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Chicago – The 2025 Cinema Femme Short Film Festival is opening on July 17th, 2025, and runs through July 21st (in person). Opening Night will feature a Reception, a “Best of Fest Retrospective” and a post-screening Opening Night Party, all at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. For a complete festival schedule and ticket information, click Cinema Femme.

Presented by Cinema Femme Magazine, the film festival emphasizes the importance of supporting emerging female, trans and non-binary filmmakers. After the in-person festival, film fans will be able to stream the film programs online from July 22nd-29th.

2025 Cinema Femme Short Film Festival, In Person July 17th-21st

Photo credit: CinemaFemme.com

Executive Director Rebecca Martin Fagerholm is also the Managing Editor of Cinema Femme magazine. She founded the publication in 2018 and began the film festival online in 2020 … expanding to in-person … because she wanted to create a platform for female, trans and non-binary voices in the film community.

Universal Pictures’ spy thriller Black Bag leads the way for new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as Warner Bros’ Opus and Studiocanal’s In the Lost Lands also open.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh,Black Bagopens in 650 cinemas, up from Soderbergh’s last film Presence which debuted in 478 sites earlier this year. That title opened with a mild £292,058 for Warner Bros, ending its run on £825,587 total.

Black Bag will be aiming much higher with the help of strong reviews, a London-set premise and a starry ensemble led by Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett. The duo play husband and...

Chicago – Filmmaker Haroula Rose will have a Chicagoland homecoming with her recently released film “All Happy Families” as she appears at a special screening at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre on October 7th, 2024 (6:30p). The 4.5/5 film (review below) was filmed all in Chicago, and was directed and co-written by Rose. For tickets and more information, click All Happy Fam.

Josh Radnor of “How I Met Your Mother” is Graham, a dejected writer/actor who manages the Landry family two flat in Chicago … his brother Will (Rob Huebel) owns it and has a successful TV show in Los Angeles. When the building needs a new tenant, Graham re-connects with interested party Dana (Chandra Russell) who he used to have a crush on in college. When Will shows up unexpectedly, and their parents (John Ashton and Becky Ann Baker) are also in for a visit, three situational bombshells are about to throw everyone into,...

Dysfunctional family dynamics are in full swing in All Happy Families. The engaging dramedy, headlined by Josh Radnor and directed by Haroula Rose, finds one family in major flux. Suddenly, all at once, its as if everything in life has changed. Perhaps more challenging to accept is the fact that they, too, must change if theyre ever going to emerge gracefully from significant life transitions.

Joining Radnor is Chandra Russell (South Side), Becky Ann Baker, John Ashton (the Beverly Hills Cop films), and Rob Huebel. The films premise finds the Landry familys collective life angst converging around the same time. One of the most refreshing aspects of the film is that it delivers a rare achievement: delivering an adult coming-of-age story, which proves that not every major life transition just happens between the ages of 11 and 18.

To that end, the filmmaker, who also co-wrote the film with Coburn Goss, suggests...

Josh Radnor will never forget his experience playing Ted Mosby on the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Nor will he forget the late Bob Saget, whose voiceover as older Ted anchored the series across nine hilarious seasons. In a recent interview with MovieWeb promoting his new indie film, All Happy Families, Radnor took time out to tell us if he and Saget ever bonded on or off set.

Bob and I really became quite good friends during the process [of the show], Radnor admitted. There was something very sweet about playing the same character but in different time periods. About a year or two before he died, I did an episode of his podcast. We would grab dinner about once a year, and I have a remembrance of him on Instagram that I check in with every once in a while." That remembrance, posted January 10, 2022, has nearly 244,000 likes, and begins...

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Josh Radnor and Haroula Rose, the star and director of the new film All Happy Families, discuss their new indie dramedy, good music, and bonding with Bob Saget. All Happy Families is released Sep. 20, 2024, from Freestyle Digital Media.

In All Happy Families, a struggling actor remains in a slump, while his successful brother has his own show. The family soon finds itself under the same roof again, where every corner reveals secrets and long-held resentments.

All Happy Families introduces us to the Landry family of Chicago. At the center is Graham, an aspiring actor and writer, played by Josh Radnor. He’s got his hands full with repairs to the old family home and finding a new tenant.

Enter Dana, an old flame and friend looking for an apartment—perhaps their fondness will rekindle. But Graham’s plans face disruption with the arrival of brother Will, a television star dealing with problems of his own back home.

Adding layers of complexity are their parents, Sue and Roy. Sue is coping with inappropriate behavior from her former boss, while Roy struggles with private demons. Deftly weaving these threads are co-writers Haroula Rose and Coburn Goss, exploring intimacy and heartache within a beloved cinematic form—the dysfunctional family.

