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“Are you getting what you want, bitch?” Philly Abe, the focus of Elizabeth Nichols’s Flying Lessons, repeatedly offers similarly styled examples of “director-subject negotiations,” in which the latter grumbles before giving the former what they want, now with the added gift of self-reflexive dramatic tension. Director-subject relations are currently an especially fashionable topic; at this year’s True/False Film Fest, Flying Lessons provided its most interesting treatment. Abe is presented first as a representative of a vibrant and unprofessionalized ’80s downtown NYC arts scene but has an equally important relationship to the filmmaker, whose presence […]

The post True/False Film Fest 2024: Creative Subjects first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“Are you getting what you want, bitch?” Philly Abe, the focus of Elizabeth Nichols’s Flying Lessons, repeatedly offers similarly styled examples of “director-subject negotiations,” in which the latter grumbles before giving the former what they want, now with the added gift of self-reflexive dramatic tension. Director-subject relations are currently an especially fashionable topic; at this year’s True/False Film Fest, Flying Lessons provided its most interesting treatment. Abe is presented first as a representative of a vibrant and unprofessionalized ’80s downtown NYC arts scene but has an equally important relationship to the filmmaker, whose presence […]

The post True/False Film Fest 2024: Creative Subjects first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

At the True/False Film Festival, packed with an array of nonfiction films from around the globe, there’s an overarching sense of connection and familiarity that emerges by the end of the four-day documentary showcase. True/False has held court in the charming college town of Columbia, Missouri as a haven for documentary film lovers for 21 years. IndieWire was particularly taken with the conversations that ensued throughout the festival — from Q&As to post-screening chit-chat — as we streamed out of the city’s historic theaters. Subtler conversations arose between the films themselves.

While the settings of the films were varied — Michigan to Mumbai, Armenia to Alphabet City — the best films touched on universal ideas: the connection between art and selfhood, changing political landscapes, and preparations for death and departure from this world. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s festival, all of which are still looking for U.

Museum of the Moving Image is pleased to announce the complete lineup for the 13th edition of First Look, the Museum's festival of new and innovative international cinema, which will take place in person March 13–17, 2024. Each year, First Look offers a diverse slate of major New York premieres, work-in-progress screenings and sessions, gallery installations, and fresh perspectives on the art and process of filmmaking. This year's festival introduces New York audiences to more than three dozen works from around the world. The guiding ethos of First Look is openness, curiosity, and discovery, aiming to expose audiences to new art, artists to new audiences, and everyone to different methods, perspectives, interrogations, and encounters. For five consecutive days the festival takes over MoMI's two theaters, as well as other rooms and galleries throughout the Museum—with in-person appearances and dialogue integral to the experience. Each night concludes with one of five...

Two days after the loss of beloved American filmmaker Jonathan Demme, the “Silence of the Lambs” and “Rachel Getting Married” director was still on the minds of everyone at the Tribeca Film Festival, including his “Philadelphia” star Tom Hanks and the man behind the film’s signature song, Bruce Springsteen.

The pair hit the Beacon Theatre on Friday evening for an hour-long chat as part of the festival’s Tribeca Talks series, and the discussion immediately turned to Demme, as the fest’s executive vice president Paula Weinstein introduced the duo and dedicated the event to Demme.

Read More: Remembering Jonathan Demme: Why He Was One of the Great Filmmakers of Our Time

“I realized what we really want as a festival is to dedicate today’s talk to the brilliant, extraordinary, committed, fabulous filmmaker Jonathan Demme,” Weinstein said. Hanks and Springsteen didn’t miss a beat turning the...

This week’s episode of Empire solely focused on setting up the pieces for next week’s likely crazy fall finale.

Cookie and her sister Candace (Vivica A. Fox) take Philly to find their missing sister Carol, who is a drug addict. Candace is polished and snobby, and her attitude matches Cookie’s. Despite how different they are, there’s no doubt they’re sisters. But petty arguments hinder their search for Carol, so Cookie reaches out to a former prison mate, Pepper (played by Rosie O’Donnell) to help track her sister down. Pepper knows exactly where to find her, and Cookie insists on taking Carol home with her to help her out.

O’Donnell isn’t the only major guest star in “Sinned Against.” Alicia Keys stars as Skye Summer, a famous pop star in the world of Empire. The character is not a far reach from real life,...

Warning -- Whoever put the NY Giants jersey on Philly's famous Rocky Balboa statue better watch his/her ass ... 'cause the Philly Pd is calling the situation a "Crime Against Humanity!"  Ok, so there's no statewide manhunt for the perp or anything like that ... but people in Philly were Fuming after some G-Men fan trolled the city before tonight's Eagles vs. Giants game.   We spoke to the Philadelphia Police Dept. about the situation and...

