News

"We are here to live with everything you've got..." Samuel Goldwyn Films has revealed an official trailer for To Live and Die and Live, a unique indie film set in Detroit from filmmaker Qasim Basir. This initially premiered in 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival and will finally be released this year - starting in limited theaters this month. Muhammad returns home to Detroit to bury his stepfather and is thrust into settling his accounts, but Muhammad’s struggles with depression and addiction may finish him before he finishes the task. Muhammad has returned for the funeral, but his own battle with addiction, which he hides from the world, drives him to immediately fade away into the sultry, late-night, drug-saturated after-hours of Detroit and an equally intoxicating romantic relationship. One of the most stunning contemporary films shot in Detroit. Starring Amin Joseph as Muhammad, with Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict,...

Exclusive: Qasim Basir’s Sundance Film Festival feature To Live and Die and Live is getting a theatrical release on May 16 in AMC multiplexes from AuthentiQ Films & CinemaStreet Pictures.

Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up digital rights to the movie, which will land in the home later this year.

Basir’s feature, and ode to Detroit, was lauded by top critics at its Sundance Film Festival debut in 2023 with 89% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Hollywood filmmaker Muhammad returns to his home city (Amin Joseph) to bury his stepfather and settle his accounts. But as he is thrust into old and new relationships his struggles with addiction and loss may finish him before he finishes the task.

The pic also stars Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Maryam Basir and Dana Gourrier. To Live and Die and Live is a AuthentiQ Films, Significant Productions, CinemaStreet Pictures and Confluential Films production. Producers are Nina Yang Bongiovi,...

Maryam Basir spoke about her character Lacey McCullough’s complexity and emotions on the Allblk TV series Lace in her new exclusive uInterview.

Basir highlighted her character’s change from season one to season two. Lacey has much more on her plate this season as she has “accrued a lot of enemies and this season the enemies are closing in on her and they are after her.”

Basir told uInterview Founder Erik Meers that “the FBI is after her. Some of her, you know people she’s kind of not screwed over but when you, show favoritism and get people out of stuff, you’re gonna create a lot of enemies. So they’re coming for her this season.”

She pointed out that “you’re gonna get to see a lot of Lacey’s vulnerable side,” specifically with “more of her family life in the home.”

She went into more detail,...

Order in the court! The new season of “Lace” is about to begin! The tense legal drama is returning to Allblk for its second season premiere on Thursday, June 29. The show follows attorney Lacey McCullough and the members of her law firm as they attempt to navigate the pitfalls of life, both in and out of the courtroom. From high-priced call girls (and boys) to the ins and outs of a murder trial, this show keeps the drama coming. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Allblk.

How to Watch ‘Lace’ Season 2 Premiere When: Thursday, June 29, 2023 Where: Allblk Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Allblk. 7-Day Free Trial$5.99 / month allblk via amazon.com About ‘Lace’ Season 2 Premiere

After the explosive events of last season, the incomparable Lacey McCullough’s (Maryam Basir) world has been thrown into a downward spiral. This season, Lacey’s enemies are finally closing in,...

Maryam Basir is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in Lace (2021), A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. (2018) and To Live and Die and Live (2023).

Maryam Basir Biography: Age, Early Life, Family Education

Maryam Basir was born on February 12 in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Information regarding Basir’s family has not been made publicly known. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, she moved to New York City.

Maryam Basir Biography: Career

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Basir revealed how she got started with acting. “I was in New York, just at a bank, and this security guard at the bank was like ‘Are you an actor? Or a model?’” Basir laughed. “And I was like, ‘No.’ And he was like, ‘Well you should be!’ So from that, it kind of put...

To Live and Die and Live, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, follows film director Muhammad (Amin Joseph) who tries to cope with his stepfather’s death while battling his own drug addiction.

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Joseph revealed the hardest part about playing the character.

>Watch Maryam Basir’s uINTERVIEW At Sundance!

“The role was as physically demanding as it was psychologically,” he explained. “But psychologically was probably the toughest. The fact that the character Muhammad deals with substance abuse, depression and anxiety throughout the film can wear a toll on you. But physically it was really demanding, we had a really tough schedule that we had to complete the film in.”

Joseph also told uInterview founder Erik Meers about his most memorable part of the film.

“Probably changing in an airport,” he laughed. “Yeah, probably changing in an airport with no bathroom, no privacy. Just getting it done.

Variety magazine celebrated the return of in-person Sundance to Park City, Utah at the MacRo Lodge. Julia Louis-Dreyfus joined writer and director Nicole Holofcener for the premiere of their film “You Hurt My Feelings” followed up a reception at the Variety Sundance cover party, presented by MacRo.