Subtly directed by Rose, the characters feel vibrantly real as their stories unfold. With empathy and care, layered social themes emerge from intimate moments.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “All Happy Families,” a drama/comedy about the common life element of family that all of us must deal with in our own way, co-written by Coburn Goss and Haroula Rose, and directed by Rose. In theaters on September 20th. See local listings,

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Josh Radnor of “How I Met Your Mother” is Graham, a dejected writer/actor who manages the Landry family two flat in Chicago … his brother Will (Rob Huebel) owns it and has a successful TV show in Los Angeles. When the building needs a new tenant, Graham re-connects with interested party Dana (Chandra Russell) who he used to have a crush on in college. When Will shows up unexpectedly, and their parents (John Ashton and Becky Ann Baker) are also in for a visit, three situational bombshells are about to throw everyone into, as author Leo Tolstoy once said,...

"Why are we watching like any of this is about me?!" "Because it is about you!" Freestyle Digital Media is debuting this indie comedy in theaters and on VOD coming soon this fall. All Happy Families is the latest film directed by indie filmmaker Haroula Rose. It first premiered at the 2023 Chicago and Mill Valley Film Festivals last year, with an official release set for limited theaters this month before it's viewable at home. A charming dramedy starring Josh Radnor as Graham, an actor in a slump while his successful brother Will has his own hit TV show. The whole dysfunctional family finds itself under the same roof again, where every corner reveals secrets and long-held resentments, with each person dealing with their own problems. The ensemble cast features Josh Radnor, Rob Huebel, Becky Ann Baker, John Ashton, Chandra Russell, Colleen Camp, Antoine McKay, David Pasquesi, Ivy O'Brien, and Lena Drake.

“All happy families are alike,” claims the immortal first sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”; “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And while jaded viewers may opine that all indie dramedies about dysfunctional families in the “Little Miss Sunshine” or “The Squid and the Whale” mold are alike, writer-director Haroula Rose’s “All Happy Families” suggests the genre has moved in a more grounded direction. Whether that’s ultimately a better direction remains to be seen.

The focal point of this particular family is Graham (Josh Radnor), an aspiring screenwriter/actor whose older brother Will (Rob Huebel) stars on a hugely popular (and seemingly terrible) TV series. As Will surprises Graham by flying from Los Angeles to Chicago for an unannounced visit to the childhood home they bought together, their mother Sue (Becky Ann Baker) is trying to figure out how to react to her former...

As festivals have increasingly endeavored to showcase more diverse talent, benchmarks of inclusivity occasionally run the risk of feeling like a dutiful checklist.

The Bentonville Film Festival, though, has celebrated — and elevated — underrepresented voices since its inception. Returning for its 10th edition from June 10-16, the northwest Arkansas festival has always taken as its mission statement the centering of work from not only LGBTQ+ and Bipoc creators but also other historically marginalized groups.

That focus shouldn’t be surprising, given that the festival’s roots stretch back to the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a nonprofit research organization the actor founded after noticing the disparity in female characters while watching TV series and movies with her daughter.

While co-founder Davis remains Bentonville Film Festival’s chair, president Wendy Guerrero and artistic director Drea Clark, with a combined 19 years of experience with the festival, provide stability and steerage.

“The...

Exclusive: Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American theatrical, VOD, and DVD rights to All Happy Families, the dramatic comedy that premiered at Chicago International Film Festival and at Mill Valley Film Festival last fall and just had its Southern California premiere last night at Dances With Films: L.A. independent film festival. Freestyle Digital Media is planning a fall 2024 limited theatrical and VOD release.

Pic is the story of the Landrys, not the stereotypical Midwestern family. A charming dramedy that stars Fleishman Is in Trouble‘s Josh Radnor as an actor and writer in a slump and still waiting for his big break, whose brother Will (Rob Huebel) is crushing it as a series star. On the weekend before new tenant Dana (Chandra Russell) is due to move into their childhood home, the siblings and their parents...

Previous | Image 1 of 11 | NextJohn C. Reilly, Career Achievement Award honoree.

Chicago – The Red Carpet was for rock … er, cinema … stars at the the 60th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) Summer Gala, and the directors, actors and film VIPs were present and feted. Patrick McDonald and Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com were also there, and got the stars to pose and talk.

Hosted with raucous glee by “Today Show” personality Al Roker, the night was a luminous event with brilliant speeches, highlighted by Career Achievement Awardee John C. Reilly, who thanked his born-and-bred Chicago upbringing for his movie star career. Also honored was filmmaker Jennifer Reeder (“Knives and Skin”) who received the Tour De Force Award for her progressive feminist filmography, and took us through her journey in a screenplay speech format. Ciff Founder Michael Kutza was also honored, and received a standing ovation.