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will open the 2014 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival with the world premiere of a brand new restoration of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (1955). TCM’s own Robert Osborne, who serves as official host for the festival, will introduce Oklahoma!, with the film’s star, Academy Award®-winner Shirley Jones, in attendance. Vanity Fair will also return for the fifth year as a festival partner and co-presenter of the opening night after-party. Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The gathering will coincide withTCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.

In addition, the festival has added several high-profile guests to this year’s lineup, including Oscar®-winning director William Friedkin, who will attend for the screening of the U.S. premiere restoration of his suspenseful cult classic Sorcerer (1977); Kim Novak, who...

Will father time catch up with Money Mayweather or will the Ghost be busted? A look at the key talking points ahead of Saturday fight night in Vegas…

Over the years many great fighters have tried and failed to unpick the puzzle that is Floyd Mayweather; Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Miguel Cotto are but a handful that have come up short. However with an unexpected 30 month, 6 fight contract with HBO penned earlier this year, each fight for Mayweather is now becoming more intriguing than the last. For no longer is he simply facing opponents in the ring; he is now at war with father time as well. It is not for want of trying to ignore, but there are murmurs around town and now a glimmer of hope among his roster of hungry opponents that the aura of invincibility once surrounding Money Mayweather...

Mahlet Mesfin and John Bradford grew up in the same town of Kalamazoo, Mi, sharing the same social circle. As they got older, Mahlet moved to Pennsylvania with her family. The two serendipitously ran into each other again at a mutual friend's engagement party in Philly. By the end of the evening, they knew they could never part. The couple got hitched in a rustic country wedding and vowed to be side-by-side forever. Share their love.Here's what you had to say:Mrs. Pryor commented: "Congrats to this beautiful couple. You inspire me!"Anonymous wrote: "This is proof that there is beauty in love and not every relationship is 'cookie-cutter.'"...

Not all of the great film festivals are outside of the U.S. Even if you can’t book a ticket to Cannes or Berlin, you should be able to afford a flight out to Austin, Texas for SXSW, which is a festival for not only movies, but music and video games as well. Like the years before, the line-up for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival is the goods. Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass will open up the fest and then there will be other great-looking films throughout including The Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus, SNL’s hard-r adaptation of MacGruber, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, and Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways, just to name a few. If you’re going to this year’s SXSW, let me know so I can steal your identity and go in your place.

The 2010 SXSW Film Festival will run from March 12-20. Check out the...

Less than a week worth of recovering from the Sundance Film Festival, and we are already looking forward to our next, big film fest coverage. That would be the South by Southwest Film Festival held annually in Austin, Texas. Last year, Scott and I brought you all kinds of coverage from the Lone Star State, and this year doesn’t look to be much different.

With that, the announcement came last night of the feature films that will be playing at the SXSW Film Festival. Previous announcement were already made about films like Cold Weather, Electra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, Saturday Night, and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights making their debut. Kick-ass was recently announced as the opening night film, as well.

Among the other films being presented this year are some Sundance darlings, a few, highly anticipated premieres, and MacGruber.

Check out the full list...

I was so excited at seeing the SXSW line up last night that I completely forgot to post it and started searching the interwebs for cool content to go with it. Oops. Yes, I wish I was there but alas, it wasn’t mean to be (though don’t despair. We’ll be bringing you wicked awesome coverage).

But enough rambling, you want to know what’s all playing. Well, for a start there’s the much anticipated McGruber (trailer), the Duplass’ semi-mainstream comedy Cyrus, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs (trailer, review), Daniel Stamm’s horror flick Cotton and that’s on top of the previously announced titles which include Electra Luxx (Carla Gugino as a pregnant porn star? Bring. It. On.) and Kick-Ass (trailer). That’s already a great line-up but dear me, some of the other titles are pretty awesome too.

There’s Clay Liford scifi drama Earthling (trailer...

Late yesterday the SXSW Fim Festival, which runs from March 12-20 in Austin, TX, announced the full lineup of films that will be screening at this year’s event. And baby, it’s quite a list. Mixing big name films with intimate indie gems, the sheer number of films and the vast array of talented filmmakers is sure to be a hit with attendees and critics alike.

This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.

For more on...

Cinema have produced some memorably bad mothers -- Faye Dunaway's wire-hanger-wielding Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest" springs to mind -- but I'm hard-pressed to think of a meaner mom in movie history than Mary, from director Lee Daniels' "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," a hateful, bitter woman who manages to be the most abusive parent in a family where the father has sired two children with his own daughter. This mortal-lock-for-an-Oscar-nomination of a performance comes from Mo'Nique, the comedienne who I previously knew best as the host of a reality television show that placed her name in tandem with the phrase "fat camp." After the accolades she rightfully deserves for "Precious" start coming her way, she won't be hosting any new seasons of that series anytime soon.

Mary lives with her daughter Precious (Gabourey Sidibe), who she openly despises and treats like a servant. Precious...