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Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo and Eva-Jane Willis as Europol Agent Megan “Smitty” Garretson in ‘FBI: International’ season 2 episode 1

Eva-Jane Willis (London Files) joins the cast of CBS’s FBI: International as a series regular in season three. Willis will be playing Europol Agent Megan “Smitty” Garretson when season three episode one premieres on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 9pm Et/Pt.

Willis joins a season three cast that includes Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, and Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo. Episode one, “Unburdened,” was directed by Jonathan Brown from a script by Derek Haas.

Jarreth J Merz, Matthew Bellows, Aude Le Pape, Robert McKewley, and Adam Fidusiewicz guest star.

“Unburdened” Plot: The Fly Team and new Europol...

Exclusive: Vesna Cudic to head up new outfit; company’s debut sales slate revealed.

UK outfit Met Film has launched a new boutique international sales arm, Met Film Sales, which will offer a slate of high-end documentaries and TV series.

The company is being headed up by Vesna Cudic [pictured], previously head of acquisitions and sales at Dogwoof.

“I am really excited about this move to Met Film,” Vesna told Screen. “I was attracted by the prospect of being involved in the projects from the start, helping with the finance and then selling them worldwide.

“We already have a slate of Met Film documentaries and series in varying stages of development and finance, and I’m also currently developing relationships with producers who can create content for us to sell, including fiction titles.”

Vesna will be in Cannes this month launching the company’s initial slate.

In further news, the company has also launched Met Studio, a new content...

It was 1992, and the Rodney King riots were being felt across the country, especially amongst the high school students filing into Sarah Feinbloom’s Ancient History class at Boston Latin School in Massachusetts.

“My students were riled by the riots. They couldn’t concentrate. I felt like what I was teaching was irrelevant. What they really wanted to talk about were issues of police brutality, violence in their neighborhoods, the fact that they couldn’t sleep because they heard gunshots in the night, and they were scared.”

Feinbloom veered off the curriculum and started talking with her class about civil rights, and soon she and her students were collaborating on her first film, "Youth to Youth: A Video About Violence." With no film school experience, Sarah improvised as she went along.

“I wanted my students to cultivate a deeper understanding of how personal and systemic violence affects them and even in small ways do something themselves to prevent it. So we went out together and interviewed students, police officers, a Vietnam veteran, a rape survivor, and created segments about the ways people confront and experience violence. I was hooked on documentaries after that. I saw how important it was for young people to be able to tell their own stories and have safe spaces where they could discuss what was really going on in their lives.”

"Youth to Youth" ended up being shown in classrooms around the country, and this first foray launched a lifelong journey of framing social justice, diversity and human rights issues through documentary film.

Feinbloom, an award-winning filmmaker and educator, was one of the first directors to bring the voices of young people reflecting on religious diversity to the media spotlight. Her 2002 documentary "What Do You Believe?" highlighted the spiritual lives of American teenagers, leading Feinbloom along with Dp and co-producer Klara Grunning-Harris into the homes of Muslim, Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Native American teenagers. "What Do You Believe?" premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival, has sold more than 2,000 copies, was voted "One of Ten Best Videos for Young Adults in 2003" by the American Library Association, and aired on PBS.

“When I started touring with the film, it was often those kids that were in the minority at their schools that approached me. Muslim and Pagan girls said it was the first time they had ever seen something about themselves on screen. Some conservative Christian students said it was the first time they had ever really considered someone else’s religious perspective.”

Using her film as a centerpiece, Sarah created and led workshops nationally on interfaith dialogue and violence prevention and has been featured at conferences including the American Academy of Religion, Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogues, and the National Association of Multicultural Educators. However, her main goal has always been to reach young audiences.

"Teens are often the subject of stories about alcohol and drugs, crime reports, and educational statistics, but rarely are they asked for their intellect and perspective. I want people from different backgrounds to watch my films, talk about them, discuss them – together. I want them to talk about being alive."

