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Tango Shalom, where a female tango dancer (Dancing with the Stars champion Karina Smirnoff) invites an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi (Jos Laniado) to enter a televised dance competition, was an arthouse standout this weekend with a per screen average of over $4,000 at four theaters in New York and LA. The solid performance in a generally dour specialty market shows the power of older demos when they want to come out, nudged in this case by a targeted postcard mailing blitz, according to Atlas Distribution President Harmon Kaslow.

Tango Shalom is distributed worldwide by Vision Films with Atlas managing U.S. theatrical.

Kaslow thinks the comedy, directed by Gabriel Bologna with a sweet message and a star (Lainie Kazan) and producer (Joel Zwick) from the 2002 breakout hit My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, also benefitted from an exclusive theatrical run. Distributors have been noting the one-two boon of a decent window (60 days in...

South and West Asian films make up the entirety of this years Brooklyn Film Festival’s (Bff) Asian film line-up. As with the rest of their programme, the festival has a good mix of movies. Of the features spanning from Turkey to Syria to Nepal, some are East Coast premieres; some US; some even world. While the standard Asia-based narratives persist, the festival also leans into modern-day trends to feature more diaspora narratives. Notably, of these entries, almost half of them (3 out of 7) highlight Muslim or Islam-influenced narratives.

Earlier this week, the Brooklyn Film Festival announced the film lineup for its 24th edition, “The Clearing.” The 2021 edition will feature 36 World Premieres, 28 USA bows, 34 east coast debuts, and 25 first-time screenings in NY. In total, Bff will show in competition 147 features and shorts from 35 countries. The full lineup includes 13 narrative features and 9 documentary features highlighted in this release. The festival will also present 39 narrative shorts,...

Karina Smirnoff of “Dancing With the Stars” is set to co-star in the indie comedy “Tango Shalom,” TheWrap has learned. Gabriel Bologna is directing from a script by Joseph Bologna and Claudio Laniado. The writers are also part of the ensemble, which also includes Lainie Kazan and Renee Taylor. Jos Laniado stars as Moshe, a Hasidic Jew who receives a cryptic message from God to dance the tango, after which he struggles with his beliefs, his family and his community. Also Read: 'Dancing With the Stars' Pro Karina Smirnoff Sits Out Season 20 Smirnoff will play Viviana, a pretty tango instructor who oozes.