened at the TIFF this week before making its way into wide release.
BEL CANTO
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Paul Weitz Cast: Julianne Moore, Christopher Lambert, Ken Watanabe, Ryo Kase Why We’re Excited: With a title meaning “beautiful song” in Italian, veteran indie filmmaker Paul Weitz’s latest offering is a surprising hostage drama, based on Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel by the same name. Two-time Spirit Award winner Julianne Moore plays American opera diva Roxane Coss, in town performing at a glitzy private gathering in South America in honor of Japanese industrialist Katsumi Hosokawa (Watanabe)—but she soon finds herself in a violent hostage situation, when rebel fighters take over the house to demand the release of their imprisoned comrades. In the film, Moore lip-syncs to the vocals of IRL soprano Renée Fleming, who recently earned a Tony nod for her role in the Broadway revival of Carousel. Film Independent Member Andrew Miano (also a Spirit Award nominee) is one of the film’s producers and Member Viviana Zarragoitia is one of the film’s EPs.
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: RaMell Ross Why We’re Excited: “I already had my troubles for today, so I can’t worry about tomorrow.” So proclaims one of the subjects in the searing, evocative documentary—an intimate look into how everyday Black Americans live their lives in rural Hale County, Alabama. Premiering in the 2018 Sundance Film Festival’s US Documentary Competition (where it won a Special Jury Prize), first-time feature director RaMell Ross wanted to make the film in part based on his personal experiences with the community, after moving to the area to coach high school basketball in 2009. Producer Joslyn Barnes is a Film Independent Member.
LIZZIE
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Craig Williams MacNeill Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare Why We’re Excited: The trial of real-life murder suspect Lizzie Borden was the marquee media event of its day, dominating newspaper coverage for months after the brutal 1892 axe slaying of Abby and Andrew Borden in Fall River, Massachusettes. One paper surmised that the crime could only have been committed by “somebody insane or a sane person whose heart is as black with hatred as hell itself.” Lizzie Borden (Sevigny, a 1999 Spirit Award winner for Boys Don’t Cry) was charged with hacking her wealthy father and stepmother to death, only to be acquitted later. Debut feature director MacNeill’s revisionist take adds a forbidden tryst into the mix—one between 32-year-old spinster Lizzie and her live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan (Stewart). Premiering at Sundance in January, the semi-biographical thriller was partly shot in Savannah, Georgia.
SCIENCE FAIR
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Darren Foster, Cristina Costantini Why We’re Excited: For their new film, documentarians Foster and Costantini embarked on a bold project: to follow nine students around the globe competing in the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair—competing against 1,700 attendees from 78 countries. But only one will secure the title “Best in Fair.” It’s at once a celebration of unrepentant geekdom and naked ambition, with the winner due to collect a $75,000 cash prize. After the film won audience awards at both Sundance and SXSW, it was acquired by National Geographic Documentary Films for domestic distribution in the U.S.
MANDY
When You Can Watch: September 14 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Panos Cosmatos Cast: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache Why We’re Excited: In this supernatural horror-thriller by Italian-Canadian director Panos Cosmatos (whose previous film was 2010’s deliriously trippy Beyond the Black Rainbow), the time is 1983, the place somewhere deep in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Lumberjack Red Miller (Cage) and wife Mandy (Riseborough) are living an eerily peaceful life in a remote cabin deep in “the Shadow Mountains.” One day, a satanic cult leader Jeremiah (Roache) spots Mandy in town, selecting her as his mark. Three slime-dribbling ghouls capture Mandy, possessing her through some type of nefarious magical spell—all the justification Red needs to unleash Holy Hell upon those who have wronged him, setting off on a blood-soaked revenge spree.
THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE
When You Can Watch: September 21 Where You Can Watch: Theaters, VOD (Sept 25) Director: Ari Gold Cast: Rory Culkin, Robert Sheehan, Isabelle McNally, Mary Beth Piel Why We’re Excited: In his sophomore directorial feature (following 2008’s Adventures of Power), actor-director Ari Gold brings us a rom-com family drama featuring original music and songs from his twin brother, Ethan Gold. After his dad’s suicide, young music collector Ollie Sway (Culkin, a 2004 Spirit Award winner for Mean Creek) and his only friend—Russian drifter Nikolai (Sheehan)—return to his family’s lake house to claim (read: steal) a valuable, long-lost jazz recording from the Sway family collection. In the process, decades-old family grievances resurface and Ollie’s plot is foiled by Nikolai’s unexpected romantic entanglement with a member of the extended Sway clan. The film premiered at the 2017 LA Film Festival and was acquired for distribution by indie tastemakers The Orchard.