Sarah’s filmography is expansive, showcasing a number of pertinent social concerns. Her film "Earth, Water, Woman" spotlights the Fondes Amandes Community Re-Forestation Project in Trinidad and Tobago, and its charismatic Rastafarian leader Akilah Jaramogi, in their ongoing efforts to transform barren hillsides into a vibrant, healthy ecosystem. "Daughters and Sons: Preventing Child-trafficking in the Golden Triangle" took Feinbloom to Thailand, where she profiled a program that rescues children before they are trafficked into the sex-industry, and subsequently won the award for Best Short in Child Advocacy at the Artivist Film Festival and helped raise over $250,000 trafficking prevention.

“I am especially interested in stories that offer solutions to what might seem like intractable problems, stories that offer hope and don’t just leave us in despair.”

Although most well known for her activist documentaries, Feinbloom also dabbles in lighter subjects. "In Search of the Heart of Chocolate," a “chocumentary” featured at Palm Springs International Short Fest, follows Feinbloom as she searches for the origins of her chocolate obsession, interviewing chocolate enthusiasts along the way, delving into chocolate cake, art, fantasy, chocolate croissants, spirituality, sex, love and hot fudge, and journeying into the past to uncover chocolate’s special place in our hearts.

Sarah’s success in documentary filmmaking, her experience as an educator, and her long time involvement with New Day Films prompted filmmakers to reach out to her for assistance with educational sales and community impact campaigns. After working as a consultant with several great projects, such as Jarreth Merz’s Sundance Film An African Election, Sarah founded the boutique documentary distribution company, Good Docs, in order to share her expertise with fellow independent filmmakers and generate revenue from sales in the educational market.

Good Docs’ curated collection highlights labor and civil rights struggles, environmental activism, juvenile justice reform, multicultural visibility, the fight for gender equality and much more. Their titles include several award-winning documentaries, including Amir Bar-Lev's "Happy Valley," Richard Ray Perez's "Cesar's Last Fast," Darius Clark Monroe’s "Evolution of a Criminal," and Grace Lee’s Peabody Award-winning film "American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs."

“They have been an indispensable partner with us in the educational market,” Grace Lee praised. “Good Docs has personally reached out to dozens of institutions and individuals, with a keen eye to the different disciplines that might appreciate my film, and there are many more than I had even imagined.”

Sarah’s right-hand woman, Alana Hauser, is the Educational Research and Outreach Coordinator at Good Docs. While earning her bachelor of arts in Latin American Studies and Spanish at Washington University in St. Louis, Alana worked at Whole Kids Foundation, Meals on Wheels and More, and the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project. After moving to Los Angeles, Alana looked to film to reflect the poignant micro-narratives she had collected over the years.

“Good Docs is a perfect synthesis of my knowledge and passions, as it uses film to shape social discourse and connect audiences with stories that are too often invisible from the public eye. “

Alana also interns at Sundance Institute Women’s Initiative and works for the La-based non-profit WriteGirl, constantly working to advocate for stronger representations of women in the media.

Feinbloom and Hauser make up a powerful Good Docs team, searching for films with the potential for positive social change, spreading the word about social activism, and supporting filmmakers both creatively and financially throughout the process. For further information about Sarah Feinbloom see http://sarafinaproductions.com or go to http://gooddocs.net to find out more about Good Docs and their work.

After its limited theatrical release in June, The Haunting of Helena is making its way to DVD and digital platforms next month. We have the official press release, DVD details, cover art, and the trailer:

Universal City, CA – Teeth will chatter when the psychological thriller, The Haunting of Helena, arrives on DVD and Digital September 17 from Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, Bloody Disgusting Selects, and The Collective. Starring Harriet MacMasters-Green (Parking Lot, Smile), Jarreth J. Merz (The Passion of the Christ, Taking Sides), Matt Patresi (The Passion of the Christ, The International), Giuliano Montaldo (Sacco & Vanzetti, The Entrepreneur) and Sabrina Jolie Perez in her debut role as Helena, the nightmarish film adds a whirlwind of terror to the innocent children’s lore, the tooth fairy. Directed by Christian Bisceglia (Matchmaker) and Ascanio Malgarini, The Haunting of Helena follows a little girl and her single mother as a mysterious woman transforms their dreams...

Get ready for the psychological horror thriller, "The Haunting of Helena" as it makes it's way to DVD and Digital courtesy of Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, Bloody Disgusting Selects, and The Collective. The film stars Harriet MacMasters-Green, Jarreth J. Merz, Matt Patresi, Giuliano Montaldo, and Sabrina Jolie Perez in her debut as an actress playing the part of Helena. Synopsis: "After a divorce, Sophia moves to the south of Italy with he…...

Harriet Mac Masters Green, Sabrina Jolie Perez, Giuliano Montaldo, Jarreth Merz and Matt Patresi star in the film directed by Ascanio Malgarini and Christian Bisceglia. Here, after a divorce, Sophia moves to the south of Italy with her daughter, Helena. Their new home, an apartment within an austere building of the fascist age, is a chance for them to start a new life. But inside an old storage room hides a mysterious closet and a buried secret. After the loss of Helena’s first baby tooth, a chilling obsession begins and an apparition haunts her sleep. Dreams become nightmares. Nightmares become reality. When Helena collects her classmate’s fallen teeth with an urgent hunger, it is clear that there is far more to their new home than can be seen. Sophia finds herself in a terrifying fight to save her child while maintaining her sanity.

Check out the trailer for the upcoming horror thriller The Haunting Of Helena, a tale of a mysterious woman, a little girl, and her single mother presents a new twist on the legend of the Tooth Fairy. The film, directed by Ascanio Malgarini and Christian Bisceglia, stars Angela Presepi, Giuliano Montaldo, Harriet MacMasters-Green, Jarreth J. Merz, Lucrezia Tosi, Marco Basile, Marco Fattibene, Massimiliano Carnevale, Matt Patresi, Paolo Paoloni, Sabrina Jolie Perez, and Susanna Cornacchia. The Haunting Of Helena will be released in select theaters on June 21st, 2013. It will be available on Cable VOD in partnership with Tribeca Films and for digital streaming on June...

Formerly know as Fairytale Bloody Disgusting Selects will be releasing The Haunting of Helena. The film is based on the tooth fairy lore and will receive a limited theatrical release on June 21 2013. The Haunting of Helena will first be available on Cable VOD in partnership with Tribeca Films on June 18 2013. A tale of a mysterious woman a little girl and her single mother The Haunting of Helena is directed by Christian Bisceglia and Ascanio Malgarini written by Christian Bisceglia and Harriet MacMastersGreen Sabrina Jolie Perez and Jarreth J. Merz.

Christian Bisceglia and Ascanio Malgarini's Italian tooth fairy chiller 'The Haunting of Helena' (Aka 'Fairytale') has scored a Us release. The flick that has gained its new 'haunting' title, which in all honesty seems way too familiar, is set to be unleashed on VOD on 18 June and then landing in select Us theatres on 21 June. Christian Bisceglia co-directs from a script he penned telling a twisted tale of the legendary Tooth Fairy and we've been promised that there is no sign of Dwayne Johnson parading around in tights anywhere. Harriet MacMasters-Green, Sabrina Jolie Perez, Jarreth J. Merz, Matt Patresi, Paolo Paoloni, Giuliano Montaldo and Susanna Cornacchia all star. Check out the full plot rundown plus artwork below....

The previously reported An African Election makes its debut tonight, October 1, 6:30pm Et on PBS World. A film by Jarreth Merz, captures the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana. Offering a behind-the-scenes look at the complex, political machinery of a third world democracy struggling to legitimize itself to its first world peers, the film reveals that the process of democracy in other countries is no less tumultuous than that of the United States. Merz follows the key players for almost three months to provide an unprecedented insider’s view of the political, economic and social forces at work in Ghana. The filmmaker builds suspense by taking the viewer down the back roads...

A pair of titles in our Most Anticipated Films for 2012 in #39. Andrew Dosunmu (Ma George) and #30. Mark Jackson (Untitled Sicily Project) are two of the lucky fifteen filmmakers to have received coin in the shape of 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute grants. Recipients include a trio of titles that we caught in Park City back in January in Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Ira Sach’s Keep the Lights On, and Destin Daniel Cretton’s I Am Not a Hipster. Here’s the press release.

Post-Production Feature Film Grants

Keep the Lights On

Writer/director: Ira Sachs

The story of a tumultuous, decade-long relationship between two men in New York City. Keep the Lights On premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Ira Sachs is a writer and director based in New York City. His films include Married Life (2007), The Delta (1997) and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning Forty Shades of Blue.

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, handed out top honors to The Artist, The Descendants and Margin Call at this afternoon’s 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards. My Week With Marilyn, Beginners, 50/50, A Separation and The Interrupters also received awards at the ceremony, held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

Tune in to IFC tonight at 10:00 pm Et/Pt to catch all the action at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards, with actor, writer and producer Seth Rogen hosting. Highlights include: John Waters as the Voice of God, musical performances by My Morning Jacket and K’Naan.

The Spirit Awards was the first event to exclusively honor independent film, and over the past 27 years, has become the premier awards show for the independent film community, celebrating films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Artists...

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" was the big winner at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The black-and-white silent film took home Best Feature, Director for Hazanavicius, Best Male Lead for Jean Dujardin, and Best Cinematography for Guillaume Schiffman.

In the performance categories, Michelle Williams took home the Best Female Lead award for her Marilyn Monroe portrayal in "My Week with Marilyn." Shailene Woodley, snubbed by the Academy for her memorable performance as George Clooney's daughter in "The Descendants," won Best Supporting Actress while Oscar frontrunner, Christopher Plummer, received the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in "Beginners."

Held on Santa Monica Beach and hosted by Seth Rogen, the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast by IFC at 10 p.m. Pst/Est.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature

50/50 - Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen...

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, The Artist The Artist, Jean Dujardin, Michelle Williams: Spirit Award Winners Best Feature (Award given to the producer) 50/50 Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen Beginners Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy Drive Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel Take Shelter Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin * The Artist Producer: Thomas Langmann The Descendants Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor Best Director * Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Mike Mills – Beginners Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter Alexander Payne – The Descendants Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive Best Screenplay Joseph Cedar – Footnote Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Tom McCarthy – Win Win Mike Mills – Beginners * Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants Best International Film (Award given to the director) * A Separation (Iran) Director: Asghar Farhadi Melancholia (Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany) Director: Lars von Trier Shame (UK) Director: Steve McQueen...

Each week within this column Spirit Award voter & film critic Kristy Puchko will offer a keen insight on a new selection of nominees for the 2012 Spirit Awards, along with any garnered behind-the-scenes exclusives. The Spirit Awards will air February 25th @10Pm on IFC.

Last week I shared my thoughts on some of the films I loathed this year, and so am thrilled to share some of my favorites from this year’s Spirit line-up with you today. Let’s get to it.

The Interrupters ~ Directed by Steve James

Nominations: Best Documentary

“I can’t aid and abed shit. I flush shit,” these are the tough love words of Ameena Matthews, a former gang member turned violence interrupter who dedicates herself and her time to the rage-filled residents of Chicago, counseling them to stop the gang violence that has long-ravaged the community. Hoop Dreams director Steve James dives deep into the...

