News

Exclusive: Jack Black has boarded Gianna, a horror comedy short written, produced by and starring his School of Rock co-star Rivkah Reyes, as an associate producer.

Also starring Emmy nominee Margaret Cho (Fire Island) and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow (Peacemaker), the film follows the newly sober and recently single Gina (Reyes), who is faced with the literal devil herself, after her sliding-scale therapist (Cho) suggests spending time with her inner demons. Kait Schuster served as director, with Jarad Schwartz and Brando Crawford among the EPs on the short, which premieres at Inside Out Festival and will also play the Palm Springs Shorts Festival.

“I loved the perfectly twisted queerness of the story and script and I had to get involved,” said Cho of the project. “Rivkah is The Gay Future!!!!!”

Part of the cast of Uni’s recent box-office smash The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Black will also reunite with Reyes...

Exclusive: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to a pair of coming-of-age dramas: writer-director Alana Waksman’s debut feature We Burn Like This, and writer-director Anna Matz’s first feature, Love You Anyway. The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group plans to release both titles across internet and satellite platforms on June 28.

Inspired by true events, the former film from Armian Pictures shows the inherited effects of historical trauma and the strength of survival and healing. When 22-year-old Rae (Madeleine Coghlan), a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors’ trauma becomes real. As antisemitism continues to rise in the community, we follow Rae on her journey to forgive herself, her mother and the broken world. We Burn Like This also stars Reservation Dogs‘ Devery Jacobs, as well as Kendra Mylnechuk, Angelo Rizzo, Casidee Riley and Megan Folsom.

April 23, 2022 01:30pm Pdt – 10:45pm Pdt

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (Nfmla) hosts its April Monthly Film Festival and annual InFocus: Asian Cinema program, spotlighting Asian filmmakers and stories from around the world across two shorts programs featuring work by emerging Asian and Asian-American talent in front of and behind the camera. Additionally, the day includes a selection of films from past editions of LA’s own Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla), as well as the LA premiere of Alana Waksman’s award-winning debut feature film, We Burn Like This, which follows a young Jewish woman confronted with rising antisemitism in her community.

The day begins with a retrospective shorts program from the archives of Nfmla partner, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla). In advance of its upcoming landmark 20th Anniversary edition, which takes place April 28 – May 1, Iffla celebrates its remarkable history with an eclectic program of...

Roster includes coming-of-age drama We Burn Like This, holiday romance We Too Together.

Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Exchange (Mpx) heads into next week’s AFM 2021 Online and will aiming to entice buyers with a sales slate led by completed sales titles The Possessed and Take The Night.

Supernatural horror thriller The Possessed is directed by Chris Sun and tars John Jarratt of the Wolf Creek franchise as a man with the gift of exorcism who has made a career out of banishing demaons from clients’ lives.

As the number of possessions increases he fights to keep his loved ones safe...

The Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the competition lineup of its 2021 edition, which includes Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” and Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig.”

Under the leadership of artistic director Bruno Barde, the festival’s competition will also showcase Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole,” David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,” Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch The Fair One,” Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” Wes Hurley’s “Potato Dreams of America,” Tim Sutton’s “The Last Son,” Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” Antonio Tibaldi’s “We Are Living Things,” and Alana Waksman’s “We Burn Like This.”

Several films in the Deauville roster world premiered at Cannes, notably the competition title “Red Rocket,” about a former porn star who moves back to Texas City to get a fresh start and falls back into old habits; and “Blue Bayou,” a heart-wrenching drama with Justin Chon...

The Santa Barbara Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Aaron Maurer’s documentary Invisible Valley, which profiles the stories of the disparate people that make up the Coachella Valley. It kicks off a festival that will run March 31-April 10 with a hybrid edition that includes online elements and screenings at a pair of pop-up beachside drive-in venues.

The full lineup revealed Tuesday features 47 world premieres and 37 U.S. premieres from 45 countries alongside the fest’s annual tributes featuring the likes of Bill Murray, Carey Mulligan, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amanda Seyfried which will be livestreamed online.

Every film screening will be offered for free this year, with a ticketed online component that will showcase the entire film lineup along with the tributes, industry panels and filmmaker Q&As.

The fest will close with a series of short documentaries by local filmmakers.

Here’s the trailer for Invisible Valley,...