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
LA Film Festival Alum
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
First-time Filmmaker
Microbudget
Female Filmmaker
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-04-19” author: “David Doyle”
MS. PURPLE
When You Can Watch: September 6 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Justin Chon Cast: Tiffany Chu, Jake Choi, Teddy Lee, Octavio Pizano, James Kang Why We’re Excited: Actor-turned-director Justin Chon, winner of the Someone to Watch Award at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, heads to LA’s Koreatown for Ms. Purple, his third feature. A family-focused Asian immigrant drama, Ms. Purple follows Kasie (Chu), a hostess at a high-end karaoke bar, who night after night must suffer the indignities of drunken rich men in order to put a roof over her head and care for her bedridden father (Kang). Her routine is upended when her father’s live-in nurse quits, forcing Kasie to contact her estranged brother Carey (Lee) to come to her aid. Flashbacks to their childhood gradually tease out how the family was ripped apart after their mother abandoned them and Carey ran away from home at 15-years-old. The film screened at the 2019 Film Independent Forum, and will be the subject of a September 10 Film Independent case study, also available to watch on demand.
SOUND OF SILENCE
When You Can Watch: September 13 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Michael Tyburski Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori Why We’re Excited: This is one of those cool films that explores an entire career that most of us have never likely heard of—that of “house tuner,” e.g. the [fictitious] expertise of calibrating the ambient noise in people’s homes to alleviate the home dwellers’ anxiety and stress. A two-time Spirit Award nominee for Kinsey and Shattered Glass, Peter Sargaard plays New York-based, socially awkward house tuner Peter Lucian. We see him diagnosing the hustle-and-bustle of Central Park as a “G Major” and cataloging every conceivable noise into his database of sonic elements. But Peter’s got his work cut out for him when he meets his latest client: depressed and chronically exhausted Ellen (Jones), who turns to him for any potential respite from her condition.
THE HARVESTERS (Die Stropers)
When You Can Watch: September 13 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Etienne Kallos Cast: Brent Vermeulen, Alex van Dyk, Juliana Venter Why We’re Excited: This bilingual Afrikaans-English drama is South African writer-director Kallos’ debut feature, shining a spotlight on the onetime ruling class—and white minority—Afrikaner population 25 years after the racial segregation policies of Apartheid have been abolished. Premiering at last year at Cannes, the film was inspired by Kallos’ experience interacting with the farming community of the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. In the conservative farming community of the Free State region, 15-year-old farm boy Janno (Vermulen) is sensitive, quiet and docile, not quite fitting into his viciously religious mother Marie’s (Venter) idea of masculinity. Out of nowhere, she brings home a callous street orphan Pieter (van Dyk) to raise as Janno’s brother. The sexual awakening and jealousy that ensue threatens to tear this family apart.
EL NORTE (35th ANNIVERSARY)
When You Can Watch: September 15 (35th anniversary screening) Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Gregory Nava Featuring: Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz Why We’re Excited: This Oscar-nominated Spanish-language drama about the plight of undocumented immigrants has a special connection to Film Independent—it was co-written (with Anna Thomas) and directed by Gregory Nava, one of the original founders of the Film Independent organization some 35 years ago (Nava’s screenwriting credits include Frida and Selena.) A British-American co-production partly funded by PBS’s American Playhouse, the story was inspired by Nava’s own experiences growing up in San Diego. After the Guatemalan army torches their home, Mayan Indian teenage siblings—Rosa (Gutiérrez) and Enrique (Villalpando)—flee to the United States on foot through Mexico. Fun fact: principal photography in Mexico was temporarily interrupted when Nava and his production crew were asked to leave… at gunpoint; filming resumed in California after a Mexican village was reconstructed.
MIDNIGHT TRAVELER
When You Can Watch: September 18 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Hassan Fazili Cast: Hassan Fazili, Nargis Fazili, Zahra Fazili, Fatima Hussaini Why We’re Excited: Making its debut at Sundance earlier this year and nabbing the Special Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary, Afghan-born filmmaker Fazili’s feature autobiographical documentary takes us through his own family’s harrowing exile and survival in their plight for asylum in Europe. After his television documentary Peace in Afghanistan aired locally in 2015, the Taliban put a price on Fazili’s head, leaving him no choice but to flee the country with his wife Hussaini and two daughters. The film has been assembled from recordings on the family’s cell phones—the Fazili clan started recording everything as they were first deported back to Afghanistan, after being rejected for asylum in Tajikistan. We see first-hand the brutal conditions and emotional torment the family endures as they traverse the 3,500-mile trek through Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia over a period of three years.
BETWEEN TWO FERNS: THE MOVIE
When You Can Watch: September 20 Where You Can Watch: Netflix Director: Scott Aukerman Cast: Lauren Lapkus, Zach Galifianakis, Ginger Gonzaga Why We’re Excited: Based on the quirky Funny or Die comedy talk show of 11 years, this feature-length Ferns comes courtesy of the same behind-the-scenes team as the hit web series. Directed by Scott Aukerman—host of the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and TV series—the idea of turning Ferns into a feature supposedly first came up when the show was shooting interviews on the streets of New York for Comedy Central, and Aukerman and Galifianakis were inspired to begin making their own pseudo-homage to Rob Reiner’s 1984 cult classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. After being made a laughing stock by Will Ferrell, Galifianakis sets out to reclaim his reputation by scoring a series of interviews with A-list celebrities. To accomplish a fluid documentary feel, Aukerman made improvisation the rule rather than the exception throughout filming.