They were joined by co-star Tobias Menzies, “Harlem” cast members Meagon Good and Shoniqua Shandai, “To Live and Die and Live” director Qasim Basir and cast members Skye P. Marshall, Maryam Basir, Amin Joseph and Cory Hardrict, Variety CEO Michelle Sobrino-Stearns and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh.

To Live and Die and Live centers around Muhammad (Amin Joseph), a film director reflecting on his recently-deceased stepfather while also battling with drug addiction.

Actress Maryam Basir, who plays Muhammad’s sister, talked with uInterview founder Erik Meers about her role at the movie’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“It was just a very emotional role,” Basir told uInterview exclusively, noting that there was a lot of crying on set.

One of the more memorable things from the shoot was her discovering plantains. “I tried them before but I never liked them, but Amin said, ‘taste this you know just try this one try it again.’ And I tried it and it was life-changing. I’m like this is actually really good!”

Basir also noted there were many beautiful moments getting to know everyone’s story while on set.

Basir has just completed work on the new season of Lace.

Like Qasim Basir’s last feature, “A Boy. A Girl. A Dream,” his new “To Live & Die and Live” is a questing mood piece whose characters roam a city’s highlife in a fruitless search for inner peace. Here the setting is Detroit, but the protagonist a successful filmmaker taking a forced yet needed sabbatical from the pressures of that prior film’s Los Angeles. The issues he’s dragged with him are hardly alleviated by this return to home turf, however.

As before, the writer-director’s elliptical narrative approach leaves a lot of unanswered questions. But the frustration they generate is again outweighed by the insight afforded into upwardly mobile (and in this case Muslim) African American communities, as well as the melancholy poetical drift of his cinematic style.

Burly, bearded Muhammad Abdullah (Amin Joseph) is a prodigal son whose return to Motor City should be a victory lap.

Sundance alum Qasim Basir returns to Park City with “To Live and Die and Live,” an endlessly grim tale about a filmmaker’s homecoming to Detroit for his father’s funeral and some unfinished business. This is set against a palette of the prevailing sense of alienation he experiences within his extended family, creative circles, and the Muslim community.

Muhammad first emerges, sobbing, from a kaleidoscopic blur that turns out to be illuminated advertisements along an airport terminal’s moving walkway. In a split second his mood shifts. After a quick visit with his drug dealer, he makes his way to a club where purple-haired Asia catches his eye as she writhes on the dance floor. She swats his wandering hand away, yet she doesn’t outright shut him down. She does, however, draw a line when he gets exercised over her picking up his phone.

Apparently without any rest,...

The team investigates a kidnapping on CBS’s FBI: International season two episode seven, “A Proven Liar.” Directed by Michael Katleman from a script by Kristina Thomas, episode seven is set to air on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 9pm Et/Pt.

Season two stars Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo, and Eva-Jane Willis as Europol Agent Megan “Smitty” Garretson.

“A Proven Liar” Plot: When an American businessman’s bodyguard and girlfriend are kidnapped a few feet away from him in Barcelona, the Fly Team questions if the man is as innocent as he claims. Also, Raines grows closer to Maya, the owner of the team’s favorite local bar.

Episode seven guest stars include Tara Linke, Sam Edgerly, Maryam Basir, Stephanie Hoston, Maite Jauregui, and Andrea Vasiliou.

Season 2 Episode...

Exclusive: Dallas Roberts (Big Sky), Arden Myrin (Orange Is the New Black) and Harvey Guillén (Reacher) have signed on to star in the comedy Road Dogs, from Bustled Knuckle Productions and Residue Remains Productions, which goes into production in Minnesota this summer.

The film centers around three stand-up comedians who hit the road for a simple weekend showcase but soon find their plans derailed by a crooked club owner and her homicidal bouncer. Vanessa Leigh is directing from her and Aaron W. Bennett’s script, which was based on Bennett’s time as an improv comic and comedy club owner in Central Washington. The duo will produce alongside Kris Black from Residue Remains Productions, with Hunter G. Williams of Busted Knuckle Productions serving as executive producer.

Roberts is represented by UTA and Circle of Confusion; Myrin by Innovative Artists, Vault Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Guillén by Innovative and Yorn,...

Exclusive: James DuMont (The Righteous Gemstones), Christopher James Baker (Ozark), Manny Galan (City on a Hill), Juvian Marquez (Power Book II: Ghost) and Anirudh Pisharody (9-1-1) will round out the cast of the thriller Unit 234, from director Andy Tennant, which is currently in production in the Cayman Islands. The quintet will star alongside previously announced cast members including Isabelle Fuhrman, Don Johnson and Jack Huston.

