News

Miro Remo’s Better Go Mad in the Wild won the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe, the top award, at the closing ceremony of the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Saturday, where Stellan Skarsgård was also honored with the Kviff Crystal Globe Award for his “outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.” The Special Jury Prize went to Iranian filmmaker Soheil Beiraghi‘s fourth feature, Bidad (Outcry), whose announcement the fest had held back to ensure the safety of its creators.

This year’s jury, consisting of Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl, and Tuva Novotny, lauded the “delightfully inventive documentary” Better Go Mad as “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and “a portrait of bickering twin brothers who may live a weird, off-grid life on their dilapidated farm, but who, in a world as mad as ours,...

Miro Remo’s stunning portrait of identical twins, “Better Go Mad in the Wild,” took top honors at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, meaning the festival’s Crystal Globe and a cash prize of $25K will be staying at home in the Czech Republic.

A hybrid documentary with plenty of visual power and also a wise-talking bovine, the film immerses us in the daily lives of Ondřej and František Klišík as they live with only each other (as well as their animals) for company in their remote home. Surrounded by the beautiful Šumava forests, their lives are defined by reflections (often literal in that there is a mirror that becomes a haunting yet breathtaking way through which to view their world) about life, death, and isolation. At the same time as it is visually stunning, with Remo and his co-cinematographer Dušan Husár working wonders within the twins’ humble world,...

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced its winners on July 12 during its closing ceremony. More than 128,000 tickets were sold for 465 screenings of 108 features, 23 documentaries, and 44 shorts. The festival is key in the year’s film circuit, nestled between Cannes and Venice.

The 59th outing, held from July 4-12, gave out its top honor, the Grand Prix — Crystal Globe, to director Miro Remo’s “Better Go Mad in the Wild” from Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The filmmakers — producers included — received $25,000.

“A funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself, Miro Remo’s delightfully inventive documentary is a portrait of bickering twin brothers who may live a weird, off-grid life on their dilapidated farm but who, in a world as mad as ours, actually might be the sanest people on earth,” the Crystal Globe jury, which consisted of Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl, and Tuva Novotny,...

The 59th International Karlovy Vary Film Festival passed by in a blur this week after playing host to a stream of largely uncontroversial guests compared to previous years. With appearances by Festival President’s Award winners Vicky Krieps, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard, plus a special cameo from Michael Douglas, it was left to Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution winner Stellan Skarsgård to generate headlines, which he did rather spectacularly by describing venerated Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman as “manipulative” and “the only person I know who cried when Hitler died”.

The lineup of this year’s Crystal Globe Competition was similarly strong, a fact reflected in the sharing out of the awards; all the word-of-mouth titles seemed to win something, which isn’t always the case. That said, the winner was something of a surprise at a festival where the strongest films featured female leads (Broken Voices; Don’t Call Me Mama...

Miro Remo’s hybrid doc “Better Go Mad in the Wild” picked up Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Grand Prix on Saturday – and $25,000, shared by the director and the producers.

Following hermit twins František and Ondřej Klišík, the Slovak director first discovered them thanks to Aleš Palán’s book. “I contacted Aleš right away, and he brought me into their world,” he said. “I fell in love with them and with their environment. I was fascinated by everything magical and enchantingly unusual.”

Jurors Nicolas Celis, Babak Jalali, Jessica Kiang, Jiří Mádl and Tuva Novotny called it “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself” and a “delightfully inventive documentary.” Despite living on a dilapidated farm, “in a world as mad as ours, [they] actually might be the sanest people on earth.”

They added: “ ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’ feels like a gulp of fresh, woody air,...

Upcoming features by Babak Jalali, Kamila Andini, Martin Koolhoven, Emily Atef, Yann Gonzalez and Diego Lerman are among 67 projects selected for the 12th Venice Gap-Financing Market.

The project incubator which is a component of the Venice Film Festival’s Venice Production Bridge industry program will run from August 29 to 31.

The 67 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding have been selected from 330 applications.

They span 40 feature-length fiction and documentary projects, 14 immersive projects, 10 Biennale College Cinema immersive projects and three Biennale College Cinema projects.

Their director-producer teams will participate in one-to-one meetings organized by the Vpb with top industry decision-makers including producers, private and public financiers, banks, distributors, sales agents, TV commissioners, streamers, VoD platforms, institutions and post-production companies.

All meetings will be held at the Venice Production Bridge venues of Hotel Excelsior and Venice Immersive Island.

The full list of feature film projects:

93 – Echo Froma...

Projects from Emily Atef, Babak Jalali, Luis Ortega and Ulrich Seidl are among the 40 films selected for the 12th edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market (August 29 – 31), taking place during the Venice Film Festivals.

The market is a part of the Venice Production Bridge and provides the 67 projects with the chance to close their intentional financing. This year’s focus is on projects from the UK, Chile and Morocco.

Atef makes her English-language debut with Call Me Queen about a friendship between an Irish journalist in Kenya and a Rwandan woman during the 1990s AIDS crisis. It is produced by Germany...

Fireworks on July 4 are nothing special in the U.S. But the Friday night fireworks over the Czech spa town Karlovy Vary brought an upbeat end to the opening night of the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), which proved to be an emotional rollercoaster.

It included stars Peter Sarsgaard and Vicky Krieps, who were both honored during the opening ceremony, sharing political thoughts about a divided U.S. and world, laughs and rare behind-the-scenes insights thanks to the opening film, We’ve Got to Frame It! (A Conversation With Jiří Bartoška in July 2021), and words of thanks in heartfelt tributes to the long-time festival president and legendary Czech actor Bartoška, who died in May at the age of 78.

Big names in attendance for the opening night included members of the jury for the fest’s main Crystal Globe Competition, which includes Roma producer Nicolás Celis,...

Exclusive: Cinetic Media, the preeminent talent management and media advisory company founded by John Sloss, has made three additions to its team, hiring David Karp as a senior manager, Andrea Wax as a manager, and Noah Stahl as a producer.

The trio joins Cinetic at a critical juncture in the growth of the company’s talent management practice, which already reps an award-winning group of writer and director multi-hyphenates, producers, and emerging talent. Going forward, they intend to aggressively pursue growth objectives, with additional manager hires to be announced in the coming months.

“David, Andrea and Noah bring a breadth of experience and talent to Cinetic at a critical moment in the company’s growth,” said Cinetic CEO Sloss. “There is a lot of chatter about how our industry is contracting, but, contrary to that sentiment, we at Cinetic look at the global marketplace and see nothing but storytelling opportunity.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 59th edition, including 11 of its 12 films in the Crystal Globe Competition. The title of the 12th, an entry from Iran, has been withheld for the “safety of its makers.”

“It has been decided to postpone its announcement until closer to the festival,” Kviff artistic director Karel Och said in a statement.

Considered the most prestigious film festival in Eastern Europe, the Czech-based Kviff runs July 4-12. Mexican producer Nicolás Celis (“Roma”), filmmaker Babak Jalali (“Radio Dreams”), film critic Jessica Kiang, and Czech actor/director Jiří Mádl (“Waves”) will serve as the Cystal Globe jury.

“Answering exclusively to their artistic integrity, the filmmakers who have accepted the invitation to premiere their brand-new works in Karlovy Vary fearlessly protect the right to challenge expectations, to disrupt stereotypes and to win over hearts and minds with equal intensity,” Och said. “Disregarding budgetary constraints,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its 59th edition, including new features by Bence Fliegauf, Miro Remo and Ondřej Provazník.

Scroll down for full lineup

The festival, which runs from July 4-July 12 in the Czech spa town, has announced 11 titles for its main Crystal Globe Competition, comprising nine world premieres and two international premieres.

Artistic director Karel Och said that one more title from Iran will be added to the Competition closer to the festival, with the announcement postponed “for the safety of its makers.”

Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf, whose Forest - I See...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled its official selection and jury members for the upcoming 59th edition of the upcoming festival. It has announced 11 titles from its usual dozen films in its Crystal Globe Competition, which include the world premiere of Ondřej Provaznik’s Sbormistr (Broken Voices) and Hungarian title Jimmy Jaguar from Bence Fliegauf.

The festival said that the final competition title is from Iran and will be announced closer to the start of the festival “for the safety of its makers.”

Jury members this year include Mexican producer Nicolás Celis, who has worked with directors such as Alfonso Cuarón and Jacques Audiard as well as filmmaker Babak Jalali, whose second feature Radio Dreamswon the Tiger Award at Rotterdam Iff in 2016.

“The 59th Karlovy Vary Iff’s Official Selection offers an exciting display of the diversity of contemporary arthouse cinema, “ said Karlovy Vary Festial Director Karel Och in a statement.

Donald Young – laureled documentary producer, champion of independent cinema, and beloved member of the San Francisco Bay Area film community – has also been the face of Center for Asian American Media (Caam), as the Director of Programs, for years. In the advent of CAAMFest 2025 and his thirtieth year working with the organization, we took the time to sit down with him at the CAAMFest Press Luncheon.

Collegial and thoughtful, Donald Young repeated the same mantra over and over again: Tell the stories only you can. In this comprehensive and insightful overview of the status of today’s trans-Pacific Asian and Asian American film industry, we talked about CAAMFest’s pivot towards regional cinema, funding independent film, and of course, celebrity sightings.

This transcript has been edited and redacted for clarity.

This marks the 30th year since you’ve been at Caam, right?

Donald Young: That’s right. I started in 1995 as an intern.

Jeremy Allen White's top-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 98%, is "Fremont," a story about uncomfortable beginnings in a new country directed by Babak Jalali. However, you'll have to wait to see White because he doesn't appear until the second half of the film. What's more, the bulk of the actor's career so far has been in television, with White having spent 11 years appearing on "Shameless" and now starring in the critically acclaimed "The Bear," a dramedy about a Chicago greasy spoon turned fine dining establishment. He has also won two Emmy Awards for his performance on the show as Carmen Berzatto, a famous chef with mental health struggles.

Most of White's film career has been in small indies or supporting roles in relatively mainstream films such as "The Iron Claw". He's also slated to play Bruce Springsteen in Scott Cooper's upcoming biopic "Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Exclusive: Jayne Sullivan has been hired as a literary manager at Cinetic Media, the esteemed management and media advisory company founded and overseen by John Sloss.

New to management, Sullivan comes from a producing background, having previously worked alongside Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Paul Giamatti while under a deal at Showtime, and Brigham Taylor while under a deal at Disney. She’ll be based out of Cinetic’s New York office and will focus on growing a roster of exceptional writer, director, and multi-hyphenate clients.

Observed Kate Hurwitz and Alec Ring, Co-Heads of Cinetic Management, “Jayne was doing all the things a great manager does well before it was her official title. She has incredible taste, a strong work ethic, and her experience across the indie and studio landscape equips her to excel with artists at all stages of their careers. We are thrilled to have her join our team.”

Added Sullivan,...

Cinetic Media has signed Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin MacDonald for management.

Macdonald won the Academy Award for Best Documentary for “One Day in September,” a look at the 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics In Munich. MacDonald’s narrative feature, “The Last King of Scotland,” earned the best actor Oscar for Forest Whitaker for his chilling performance as Idi Amin.

MacDonald will be attending the Venice Film Festival, where he will premiere a “One to One: John & Yoko,” a documentary about the music legends’ relationship from Mercury Studios. His recent documentary “Klitschko: More Than a Fight,” a look at Vitali Klitschko, a boxing champ turned the mayor of Kyiv, opened the 2024 Sheffield DocFest. Previous work in the non-fiction space include “Marley,” a portrait of reggae great Bob Marley; “Whitney,” an examination of pop sensation Whitney Houston; and “High & Low — John Galliano,” which charts the controversial fashion designer’s fall.

Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the 14 US features for its 50th anniversary edition running September 6-15 in the Normandy seaside town.

They include Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s 2024 Sundance prize-winner In The Summers, Cannes-premiering titles including Roberto Minervini’s The Damned and Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve At Miller’s Point, and Christy Hall’s taxi drama Daddio.

Eight of the films are debut features, among them David Fortune’s Color Book which world-premiered at Tribeca and Brandt Andersen’s The Strangers’ Case which made its debut at Berlin.

Benoit Magimel heads up this year’s Deauville jury alongside Ludivine Sagnier,...

Under the leadership of new CEO Annamaria Morelli, The Apartment — the Fremantle-owned outfit which will attend Venice with three hot titles including Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” — is set to produce the next project by emerging Italian director Carolina Cavalli.

Cavalli – whose first feature “Amanda” went to Venice and Toronto – is set to shoot a follow-up titled “The Kidnapping of Arabella” that will see her reteam with “Amanda” protagonist Benedetta Porcaroli in the lead role.

Similarly to “Amanda” – an absurdist arrested development comedy that traveled widely and garnered critical praise – “The Kidnapping of Arabella” will see Porcaroli play a young female misfit named Holly who “is convinced that she is the wrong version of herself until she meets a 7-year-old girl who makes her change her mind,” according to the film’s provided synopsis.

“I think lonely people who come together to solve a problem have already solved the biggest one,...

“Xoftex” is a name you might expect to find on a pharmacy shelf, to be taken only after consultation with your physician. In Noaz Deshe’s heady second feature, however, the title refers to an imagined refugee camp in Greece: a vast, purgatorial compound that has as numbing and disorienting an effect on its residents as the strongest prescription medication. Following a pair of Syrian brothers as they wait out the agonizing process of asylum application — passing the time by bickering, fantasizing about a better life in northern Europe, and shooting amateur movies — Deshe’s film strikingly captures a sense of passing time and personal stasis battling each other to a fraught draw, building to a freeform surrealism that gives “Xoftex” its own identity amid the recent wave of cinema centered on the migrant crisis.

The film’s stylistic singularity won’t come as a surprise to those who saw...

Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers in a Greek refugee camp awaiting updates on their status. That is the world director Noaz Deshe (White Shadow, which was executive produced by Ryan Gosling) chose as the setting for his second feature film Xoftex, which had its world premiere at the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Monday night.

“To pass the time between interviews with the immigration office, Nasser and his friends film satirical sketches and make preparations for a zombie horror flick,” reads a plot description shared by the festival, which has also posted a film clip online. “Except that the reality of the camp could be taken for a horror scenario itself. The tension between its inhabitants gains momentum and every conflict removes one more brick from the wall which divides reality from dream – or, indeed, nightmare.”

The story is infused with experiences and inspirations of...

Noaz Deshe has had a varied film career as a composer, cinematographer and director. His feature directorial debut White Shadow, the story of a young Albino on the run, won him Lion of the Future Award at the 2013 Venice Film Festival. He has collaborated with Iranian director Babak Jalal as composer on Frontier Blues (2009) and as the cinematographer on Tiger award winning Radio Days (2016).

Deshe’s sophomore feature is German-French co-production Xoftex, which is co-written with Jalal. Xoftex is the name of a a Greek refugee camp for Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers. To pass the time, camp inhabitants such...

Noaz Deshe has had a varied film career as a composer, cinematographer and director. His feature directorial debut White Shadow, the story of a young Albino on the run, won him Lion of the Future Award at the 2013 Venice Film Festival. He has collaborated with Iranian director Babak Jalal as composer on Frontier Blues (2009) and as the cinematographer on Tiger award winning Radio Days (2016).

Deshe’s sophomore feature is German-French co-production Xoftex, which is co-written with Jalal. Xoftex is the name of a a Greek refugee camp for Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers. To pass the time, camp inhabitants such...

Noaz Deshe’s “Xoftex,” which has its world premiere July 1 in the Crystal Globe Competition of Karlovy Vary Film Festival, has debuted its trailer (below). Mad World is attached as the film’s sales agent.

“Xoftex” is Deshe’s second feature film. His feature debut, “White Shadow,” about the hunting of a young Albino, won the Lion of the Future Award at Venice Film Festival, and was showcased at Sundance Film Festival.

The screenplay for “Xoftex” is by Deshe and Babak Jalali, who directed and co-wrote “Fremont,” best director award winner at Karlovy Vary last year.

“Xoftex” centers on a Greek refugee camp called Xoftex, where Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers anxiously wait for news of their refugee status. To pass the time between interviews with the immigration office, Nasser and his friends film satirical sketches and make preparations for a zombie horror movie.

However, the reality of the camp...

Elene Naveriani’s Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, starring Eka Chavleishvili as a woman navigating the prospect of growing older on her own, headed the winners at the inaugural Eliso awards, the new national film awards ceremony for Georgia.

Naveriani won best director, with Chavleishvili taking the best actress prize.

Ani Mogeladze received a special mention for her performance in the film; as did Nina Eradze for her role in Liza Go On.

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2023.

Lomero Akhvlediani won the best cinematography prize for work on Luka Beradze’s documentary Smiling Georgia. The film also received...

After grabbing the international film festival circuit by storm with her directorial debut in Amanda and to an extent Babak Jalali’s Fremont (2023 Sundance) as a co-scribe, Carolina Cavalli is now prepping her sophomore feature in Il Rapimento di Arabella (The Kidnapping of Arabella). Casting began a couple of weeks back for the young film’s lead. From what we understand, Benedetta Porcaroli will be re-teaming with the filmmaker but the protagonist’s role will be offering to the young female lead. Filming is set for Emilia Romagna region in August lining this up a potential Lido offering for 2025.…...