Also among the Red Carpet attendees...

Chicago – Haroula Rose has made a mark on creative culture as a filmmaker, musician and performer, and the Cinema Femme Short Film Festival will acknowledge her on the April 25th Opening Night with a Special Tribute to Haroula, beginning at 7pm at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. For more information, click Rose.

Presented by Cinema Femme Magazine, the film festival emphasizes the importance of supporting emerging female and non-binary filmmakers, and connects those filmmakers to their Breaking Down Walls mentorship and retreat. This year’s festival features short film programs with a letter writing theme, a spotlight feature film “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” a screenwriting workshop and a panel on post-production. The panelists will be all female and non-binary people from notable post production Chicago companies …Optimus, Periscope Post & Audio, Noisefloor, and Anachrony Post. Virtual online events will also take place on April April 29th, 30th and May 2nd.

Haroula...

Chicago – Rebecca Martin Fagerholm has built the Cinema Femme Short Film Festival from online beginnings to primary in-person events, and the 6th festival will open at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on April 25th, 2024, with a tribute to filmmaker Haroula Rose. For details and program information, click Cinema Femme.

Presented by Cinema Femme Magazine, the film festival emphasizes the importance of supporting emerging female and non-binary filmmakers, and connects those filmmakers to their Breaking Down Walls mentorship and retreat. This year’s festival features short film programs with a letter writing theme, a spotlight feature film “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” a screenwriting workshop and a panel on post-production. The panelists will be all female and non-binary people from notable post production Chicago companies … Optimus, Periscope Post & Audio, Noisefloor, and Anachrony Post. Virtual online events will also take place on April April 29th, 30th and May 2nd.

Cinema Femme Short Film Festival

Photo credit: CinemaFemme.

Director Haroula Rose and screenwriter Coburn Goss put an endearing and relatable spin on family dysfunction in All Happy Families, which recently premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival. The coming-of-age tale is unique in that most of the “coming of age” characters featured are well into middle-age and beyond. The film suggests that anybody can come to terms with life when “shift” happens. And in All Happy Families, there’s a lot of shift.

“I hope people see some of themselves in the film, for better or worse,” said Haroula Rose, who also co-wrote the movie with Coburn Goss. “I like making stories about people and real things, and just staying grounded and authentic. I hope people see something and can empathize with it.”

Nothing like a family gathering to provoke thought on that front, eh? In All Happy Families, the Landry family are forced to come to terms...

Chicago – The City of Neighborhoods is Chicago, and director/co-writer Haroula Rose (with co-writer Coby Goss) has constructed a modern issue “dramedy” set there entitled “All Happy Families,” which has its World Premiere at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival on October 12th, 2023. For tickets and info, click Families.

This comic drama involves a dysfunctional whose youngest son Graham (Josh Radnor), an eternally aspiring actor in Chicago who’s stuck in a funk and living in his family’s crumbling two-flat. When an old college crush (Chandra Russel) comes looking to rent the first floor apartment, while at the same time as his TV star brother Will’s (Rob Huebel) returns home, Graham is faced with a problematic dilemma and returning parents (Colleen Camp and John Ashton) in the mix.

’All Happy Families,’ by Haroula Rose (left inset) with Coby Goss (right), at the 59th Ciff

Photo credit: Chicago International...

Exclusive: Josh Radnor (Hunters), Rob Huebel (The Descendants), Becky Ann Baker (Girls), Chandra Russell (Southside) and John Ashton (Beverly Hills Cop) are set to star in the upcoming comedic drama All Happy Families. The film will shoot in Chicago, Il, and is the sophomore feature from director Haroula Rose (Once Upon a River), who co-wrote the script with Coburn Goss.

Colleen Camp, David Pasquesi, Ivy O’brien, NatalijaNogulich, Antoine McKay, Grammy-winning artist Rodney Crowell, Lena Drake and Eliza Shin also star.

Michael Shannon serves as Executive Producer alongside producers Liz Cardenas, who won an Independent Spirit Award earlier this year for 7 Days, Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award nominee Ian Keiser, Mary Munez, Haroula Rose and Coburn Goss. A Chicago Media Angels, Neon Heart Productions, Glass Bead FIlms, Lucky Number 8 Productions, Attic Light Films and Pogi Studios production.

“This has been a dream collaboration from the beginning, when Coburn and...

Exclusive: Josh Radnor (Hunters), Annie Parisse (Friends from College) and Nuala Cleary (The Crowded Room) will topline the period drama Three Birthdays from writer-director Jane Weinstock (The Moment), which has wrapped production. Other actors set for the pic include Jasmine Batchelor (New Amsterdam), Uly Schlesinger (Generation), Gus Birney (Shining Vale), Guy Burnet (Oppenheimer), Annie McNamara (Severance) and Dolly Wells (Doll & Em).

In the indie set in 1970, Radnor and Parisse star as college professor parents to a rebellious 16-year-old played by Cleary. Against the backdrop of the sexual revolution and increasingly violent demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, each member of this nuclear family struggles to reconcile the political with the personal. The film’s producers are Andrea Miller, Chris Collins and James Welling.

Radnor is an actor and filmmaker who currently stars opposite Al Pacino in the Amazon series Hunters, from executive producer Jordan Peele. He is otherwise best known...

Exclusive: Josh Radnor (Hunters) has signed on for a major recurring role opposite Lizzy Caplan in FX’s limited series Fleishman Is in Trouble. In addition to Caplan, he joins previously announced leads Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes and Adam Brody in the series, which is based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s bestselling debut novel.

FX Pilots & Series Orders

Created by Brodesser-Akner, the story centers on recently separated fortysomething Toby Fleishman (Eisenberg), who dives into the brave new world of app-based dating with the kind of success he never had dating in his youth, before he got married at the tail end of medical school. But just at the start of his first summer of sexual freedom, his ex-wife, Rachel (Danes), disappears, leaving him with the kids and no hint of where she is or whether she plans to return. As he balances parenting, the return of old friends, a promotion at...

Exclusive: Hello Sunshine, the media company co-founded by actress Reese Witherspoon, has partnered with Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur to release a three short films inspired by first-time meetings (aka “Meet Cutes”) from the Bumble app.

The branded “Meet Cute” series features three female and non-binary filmmakers — Carly Usdin, Sadé Clacken Joseph and Haroula Rose — who have each created a short film inspired by a true Bumble “Meet Cute” story. The filmmakers were empowered to retell these real-life romances in their own voice.

The series can be viewed on the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine YouTube channel and will live in a branded content hub on The Roku Channel nationwide this fall. You can also check them out below.

“We are thrilled to support these incredibly talented emerging filmmakers,” said Zoe Fairbourn, head of brand partnerships at Hello Sunshine. “Hello Sunshine is excited to usher in a new era of modern...

Margo is a Native American teenager living up river somewhere in Michigan in 1977 and who, after a tragic incident, is about to undertake an American odyssey in an indie key. Although first-time feature director Haroula Rose lays on the narration thickly to begin with, when stitching Margo's back story more carefully through the film would have been less clunky, she has a strong grasp of visual storytelling - from the lush riverside landscapes where Margo goes hunting to the honeyed glow cinematographer Charlotte Hornsby gives to much of the action.

Living with her single dad (Tatanka Means), after her mother apparently abandoned them, in the middle of what seems to be a predominantly white community, Margo's ability with a gun has garnered the jealousy of her cousin Billy (Sam Straley) and the attention - not necessarily savoury - of her uncle Cal (Coburn Goss)...

A resourceful girl goes in search of her mother in first-time feature director Haroula Rose’s slice of Americana

Mark Twain meets Winter’s Bone in this slice of Americana from first-time feature director Haroula Rose. It opens with a Terrence Malick-ish monologue by 15-year-old Margo (Kenadi DelaCerna): “I missed momma, the way she smelled of cocoa butter and white wine.” A tough, resourceful teenager, Margo lives in a rundown town on the banks of the fictional Stark river in Michigan – the kind of place where skeletons of old cars pile up in front yards. Her mom ran out a year earlier (“The river stink drove her crazy”), leaving Margo and her Native American dad Bernard (Tatanka Means). And here the voiceover ends, slightly frustratingly, since Margo rarely speaks, and this is the only time that we get much of a hint of her inner life.

She spends...

Exclusive: WarnerMedia has revamped its content innovation hub WarnerMedia OneFifty, relaunching a redesigned platform focused on highlighting new content and projects from underrepresented creators. The new site features a bulked up content acquisitions and projects slate, including its recent acquisition of Tomer Shushan’s White Eye, which is nominated this year for the Live-Action Short Oscar.

The platform aims to highlight and invest in out-of-the-box ideas from creators with unique voices who will develop content across the spectrum spanning features, series, digital, animation, documentary, interactive, VR/Ar, music, transmedia, experimental, immersive and more.

“WarnerMedia OneFifty discovers nontraditional content sources by leaning into the surrounding cultural landscape and collaborating with a collection of curated storytellers to shape projects highlighting what’s next in creativity and innovation,” said Axel Caballero, head of WarnerMedia OneFifty. “Stories are developed differently by taking smart, daring creative risks and making small, astute investments in original projects...

Putting together the perfect soundtrack for a film is its own art form. It’s a task that most often makes use of existing tunes and can achieve an almost magical symbiosis with the images onscreen. Think of Leonard Cohen’s ballads floating over the snowbound romantic folly of Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller or the way Simon & Garfunkel’s songs offer a suite-like metanarrative in The Graduate as two legendary examples. Filmmaker Haroula Rose mentions both in a recent conversation, which also touched on the way Paul Thomas Anderson drew on bespoke material in Magnolia, commissioning an original song cycle […]

The post "I Wanted to Infuse the Film with a Musical Storyline": Writer/Director Haroula Rose on the Original Soundtrack to Her Once Upon a River first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Putting together the perfect soundtrack for a film is its own art form. It’s a task that most often makes use of existing tunes and can achieve an almost magical symbiosis with the images onscreen. Think of Leonard Cohen’s ballads floating over the snowbound romantic folly of Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller or the way Simon & Garfunkel’s songs offer a suite-like metanarrative in The Graduate as two legendary examples. Filmmaker Haroula Rose mentions both in a recent conversation, which also touched on the way Paul Thomas Anderson drew on bespoke material in Magnolia, commissioning an original song cycle […]

The post "I Wanted to Infuse the Film with a Musical Storyline": Writer/Director Haroula Rose on the Original Soundtrack to Her Once Upon a River first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Creating a genuine, relatable and realistic heroine for a piece of fictional narrative can be a powerful experience for a storyteller. That’s certainly the case for the filmmakers of who crafted the young female protagonist of the new drama, ‘Once Upon a River.’ The coming-of-age movie challenges its audience to empathize with a teen girl […]

The post Interview: Haroula Rose Talks Once Upon a River (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

Native American teen Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) has never been able to choose her own path through life. She and her father Bernard (Tatanka Means) live on the land of his white half-brother Cal Murray (Coburn Goss) who also owns the industrial plant that more or less keeps their Michigan town afloat. She learned to hunt and fish as a means of survival after her Mom (Lindsay Pulsipher’s Luanne) left them one night saying the Stark River valley would kill her if she didn’t escape it. So now Margo must follow her freshly sober father’s vital rules as she’s racially abused by her cousins and comforted by her uncle—a dynamic that barely masks upcoming trauma to inevitably place her in the same shoes as her estranged mother.

This is where we meet Margo at the start of Haroula Rose’s Once Upon a River, adapted...

The well traveled musician (with fanbases in surprising spots around the globe) and filmmaker Haroula Rose got her first producing credit for Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station and has been progressively moving into the filmmaker’s chair via short films, the docu form, and TV. She brought to US in Progress a tale of redemption where love, logic and loss inform the route that the film’s fearless heroine Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) embarks on. Adapted from the Bonnie Jo Campbell’s novel, this outdoorsy, Twain-esque misadventure with a certain 1970’s American cinema aesthetic. Once Upon a River was among the quartet of projects featured at the 2018 US in Progress – American Film Festival in Wrocław.…...

"When the time comes, you better live up to your end of the bargain." Film Movement has released a trailer for Once Upon a River, marking the feature directorial debut of up-and-coming filmmaker Haroula Rose. This premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Chicago and Thessaloniki Film Festivals. Based on Bonnie Jo Campbell's novel, the film tells the story of a young Native American woman, Margo Crane's odyssey on the Stark River, which introduces her to a world filled with wonders and dangers. Written & directed by Haroula Rose, this "midwestern gothic Americana story" is, in the words of Jane Smiley for the NY Times, "an excellent American parable about the consequences of our favorite ideal, freedom." Starring Kenadi DelaCerna, with John Ashton, Tatanka Means, Ajuawak Kapashesit, Lindsay Pulsipher, and Josephine Decker. This looks like an authentic, personal coming-of-age story. Here's the...

Even though the drama of “Once Upon a River” kicks off with the use of rifles and a huge fight, the film is actually a quiet affair. The coming-of-age film might begin with loud, violent heartbreak, but it’s clear that Haroula Rose’s feature aims to be as calming as the body of water in its title.

Read More: ‘Industry’ Teaser: Young People Enter The Cutthroat World Of Finance In HBO’s Newest Series

“Once Upon a River” follows the story of a young Native American teen, Margo, who finds her entire world thrown upside down after she becomes involved in an affair with an older man in 1970s rural Michigan.

Continue reading ‘Once Upon A River’ Exclusive Trailer: Haroula Rose’s Directorial Debut Is A Touching Coming-Of-Age Story at The Playlist.