WHERE’S MY ROY COHN
When You Can Watch: September 20 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited) Director: Matt Tyrnauer Why We’re Excited: Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer’s latest documentary—following last year’s Studio 54—is a revealing profile of the controversial pitbull lawyer and political strategist (not to mention closeted homosexual and early AIDS casualty) behind Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “Red Scare,” which birthed the anti-Communist McCarthyism doctrine of the 1950s. With a deal that prohibits him from divulging the source, the director secured exclusive access to Cohn’s personal archives of never-before-seen photos and videos, including an NBC News interview from the 1970s. Through these archives, Tyrnauer paints the picture of Cohn’s 28-year career as the compelling influence that helped shape several powerful conservative figures, such as Presidents Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.
JUDY
When You Can Watch: September 27 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Rupert Goold Cast: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Rufus Sewell, Finn Wittrock Why We’re Excited: Adapted from the Tony-nominated play End of the Rainbow, BAFTA nominee Goold’s (2012’s The Hollow Crown) cinematic snapshot of legendary American actress/singer Judy Garland picks up with its subject 30 years after Garland’s starring turn in the classic The Wizard of Oz—long after she was America’s favorite sweetheart. Two-time Spirit Award nominee for The Whole Wide World and Love and a .45, Zellweger plays the iconic performer, who arrives in London in 1969 to perform sold-out shows and meet her fifth husband, Mickey Deans (Wittrock.) Behind the glitter and glory hides a shattered shell of a former A-lister years after the apex of her career, battling addiction and forced to go wherever she can to find a paying gig. Shot in London, the biopic just premiered at Telluride and will also be screened at TIFF.
ALL RISE
When You Can Watch: September 27 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Anthony Mandler Case: Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Mikey Madison, Jennifer Ehle, John David Washington, Jennifer Hudson Why We’re Excited: Music video and short film director Anthony Mandler’s feature debut was adapted from Walter Dean Myers’ New York Times bestseller novel Monster. Seventeen-year-old Steve (Harrison) is an honor student from an elite high school in Harlem whose carefree life comes to a sudden halt when he is charged with felony murder. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year under its original title Monster. Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures snatched up worldwide distribution earlier this year and owner Byron Allen reveals what drew him to the project thusly: “This excellent story shows us how every day, African-Americans are positioned to fail in the schoolroom, the boardroom, and the courtroom long before we bleed to death in the streets.”
PROGRAMMER’S PICK MONOS
When You Can Watch: September 13 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Alejandro Landes Case: Sofia Buenaventura, Julian Giraldo, Karen Quintero Why We’re Excited: From Jenn Wilson, Film Independent Senior Programmer: “Alejandro Landes’ fascinating and thrilling festival hit Monos begins by introducing us to a rag-tag group of child soldiers located somewhere in the mountains of South America. With little to do except guard one female American hostage, they’ve created their own micro-society with unique games and rituals that unite them in their isolated and idyllic existence. Everything changes when their commander shows up with the gift of a dairy cow, but the cow doesn’t last long among the unruly teenagers, and its accidental death—via semi-automatic weapon—sets off a continuously devolving set of circumstances that shatters the utopia they once lived in. When circumstances force them to re-locate to an even more remote jungle camp, the situation becomes less Lord of the Rings and more Apocalypse Now. Landes very brilliantly leaves the location and historical context to the viewer’s imagination, creating the opportunity for audiences to see themselves and the world’s current political environment reflected in its story.”
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
First-time Filmmaker
Microbudget
Female Filmmaker
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters (Header: Judy)
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-05-07” author: “Todd Forcello”
WORTH
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Netflix Director: Sara Colangelo Cast: Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Amy Ryan, Laura Bernanti Why We’re Excited: “The victims and their families will be compensated based on economic value lost. That’s where the formula comes in,” declares Ken Feinberg (two-time Film Independent Spirit Award winner Michael Keaton), the lead attorney overseeing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund after the earth-shattering attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Amongst the crop of features and docs to commemorate the 20th anniversary of those attacks and their enduring aftermath, director Colangelo’s (a Spirit Awards nominee for mining drama Little Accidents) legal drama attempts to dissect the crass issue of how much a life is “worth” in economic terms. Is a Fortune 100 CEO’s life worth more than a city bus driver? Not so, if you ask the driver’s loved ones. Film Independent Member Michael Sugar (The Fifth Estate, Rendition) is one of the producers. Want to learn more? The movie was the subject of a recent Film Independent Presents Q&A with Colangelo, writer/producer Max Borenstein and actor Laura Benanti.