Former Youplanet Pictures and Rakuten TV executives Adrian Peña and Alex Marin have launched Spanish independent film distribution company Madfer Films.

Based in Barcelona, Madfer Films’ first acquisitions for the Spanish market include Babak Jalali’s comedy-drama Fremont, Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s box office hit Full River Red and Kristian Mercado’s sci-fi romantic comedy If You Were The Last.

Peña and Marin both worked together at Spanish distributor Youplanet Pictures, which has released films including Academy Award winners Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Whale and Palme d’Or winner Titane. Before Youplanet, the pair also worked at video-on-demand platform Rakuten TV.

Exclusive: Cinetic Media has signed New York-based documentary filmmaker Contessa Gayles for management across all media.

Most recently, Gayles took to SXSW with her film Songs from the Hole, which garnered strong reviews and won the festival’s Visions Audience Award. Described as a documentary visual album, pic follows musician James “JJ’88” Jacobs as he writes about his innermost struggles while serving a double life sentence.

Up next for Gayles is the Tribeca Festival debut of her documentary The Debutantes, made in collaboration with NBC News Studios, Westbrook Studios, and BET Studios. Through personal video diaries and dance, the doc watches as teens Amelia, Dedra, and Teylar navigate identity and gender norms while pursuing dreams of college, medicine or business.

Gayles’ documentary short, Founder Girls, exec produced by Queen Latifah, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival and was broadcast on BET. Previously, she was a producer at CNN, where she created,...

Babak Jalali's independent drama 'Fremont' marks the third feature for Australian-born producer Rachael Fung, who has established a career in US after moving to New York to study film and television in 2007.

The post ‘I’m interested in being able to come home and make movies’: ‘Fremont’ producer Rachael Fung on remaining connected to Australia from LA appeared first on If Magazine.

Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Cinetic Media has signed Aaron Schimberg and Vanessa McDonnell, the filmmaker and producer behind the darkly comedic psychological thriller A Different Man, for management across all media.

World premiering at Sundance 2024 before going on to play Berlin, the conversation starter from A24 stars an unrecognizable Sebastian Stan as Edward, an aspiring actor who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. Edward’s new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.

Schimberg wrote and directed the pic, which next week opens Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films. Also starring Adam Pearson and The Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve, in her American debut, the film is produced by Christine Vachon, McDonnell, and Gabriel Mayers.

Memento International has closed a raft of deals on “Fremont,” a critically acclaimed film starring Anaita Wali Zada, an Afghan refugee and first-time actor, and featuring “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White.

Directed by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali, the black-and-white movie tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie. Following its Sundance premiere, the film was acquired by Music Box for North America in a deal negotiated by CAA.

Memento International has just struck deals for the movie in Australia and New Zealand (Mushroom Studios), Eastern Europe (HBO), Spain (Madfer Films), Italy (Wanted), Greece (One From the Heart), Czech Republic (Aerofilms...

Hundreds of protesters have shut down a major section of Hollywood during the Oscars red carpet, turning Hollywood’s biggest night into a traffic nightmare. With just a few minutes ahead of the telecast’s scheduled start time, much of the ballroom is uncharacteristically empty and people are running to their seats.

There was a growing sense of anxiety from production staffers and publicists on the red carpet that tonight’s Oscars will not start on time due to the gridlock. The broadcast itself kicked off five minutes late.

Protesters shut down Sunset Boulevard between Vine Street and La Brea Avenue. They marched down the street with signs that read “No awards for genocide” and drove school buses covered with Palestinian flags. Police ordered the protest to disperse and waited on Sunset Boulevard with battering rams.

Executives, such as Bob Iger, waited an hour to walk the red carpet due to the traffic jam.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDahomey.Mati Diop’s Dahomey (2024), a documentary about the repatriation of artifacts plundered by French colonists to the present-day Republic of Benin, won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. It is only the second film from the African continent to take the festival’s top prize.The Berlinale has filed criminal charges against activists who hacked the festival’s Instagram account on Sunday to post calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which the festival deemed “anti-Semitic.”The festival has also released a statement disavowing the acceptance speeches of award winners who used their platform to speak out against the occupation and war. Such speeches included those by Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau, whose Direct Action won Best Film in the Encounters section, and by Yuval Abraham,...

Can you use the Film Independent Spirit Awards to predict the Oscars? That's a risky endeavour, but when you consider that last year's Indie Spirit Best Feature Everything Everywhere All At Once went on to win big at the Oscars, hopes are certainly higher for Celine Song's Past Lives' Best Picture chances come 10 March.

Song also picked up Best Director for her emotional tale of reconnection and regret, While Av Rockwell took Best First Feature for A Thousand And One and Co-writer/director Babak Jalali won the John Cassavetes Award for best feature made for under $1 million for Fremont.

The Holdovers took home the most film gongs, nabbing Best Cinematography for Eigil Bryld, a welcome Best Breakthrough Performance for Dominic Sessa and in what should probably this year be renamed the Da’Vine Joy Randolph Award, she won her latest trophy: Best Supporting Performance.

How To Blow Up A Pipeline...

The rain stayed away from Santa Monica Beach on Sunday (February 25) as Past Lives was named best film and Celine Song best director at the 39th annual Spirit Awards.

While the legacy studio and streamer contenders have dominated much of the big-ticket awards shows this season like Saturday night’s SAG Awards, last weekend’s Baftas, the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, this was a good opportunity for the Oscar-nominated A24 romance and Song to earn gongs for a film which has done well among critics groups since its world premiere at Sundance just over one year ago.

Jeffrey Wright...

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo in ‘Past Lives’ (Photo Credit: Jon Pack / Courtesy of A24)

Past Lives took home top film honors at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, held on February 25th in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. The film also earned Celine Song the Best Director award, with American Fiction‘s Cord Jefferson and May December‘s Samy Burch earning screenplay honors.

On the television side, The Last of Us collected two awards: Nick Offerman for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series and Keivonn Montreal Woodard for Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series. Beef also netted two wins, with Ali Wong awarded Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series and the show earning the Best New Scripted Series award.

2024 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Best Feature (Award given to the producer.)

All of Us Strangers

Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin,...

A24’s Past Lives won the top prize for best feature at the 39th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, with writer-director Celine Song also winning best director for her feature film debut.

American Fiction’s Jeffrey Wright won best lead performance for his role in the Amazon MGM Studios comedy, presented to him by his fellow Oscar nominee Colman Domingo. “It’s funny, you go to these award shows, and you kind of grow tired of them,” laughed Wright. “And then you get one. It changes the vibe a little bit.”

American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson also won best screenplay for his directorial debut. “Our film is so independent that one morning I woke up at our hotel to find out that there had been a triple stabbing the night before in the lobby,” said Jefferson. “They were cleaning up the blood. And I would not have it any other way.

Past Lives was named best feature at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica.

In addition, Celine Song was named best director for her work on the film.

Elsewhere, Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the Spirit Award for best supporting performance, for her role in The Holdovers, repeating her win from Saturday night’s SAG Awards and other shows this awards season. Her co-star, Dominic Sessa, won the Spirit Award for best breakthrough performance.

American Fiction also collected two trophies: Cord Jefferson won the award for best screenplay, while Jeffrey Wright won for best lead performance.

May December won the award for best first screenplay for Samy Burch (story by Burch and Alex Mechanik). Four Daughters was named best documentary.

On the TV side, Beef was named best new scripted series, while Ali Wong won best lead performance for her role in the show,...

The best in independent film and television were honored at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards!

Plenty of A-List stars were in attendance at the event on Sunday afternoon (February 25) at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, Calif.

Movies are only eligible for a Spirit Award if they have a budget of less than $30 million, so there are some awards favorites like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Killers of the Flower Moon that are not nominated.

American Fiction, May December, and Past Lives lead the pack this year with five nominations each.

Make sure to check out our post with photos of Every celeb who attended the event! Also check out our best dressed list.

Head inside to see the full list of winners…

Keep scrolling to see the full list of winners…

Best Feature (Award given to the producer)

All of Us Strangers

Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey

American Fiction

Producers: Cord Jefferson,...

The 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday awarded A24’s Past Lives its Best Feature and the film’s Celine Song the Best Director in a ceremony on the beach in Santa Monica, giving the indie romantic drama a boost as it heads toward the Oscars where it is up for Best Picture.

Past Lives topped a marquee Best Feature category that included Netflix’s May December, Amazon MGM Studios’ American Fiction, Searchlight’s All of Us Strangers, Sony Pictures Classics’ We Grown Now and Mubi’s Passages.

“There is a concept in our film, an Eastern concept, and it’s called inyeon,” Song, making her feature directorial debut, said in her acceptance speech with her producers and cast. “It is about how just by being in the same space and time in this life, it means we actually knew each other for many, many lives that came before this one.

This year’s Independent Spirit Awards faced a major broadcast hurdle as a Pro-Palestinian protestor with a speaker and a prerecorded message blared out many of the presenters and winners onstage.

The protestor became obvious to at-home audiences when Jim Gaffigan presented “Jury Duty” the award for best ensemble cast in a new scripted series. The rhythm of Gaffigan’s introduction was stilted as microphones picked up the muffled messaging from outside.

The sound created a stir in the audience at the ceremony, as it was louder than the show itself, with some leaving the show to see what the commotion was. Several people, including security and producers, approached the man with the speaker and another man with him, but the protest didn’t stop. Security then moved a shuttle bus in front of the protestors, driving forward and in reverse to block them and try to muffle the sound.

People protesting the Israel-Hamas war outside the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards could be heard inside throughout the ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

A handful of protesters were outside the tent located on the beach in Santa Monica playing previously recorded chants on a megaphone such as “free Palestine,” “long live Palestine” and “ceasefire now.” The chants continued as awards were presented inside and were also heard during the red carpet arrivals earlier in the day.

Protesters chant “Free, Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire Now” outside the 2024 #SpiritAwards pic.twitter.com/HajqDt1D76

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 25, 2024

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the chants were “very audible” inside the tent where the ceremony was taking place. They could also be heard on the livestream of the event on Film Independent and IMDb’s YouTube channels. At one point, while actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan was presenting, he appeared to be...

It wasn’t a group of pro-Palestinian protesters that was causing all the noise throughout the Santa Monica Beach tent during the Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday, rather only one.

A loud chant was heard piercing throughout the ceremony “Free! Free! Palestine! Long live Palestine! Cease fire now!” throughout most of this afternoon’s show, to the point where comedian Jim Gaffigan, who was presenting the award for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series to Jury Duty, remarked “That’s my Dad!”

Outside the tent, the disruption was coming from one young male who was standing on the outer part of the Spirits barricade — he wasn’t chanting himself but held a loudspeaker with a repeated protest recording.

A single pro-Palestine protestor with a loudspeaker is disrupting the #SpiritAwards in Santa Monica, CA (...

The 2024 Independent Spirit Awards took place on Sunday at the traditional Santa Monica beach tent location, with Aidy Bryant hosting. “Past Lives” took home the coveted Best Feature award, with “Beef” being honored as Best New Scripted Series. Check out the full list of winners and nominees below.

Best Feature

“Past Lives”

Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon

“All of Us Strangers”

Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey

“American Fiction”

Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair

“May December”

Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Christine Vachon

“Passages”

Producers: Michel Merkt, Saïd Ben Saïd

“We Grown Now”

Producers: Minhal Baig, Joe Pirro

Best Lead Performance

Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

Jessica Chastain, “Memory”

Greta Lee, “Past Lives”

Trace Lysette, “Monica”

Natalie Portman, “May December”

Judy Reyes, “Birth/Rebirth”

Franz Rogowski, “Passages”

Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers”

Teyana Taylor,...

The Film Independent Spirit Awards have been dutifully assigned to their worthy recipients, thus putting a button on yet another great year of indie film and innovative visual storytelling. And as awards prognosticators now ponder their Oscar futures with this new data set and the tent falls around our knees, we want to shout out one more time all of the producers, writers, directors, performers and more who made this such a special experience.

This year’s ceremony streamed live on IMDb’s YouTube and across other social platforms, including Film Independent’s own YouTube channel and Twitter (or “X” if you’re being pedantic). The full livestream (see below) will remain available to watch On Demand for the next eight weeks, which highlights, behind-the-scenes moments, arrival carpet interviews and more will are available at filmindependent.org and wherever fine entertainment journalism prevails.

Best Supporting Performance

Da’Vine Joy Randolph

The Holdovers...

Exclusive: Cinetic Media has signed award-winning Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali for management across all media.

Most recently, Jalali co-wrote and directed the indie drama Fremont, released by Music Box Films last August. Securing a nomination for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards, following a Jury Prize win in Deauville and one for Directing at Karlovy Vary, the film centers on mid-20s Afghan refugee Donya (Anaita Wali Zada), whose complicated feelings about her prior work as a translator for the U.S. military have left her troubled and unable to sleep. Drifting through her uninspired routine in Fremont, California, which comprises her work at a fortune cookie factory, she struggles to connect with her unfamiliar surroundings. When Donya is promoted to writing fortunes at her job, she sends a message out to the world, unsure where it will lead.

Gregg Turkington and Jeremy Allen White also star in the pic,...

Following a turbulent year marked by dueling industry strikes and the violent contraction–if not yet full pop–of the streaming bubble, 2024 has thus far been pretty good to Hollywood. It certainly helps that we’re in the middle of awards season, which for cineastes amounts to a three-month holiday largely characterized by voluminous binge-watching. And not just binge-watching of the year’s top films. For the curious, the season also offers up a smuggler’s bounty full of talking special post-screening Q&As, roundtables, filmmaker panels, celebratory cocktail receptions and more.

Traditionally Film Independent’s Directors Close-Up series has been a little bit of all of the above, presenting behind-the-scenes insight into the year’s most important works of cinema, straight from the mouths and brains of filmmakers themselves. As the virtual portion of this year’s programming winds down (see below), we’re looking ahead now to our...

Mubi has unveiled their February 2024 lineup, featuring Roy Andersson’s little-seen 1991 short World of Glory, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing starring Catherine Keener with an early Jake Gyllenhaal performance, and special Black History Month selections: Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, Kasi Lemmon’s Eve’s Bayou, Carl Franklin’s One False Move, and more.

Check out the lineup below, including recently added January titles, and get 30 days free here.

Just-Added

American Movie, directed by Christopher Smith | Festival Focus: Sundance

Pieces of April, directed by Peter Hedges | Festival Focus: Sundance

The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Festival Focus: Sundance

But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit | Festival Focus: Sundance

Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg | Festival Focus: Sundance

Medicine for Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins | First Films First

Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg | First Films First

Shithouse, directed by Cooper Raiff | First Films First

Age of Panic,...

Dark comedy is a delicate balance of humor and seriousness, and finding the right mix is crucial. Some examples of dark comedies done right are Beetlejuice, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and even American Psycho. Amanda is an Italian dark comedy-drama that explores themes of loneliness and dissatisfaction in a wealthy world.

Dark comedy is an interesting subgenre as it's making light of a tragedy, but it can be challenging to get right. You have to find just the right balance of humor and seriousness. If something earnest is downplayed with comedy, that sincere moment is taken as a poorly told joke. But you also can't have these elevated, gravity-defying moments of negativity without some sort of comic relief to keep us on the ground. Some good examples of dark comedy done right are titles like Beetlejuice, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, South Park, and even American Psycho.

That does...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Beyond Utopia (Madeleine Gavin)

A harrowing, brave account of what it’s like to defect from North Korea, Madeleine Gavin’s Beyond Utopia follows a heroic pastor and the people he helps. Perhaps most unforgettable is a multigenerational family whose escape is shown through furtive, horror-movie-like handheld camera and revealing interviews. As Gavin offers a rundown of North Korean politics, we see this family slowly reckon with their own brainwashing and realize the world outside North Korea is not what their upbringing taught them to believe. – Lena W.

Where to Stream: PBS

The Florida Project (Sean Baker)

How, exactly, did Sean Baker do it? How did the director of Tangerine make this story of a mother and daughter living at a rundown...

Actors Ewan McGregor, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, directors Ruben Östlund, Ernst de Geer, Ramata-Toulaye Sy and Cannes Film Festival honcho Thierry Frémaux are some of the stellar guests set to walk the red carpet at the 47th edition of Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival.

This year’s Göteborg Fest unspools from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4.

For his last run as artistic director of Scandinavia’s biggest film festival, Jonas Holmberg has selected 240 films from 82 countries, and what he calls “one of the strongest lineups ever” for Göteborg’s main Nordic competition strand. Among the highly anticipated titles vying for the coveted Best Nordic Film Dragon Award worth Sek 400,000, is Norway’s “Handling the Undead” by Thea Hvistendahl, set to kickstart the festival on the heels of its Sundance world premiere.

“This will be the first time we open with a zombie horror,” notes Holmberg, who looks forward...