In the film written by Derek Steiner, a lone employee at a remote storage facility (Fuhrman) discovers an unconscious man locked inside Unit 234, chained to a gurney and missing a kidney. She must then fight to survive a ruthless gang, dead set on retrieving their precious cargo…at any cost. Blythe Frank, Hadeel Reda, Lee Dreyfuss and Productivity Media’s William Santor and Doug Murray are producing, with Johnson, Colleen Camp and Radiant Films International founder Mimi Steinbauer serving as executive producers. Radiant...

AMC Networks has set fall premiere dates for new and returning series across its AMC, AMC+, Acorn TV, AllBlk, BBC America, Shudder, Sundance Now, SundanceTV and WeTV. Newly revealed dates include the new seasons of Doctor Who, Creepshow and new series such as Ragdoll, Kin and Ultra City Smiths.

AMC announced dates at Comic-Con last month its spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead (Season 7) and The Walking Dead: World Beyond (final Season 2).

Here are the AMC Networks premiere dates announced this morning (all times Et/Pt):

Acorn TV

My Life is Murder, Season 2

Monday, August 30

Starring award-winning actress Lucy Lawless, this fun, charming series returns for an eagerly-anticipated second season with all-new riveting mysteries, now set in beautiful Auckland, New Zealand (season one was based in Melbourne). My Life Is Murder brings retired detective Alexa Crowe (Lawless) back to her Kiwi roots, where she’s...

In today’s TV news roundup, MTV announced when the 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” will air, and Netflix revealed the premiere date for the third season of “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.”

Dates

MTV announced that the 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” will air live from Los Angeles on May 16. Following that event, MTV will air “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted” (working title) on May 17, which will recognize the best moments from reality shows and celebrate everything reality TV. Hosts, honorees, performers, presenters and additional details for both events will be announced at a later date. Sponsors of the two-night celebration include The Real Cost (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and Sonic.

Netflix announced that “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” will return for a third season on May 21 with 10 new episodes. Inspired by the “Jurassic World” franchise, the animated series follows six teenagers who were chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Camp Cretaceous,...

Exclusive: Allblk has cast the stars for its legal drama Lace, with Maryam Basir (The Chi), Skyh Black (Sistas) and Tanyell Waivers (Queen Sugar) set to join the series. Also joining the principal cast are Antoine Harris (The Breaks) and Terrell Carter (Empire). Kemy Time productions co-founder Katrina Y. Nelson, Michelle Ebony Hardy, Adam Starks and Tracy Grant created the series.

Lace, directed by Deuces and Brotherly Love helmer Jamal Hill, follows a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele. The series will premiere in the fall and also features Taylor Bynoe, Mollie Dolcimascolo and Isaac Stephen Montgomery in supporting series regular roles.

Basir’s Lacey McCullough is a successful and highly connected attorney whose influence sometimes leads her down a very dark path. With the help of her trusted associates, Othello Charles (Black) and Britney Deveaux (Waivers) – and the ever-efficient twins,...

BET has released the trailer for the upcoming original Christmas movie “Holiday Heartbreak,” starring Maryam Basir and Michael Colyar.

Basir stars in the film from director Charles Jones as Monica McCoy, a helpless romantic unknowingly cursed with relationship problems passed down from her father’s bad luck of mishandling women.

LisaRaye McCoy, Aj Johnson, DeWayne “Kountry Wayne” Colley, Tiffany Black, B Simone, Kenneth Wayne and Lonnie Bee.also star in the film, which will debut on BET on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. Et/Pt. Watch the trailer above.

Produced by Tressa Azarel Smallwood’s MegaMind, the romantic comedy was shot in the Washington D.C. area earlier this year under Covid-19 safety protocols. Charles Jones directed from a script by Tiffany Yancy, with Smallwood and Ibrahim Yilla producing.

MegaMind Media recently teamed with BET for a series of narrative shorts directed by Kim Fields, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Sheryl Lee Ralph...

Showtime has secured the right to Surge, a documentary that will play on the premium cabler’s newly established a co-branded multiplex channel SHOxBET on September 8. Co-directed by Hannah Rosenzweig and Wendy Sachs, the film details the historic 2018 midterm elections where a record number of first-time female candidates ran and won. From executive producers Alyssa Milano, Regina K. Scully, Dara, Jedd Canty, and Tanya Selvarantnam as well as advisor Katie Couric, the film sets to expose the double standards, biases and brutal realities women face running for Congress, some without the support of their own party. The doc centers on three congressional candidates in Texas, Indiana, and Illinois, who were each looking to flip their deep red districts to blue, including Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black woman ever to be elected to Congress. A registered nurse and public health expert, Underwood is now on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic...