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What will be your first movie of 2023? If you’re reading this it’s likely you put some (let’s be honest: too much) thought into what commences the cinematic year. The Criterion Channel’s January lineup will put some good things front and center: they’re launching a 20-film cinema verité series that highlights all major figures of the form; an eight-film Mike Leigh retrospective that focuses on his little-seen, lesser-discussed BBC features produced between 1973 and 1984; a series on Abbas Kiarostami’s studies of childhood; and because you’ve either seen Eo or have it marked to watch, Jerzy Skolimowski’s three most-acclaimed films should be of equal note.

Another 2022 favorite, Il Buco, will have its streaming premiere alongside Kamikaze Hearts, the Depardieu-led Cyrano de Bergerac, and the recent restoration of Lodge Kerrigan’s Keane. The sole Criterion Edition for this month is 3 Women, while some notable recent documentaries—The American Sector,...

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Carter Smith’s queer horror Swallowed, starring Jena Malone and Cooper Koch, was awarded the U.S. narrative feature grand jury prize at the 2022 NewFest Festival, which runs through Oct. 25 in New York.

Juliana Curi’s documentary UÝRA — The Rising Forest, Maryam Touzani’s drama The Blue Caftan and Nyala Moon’s short How to Not Date While Trans were also awarded jury prizes in the documentary feature, international feature and New York short categories of the annual LGBTQ+ film festival’s 34th edition.

Writer-director Elegance Bratton was also honored on Oct. 20 with the inaugural 2022 Breakthrough Queer Visionary Award for his film The Inspection, about a gay Black man who joins the Marines. The film, which stars Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union and Raúl Castillo, debuted at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and is set to open in U.S. theaters on Nov. 18.

“Queer cinema is thriving,...

Eddie Redmayne, Viola Davis, Lee Jung-jae to participate in on-stage conversations.

TIFF has announced the In Conversation With… series and the talent development programmes and participants.

On-stage conversation participants include Eddie Redmayne, Viola Davis and Lee Jung-jae, while Sarah Gadon is announced as the TIFF Micki Moore Residency.

The festival has also unveiled the 10 Industry Selects roster of acquisition titles. TIFF runs from September 8-1.

In Conversation With…

The In Conversation With… series features Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land and Whiplash whose December release Babylon is expected to be an awards contender; Viola Davis and Gina Prince-Bythewood,...

The panel discussion takes place on Saturday May 21.

The UK Pavilion is hosting a trio of panels on Saturday (May 21): on international co-production in Europe following the EU’s withdrawal from the EU; how to access original intellectual property (IP) for film; and how to make short-form work that makes a big splash on the international festival circuit.

Screen International editor Matt Mueller will be chairing the panel, titled ‘Passport to Europe’ (16:00-17:00) and exploring co-production opportunities in a post-Brexit landscape.

“The discussion will look at collaboration between UK and European producers – what the challenges and opportunities are,...

The panel discussion takes place on Saturday May 21.

The UK Pavilion is hosting a trio of panels on Saturday (May 21): on international co-production in Europe following the EU’s withdrawal from the EU; how to access original intellectual property (IP) for film; and how to make short-form work that makes a big splash on the international festival circuit.

Screen International editor Matt Mueller will be chairing the panel, titled ‘Passport to Europe’ (16:00-17:00) and exploring co-production opportunities in a post-Brexit landscape.

“The discussion will look at collaboration between UK and European producers – what the challenges and opportunities are,...

The panel discussion takes place on Saturday May 21.

The UK Pavilion is hosting a trio of panels on Saturday (May 21): on international co-production in Europe, post-Brexit; how to access original intellectual property (IP) for film; and how to make short-form work that makes a big splash on the international festival circuit.

Screen International editor Matt Mueller will be chairing the panel, titled ‘Passport to Europe’ (16:00-17:00) and exploring co-production opportunities in a post-Brexit landscape.

“The discussion will look at collaboration between UK and European producers – what the challenges and opportunities are,” said Mueller.

The speakers are Mike Elliott,...

Modern Films’ Eve Gabereau, Emu Films’ Mike Elliott and Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney are also taking part.

Mia Bays, Matt Brodlie, Graeme Mason, Eve Gabereau and Ed Guiney are among the industry speakers taking part in the UK Pavilion industry programme at Cannes, previously known as the UK Film Centre, which will run from May 19 to May 24.

The series of industry events will be open to festival and market delegates as well as press attending the festival. It includes a series of Talent Talks with filmmakers with films making their world premiere in the festival.

The industry talks include an...

In preparation for a summer return to in-person artist development labs, the Sundance Institute today named those selected as fellows for its 2022 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs.

Creatives developing original work for the screen as part of the Native Lab include Justin Ducharme (Positions), Taietsarón:sere ‘Tai’ Leclaire (How to Deal with Systemic Racism in the Afterlife), Daniel Pewewardy (Residential), Tiare Ribeaux (Huaka’i) and Tim Worrall (Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End).

Those participating in the Directors Lab and/or the Screenwriters Lab include Dina Amer (Cain and Abel), Zandashé Brown (The Matriarch), Caledonia Curry and Meagan Brothers (Sibylant Sisters), Hasan Hadi (The President’s Cake), Michael León and Ashley Alvafez (Crabs in a Barrel), Eliza McNitt (Black Hole), Olive Nwosu (Lady), Neo Sora (Earthquake) and Yuan Yang (Late Spring).

The Native Lab began online from May 2-6 and continues in person from May 9-14, in Santa Fe, Nm, for...

If 2021 has been a calvacade of bad decisions, dashed hopes, and warning signs for cinema’s strength, the Criterion Channel’s monthly programming has at least buttressed our hopes for something like a better tomorrow. Anyway. The Channel will let us ride out distended (holi)days in the family home with an extensive Alfred Hitchcock series to bring the family together—from the established Rear Window and Vertigo to the (let’s just guess) lesser-seen Downhill and Young and Innocent—Johnnie To’s Throw Down and Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons in their Criterion editions, and some streaming premieres: Ste. Anne, Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over, and The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love.

Special notice to Yvonne Rainer’s brain-expanding Film About a Woman Who . . .—debuting in “Female Gaze: Women Directors + Women Cinematographers,” a series that does as it says on the tin—and a Joseph Cotten retro boasting Ambersons,...

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and Philip Barantini’s “Boiling Point” lead nominations at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), with 11 nods each.

Nominations for “Belfast,” Branagh’s autobiographical tale of life as a young boy in Belfast in 1969 in the midst of the Troubles, include best actress for Caitríona Balfe, best supporting actress for Judi Dench, best supporting actor for Ciarán Hinds and a breakthrough performance nomination for newcomer Jude Hill in addition to seven craft nominations.

Nominations for single take film “Boiling Point,” which follows an up-and-coming chef under extreme pressure, include best actor for Stephen Graham, best supporting actor for Ray Panthaki, best supporting actress for Vinette Robinson and a breakthrough performance nomination for Lauryn Ajufo.

Aleem Khan’s “After Love,” Prano Bailey-Bond’s “Censor” and Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II” have nine nominations each, while Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava” has seven nominations, Sean Durkin...

Murina, the Croatian drama directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović that world premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, was named the Best Narrative Feature at the Hamptons Film Festival, which handed out awards Monday for its 2021 edition.

Other winners include Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, which took the Best Documentary Feature honor after doing the same at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. Egungun (Masquerade), directed by Olive Nwosu, and In Flow of Words, directed by Eliane Esther Bots, won for Best Narrative Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film, respectively. Both now qualify for Oscar consideration.

This year’s fest screened 61 films from 34 countries, with 53% of its lineup directed by women and 36% by filmmakers of color.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring everyone safely back together this year,” said Anne Chaisson, HamptonsFilm executive director. “It so clearly remains that our community out East loves cinema...

Nash Edgerton’s Shark and Madeleine Gottlieb’s You and Me, Before and After are heading to the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where they will screen as part of TIFF Short Cuts.

Shark forms Edgerton’s sequel to previous shorts Bear and Spider, continuing the adventures of prankster Jack. As well as directing, Edgerton wrote the film with David Michôd, and stars alongside Rose Byrne. Michele Bennett produces, with cinematographer Aaron McLisky and editor David Whittaker.

TIFF will form the film’s world premiere, while Sydney Film Festival also announced this week that it will compete for the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films in November.

Edgerton said: “We are very excited to share Jack’s latest dating misadventures in Shark, our sequel to Spider and Bear, and even more excited to premiere the film in Toronto.”

Nash Edgerton and Rose Byrne in ‘Shark’.

Yael Stone and Emily Barclay...