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Today, Apple TV+ revealed a first-look clip from Mr. Scorsese, the five-part documentary event from acclaimed director Rebecca Miller set to premiere globally on October 17. The sneak-peek look at the new series grants audiences unprecedented access to the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Martin Scorsese.

As seen in the clip, Scorsese and his filmmaker friends, including Steven Spielberg, reflect on how the director’s cut of Taxi Driver almost never saw the light of day, and the extreme lengths the visionary filmmaker was willing to go to protect what would go on to be one of his most iconic films.

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mr. Scorsese examines how Scorsese’s colorful life experiences informed his artistic vision, as each film he made stunned the world with originality. Starting with his earliest experiences (New York University student films) through to the present day, this documentary explores the themes that have fascinated Scorsese,...

Apple TV+ will premiere its Martin Scorsese documentary series, “Mr. Scorsese,” on Oct. 17. The five-part documentary event about the legendary filmmaker comes from acclaimed director Rebecca Miller.

The “Mr. Scorsese” team was given exclusive, unrestricted access to Scorsese’s private archives and conducted extensive interviews with the filmmaker. It is anchored by conversations with Scorsese, his friends, family and creative collaborators including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, Thelma Schoonmaker, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Jay Cocks and Rodrigo Prieto, along with his children, wife Helen Morris and close childhood friends.

“Mr. Scorsese” examines how Scorsese’s colorful life experiences informed his artistic vision. Starting with his earliest experiences with New York University student films to the present day, the documentary explores the themes that have fascinated Scorsese, including the place of good and evil in the fundamental nature of humankind.

New York Theatre Workshop has revealed the full cast for the world premiere of the new musical Saturday Church. Previews begin August 27, 2025, at New York Theatre Workshop, with opening night set for September 15, for a limited run through October 12, 2025. Directed by Tony Award nominee and Nytw Usual Suspect Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), Saturday Church features a book and additional lyrics by Emmy Award nominee Damon Cardasis (She Came to Me) & Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony Award nominee James Ijames (Fat Ham), with music and lyrics from Grammy Award nominee and pop icon Sia, and additional music by Grammy Award winner Honey Dijon (Black Girl...

Martin Scorsese is finally getting in front of the camera to bare all. The iconic auteur will be at the center of five-part documentary “Mr. Scorsese,” helmed by “She Came to Me” filmmaker Rebecca Miller. Billed as a “film portrait,” the feature will include never-before-seen interviews with Scorsese’s friends, family, and creative collaborators including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Thelma Schoonmaker, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, and Cate Blanchett. Scorsese’s private archives will also be displayed onscreen.

“I am so grateful to have been given the artistic freedom and access to create a cinematic portrait of one of our greatest living artists, Martin Scorsese,” director Miller said. “His work and life are so vast and so compelling that the piece evolved from one to five parts over a five year period; crafting this documentary alongside my longtime collaborators has...

Apple TV+ is continuing its relationship with Martin Scorsese. The streamer is moving forward with a five-part docuseries about the iconic filmmaker, which will be titled “Mr. Scorsese.”

The project comes from director Rebecca Miller, who is known for her work on “Personal Velocity: Three Portraits” and “She Came To Me.” Miller is also married to one of Scorsese’s favorite actors, Daniel Day-Lewis.

“I am so grateful to have been given the artistic freedom and access to create a cinematic portrait of one of our greatest living artists, Martin Scorsese,” Miller said in a statement to press. “His work and life are so vast and so compelling that the piece evolved from one to five parts over a five year period; crafting this documentary alongside my longtime collaborators has been one of the defining experiences of my life as a filmmaker.”

Miller and Damon Cardasis at Round Films will...

Exclusive: Martin Scorsese has directed over a dozen documentaries from The Last Waltz to No Direction Home. But the filmmaker is now set to have the cameras turned on him in a new five-part series for Apple TV+.

Rebecca Miller, the filmmaker behind Personal Velocity: Three Portraits and She Came To Me, is to direct Mr. Scorsese for the streamer.

The project is a five-part film portrait of the legendary director behind Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Goodfellas, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon.

Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and photographer Inge Morath, and wife of Scorsese collaborator Daniel Day-Lewis, has gained exclusive, unrestricted access to Scorsese’s private archives.

Mr. Scorsese is anchored by extensive conversations with the filmmaker himself and never-before-seen interviews with friends, family, and creative collaborators including Day-Lewis,...

Bryson Battle may still be competing on the current season of NBC’s The Voice, but he already has an exciting job lined up for later this year!

The 21-year-old singer is one of the Top 8 finalists on The Voice right now and he’ll sing in the live show on Monday for a chance to be in the finale.

It was just announced that Bryson will star in a brand new musical written by Sia later this year.

Keep reading to find out more…

The musical Saturday Church, based on the 2017 movie of the same name, will get its premiere at the Off-Broadway venue New York Theatre Workshop in Fall 2025. Bryson will star alongside Pose actress Michaela Jae Rodriguez and Tony winners J. Harrison Ghee and Joaquina Kalukango.

Deadline reports that Saturday Church “tells the story of Ulysses – New York City kid, devoted son and the fiercest acolyte at his aunt’s church.

A new musical with music and lyrics by “Chandelier” performer Sia is planned for fall 2025 at the prestigious Off Broadway venue New York Theatre Workshop.

The musical, titled Saturday Church, will feature a book co-written by James Ijames (Fat Ham) and Damon Cardasis (based on his 2017 film) and will be directed by Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding).

The cast of Saturday Church will include The Voice 2025 Contender Bryson Battle, Tony Award winner J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot), Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango (Paradise Square), and Golden Globe Award winner Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Pose).

With a book by Ijames and Cardasis, music and lyrics by Sia and additional music by Honey Dijon (Black Girl Magic) and additional lyrics by Cardasis & Ijames, Saturday Church will be choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie (Fat Ham). The musical was conceived for the stage and based on the 2017 Spring Pictures film written and directed by Cardasis.

If you’ve been keeping up with distribution news recently, there’s been one name you’ll have seen pop up again and again: Vertical.

Since the pandemic, the bottom has fallen out of the film business, with more quality indie packages hitting the marketplace than there are distributors willing to take them on. Stepping up, in the years since, to offer many of them a home, is this indie distributor, which appears to be in the midst of its biggest year yet.

Founded in 2012 by Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin, Vertical comes from humble beginnings, according to partner Peter Jarowey, who notes that the team at one point operated out of “a literal broom closet.” Initially working to establish itself as a resource in securing ancillary revenue for indies, the company has of late has become a theatrical player in its own right. Aspiring from the beginning to be a purveyor of “commercial,...

Vertical is shifting the theatrical release of Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy “She Came to Me” by a week. The film, which stars Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, will open on Oct. 6 instead of Sept. 29, when it was originally slated to premiere. Vertical opted to change its release strategy after Apple decided to move the opening of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” to later in the month. “She Came to Me” was granted an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, which means that the cast will be able to do promotional activity around its release despite the fact that actors are on strike against major studios and streamers.

“In light of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ release date shift, we jumped at the opportunity for the Oct. 6 date for ‘She Came to Me,'” Vertical Partner Peter Jarowey commented. “It is a competitively less crowded weekend which...

Peter Dinklage takes creative inspiration from a sexual experience with Marisa Tomei amid marital struggles between himself and Anne Hathaway in the first trailer for She Came to Me.

Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan) wrote and directed the romantic-comedy film that hits theaters Sept. 29 from Vertical Entertainment. The feature centers on an opera composer (Dinklage) who is married to a therapist (Hathaway) and has a fling with a tugboat captain (Tomei), which leads to a professional breakthrough for him. Brian d’Arcy James and Joanna Kulig also star.

“I’m suffering from a temporary blockage at the moment,” Dinklage says in the footage. Later in the trailer, Tomei tells him, “I was really angry at you, and now it turns out I’m your muse.”

She Came to Me counts Danny Cohen, Amanda Ghost and Vince Holden as executive producers. Hathaway, Miller, Len Blavatnik, Damon Cardasis, Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon are producers.

