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The Rooftop Films 2024 Filmmaker Fund winners have officially been unveiled, with buzzy titles like Eliza Hittman’s fourth feature “Motherlove” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis’ collaborative documentary among the top titles.

This year, twenty-three cash and service grants will be provided to independent filmmakers to support the production of their next short or feature film, including two Rooftop Films Water Tower Feature Film cash grants, generously supported by the Laurence W. Levine Foundation. In the past 24 years, Rooftop Films has awarded over $2,300,000 in cash and services to notable films and filmmakers including Alex Ross Perry, Carlos López Estrada, Nikyatu Jusu, and David Lowery.

Among the 2024 grantees are Eliza Hittman for her highly-anticipated fourth feature film, “Motherlove,” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis for their untitled collaborative documentary investigating the past, present, and future of legalized marijuana in New York state.

Hittman’s acclaimed third feature “Never Rarely Sometimes Always...

Exclusive: Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment have prevailed in a bidding war surrounding the Sundance thriller Emily the Criminal, starring and produced by Aubrey Plaza, claiming North American rights. They’ve slated the film for an exclusive theatrical release this year, with Redbox joining the partnership for home entertainment distribution.

John Patton Ford’s feature directorial debut follows Emily (Plaza), who is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi). Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. Together, they hatch a plan to bring...

A financially precarious temp worker effectively locked out of a stable job due to a minor criminal record takes a black market gig buying goods with stolen credit cards in Emily the Criminal. As its logline suggests, the film examines the gig economy and class structure in America, and editor Harrison Atkins discusses how he shaped the film to approach that film with anger rather than numbness Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Atkins: I’ve been working […]

The post “Make Choices With the Edit to Sculpt and Reveal an Inherent Truth”: Harrison Atkins on Emily the Criminal first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A financially precarious temp worker effectively locked out of a stable job due to a minor criminal record takes a black market gig buying goods with stolen credit cards in Emily the Criminal. As its logline suggests, the film examines the gig economy and class structure in America, and editor Harrison Atkins discusses how he shaped the film to approach that film with anger rather than numbness Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Atkins: I’ve been working […]

The post “Make Choices With the Edit to Sculpt and Reveal an Inherent Truth”: Harrison Atkins on Emily the Criminal first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A book of dreams, teenagers searching for buried treasure and a quest to digitally manufacture spiritual enlightenment constitute the intriguing ingredients of “Karmalink,” a fresh and highly entertaining sci-fi mystery-adventure set in a near-future Phnom Penh. Driven by Buddhist concepts of karma and rebirth, and underscored by commentary on Cambodia’s past, present and potential future, this striking feature debut by U.S. filmmaker Jake Wachtel takes viewers on a fascinating and frequently wondrous expedition to a place where science and metaphysics intersect.

“Karmalink” should enjoy a strong festival run and broad VOD distribution following its world premiere at Venice Critics’ Week. It has theatrical potential, especially in regional markets with substantial Buddhist populations. U.S. and Cambodian release details are yet to be announced.

Phnom Penh might not seem like the obvious setting for science-fiction, but it proves to be an ideal backdrop for a tale that anchors its...

Reincarnation, artificial consciousness and augmented reality intersect in U.S. director Jake Wachtel’s Cambodia-set “Karmalink,” for which Variety can reveal the first trailer.

The sci-fi mystery will have its world premiere as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week on Sept. 1.

Set in a near-future Phnom Penh, “Karmalink” is about a 13-year-old boy and his street-smart female friend who team up to search for a gold statue from the boy’s past lives, while traveling across town and also back in time.

But what begins as a hunt for a Buddhist treasure soon leads to greater discoveries in the digital realm that could be either enlightening or obliterating.

Wachtel, who grew up in Palo Alto, started developing the film in 2015, while teaching filmmaking in Phnom Penh. He cast two former students as his leads and shot the film on location after living in their community for several years.

Jake Wachtel makes feature directorial debut on “Buddhist sci-fi mystery”.

XYZ Films and LevelK are joining forces for the first time to work on Cambodian sci-fi feature Karmalink. LevelK will handle international sales while XYZ represents North American rights.

Jake Wachtel makes his feature directorial debut on the film, described as a “Buddhist sci-fi mystery”. The story follows a 13-year-old boy and his detective friend searching for a gold statue from the boy’s past lives, while navigating a high-tech, near-future Cambodia.

Los Angeles-based Valerie Steinberg produces for Valerie Steinberg Productions. Co-producers are Cambodian director-producer Sok Visal of 802 Films, as...

Cult variety TV show “The Eyeslicer” is gearing up for its second season, one that will move the streaming series into the terrestrial world with a brand new mini film festival, taking place in Brooklyn from September 14 to 17. The brainchild of creators Dan Schoenbrun and Vanessa McDonnell, the episodic series invites some of independent film’s most exciting directors to embrace their weird and experimental side in making a variety of short content, which is then weaved into thematic episodes.