Both dramas to release on home entertainment and digital platforms after virtual cinema debut.

Film Movement has picked up all North American rights to female-directed coming-of-age dramas Once Upon A River and Carmilla and will release both through its virtual cinema initiative this year.

Feature debutante Haroula Rose’s Once Upon A River is based on Bonnie Jo Campbell’s Midwestern novel of the same name.

The story takes place in 1970s rural Michigan as a traumatised young woman (newcomer Kenadi DelaCerna) embarks on a river odyssey to find her estranged mother. Film Movement acquired the film from the producers.

In today’s film news roundup, romantic comedy “Tell Me I Love You” finds a home; the Canadian government gives Covid-19 relief funding to the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada; and the cancelled Sun Valley Film Festival gives out awards.

Acquisition

Vision Films has acquired Los Angeles romantic comedy film “Tell Me I Love You,” starring Kaniehtiio Horn (“Hemlock Grove”), Paulina Cerrilla, and Sam Clark.

The company has set a June 2 release date for DVD and all major VOD platforms, along with virtual screening event Q&As. Fiona Mackenzie directed “Tell Me I Love You” from her own script about three best friends and bandmates living together in Malibu with a desperate need for cash to finish their album. The trio devise an outrageous plan to get married and inherit a large sum of money.

An Ascent Media and Chelsea Pictures production, “Tell Me I Love You” was produced by Mackenzie and Bill Chamberlain.

In today’s film news roundup, film commissioners have teamed up to launch a production resource service with information related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dave Franco’s “The Rental” finds a home, Saban Films will release “Most Wanted” in the summer and the Sun Valley Film Festival unveils its winners.

Initiative

The Association of Film Commissioners International is launching the Afci Global Production Alert service, providing updated information on coronavirus-related policies and restrictions worldwide.

The organization, which represents more than 300 film commissions on six continents, unveiled the initiative Thursday on its website. The goal is to ensure that film and TV production industry decision makers have the information they need to make informed decisions during and following the pandemic along with preventing misinformation, speculation and confusion about Covid-19’s impact. Information in the Global Production Alert is provided directly by Afci-member film offices

“Afci’s new Global Production Alert provides...

In today’s film news roundup, Kino Lorber has started a VOD platform, Tony Todd is starring in a horror-comedy, the Red Nation International Film Festival sets its lineup and ballet dancer Kirsten Bloom Allen starts a production company. VOD Distribution Arthouse distribution specialist Kino Lorber is launching VOD platform Kino Now with more than 600 new releases, classics and international films. Kino Now, announced Monday, will offer exclusive early access to new theatrical releases, festival hits and exclusive titles not available on other streaming platforms or not yet available on home video.

The platform will also include special “bundle” offerings of selected hard-to-find titles as well as collections from renowned filmmakers including international TV series such as “Deutschland 83” and “Bad Banks”; documentary series including Joseph Campbell’s “The Power of Myth”; auteur collections built around Jean-Luc Godard, Lina Wertmüller and Fritz Lang; and pioneers of cinema restorations of the...

Wichita's indie-filled celebration of cinema is hosting its 17th edition of the Tallgrass Film Festival in a few weeks and their full lineup is packed with goodness. A leader in the regional festival scene for bringing independent films to the Midwest, this year's festival is another great mix of festival faves and smaller films that easily slip through the cracks. We'll have plenty more to come as the festival start date of October 16 approaches, but until then, the full press release and lineup is below. The 17th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival announces lineup of feature films including Opening Night Gala selection of James Sweeney’s Straight Up, Stubbornly Independent presentation of Haroula Rose’s Once Upon A River and Closing Night Gala choice of Kirill Mikhanovsky’s...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

This Changes Everything — Tom Donahue’s documentary about redressing gender imbalance in Hollywood — will kick off Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival.

The feature, which was exec produced by Davis, will be accompanied by the fest's annual program Geena and Friends, featuring Davis along with an all-star group of female actors who reimagine memorable dialogue from all-male movie scenes through an all-female lens.

Joey Travolta’s 'Carol of the Bells' and Haroula Rose’s Once 'Upon a River' will make their world premieres at the fest, as Centerpiece Screening Selections.

Bff’s competition selections, including narrative ...

This Changes Everything — Tom Donahue’s documentary about redressing gender imbalance in Hollywood — will kick off Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival.

The feature, which was exec produced by Davis, will be accompanied by the fest's annual program Geena and Friends, featuring Davis along with an all-star group of female actors who reimagine memorable dialogue from all-male movie scenes through an all-female lens.

Joey Travolta’s 'Carol of the Bells' and Haroula Rose’s Once 'Upon a River' will make their world premieres at the fest, as Centerpiece Screening Selections.

Bff’s competition selections, including narrative ...

The Bentonville Film Festival announced their lineup of gala selections and competition films which includes the world premieres of Joey Travolta’s Carol of the Bells, Haroula Rose’s Once Upon a River. Co-founded by Geena Davis will kick off with a screening of Tom Donahue’s documentary This Changes Everything and a special presentation of the festival’s signature event, Geena and Friends. The fest takes place May 7-11 in Bentonville, Ark.

The fest champions more diversity and inclusiveness in the film industry and beyond. This year’s competition selections includes 15 narrative films, 14 documentaries, and 9 episodic projects. Of the lineup, 81% are female directed and 68% of the selections include a Poc director and/or cast/subject in the forefront.

“This year’s lineup of films truly exemplifies our mission and we are thrilled to highlight the work of female filmmakers, people of color, Lgbtq+, filmmakers, talent with disabilities and more — in other words,...

Filmmakers Marnie Ellen Hertzler (Crestone), Jennifer Reeder (Knives and Skin), Haroula Rose (Once Upon a River) and the team of Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia (Initials S.G.) are headed to the 2018 Us in Progress Wrocław — which is part of the 9th American Film Festival in Wrocław (October 23-28th). Invite-only screenings will feature four projects selected from numerous submissions of independent American feature-length films in the final editing stages with guest speakers to include the likes of producers Sara Murphy, George Rush and Ryan Zacarias.

Worth noting, former participants/projects include: John Maringouin’s Ghost Box Cowboy, Madeleine Olnek’s Wild Nights with Emily, Joshua Z.…...

Chicago – On Tuesday, December 5th, the Midwest Independent Film Festival will award their 2017 “Best of the Midwest” honors with a ceremony at Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Chicago at 7pm. Nominees include the feature films “Dave Made a Maze,” “Halfway,” “Signature Move,” “The Legend of Swee’ Pea” and “The View From Tall.”

Presented by the Midwest Independent Film Festival

Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com

The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been recognized by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one of the top places for local filmmakers, producers and actors to network in the city. The “Best of the Midwest” Awards has a number of TV & Film guests (click here) scheduled to attend.

The nominees for the 2017 “Best of the Midwest” Awards are as follows…...

“Lost & Found” is a TV pilot starring Melonie Diaz (HBO’s “Room 104”) that was written and directed by Haroula Rose (producer, “Fruitvale Station). The dramedy centers on thirtysomething friends navigating life and love; it was developed and produced in partnership with OneFifty and had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Watch the trailer here. There are always a fair share of challenges, limitations, victories due to those limitations and happy accidents on every project. “Lost & Found” is no different. But it is unique in the new world of independent television as a grand experiment. It inevitably...

Magnolia Pictures has released the first trailer and poster for Permanent. This indie comedy is set in the early 80's in small town Virginia and "Perms" are all the rage. 13-year Aurelie dreams about getting one to finally fit in at her new school but when her clueless parents bring her to a hairdressing academy to save a few bucks, things go incredibly wrong. This is the story about adolescence, socially awkward family members and bad hair.

Bad hair day? Nope! More like a bad hair life. Set in 1982 in small town Virginia, Permanent centers around 13-year-old Aurelie Dickson (Kira McLean) and her parents, Jeanne and Jim (Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson). In this hilariously awkward and unique telling full of wit and wisdom of a hairstyle gone wrong, the Dicksons are struggling through major life changes together all the while trying desperately to emerge intact on the other side.

Chicago – On one of the most exciting Tuesday nights of the year-round Midwest Independent Film Festival is the Midwest Pilot Showcase on September 5th, 2017. Seven full TV pilots will see the light of screen, all with a diversity of form and story. Among the pilots in the showcase is “Rap Skool,” a hilarious parody/comedy about a class of wannabe street rhymers. Co-created by twin brothers Amechi and Nnamdi Ngwe, this Chicago-based show is packed with laughs.

Davis (Stanley Sievers) and Rob (Co-Creator Nnamdi Ngwe) Go To ‘Rap Skool’

Photo credit: Midwest Independent Film Festival

The brothers hail from Houston, Texas (and their family is okay after the flood). Nnamdi Ngwe attended the University of Alabama/Birmingham, and both brothers played soccer there. After graduation, he moved to Denver and began an acting, modeling and improvisation career. In 2009, he moved to Chicago and has been acting, writing and performing since then.

Chicago – The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival was not all about film. Besides showcasing Immersive and Virtual Reality programming, this edition of the festival opened up submissions from independent television pilot creators for the first time. One of the four finalists that were accepted to the “Tribeca: TV” portion of the festival was “Lost & Found,” created and directed by Haroula Rose, who is from the nearby Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood, Ill.