The 19th annual African Diaspora International Film Festival opened in New York on Friday but has only caught my attention today because a modest batch of reviews of what look to be some pretty intriguing documentaries have appeared in the last day or two. The festival runs through December 13.

"In the fleet-footed, engagingly volatile documentary An African Election, the director Jarreth Merz hurls himself into the thick of a political contest defined by high hopes and even higher anxieties," writes Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times. "For almost three months in 2008, Mr Merz followed the unsteady progress of the presidential race in Ghana, a country energized by the recent discovery of oil and still reeling from the aftermath of catastrophic floods. To capture the national turmoil, the filmmaker (who grew up in Ghana) assembles a colorful gallery of political insiders, including the candidates — Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party,...

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards this morning. Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale served as presenters. Nominees for Best Feature include 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter, The Artist and The Descendants.

Margin Call was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

“The Film Independent Spirit Awards recognize the finest artistic achievements across the broad spectrum of independent filmmaking.from emerging talent working on a shoestring budget to established auteurs,” said Film Independent Senior Director Sean Mc Manus. “The 2012 nominees tell their stories in such an authentic way and reflect the inclusive nature of the independent filmmaking community. We are delighted to support them and expand the audience for their work.”

2012 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer,...

The Artist, Take Shelter, and the other nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced. The 27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards “are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films…The Independent Spirit Awards are presented by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers…The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees selected nominees from 277 submissions this year and applied the following guidelines in determining the nominations: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost & individual compensation), and percentage of financing from independent sources.”

This year’s award ceremony will be held on February 25, 2012 “at the beach in Santa Monica and broadcast by IFC.”

The full listing of the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations is below.

Best Feature (Award...

It’s that time of year for various organizations to recognize some of the best films of 2011. Some of these awards are lesser known, but the Film Independent Spirit Awards, is not one of them. Film Independent which also helps produce the Los Angeles Film Festival has announced the 2012 Spirit Award Nominees.

Margin Call was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

Having seen Win Win the other day, I really hope that Tom McCarthy wins the award for Best Screenplay, but it will be hard to take the win, especially with the momentum that The Descendants and The Artist are having. As for other films, its no surprise to see 50/50, Drive, Beginners, and the aforementioned The Artist and The Descendants as the nominees for Best Feature. The Spirit Award nominees is just one of the...

"The Artist" and "Take Shelter" scored the most nominations for the Film Independent's Spirit Awards announced today. Each film received five nods while "Beginners," "Drive," "The Descendants," and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" each received four nominations.

The Spirit Award prides itself in honoring American-made films that are budgeted at under $20 million. Read the nominations below. The winners will be announced at the 27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony on Feb. 25th. You can see the festivities on IFC.

And here are the nominees for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer)

50/50 - Ben Karlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Beginners - Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Jan Van Hoy, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech

Drive - Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel

Take Shelter - Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin

The Artist - Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat

The Descendants - Jim Burke, Alexander Payne,...

★★★☆☆ Jarreth Merz's documentary An African Election (2010) is an eye-opening account of the 2008 democratic election in Ghana between Attila Mills of the National Democratic Congress (Ndc) and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party, during which the country's inhabitants queued for up to and beyond 10 hours in order to cast their vote. Whilst this delays the declaration of victory for the eventual victorious party - with a run-off being declared by the electoral commission - you do get a sense of the importance of this democratic decision being taken by the country.

Read more »...

Hugh Grant, who was lauded for his appearance at the Leveson inquiry this week, had some arguments to air about the film promotion circuit

The big story

This week saw actor Hugh Grant deliver his testimony to the Leveson phone hacking inquiry. Grant, a vocal opponent of invasive press behaviour for many months, gave a thoughtful and measured performance. He no longer appeared "the foppish stereotype Brit," according to the Guardian's Michael White. "More high-minded Gary Cooper in Mr Deeds Goes to Town."

Part of Grant's argument centred on the impression that film stars ought to offer themselves up to promote their films. It was, he said, part of your responsibility to a project to do interviews around it ("If you didn't do a little bit of publicity you'd be a monster"), but far from essential. Grant estimated that around 5% of a film's success came down to whether or not he gave interviews,...

This week on Film Weekly: Jason Solomons meets Terence Davies, who returns with an adaptation of Terence Rattigan's acclaimed play The Deep Blue Sea - his first non-documentary work in 11 years. He discusses his fascination with the postwar era and why he cast Rachel Weisz as a married woman who embarks on a passionate and tortured affair with a Raf veteran (played by Tom Hiddleston).

Jason also delves into the fraught world of west African politics when he meets Jarreth Merz the director of An African Election. The film follows the 2008 Ghanaian presidential elections with a forensic eye, unpacking the very particular tensions in Ghana's political culture.

Finally, Xan Brooks joins Jason to review some of this week's other releases, including Michelle Williams as the blond bombshell in My Week With Marilyn, Brad Pitt sporting a stack of statistics in baseball drama Moneyball and Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon...

At the 30th Sundance Awards Ceremony last night, I walked around the hall and asked filmmakers a simple question, and requested a short response. My question was: “What does Sundance mean to you?” Their answers were incredibly diverse — in fact none were identical. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Out of varied thoughts are born unique visions that can become great films. Of course not great films for everyone, but great for someone, or for a group of someones. For an audience taken on a journey where they have never been, or have not been for a long time, films open eyes and minds and souls. Films make their audiences more human. And isn’t making us more human the essence of great film?

I can categorize these ten filmmakers’ replies as about money, a warm sense of community, reaching an audience, confirmation of their self and their work, the uniqueness of this festival,...

Two films in Sundance show Africa from the inside which is rare in these days when we are seeing events unfold in Africa from a Western point of view in the Sudan and the Ivory Coast. An African Election, directed by Jarreth Merz and playing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition after its Idfa premiere is a political documentary that exposes the never-before-seen, nitty-gritty of political electioneering in Africa. It captures the intrigues of political campaigns; the almost carnival like atmosphere that is laced with fear of the unknown and the danger that lurks behind-the-scenes. As the opponents face off…...

Another three filmmaker interviews join indieWIRE's "Meet the 2011 Sundance Filmmakers" series today, continuing this year's series spotlighting the festival's filmmakers ahead of the event, which opens January 20th. Thursday's crop include Jarreth Merz's Idfa 2010 acclaimed "An African Election" (World Cinema Documentary Competiton), Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter" (U.S. Dramatic Competition) and Marshall Curry's "If a Tree Falls" (U.S. Documentary Competition). Soon after the Sundance Film Festival unveiled its 2011 ...

Another three filmmaker interviews join indieWIRE's "Meet the 2011 Sundance Filmmakers" series today, continuing this year's series spotlighting the festival's filmmakers ahead of the event, which opens January 20th. Thursday's crop include Jarreth Merz's Idfa 2010 acclaimed "An African Election" (World Cinema Documentary Competiton), Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter" (U.S. Dramatic Competition) and Marshall Curry's "If a Tree Falls" (U.S. Documentary Competition). Soon after the Sundance Film Festival unveiled its 2011 ...

Continuing on with highlighting relevant films scheduled to screen at next month’s Sundance Film Festival…

The synopsis for An African Election reads as follows: … a remarkable documentary that grants viewers unprecedented access to the anatomy of Ghana’s 2008 presidential elections. Capturing the intrigue of electioneering, the intensity of the vote-counting process, and the mood of the countrymen whose fate lies precariously in the balance, director Jarreth Merz’s coverage unfolds with all the tension of a political thriller, revealing the emotions, passions, and ethical decisions that both threaten – and maintain – the integrity of the democratic process.

The film premiered in Amsterdam, at the Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival) where it won the Audience Award.

You can read more on the films back-story, and follow its progress Here.

Trailer follows below:...