Vertical announced today that they have acquired the US rights to the Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway romantic comedy “She Came to Me,” which opened the Berlin Film Festival in February of this year.

“She Came to Me” is written and directed by Rebecca Miller (“Maggie’s Plan”) and, per the official synopsis, “follows Steven Lauddem (Dinklage), a composer who is plagued by a creative block which leaves him unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. When his former therapist-turned wife Patricia (Hathaway) suggests he rekindle his creativity by getting lost in the city, Steven sets out in search of inspiration. His epiphany comes after he meets a spirited woman named Katrina (Marisa Tomei) and discovers his life has much more potential than he bargained for, or ever could have imagined.”

Vertical has not determined a release date yet, but said the film will be receiving a theatrical release.

Exclusive: Vertical has nabbed U.S. rights to the romantic comedy She Came to Me, starring Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway (Ocean’s 8) and Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man: No Way Home), with plans to release the film in theaters nationwide on a date that has yet to be determined.

Written and directed by award-winner Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan), She Came to Me world premiered earlier this year as the opening night film of the Berlin Film Festival. The comedy about love in all its forms, set in the bustling metropolis of New York City, follows Steven Lauddem (Dinklage), a composer who is plagued by a creative block which leaves him unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. When his former therapist-turned-wife Patricia (Hathaway) suggests he rekindle his creativity by getting lost in the city, Steven sets out in search of inspiration.

Protagonist Pictures has sold out international on Rebecca Miller’s Berlinale opener “She Came to Me.”

The Peter Dinklage-led film has sold into Sky for the U.K. and Ireland, Belga for Benelux, Originals Factory for France, Lusomundo for Portugal, Trip Pictures for Spain, M2 Eastern for Europe, Cinesky for Airlines, Aud for South Korea and Shochiku for Japan.

In addition, Universal Pictures Content Group has made a multi-territory deal that spans Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Scandinavia, Iceland, Switzerland, Israel, Middle East, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Asia pay-tv rights.

CAA Media Finance are representing North American rights on the project.

The romantic comedy-drama stars Dinklage as Steven, a moody classical composer struggling with an oppressive writer’s block that prevents him from delivering his next opera. Despite endless encouragement from his evangelical therapist...

The Berlin Film Festival kicks off this evening with the gala world premiere of Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me. Ahead of the opening night out-of-competition screening, Miller met the Berlinale press corps alongside cast members including Anne Hathaway, Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Evan Ellison.

Hathaway is also a producer on the multi-generational story that’s set in New York, but she was quick to note that even though this is an independent movie, her “heart beats for (all) film, and the more types of them the better.”

The Oscar winner clarified, “I think sometimes we think of these things as isolated from each other. But right now I think the way we’re all participating in films and the way we all kind of are unsure as to what the future of audience culture is, I think it’s important to love all types of...

Actress and producer Anne Hathaway took a moment to puncture the film-world bubble surrounding the 73rd Berlinale on Thursday, using a portion of the press conference for her latest movie She Came to Me to address the bigger global picture.

“I want to express my gratitude to the film festival for including a hero of our times and for giving us all the opportunity to amplify the message of Ukraine, which is the almost universal desire for peace,” the actress said.

Hathaway was responding to the unlikely pairing of her New York-set romantic comedy and a public video address from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Festival organizers revealed Wednesday that the Ukraine leader would speak at the Berlinale’s opening ceremony, using the platform to call for solidarity with Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. Shortly after the war-time leader’s speech, the Berlinale will begin with the world premiere of She Came to Me.

Bruce Springsteen has penned an original song for Rebecca Miller’s new film “She Came to Me,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this week.

The song, “Addicted to Romance,” was written and performed by Springsteen, and will be heard by audiences for the first time during the movie’s Feb. 16 screening, when it plays over the end credits.

Romantic comedy “She Came to Me” stars Peter Dinklage as a moody classical composer struggling with writer’s block. When he meets a quirky tugboat captain (Marisa Tomei), he finds the muse for his next opus and is encouraged by his therapist wife (Anne Hathaway) to make his big comeback. But just as his career looks to take off, his personal life implodes.

