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A memorable scene from Ron Shelton’s 1992 hoops comedy White Men Can’t Jump finds a playground baller (played by former NBA great Marques Johnson) fuming after he falls victim to a hustle. First the big guy pulls out a razor. Then he decides he needs something a little stronger, so he heads to his car to retrieve his gun – at which point everyone scrambles madly for the exits. Based on a real-life chapter of basketball lore, the moment is both scary (perhaps even more so now, when all public space...

Exclusive: Outfest has selected ten queer and transgender writers from diverse backgrounds for its 2022 Screenwriting Lab.

The participants workshopping feature-length scripts during the week-long program, taking place virtually from today through Friday, December 9, include Bri J. Hernandez (Boys in Bands), Donovan Tolledo (Fat Lip), James Acker (Sadboi), Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Katie Heaney (My Ex-Wife’s Wedding) and Vernon Jordan, III (Lavender Boy).

Those working on episodic projects are Estevan (Elote Preparado), Paloma Riojas (Shepherd), Riya Saxena (Matchmakers) and Rubén Mendive (Little Village).

Then, there are the thirteen additional Notable Writers selected to receive industry support from Outfest. Those scribes are Adelina Anthony, Adina Kruskal, Chasey Ridgley, Drew Burnett Gregory, Ernesto Martínez, Gerard Shaka, Joseph Pellegrino, Kate Imy, Nathan Pearson, Nick Janaye, Robert Cunningham, Sebastián Rea and Stevie Wain.

Created in 1997 as a screenwriting contest, the Outfest Screenwriting Lab has since become the cornerstone of Outfest’s artist development and education programs.

Nearly three decades have passed since Fatlip exited the Pharcyde, one of the cleverest, funniest hip-hop groups to emerge in the early Nineties. Since then, he has put out a solo album, The Loneliest Punk, scored an underground hit with “What’s Up, Fatlip?” and even buried the hatchet with some of his former fellow Pharcyde emcees. Fatlip and original Pharcyde members Slimkid3 and Imani have been touring as the Far Side, though the original quartet, which includes Bootie Brown who owns the Pharcyde trademark, hasn’t gathered together since...

"She belongs with me!" Vertical has revealed an official trailer for an indie drama titled Topside, which originally premiered in 2020 in the Critics' Week sidebar at the Venice Film Festival. There it won the Mario Serandrei Award for Best Technical Achievement at the fest, and played at a few other fests in 2021. Deep in the underbelly of New York City, a 5-year-old girl and her mother live among a community that has claimed the abandoned subway tunnels as their home. When a sudden eviction forces them all above ground, their world is thrown into unimaginable chaos. Described as a "riveting feature debut" from filmmakers Logan George & Celine Held. Held also stars, alongside astonishing first-time performer Zhaila Farmer as "Little", in this affecting tale of the deep love and sacrifice rooted in the parent-child bond. With Zhaila Farmer, Jared Abrahamson, and Fatlip. Reminds me of the film Capernaum - also about kids living in poverty.

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Celine Held and Logan George’s feature directorial debut Topside, slating it for a day-and-date release on March 25.

The award-winning drama starring Held, Zhaila Farmer, Jared Abrahamson and musician Fatlip is inspired by true events. It follows five-year-old Little (Farmer) and her mother Nikki (Held), who live underneath the streets of New York City, in a community that has claimed long-abandoned subway tunnels as its home. When the pair are forced to flee above ground into a cold winter night, they are plunged into a challenging world of chaos and tragedy that makes their uncertain underground life seem idyllic by comparison.

Topside claimed SXSW’s Special Jury Award for Narrative Feature when it premiered there in 2020, subsequently going on to win the Venice Film Festival’s Mario Serandrei Award for Best Technical Achievement. Held and George penned the film, with Anthony Bregman,...

Beneath the New York City subway system lies a shadowy labyrinth teeming with people living on the margins of society. It’s a natural cinematic backdrop, and the 2000 documentary “Dark Days” probed it so well it has served as the last word on the subject for the past 20 years. However, the riveting drama “Topside” finds a unique way in. The directorial debut from co-directors Logan George and Celine Held (who also stars) around the prospects of raising a child in that darkness, only to find that the world above contains much scarier prospects.

Despite its rough-hewed aesthetic and a jittery, moment-to-moment pace, “Topside” adopts a familiar subgenre of kid-in-peril movies, from “Little Fugitive” to “The Florida Project.” Much of the drama takes place from the innocent perspective of five year-old Little (Zhaila Farmer), who roams her subterranean surroundings with unfettered curiosity. Her parents are hopeless junkies resigned to a daily struggle,...

Before Sundance gets underway, SXSW has unveiled the first wave of their film lineup. This year’s slate includes Judd Apatow’s Pete Davidson-led comedy The King of Staten Island, a new Spike Jonze-directed Beastie Boys documentary, an intriguing new film by Amy Seimetz, and more.

There’s also The Lovebirds, directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) and starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, whose comedic stylings coalesce astoundingly well in the first trailer. The duo play Leilani and Jibran, a couple who are accidentally embroiled in a murder mystery as a man claiming to be a cop commits murder with their car and leaves them with the evidence.

Ahead of a release on April 3, see the trailer below, followed by the SXSW 2020 lineup.

Narrative Feature Competition

Ten world premieres, ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,305 narrative feature submissions in 2020.

Holler

Director...