“Lost & Found” follows a group of friends as they try to navigate the absurdity of modern-day Los Angeles, which is anchored by a ceremony where a couple gets “unwed” after their divorce, and the complications that evolve from that ritual. The show is witty and in-depth, with a large ensemble cast that delivers both hilarity and emotion. “Lost & Found” features Melonie Diaz, Terence Nance, Will Janowitz, Jennifer Lafleur, Abby Wathen, Avi Rothman, Peter Thomson, Nick Thurston and Laura Lee Bostacos.

UnWed: Scene from ‘Lost & Found,...

Exclusive: Company plans Us release later this year.

Magnolia Pictures will launch international sales in Cannes on the comedy Permanent starring Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson.

Colette Burson wrote and directed the 1980’s-set coming-of-age story about a young teenager who desperately wants a perm to make a fashion statement at school.

When her clueless parents take her to a hairdressing academy to save money, things go wrong. Newcomer Kira McLean rounds out the key cast.

Magnolia head of worldwide sales Scott Veltri and director of international sales Lorna Lee Sagebiel-Torres will introduce Permanent on the Croisette.

Magnolia plans a Us release later this year for the 2929 production in partnership with Park Pictures and Washington Square Films.

Mary Ann Marino, Haroula Rose, Sam Bisbee, and Joshua Blum produced the film.

Executive producers are Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban, Ben Cosgrove, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Lance Acord, and Danielle Renfrew Behrens.

It’s not often that a pilot episode starts off with the disintegration of a marriage (“Happy Endings” is the rare exception and still very much missed), but “Lost and Found” looks to be anything but conventional in its depiction of friendship, love and marriage in the exclusive trailer below.

Read More: Tribeca 2017: 10 Must-Attend Events at This Year’s Festival

“Lost and Found,” executive produced by Haroula Rose and Melonie Diaz (who previously worked together on “Fruitvale Station”) revolves around a group of thirty-something friends as they navigate life and love after the “un-wedding” of Stella (Diaz) and Ian (Will Janowitz). After celebrating their divorce, Stella and Ian find themselves with all-new challenges as friendships are tested and secrets are revealed.

“Lost and Found” is one of three independently produced pilots to be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of its first-ever “Pilot Season.” The pilot episode...

Cue the handmaids.

The Tribeca Film Festival announced its second annual Tribeca TV program on Thursday and it includes a range of world premieres, popular show returns and a slate of independent pilots. One of the most highly anticipated debuts will be Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Tribeca 2017 Lineup: New Fillms From Alex Gibney, Azazel Jacobs and Laurie Simmons Lead the Eclectic Mix

The series has been in the news lately, and not only because it will premiere soon. The dystopian story about a government forcing fertile women to become breeders for their high-ranking officials has struck a nerve among progressive women who are wary of having their health and reproductive rights controlled. Recently, protestors dressed in the handmaids’ red robes and white bonnets made an appearance in the Texas Senate gallery as its members were passing abortion legislation.

The TV lineup...

What if a wedding didn’t promise a new beginning but rather an ugly detour? That’s the core of Haroula Rose’s latest short film “Wedding Dress,” which follows the burgeoning relationship between two strangers who meet by chance. The film follows Michael (Joshua Leonard), a man estranged from his family for quite a while, who knocks on the door of his brother John’s (Dominic Bogart) house only for his new sister-in-law Rayanne (Abby Wathen) to answer the door. Soon they bond over wine and dance to The Allah-Las’ song “Catamaran” only for John to return home to reveal things aren’t what they seem. Watch the film below.

Read More: 11th Annual Tribeca All Access Program Announces 10 New Projects to Receive $150,000

This is the second film in Rose’s True Love Trilogy, which was designed, in the words of Rose, “to play on what’s real and...

Film Society Of Lincoln Center announced on Monday complete details for the interactive storytelling programme that runs from October 1-4 within the 54th New York Film Festival.

Convergence includes nine interactive experiences featuring virtual reality, augmented reality and installations.

Sound Hunters invites users to record the sounds of their world via an app by mixing and remixing their own electronic music compositions, while audience-directed heist film Late Shift gets its Us premiere

Click here for the full line-up.

Oscar winner and Boyhood star Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson are lining up for Colette Burson’s Permanent, which will shoot in Virginia this summer. Mary Ann Marino, Haroula Rose, Sam Bisbee, and Joshua Blum produce the comedy about an idiosyncratic family in the 1980s that seeks to be more artistic. 2929 Productions is financing in partnership with Park Pictures and Washington Square Films.