Discussing how she came to work with Springsteen, Miller explained that she previously had The Boss’s “Dancing in the Dark” as part...

She Came to Me, a romantic comedy from director and screenwriter Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan) that stars Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway, will open the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 16.

Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Brian d’Arcy James co-star in the U.S. feature from Protagonist Pictures, which will have its world premiere out of competition in Berlin.

With the pick, Berlin is returning to form, selecting a potential audience-pleaser with strong star power to kick off the festival. Set in New York, She Came to Me features Dinklage as a composer with writer’s block, struggling to complete his big comeback opera. On the suggestion of his wife, and former therapist, played by Hathaway, he sets out in search of inspiration, getting more than he bargained for.

She Came to Me will screen out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala.

“We are very pleased to open...

US romantic comedy also stars Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Brian d’Arcy James.

Rebecca Miller’s US romantic comedy She Came To Me will open the 2023 Berlin Film Festival on February 16.

The world premiere of the film will play out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.

Written and directed by Miller, She Came To Me is set in New York City, and follows a composer with writer’s block who, at the behest of his wife, sets out in search of inspiration.

Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway play the couple, with Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig...

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 16, 2023, with the world premiere of She Came to Me, by Rebecca Miller.

The romantic comedy stars Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James, and Anne Hathaway.

The film is billed as an exploration of “love in all its forms,” and is set in New York City, centering on composer Steven Lauddem (Dinklage), who is creatively blocked and unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. At the behest of his wife Patricia (Anne Hathaway), formerly his therapist, he sets out in search of inspiration. What he discovers, the synopsis reads, is much more than he bargained for or imagined.

The film screens out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.

“We are very pleased to open this festival edition with an irresistible comedy that builds upon the everyday conflicts of western society,...

The 73rd Berlin Film Festival will open next month with the world premiere of Rebecca Miller’s “She Came to Me.”

The cast includes Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James and Anne Hathaway.

In the film, composer Steven Lauddem (Dinklage) is creatively blocked and unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. At the behest of his wife Patricia (Hathaway), formerly his therapist, he sets out in search of inspiration. What he discovers is much more than he bargained for, or imagined.

“She Came to Me” will screen out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.

“We are very pleased to open this festival edition with an irresistible comedy that builds upon the everyday conflicts of western society. The characters, conceived by Rebecca Miller and incarnated by fantastic actors choose to follow the inspiration of the moment instead of being led by societal dictates.

Anne Hathaway, Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Matthew Broderick are set to star in “She Came to Me,” a romantic comedy from writer and director Rebecca Miller.

The film will be presented to international buyers by Protagonist Pictures at the Cannes Film Market later this month, and CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.

“She Came to Me” is set in New York and follows a string of characters, including a composer suffering from writer’s block who rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand; a couple of gifted teenagers who fight to prove to their parents that their young love is something that can last forever; and a woman who seemingly has it all who has love arrive in the most unexpected places.

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films.

Filming hopes to begin this fall in New York.

Anne Hathaway, Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Matthew Broderick have been set to lead the cast of She Came To Me, the romantic comedy from writer-director Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan).

Film is a multi-generational story set against the backdrop of New York: a composer suffering from writer’s block rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand, a couple of gifted teenagers fight to prove to the parents that their young love is something that can last forever, and for the woman who seemingly has it all, love arrives in the most unexpected places.

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films. Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat is composing the score, with Kim Jennings on board as production designer. Pic will shoot in New York in fall.

Global sales agent Protagonist Pictures will introduce the project to buyers at the...

Anne Hathaway (“The Witches”), Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”), Marisa Tomei (“Spider-Man: Far from Home”), Joanna Kulig (“Cold War”) and Matthew Broderick (“Love is Blind”) headline the cast of writer/director Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy “She Came to Me.”

A multi-generational story in New York, the film follows a composer suffering from writer’s block who rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand, a couple of gifted teenagers who fight to prove to the parents that their young love is something that can last forever, and a woman who seemingly has it all for whom love arrives in the most unexpected places.

U.K.-based global sales agent Protagonist Pictures will introduce the project to buyers at the Cannes Marche du Film June 21-25. CAA Media Finance will handle North American sales.

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films.

Romantic comedy to star Marisa Tomei, Tahir Rahim, Joanna Kulig and Anne Hathaway.

Anne Hathaway, Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei and Cold War star Joanna Kulig are to star in Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy She Came To Me, which Protagonist Pictures will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market (June 21-25).

Matthew Broderick has also joined the cast of the film, which will begin principal photography this autumn in New York. Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films, while CAA Media Finance will handle North America sales.

The multi-generational...

A host of names have assembled for Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy She Came to Me.

Oscar winners Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Devil Wears Prada) and Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler), BAFTA nominee Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian, The Serpent), Joanna Kulig (Cold War, The Eddy) and Matthew Broderick (Election, Manchester by the Sea) have been cast in the film, heading to the upcoming Cannes Marche du Film where Protagonist Pictures will introduce the project to buyers. CAA Media Finance is handling North American sales.

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films, with principal photography on the film ...

A host of names have assembled for Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy She Came to Me.

Oscar winners Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Devil Wears Prada) and Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler), BAFTA nominee Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian, The Serpent), Joanna Kulig (Cold War, The Eddy) and Matthew Broderick (Election, Manchester by the Sea) have been cast in the film, heading to the upcoming Cannes Marche du Film where Protagonist Pictures will introduce the project to buyers. CAA Media Finance is handling North American sales.

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are producing alongside Miller and Damon Cardasis from Round Films, with principal photography on the film ...

Exclusive: CAA has signed actor, model, writer and social activist Indya Moore. The transgender, non-binary, Haitian-Dominician actor is part of the groundbreaking, critically acclaimed FX series Pose co-created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals, which is currently in its second season.

On the series, Moore plays Angel Evangelista and is part of the largest trans cast in the history of television which includes Mj Rodriguez, Dominque Jackson, Angelica Ross, Hailie Sahar alongside Billy Porter, Angel Bismark Curiel, Evan Peters, Kate Mara, James Van Der Beek, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Charlayne Woodard and Dyllón Burnside.

In addition to their work on TV, Moore has appeared in campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein and has been featured in W, Vogue, Another, Out, New York Magazine, and i-d. Earlier this year, they appeared on Time Magazine’s “Most Influential People” list and they continued to blaze trails by becoming the first...

Saturday Church screens Saturday, Apr. 7th at 5:30pm at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. Ticket information can be found Here

A Facebook invite for the event can be found Here

Review by Stephen Tronicek

To watch someone truly find themselves and become who they truly are is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Films celebrate this in different ways, whether it be a celebration of the embrace of a certain art form, whether it be the way that love can draw “you” out, and most important in this age, the discovery of one’s identity. Of one’s rightful status of personhood. Luckily for us, Saturday Church celebrates all three of these things in one of the most euphoric ways ever put to film. It’s a film about discovery and the boundless excitement of that,...

As Timothée Chalamet fever sweeps the country, and “Call Me By Your Name” envelops audiences in the golden hue of Italian summer romance, the future of queer cinema looks bright indeed. Beyond our Adonis-adorned Oscar contender, 2017 delivered an array of satisfying gay storylines; including the breathtaking French epic “Bpm (Beats Per Minute),” the underrated Billie Jean King biopic “Battle of the Sexes,” and Sebastian Lelio’s bittersweet romance “A Fantastic Woman.”

Gone are the days when queer cinephiles counted their lucky stars for one gay-related film a year, a trend that films like “Moonlight” and “Carol” seem to have nipped in the bud once and for all.

Read More:The 10 Best Lgbtq Films of 2017, From ‘Call Me by Your Name’ to ‘Bpm’

As 2018 begins with “Call Me By Your Name” braced to earn a few Oscar nominations, the month of January alone saw three queer-related indies open in theaters. Though all saw limited releases,...

Saturday Church is the sort of debut indie feature that would be best played with the sound off. In some ways, this is more of a compliment to the film’s virtues than a criticism. In today’s supersaturated, content-driven, post-Sundance indie feature market, it’s often the case that the writing is the most obviously lacking, followed closely by poorly conceived performances, which are often the natural extension of a lazily constructed script. Turn the sound off and a large swath of those common first-effort pitfalls recede into the background, allowing for the strengths (or weaknesses) of the direction to take center stage. In the case of Saturday Church, there is some fairly sturdy direction at work to admire, but, weighed down by some painfully clunky writing; the film has a hard time identifying what it’s good at and sticking to it. Where the trouble lies in such...

A dour, grey-and-blue-hued high school. A cold house. The vibrantly red backroom of a church. The pulsating, glittery universe of a drag ball. These are the worlds a black, gay teenager claims in Damon Cardasis’ spirited “Saturday Church.” The film attempts to cohere myriad emotional complexities in just 80 minutes, and it half-succeeds. Like many first films, “Saturday Church” occasionally gives way to melodrama or loses track of its onerous plot.

Continue reading Admirable ‘Saturday Church’ Is A Few Choir Boys Short Of A Hallelujah [Review] at The Playlist.

Director and writer Damon Cardasis created an Lgbtq-centric coming-of-age musical set in a world of magical realism. As his first feature film, Cardasis, a gay white male, maintained a laser-focus on creating the most authentic story about queer people of color and not falling into the trap of telling a story that wasn’t his to tell — a trap that Hollywood often falls into. Saturday Church (which opens today, Jan. 12 in limited theatres and on VOD) tells the story of…...

The streets of the West Village in Manhattan have become a kind of haven to African-American gay and transgender youth, and this is the tentative subject matter of “Saturday Church,” a first feature from writer-director Damon Cardasis that functions as a coming-of-age story and a small-scale musical. Cardasis, who is Caucasian, has said that he was inspired to tell this story after volunteering at St. Luke in the Fields in the Village, which has a church program focused on at-risk youth in the area. Luka Kain stars as 14-year-old Ulysses, who is first seen at the military funeral for his father....

"You want to join them?" Samuel Goldwyn Films has debuted the first official trailer for an indie musical titled Saturday Church, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. The film is being described as Moonlight meets La La Land (of course these two films are named), but set in New York City. The story follows a 14-year-old boy named Ulysses, struggling with gender identity and religion, who begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city and find his passion in the process. Broadway up-and-comer Luka Kain stars as vibrant youngster Ulysses, with a cast including Margot Bingham, Regina Taylor, Mj Rodriguez, Marquis Rodriguez, and Indya Moore. Saturday Church also features songs and music composed and co-written by musician-turned-film composer Nathan Larson. This looks like a triumphant, uplifting, inspiring film from NYC. And this reminds me of the excellent documentary Kiki. Worth a watch.

Chicago – Reeling (Reeling17), Chicago’s Lgbtq+ International Film Festival in America, closes its 35th edition in Chicago at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema on Thursday, September 28th (details below). Closing Night will feature an unique film called “Sunday Church,” featuring Luka Kain, Margot Bingham and Regina Taylor and written/directed by Damon Cardasis – his debut film.

Closing Night Film ‘Sunday Church’ at Reeling2017 on September 28th

Photo credit: Reeling2017

This film is an intimate, lyrical melodrama that breaks into moments of powerful ballads that comment on the action, and are sung by the film’s lead characters… making this audacious film part drama, part cheeky comedy and part musical. After the recent death of his father, Ulysses’ (Luka Kain) mother Amara (Margot Bingham) is always at work, and she enlists conservative Aunt Rose (Regina Taylor) to keep an eye on Ulysses and his little brother. Meanwhile, Ulysses has begun experimenting...

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Saturday Church, the coming-of-age Lgbtq musical drama written and directed by first-timer Damon Cardasis. A January 2018 release is planned for theaters, on demand and digital. The pic centers on 14-year-old Ulysses (Luca Kain), a shy and effeminate boy who finds himself "man of the house" after the death of his father. Struggling with questions about his gender identity, he encounters a vibrant transgender…...

With the massive box office, critical and awards success of La La Land—which won six Oscars, though bested in the category of Best Picture—it’s interesting to see a resurgence of musically-driven storytelling in film and television. A producer, writer and director last on the festival circuit for Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan—which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival—Damon Cardasis was in New York last week for the premiere of his distinctive feature…...

The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival has come and gone, but several of its highlights face an uncertain future. While the festival opened with an iTunes-ready documentary about Clive Davis and closed with back-to-back screenings of the first two “Godfather” films, many of the films in its competition sections arrived at the festival without distribution deals and ended it in the same state. Here’s at a few significant titles from this year’s edition that deserve to get picked up.

“Blame”

Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...

In its most profound moments, “Saturday Church” follows its searching young protagonist, Ulysses (Luka Kain) at the slightest remove, mirroring the distance he puts between himself and the world. It’s a place that’s been unkind to this soft-hearted teen who sneaks away from his father’s wake to try on a pair of strappy red heels, cracking the faintest smile as he holds them up to his grey Sunday best. Stepping into the shoes ever so gingerly, Ulysses wobbles briefly before admiring his reflection in the mirror. It’s a quiet moment, almost sacred, and one anyone who has ever furtively raided a parent’s closet will recognize.

Read More: ‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’ Review: Bisexual Subtext is the Documentary’s Most Powerful Reveal — Tribeca Review

Director Damon Cardasis delivers a gorgeous rendering of an oft-heard but rarely seen story of a Bronx-born teen who finds his...

Diane Lane with The Divine Order actresses Marta Zoffoli and Rachel Braunschweig as director Petra Volpe accepts the Nora Ephron Prize. The film has also won the Best Narrative Audience Award. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The winners of the Tribeca Film Festival Narrative Feature and Documentary Audience Awards were announced this afternoon, April 29. Hondros, directed by Greg Campbell, executive produced by Jake Gyllenhaal, took home the Documentary Audience Award and Urs Fischer's boomboomboom, 2016, The Transit Of Venus (Melanie). Second place went to Oren Jacoby's Richard Hambleton portrait Shadowman.

Narrative Feature Audience Award and Rh Quaytman's Delphi Landscape go to Petra Volpe's The Divine Order. Damon Cardasis's Saturday Church captured second place.

Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award winners and second place finishers will join the jury award winners with additional screenings on Sunday. The Divine Order will now have a total of five showings.

The 16th edition of the...

The transfixing mix of poetic intimacy, emotional depth and searing compassion in last year's Moonlight made it a towering landmark among screen depictions of the struggles of young gay men. But as a subgenre, the Lgbtq coming-out/coming-of-age drama tends more often to fall into familiar grooves. That makes Damon Cardasis' heartfelt mini-musical, Saturday Church, all the more endearing as it escapes into interior-monologue numbers and expressive dance breaks to mark out the exploration of sexuality and gender identity of a Bronx teenager, played with lovely subdued intensity by newcomer Luka Kain.

With his delicate, angular features and piercing...

New York is a mecca for queer culture of all stripes. Set in the heart of downtown Manhattan, just a short walk from the cruising piers of Christopher street and the cocktail lounges of Chelsea, the Tribeca Film Festival is a natural home for Lgbtq creators and projects. From lesser known indie films to highly anticipated studio television shows, experimental Vr and new online work from queer up and comers pushing the conversation into new territory, the festival’s 16th edition offers plenty for the queer-minded.

Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival

Here is a guide to the five best Lgbtq projects playing the festival this year.

“Tom of Finland”

Now, here is a biopic we can get behind (or underneath, whatever your preference).

The cult icon Tom of Finland is renowned for his homoerotic drawings of beefcakes in...

Now in its sixteenth year, New York City’s own Tribeca Film Festival kicks off every spring with a wide variety of programming on offer, from an ever-expanding Vr installation to an enviable television lineup, but the bread and butter of the annual festival is still in its film slate. This year’s festival offers up plenty of returning favorites with new projects, alongside fresh faces itching to break out. From insightful documentaries to fanciful features, with a heavy dose of Gotham-centric films (hey, it is Tribeca after all), there’s plenty to dive into here, so we’ve culled the schedule for a few surefire hits.