REALLY LOVE
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Netflix Director: Angel Kristi Williams Cast: Kofi Siriboe, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, Michael Ealy, Uzo Aduba Why We’re Excited: Inspired by indie romance dramas in the vein of Cannes favorites In The Mood For Love and Blue Valentine, 2014 Project Involve Fellow Angel Kristi Williams’ debut feature is set in Washington, D.C., where talented and ambitious Black artist Isaiah (Siriboe) struggles to make a name for himself in the ultra-competitive art world. He finds himself at a crossroads when an unexpected romance with ambitious law student Stevie (Wong-Loi-Sing) forces them both to consider the merits of scarifying love over career, and vice-versa. The real-life artists behind Isaiah’s paintings in the film include Gerald Lovell, Chanel Compton and Ronald Jackson. The Fi Member contingent amongst the producing team includes: Mel Jones, Producer; Charles King, Producer; Aaliyah Williams, Producer and Steven Pristin, Editor.
MOGUL MOWGLI
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited) Director: Bassam Tariq Cast: Riz Ahmed, Aiysha Hart, Alyy Khan, Anjana Vasan Why We’re Excited: Documentary filmmaker Tariq’s (These Birds Walk, 30 Mosques in 30 Days) narrative feature debut is based on a screenplay he penned with lead actor, and real-life rapper (shout out to Swet Shop Boys) Riz Ahmed, this year’s Spirit Award Best Male Lead winner for Sound of Metal. Up-and-coming British-Pakistani rapper Zed (Ahmed) has been struggling with his music career for 15 years and finally sees a glimmer of hope when he is booked as the opening act for a famous rapper’s European tour. Unfortunately, just before embarking on his first world tour, he falls ill when he goes home to London to visit family. Executive Producer Leah Giblin and Associate Producer Martina Silcock are amongst the Film Independent Members on the producing team.
LANGUAGE LESSONS
When You Can Watch: September 10 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited) Director: Natalie Morales Cast: Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass, Desean Terry Why We’re Excited: In her directorial debut, actor Natalie Morales (Dead to Me, Santa Clarita Diet) has chosen a Spanish-English bilingual drama that uses the physical exercise of learning a new language to chronicle the bonds of friendship, playing out over the boxy Zoom screens we have all (unfortunately) gotten far too used to over the past 18 months. Spirit Awards alum Duplass (The Morning Show, The Mindy Project) plays middle-aged Oakland resident Adam, whose husband bought him 100 virtual Spanish lessons with Costa Rican-based Spanish instructor Cariño (Morales). Shot entirely during last year’s COVID-19 lockdown with two actors in two locations, the film’s producing team includes producer Mel Eslyn and cinematographer Jeremy Mackie. Click here to revisit the Film Independent Presents Q&A with Duplass and Morales last month.
THE CARD COUNTER
When You Can Watch: September 10 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited) Director: Paul Schrader Cast: Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe Why We’re Excited: “There is a weight a man can accrue. A weight created by his past actions. It is a weight which can never be removed,” recounts army veteran-turned-poker-ace William Tell (Isaac, Spirit Award nominee for his role in Inside Llewyn Davis) in a monotone voice, as he enters a motel room and covers every single surface with white sheets before doing anything else. Still reeling from his time serving as a U.S. Army interrogator in the Abu Ghraib prisons and his stint at Leavenworth military prison, Tell seeks redemption by helping a lost young man, Kirk (Sheridan). Fresh off its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last week, four-time Spirit Award nominated director Shrader’s gambling/PTSD drama’s counts Film Independent Members Lauren Mann (Producer) and Elsa Ramo (Executive Producer) as part of its producing team.
BLUE BAYOU
When You Can Watch: September 17 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Justin Chon Cast: Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander, Mark O’Brien Why We’re Excited: A Spirit Award Someone to Watch winner for his LA Riots drama Gook, writer-director Chon’s latest feature is another Korean-American drama; but this time, the focus is on a reformed criminal entangled in the web of immigration enforcement. Now a loving husband to Kathy (Vikander) and stepfather to her daughter from a previous marriage, Antonio (Chon) has lived almost his entire life in Louisiana, after being adopted from Korea at the age of three. Unfortunately, his criminal history–felony convictions from two motorcycle thefts from his youth–now threatens to deport him from the only country he has ever known and calls home. Premiering at this summer’s Cannes Film Festival, the drama was also nominated in the Un Certain Regard category. The producers include Film Independent Member Charles King. Please join us on September 13 for a Members-only theatrical screening and in-person Q&A with Chon.
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
When You Can Watch: September 17 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Michael Showalter Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones Why We’re Excited: Slated to make its world debut next week at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, The Big Sick director Showalter’s biographical drama is based on the 2000 documentary by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Two-time Spirit Awards nominee Jessica Chastain plays the notorious televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, who in the 1970s and 1980s–along with husband Jim Bakker–swindled a sizeable fortune from their parishioners. Along with the requisite heavy makeup and thick Minnesota accent, Chastain also does her own singing in the film, a labor of love that took nine years to bring to the big screen. Film Independent Members amongst the producing team include: Randy Barbato, Executive Producer and Writer; Jordana Mollick, Executive Producer and Rachel Shane, Producer.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE
When You Can Watch: September 17 Director: Jonathan Butterell Cast: Max Harwood, Richard E. Grant, Lauren Patel, Sarah Lancashire Why We’re Excited: Originally set to premiere on the big screens in October 2020, British choreographer Butterell’s feature directorial debut is a film adaptation of the popular West End musical by the same name. The coming-of-age dramedy stars newcomer Harwood as Jamie New, a teenager from Sheffield, England, who dreams of becoming a drag queen. While he is showered with unyielding support from his mom Margaret (Lancashire) and bestie Pritti (Patel)–and coached by drag queen Miss Loco Chanelle (Spirit Award winner Grant)–his disapproving dad and the mean kids at school sure don’t make it easy. Here is the Film Independent Presents Q&A with the cast.
THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK
When You Can Watch: October 1 Where You Can Watch: Theaters, HBO Max Director: Alan Taylor Cast: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta Why We’re Excited: Filmed in Brooklyn and Newark in the spring of 2019, the highly anticipated feature-length prequel to HBO’s famed crime drama The Sopranos will be available same-day on HBO Max, following Warner Bros’ hybrid release strategy for its entire 2021 film slate. An origin story of sorts, the drama takes a look back at the younger Tony Soprano–a character made famous by Spirit Awards alum James Gandolfini, which has made an indelible mark in American pop culture. In a brilliant twist of casting, Galdolfini’s own son Michael (Cherry, The Deuce) plays young Tony, whose formative years in the turbulent 1960s under the tutelage of his “uncle” Dickie Moltisanti molded the young man into New Jersey’s storied and all-powerful mob boss.
PROGRAMMERS PICK MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
When You Can Watch: September 17 Director: Betsy West, Julie Cohen Cast: Pauli Murray, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Eleanor Holmes Norton
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
First-time Filmmaker
Microbudget
Female Filmmaker
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters (Header: Mogul Mowgli)
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-04-12” author: “Frank Hazlett”
ORPHAN: FIRST KILL
When You Can Watch: Now Where You Can Watch: Theaters, VOD, Paramount+ Director: William Brent Bell Cast: Isabella Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland Why We’re Excited: In William Brent Bell’s blood-curdling psychological thriller–a prequel to the 2009 cult hit Orphan–31-year-old Estonian psychiatric patient Leena (2022 Film Independent Spirit Award Best Female Lead nominee Isabella Fuhrman) suffers from the rare health disorder hypopituitarism, leading her to resemble a nine-year-old girl. Leena finagles a brilliant escape from her psychiatric facility and makes it all the way to America. Once in Connecticut, she starts impersonating Esther, the missing daughter of wealthy artist Allen (Sutherland) and wife Tricia (Stiles). Impressively, the 25-year-old Fuhrman–who first played the demented murderer at age 12–reprises her role here from Orphan, more than a decade later, looking every bit as young as she did in the first installment… without any digital tricks to de-age her onscreen visage.
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
When You Can Watch: September 2 Where You Can Watch: Theaters, Peacock Director: Adamma Ebo Cast: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Austin Crute, Nicole Beharie Why We’re Excited: In 2019 Project Involve Fellow Adamma Ebo’s feature directorial debut, Support the Girls Spirit Awards alum Regina Hall’s Trinitie is the proud wife of Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Lee-Curtis (Brown, of NBC’s family melodrama This Is Us). But when their congregation of tens of thousands–”Wander to Greater Paths”–is shut down by a scandal, the couple must work through the fallout to mount the biggest faith-based comeback since Jesus rolled away the stone blocking his grave. Adapted from Ebo’s own 2018 short of the same title, this satirical comedy’s producing team includes Film Independent Member Carolina Groppa.
PETER VON KANT
When You Can Watch: September 2 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited) Director: François Ozon Cast: Denis Ménochet, Isabelle Adjani, Khalil Ben Gharbia, Hanna Schygulla, Stéfan Crépon Why We’re Excited: Two decades ago, director Ozon’s feature adaptation of Ranier Werner Fassbinder’s 1972 stage play Tropfen auf heiße Steine gave us the sadomasochistic lesbian drama Water Drops on Burning Rocks. Now, he revisits another Fassbinder classic, putting a gender-flipped spin on the Sapphic melodrama The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, emerging with a French-language gay psychosexual drama. Middle-aged and famous, director Peter (Ménochet) lives in tense domesticity with his houseboy/assistant Karl (Crépon). While at lunch with his ex and former muse Sidonie (Camille Claudet’s Adjani), he’s introduced to aspiring actor Amir (Gharbia) and immediately becomes infatuated with the young man–soon inviting Amir to move in with him with promises to help him break into the movie business. Premiering at Berlin this spring to critical acclaim, the film is set in 1972 Cologne.
HOLD ME TIGHT
When You Can Watch: September 9 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited) Director: Mathieu Amalric Cast: Vicky Krieps, Arieh Worthalter, Anne-Sophie Bowen-Chatet Why We’re Excited: “He’ll think I left for a week, then six months, and then he’ll drop it.” So says young mother Camille (Krieps, of Phantom Thread and Bergman Island) to a friend as we see her embark on a road trip, eager to get away (possibly forever) from her family: husband Marc (Belgian actor Arieh Worthalter), daughter Lucie and son Paul. Adapted from a 2003 stage play by Claudine Galea, Amalric´s sixth feature as a director takes its time cutting back and forth between Camille’s state of mind and the aftermath of her abandonment back at home, as Marc struggles with the children until the mystery surrounding the separation is finally revealed. English-speaking audiences will probably recognize the actor-director Amalric most from his turn as a receipt-obsessed Bond villain in 2008’s Quantum of Solace.
BLONDE
When You Can Watch: September 16 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Netflix (September 28) Director: Andrew Dominik Cast: Ana de Armas, Lucy DeVito, Garret Dillahunt Why We’re Excited: Slated to premiere this month at the 79th Venice Film Festival prior to its streaming release on Netflix, this work of historical fiction is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same name. Shot mostly in black and white, writer-director Dominik’s (Chopper, Killing Them Softly) spin on one of Hollywood’s more enthralling icons–Norma Jeane Mortenson, otherwise known as Marilyn Monroe–has faced some backlash for casting Cuban-Spanish actress de Armas (Knives Out, No Time to Die) in the iconic part. For her part, de Armas reportedly worked with a dialect coach for nine months for the role to prepare, though she retains part of her native Cuban accent in the performance. Not a traditional biopic by any means, the film has already proved divisive among critics. Producers include Film Independent Members Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.
LOS ESPOOKYS, SEASON TWO
When You Can Watch: September 16 Where You Can Watch: HBO (Season 2) Creators: Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, Julio Torres Cast: Cassandra Ciangherotti, Ana Fabrega, Julio Torres, Bernardo Velasco Why We’re Excited: Three years after it first debuted, HBO’s bilingual English/Spanish dark comedy finally returns for its sophomore season after multi-year pandemic-imposed production delays. Featuring a mostly Latinx cast, friends and fellow gore enthusiasts in an unnamed Latin American country have figured out a way to leverage their love of horror flicks for profit: by recreating scenarios out of scary movies in order to trick their clients into believing everything is happening for real! In Season Two, the leader of the Espookys, Renaldo (Velasco), finds himself haunted by the spirit of a beauty queen while best friend Andrés (series creator Torres) has some tough work ahead fighting–quite literally!–his own demons. This season’s impressive lineup of guest stars includes Isabella Rosellini (Blue Velvet, Enemy) and Yalitza Aparicio from 2019’s Roma.
DON’T WORRY DARLING
When You Can Watch: September 23 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Olivia Wilde Cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, Chris Pine Why We’re Excited: Another upcoming Venice premiere, actor-director Olivia Wilde’s (a 2020 Spirit Award winner for her directorial debut, Booksmart) psychological thriller is based on the 2019 Black List spec script by brothers Carey and Shane Van Dyke. Shot during the pandemic in Los Angeles, the film follows a young and happy couple, Alice and Jack (Pugh and Styles), living in an apparently utopic 1950s experimental community in the company town of Victory, California. But pretty soon, Alice begins to suspect Jack’s work on the organization’s secret “Victory Project” and uncovers disturbing secrets behind their seemingly benign suburban facade. The producing team includes EP Catherine Hardwicke, previously nominated for two Spirit Awards for her directorial debut, 2003’s teen drama Thirteen.
SIDNEY
When You Can Watch: September 23 Where You Can Watch: Apple TV+ Director: Reginald Hudlin Why We’re Excited: “From the time I got off the boat, America began to say to me, You’re not who you think you are. There was a habit in Hollywood of utilizing Blacks in the most disrespectful ways. I said, I cannot play that.” A Spirit Award nominee for the 1990 comedy House Party, director Reginald Hudlin’s latest project is a documentary deep-dive into one of the most endearing icons of American cinema: the late Bahamian-American Oscar-winner Sidney Poitier (To Sir with Love, Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night). Poitier was born in Miami but lived in the Bahamas until he returned to the U.S. at the age of 15, eventually making his way to Hollywood as a unlikely (for the times) leading man in films including To Sir with Love, Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night, The Defiant Ones and more. Featuring interviews with some of Hollywood’s biggest names–Denzel Washington, Robert Redford, Spike Lee–the film goes beyond the legend’s acting career to show us another side of Poitier: the Civil Rights leader and activist. Producers Oprah Winfrey and Derik Murray worked closely with the Poitier family to illuminate the actor’s storied life.
CARMEN
When You Can Watch: September 23 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited), VOD Director: Valerie Bulhagiar Cast: Natascha McElhone, Steven Love, Michaela Farrugia Why We’re Excited: Partly inspired by her own aunt’s life, Maltese-Canadian director Bulhagiar’s drama follows the titular Carmen–a woman in her 50s who has finally emerged into the real world after a life of servitude in the name of the Church. Played by British actress McElhone (Ronin, Solaris and more recently as the fictional First Lady in TV series Designated Survivor), Carmen lives in a small village in Malta, where it is tradition to have a younger sister devote herself to the Church whenever her older brother becomes a priest. That’s how Carmen ended up living a repressed and severely deprived life from 16-50, until her brother’s death finally releases her from this cruel custom, allowing her to re-enter the wider world hungry for all it has to offer.
PROGRAMMERS’ PICK THE SILENT TWINS
When You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents (September 13), September 16 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited), VOD Director: Agnieszka Smoczynska Cast: Letitia Wright, Tamara Lawrance, Jack Bandeira, Michael Smiley Why We’re Excited: From Jenn Wilson, Film Independent Senior Programmer: “Director Agnieszka Smoczynska–who previously stunned audiences with her incredibly inventive film The Lure (2015)–makes another brilliantly creative film with The Silent Twins, the true story of twin sisters who refused to communicate with anyone but each other. Letitia Wright (June) and Tamara Lawrance (Jennifer) deliver astounding performances as the twins who refuse to speak with anyone but each other. Cutting themselves off from the outside world, June and Jennifer build an elaborate internal world that feels safe for them, but unfortunately society intrudes on them by deciding that the two are bad for one another and that both need to be institutionalized and separated. The two are extremely misunderstood until a woman discovers a book that June publishes, and decides to try to help get them released. The beautiful animated and fantasy sequences that represent June and Jennifer’s internal lives are a wonder to behold. That visual creativity coupled with the terrific performances from Lawrance and Wright make this a movie not to be missed!”
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A
Microbudget
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
Female Filmmaker
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
First-time Filmmaker (Header: Honk If You Love Jesus. Save Your Soul.)
title: “Don T Miss Indies What To Watch In September” ShowToc: true date: “2024-05-27” author: “Nancy Sweeney”
SCOUTS HONOR: THE SECRET FILES OF THE SCOUTS OF AMERICA
When You Can Watch: September 6 Where You Can Watch: Netflix Director: Brian Knappenberger Executive Producers: Diane Becker, Nan Goldin, Amy Ziering Why We’re Excited: “The length certain people were going to [in order to] try and get you to shut up got me the angriest.” So says one of the 80,000+ documented survivors embroiled in the Boy Scouts of America sexual abuse scandal in Brian Knappenberger’s new Netflix original documentary. Another victim was determined to see justice prevail says: “I don’t care if I bring the whole temple down. This is an abomination.” Combining archival footage from the comprehensive history of the BSA and interviews with an endless stream of survivors and advocates, Knappenberger (Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror, Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press) focuses on the so-called “Ineligible Volunteer Files,” which the BSA used to keep track of alleged abusers going back more than a hundred years (!!!) while allegedly shielding those same abusers from law enforcement.
POOR THINGS
When You Can Watch: September 8* Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Producers: Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef Why We’re Excited: A 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award alum for royal satire The Favourite, Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest started building Oscar buzz for leads Stone (La La Land, Cruella) and Ruffalo (Spotlight, The Normal Heart) as soon as it premiered at Venice last week. The sci-fi black comedy written by Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Hulu’s period satire dramedy The Great) is based on Scottish writer Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novella of the same name. Another awards season play from Searchlight Pictures, the Frankenstein-esque story follows Bella (Stone), who is brought back to life by scientist Dr. Baxter (two-time Spirit Awards winner Dafoe) and embarks on a journey of sexual liberation once she falls in love with serpentine lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn (Robert Altman Award recipient Ruffalo).
Editor’s note: Originally set to debut this month, the premiere has been delayed due to the dueling Actors and Writers Strikes. Updated release TBA.
KING ON SCREEN
When You Can Watch: September 8 Where You Can Watch: VOD Director: Daphné Baiwir Producer: Sebastien Cruz Why We’re Excited: Including interviews with a Hollywood who’s-who numbering James Caan (Misery), Tom Holland (The Langoliers, Chucky), Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) and Taylor Hackford (Dolores Claiborne, Ray), Belgian actor-turned-filmmaker Daphné Baiwir’s feature documentary examines the myriad film and television adaptations based on Stephen King’s prolific repertoire of horror and dramatic fiction. Ever since Brian De Palma first adapted Carrie in 1976, the Maine-based author’s cinematic legacy has spanned more than 80 movies and television works across nearly five decades. Baiwir digs deep into which ones have worked and which ones, well… didn’t. The producing team includes Film Independent Member Therese ‘Tag’ Goulet as an associate producer.
EL CONDE
When You Can Watch: September 15 Where You Can Watch: Netflix Director: Pablo Larraín Cast: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger Producers: Rocio Jadue, Juan de Dios Larraín Why We’re Excited: Most recently Spirit Award-nominated for the impressionistic White House biopic Jackie in 2017, Chilean director Larraín’s vampire-centric satirical black comedy also premiered last week in Venice. Unlike his previous films about life in Chile under dictator Augusto Pinochet–Tony Manero, Post Mortem and No—this iteration depicts Pinochet (Vadell) as a literal vampire who has been on Earth for 250 years and is finally ready to meet his maker so he can be freed from a complicated family situation. As The Hollywood Reporter film critic David Rooney puts it, the film is a “darkly funny vampire horror” that offers “an inventive take on why despots keep sinking their fangs into the world.”
CASSANDRO
When You Can Watch: September 15 Director: Roger Ross Williams Producers: Todd Black, David Bloomfield, Julie Goldman, Gerardo Gatica, Ted Hope Cast: Gael García Bernal, Roberta Colindrez, Perla De La Rosa
DUMB MONEY
When You Can Watch: September 15 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Craig Gillespie Producers: Craig Gillespie, Aaron Ryder, Teddy Schwarzman Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Sebastian Stan Why We’re Excited: Based on the book The Antisocial Network, Gillespie’s (Spirit Award nominee I, Tonya, Hulu’s Pam & Tammy) new project follows the 2021 GameStop stock frenzy that drove the retailer’s share price from $19 to $500 within less than a month. The film follows a group of meme investors from a Reddit page, including Keith Gill (Dano), who bets his entire life savings on the stock—or more precisely against two hedge funds which had bet that the troubled retailer’s shares would plummet. Shot in New Jersey in the fall of 2022, the Sony Pictures film will be premiering at TIFF later this week.
A MILLION MILES AWAY
When You Can Watch: September 15 Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella Producers: Mark Ciardi, Campbell G. McInnes Cast: Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar, Julio Cesar Cedillo
SEX EDUCATION, SEASON 4
When You Can Watch: September 21 Where You Can Watch: Netflix Creator: Laurie Nunn Cast: Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Gillian Anderson Why We’re Excited: After a two-year hiatus, Netflix’s acclaimed British teen sex dramedy returns for its fourth and final season! Winner of various awards including the BAFTAs and Critic Choice Awards, the series follows socially awkward high school student Otis Milburn (Butterfield) and his fellow schoolmates as they stumble through adolescence and all its attendant challenges. As his mother Jean (played by Gillian Anderson) is a well-known sex therapist, Otis has taken upon himself to provide sex therapy to his schoolmates at Moordale Secondary School. At the conclusion of Season 3, which premiered all the way back in 2021, Moordale was forced [SPOILERS!] to close its doors. So, the new season will see Otis and his pals navigating a fresh start during their final year of high school at Cavendish Sixth Form College (the equivalent of 12th grade in the American school system).
STILL UP
When You Can Watch: September 22 Where You Can Watch: Apple TV+ Creators: Steve Burge, Natalie Walter Cast: Antonia Thomas, Craig Roberts, Blake Harrison
PROGRAMMER’S PICK ROTTING IN THE SUN
When You Can Watch: September 8 Where You Can Watch: Theaters (available on MUBI on September 15) Director: Sebastián Silva Producer: Jacob Wasserman Cast: Jordan Firstman, Sebastián Silva, Catalina Saavedra Why We’re Excited: From Film Independent Senior Programmer Jenn Wilson: “Two-time Spirit Award nominee Sebastian Silva (2010’s The Maid and 2014’s Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus) plays a version of himself as a washed up, drugged out gay filmmaker and wannabe painter living in Mexico City and contemplating suicide. He goes on a trip and meets real life social media celebrity Jordan Firstman, also playing some version of himself. In and amongst the chaotic backdrop of gay circuit party boys and drugs, Firstman suggests that he and Silva should collaborate on a project, but by the time Firstman gets to Silva’s house in Mexico City, Silva is missing. Speaking barely any Spanish and on drugs most of the time himself, Firstman struggles to figure out what happened to him. With their absurd lives of constant drugs and sex parties, the film feels like Silva’s commentary on how other people imagine his life to be as an artist and a gay man. As in his other films, Silva always manages to keep you guessing though, and the film goes in a decidedly unexpected direction midway through. The film also features an amazing performance by Catalina Saavedra, the actress who was the unforgettable lead in Silva’s previous film, The Maid.”
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A
Microbudget
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
Female Filmmaker
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
First-time Filmmaker (Header: Cassandro)