The 13-episode Season 2 of “The Eyeslicer” will feature work from over 70 filmmakers, offerings that the co-creators describe as “a deep-dive into the strange, dark heart of our contemporary American hellscape, while also being an optimistic celebration of independent art-making within said hellscape.”

Starting with this new season, the internet will no longer be the series’ principal platform, but it will instead use a unique, zine-inspired mini-festival in Brooklyn and the...

Joe Swanberg has been cranking out movies for over decade, and his micro-budget character studies quickly became the paradigm for the current state of American independent film. While Swanberg’s profile has grown — he recently launched the Netflix series “Easy” — he remains tethered to his roots, and now he’s expanding them: With the Chicago-based production company Forager Films, Swanberg has quietly launched an effort to support the work of other filmmakers operating on the same scale he embraced early on.

Read More: ‘Easy’ Review: Grading Every Episode of Joe Swanberg’s Profound New Netflix Series

The company, which Swanberg co-founded with Eddie Linker and Peter Gilbert, has churned out a series of diverse projects over the past year and a half: “Unexpected,” the sleeper Sundance hit directed by Swanberg’s wife Kris, follows an inner-city high school teacher who bonds with one of her students when they both get...

If Harrison Atkins‘ directorial debut, Lace Crater, wasn’t on your radar before, it should be now. The offbeat horror movie, which is produced by Joe Swanberg (Digging for Fire), is something else, as you’ll likely learn from the trailer. Lace Crater is an often sad, funny, and unsettling post-breakup story that takes its ludicrous-sounding concept to some surprising places. […]

The post ‘Lace Crater’ Trailer: Why You Should Stay Away From Haunted Art Studios appeared first on /Film.

Movie ghosts usually represent something more than just specters from the beyond. You don’t have to look too far into the recent past to find examples of spooky phantoms that represent some kind of real-world anxiety: grief (“The Babadook”), burgeoning sexuality (“It Follows”) and franchises built on justice meted out by revenge-seeking spirits. In that context, Harrison Atkins’ “Lace Crater” is out of sync with its times, since it takes the existence of an undead corporeal entity at face value.

Here, that ambiguous entity visits Ruth (Lindsay Burdge), a recently single woman on a Hamptons vacation with a cadre of supportive friends. On a drug-laced evening in upstate New York, Ruth retreats to her room in the guest cottage, which a member of the group jokes is haunted. When a creaking door yields a mysterious, soft-spoken figure clad in burlap sacks, Ruth’s initial fright gives way to an eerie sense of understanding.

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

For July, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 29. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Bad Moms

Director: John Lucas and Scott Moore

Cast: Christina Applegate, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Emjay Anthony, Jay Jablonski, Kesha Rose Sebert

Synopsis: A woman with a seemingly perfect life – a great marriage, overachieving kids, beautiful home, stunning looks and still holding down a career.

Partying, drugs, drinking, and a little casual sex….for some it’s a routine to blow off steam, but for one young woman, it’s a way to get over a break-up. Unfortunately, those choices are going to lead some unlikely consequences. Directed by Harrison Atkins, produced by Joe Swanberg, and starring Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack, Chase Williamson, and Keith Poulson, the […]

The post New Trailer For Supernatural Horror ‘Lace Crater,’ Produced By Joe Swanberg appeared first on The Playlist.

“Lace Crater” follows twenty-something Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) who’s just getting over a breakup as she and her friends head to the Hamptons for a weekend of mild debauchery at their friend Andrew’s parents’ summer home. With all the bedrooms in the main house taken, Ruth agrees to sleep in the guest house that is supposedly haunted. One night while everyone is having a good time, Ruth stumbles to her bed and ends up encountering a mysterious figure – a burlap sack-wearing, light-sensitive otherworldly entity, Michael (Peter Vack). Ruth and Michael have a one-night stand, but when she returns home, she develop a ghostly Std, with symptoms that include frequent vomiting, light sensitivity, and spewing black ooze. When her friends all but abandon her, she’s left in isolation to deal with her problems and must decide on her own whether she wants to return to normal society. The film...

I wouldn't be surprised to discover that the idea for Harrison Atkins' feature film debut Lace Crater has some seedling of birth drawn from Japanese horror. The concept just seems like something to have emerged from the folks who also brought us a killer VHS, killer sushi and killer hair extensions.

Lindsay Burdge (star of the under rated A Teacher) stars as Ruth, a woman trying to overcome a bad breakup by taking a trip to the Hamptons with some friends.

A night of drinking leads to a sexual encounter with Michael. All well and good except for the fact that Michael is not a regular guy. Michael's a ghost.

You read right. She has sex with a ghost. No big deal. Except Ruth's one night stand leaves her with an Std and the side effects include everything from ni [Continued ...]...

"Lace Crater," a film that premiered on Tuesday at the Toronto International Film Festival, is being billed as a horror-comedy, but I don't see the "comedy" part of that equation in the film's new teaser, which teases the story of an awkward young woman (Lindsay Burge) who gets a sexually transmitted disease from a ghost. That's right: this woman has sex with a ghost and suffers the consequences. And you thought your twenties were hard! We can all learn a terrifying lesson from this. "Lace Crater" is the feature directorial debut of writer/director Harrison Atkins and was produced by mumblecore icon Joe Swanberg ("Hannah Takes the Stairs," "Happy Christmas"). Watch the teaser above and below.

Read More: Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Midnight Madness and Vanguard Slate, Including 'Love,' 'Hardcore' and 'Green Room' The debut feature of writer-director Harrison Atkins, "Lace Crater" is a charmingly lo-fi, supernatural comedy-drama about an awkward twenty-something beginning to undergo some strange physical changes after a weekend tryst with a ghost. The official synopsis reads: "All Ruth wanted was to get away for the weekend. Escaping to the Hamptons with friends after a bad breakup, she finds an unexpected connection with Michael, a stranger who shows up in her room one boozy night. They have great chemistry, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. There’s only one problem: Michael’s a ghost, and a one night stand with him leaves Ruth with aftereffects that can only be described as supernatural. As she suffers through mucous-laden night sweats, glitchy hallucinations, and the occasional tar-black ooze, her friends become.

A world premiere in the Vanguard section at Tiff, Harrison Atkins’ Lace Crater traffics at the intersection of supernatural horror and that lo-fi millennial genre proliferated by its producer, Joe Swanberg. During a weekend trip to the Hamptons with friends, Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) has an unexpected dalliance with a burlap wrapped ghost, resulting in a strange Sti that no doctor can diagnose. Ahead of Lace Crater‘s Tiff premiere tonight, Filmmaker spoke to Atkins about his interest in sci-fi tinged love stories, and his collaboration with Swanberg. Filmmaker: The geography of the house in the Hamptons is central to establishing the dynamics between your characters. Did you write […]...

A world premiere in the Vanguard section at Tiff, Harrison Atkins’ Lace Crater traffics at the intersection of supernatural horror and that lo-fi millennial genre proliferated by its producer, Joe Swanberg. During a weekend trip to the Hamptons with friends, Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) has an unexpected dalliance with a burlap wrapped ghost, resulting in a strange Sti that no doctor can diagnose. Ahead of Lace Crater‘s Tiff premiere tonight, Filmmaker spoke to Atkins about his interest in sci-fi tinged love stories, and his collaboration with Swanberg. Filmmaker: The geography of the house in the Hamptons is central to establishing the dynamics between your characters. Did you write […]...

Exclusive: Ryan Kampe and his New York-based team head into the fall festival season with a raft of new acquisitions led by a worldwide deal excluding Australia/New Zealand on Venice premiere Tanna.

Visit FIlms’ roster encompasses world rights excluding Ireland and Scandinavia to My Name Is Emily, the world excluding Australia/New Zealand to A Month Of Sundays and the world for Lace Crater, all of which will screen in Toronto.

Toronto Vanguard world premiere Lace Crater is a genre-bending horror-comedy produced by Joe Swanberg about a woman who has an affair with a ghost during a stay in the Hamptons. Lindsay Burdge stars in Harrison Atkins’ feature directorial debut.

My Name Is Emily stars Evanna Lynch as 16-year-old who ditches her foster home and embarks on a road trip with her new friend to break her troubled father out of a psychiatric institution.

Simon Fitzmaurice wrote and directed using iris recognition software after he was...

Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.

Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

Tiff 40

Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.

GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...

The Toronto International Film Festival’s prominence on the festival circuit has only grown over the years, with films from numerous different fields having gone on to critical and commercial acclaim. Among the festival’s different categories are Tiff Docs and Vanguard. Tiff Docs allows documentaries to get their own spotlight at the festival, giving acclaimed documentarians such as Michael Moore and Frederick Wiseman a platform for their films. The Vanguard section, on the other hand, showcases films that aren’t easily categorisable into a specific genre. With the Canadian Films lineup announcement having revealed the first set of films playing in each group, Tiff today revealed more of the lineup in each section. The list of newly announced films, with their official synopses, is as follows.

Tiff Docs

Amazing Grace, directed by Sydney Pollack, making its International Premiere

Sydney Pollack’s film of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace.’ Filmed...

Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.

Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

Tiff 40

Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.

GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall (Us), Roland Emmerich, Wpspecial PRESENTATIONSAnomalisa (Us), Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, CPBeasts of No Nation (Ghana), Cary Fukunaga, CPBlack Mass (Us), Scott Cooper, CPBorn To Be Blue (Canada-uk), Robert Budreau WPBrooklyn (UK-Ireland-Canada), John...

Organisers unleashed their latest volley of programming, an embarrassment of riches featuring new non-fiction work about education activist Malala Yousafzai, Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the iconic tango pairing of María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes.

Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.

Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.

The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...