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.

Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival

“A Gray State”

It might be the craziest story...

Author: James Kleinmann

The Tribeca Film Festival hits New York next week and runs from April 19 – 30 th. Now in its sixteenth year, the annual event was co-founded by screen legend Robert De Niro in the wake of the September 11th attacks in an effort to revitalise Lower Manhattan. Retaining an element of its original commitment to Us indie cinema, it has evolved to encompass TV, Vr, online work, music and gaming. As ever, the festival will welcome a dizzying array of big name guests including Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, Jon Favreau, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Quentin Tarantino, Scarlett Johansson and Ron Howard. Here are just some of the highlights, for the full line up and to buy tickets check out the official festival website here.

Opening and Closing night Galas at Radio City Music Hall

Kicking off the festival is the world premiere of music doc Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

Amy Schumer, Steve Carrell and Nicole Kidman are set to team up for a new dramedy with “Maggie’s Plan” director Rebecca Miller. Gigi Pritzker‘s OddLot Entertainment will produce Miller’s original screenplay with the filmmaker’s own Round Films. The project is described as two intertwining love stories “set in the world of contemporary Opera and tug boats.” Also Read: Blame Trolls for Amy Schumer's Negative Reviews Pritzger will produce with Rachel Shane and Melissa Rucker on behalf of OddLot. Miller’s partner Damon Cardasis will oversee for Round Films. More to come. Read the announcement: Academy Award® Nominee Steve Carell,...

Steve Carell, Amy Schumer and Nicole Kidman are attached to She Came to Me, the next film to be directed by Rebecca Miller. Miller and Damon Cardasis' banner Round Films will produce with OddLot Entertainment's Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane. Miller wrote the script. The pic is described as a comedic drama set in the world of contemporary opera and tug boats that cuts into the layer cake of American society with wit and heart. Miller most recently wrote and directed Maggie…...

Rebecca Miller to direct and produce comedic drama.

Steve Carell, Amy Schumer and Nicole Kidman will star in She Came To Me based on Miller’s screenplay.

The story of family and the complexities of modern life weaves together love stories and plays out against the world of contemporary opera and tugboats.

Miller will producethrough her Round Films with producing partner Damon Cardasis, alongside OddLot founder Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane.

Miller has written and directed Maggie’s Plan, The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee, The Ballad Of Jack And Rose, Personal Velocity, and Angela.

OddLot Entertainment recently co-produced and co-financed Taylor Sheridan’s Hell Or High Water.

The slate includes recent Sundance selection Landline, and National Geographic Channel’s first scripted series Genius, the Albert Einstein drama that receives its world premiere in Tribeca next month.

Steve Carell, Amy Schumer and Nicole Kidman have signed on to star in She Came to Me, the latest film project from writer-director Rebecca Miller.

Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane are producing via OddLot Entertainment, which was one of the companies behind last year's surprise hit Hell or High Water. Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and who has written directed such movies as The Many Lives of Pippa Lee and Maggie’s Plan, is also producing with Damon Cardasis via their banner Round Films.

Plot details were not revealed, but the project is described as a sweeping comedic drama, a...

Festival receives record number of submissions as top brass trim roster by 20%.

World premieres of Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Spain (pictured), Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal’s Whitney. “can I be me,”, and Hell On Earth: The Fall Of Syria And The Rise Of Isis by Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested are among the line-up at the 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival (April 19-30).

Festival top brass led by new director of programming Cara Cusumano and artistic director Frédéric Boyer unveiled on Thursday 82 of the 98 features that will screen at this year’s edition.

Trimmed down by 20%, the festival received a record number 8,700 submissions, of which 3,362 were features – and includes 32 films in competition comprising 12 documentaries, 10 Us narratives and 10 international narratives. Films in competition will compete for cash prizes totalling $160,000.

Spotlight Narrative section features 15 fiction films, while Spotlight Documentary includes 16 non-fiction films. Five fiction and one documentary film play in Midnight.

The 2017 roster...