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Every film tries to create a visual language that helps us understand and connect to its characters. But director Ami Canaan Mann wanted to take a much more detailed and systematic approach to “Audrey’s Children,” a new biopic released on March 28 about the pioneering medical work of Dr. Audrey Evans (Natalie Dormer). Mann wanted the look of the film to be born out of Evans’ rich interior life.

“I feel like it was an opportunity to have a performance-platformed biopic about a really extraordinary woman where, essentially, it’s a story about watching her think and solve problems,” Canaan Mann told IndieWire on an episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “It happens to be couched in something [a hospital drama] that I guess could be considered a genre, but what if the world of the movie was as visually specific as the woman herself?”

Mann’s ideas call for an impressive level of specificity,...

Recently screened at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, “All That We Love” presents a messy yet delightful take on navigating the aftershocks of loss.

All That We Love is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival

The dramedy directly begins with the death of a dog. Emma’s empty home is filled with soft wind chimes as she trembly sings through the final breaths of her beloved companion, Tanner. However, this is not the only piece of sorrow she faces, as many are brought to the surface as the film unfolds. Her daughter, Maggie, is on the verge of leaving for Australia, extending what she once called a five-week trip with her boyfriend into five months, leaving Emma to confront her fear and sadness of being apart. To add to the chaos, Emma also has to face rising tensions both at work and in friendship. As she struggles to...

A Tourist’s Guide to Love follows an ambitious, straight-laced woman who has recently exited a dead-end relationship, and takes a vacation that will have her discovering what it truly means to be adventurous and to be in love. A Tourist’s Guide To Love is precisely what one might expect, and there is nothing wrong with that. Audiences can collectively hem and haw about the lack of creativity or ingenuity in these cookie-cutter romances that Netflix keeps producing, but the results tend to be the same. If one is familiar with the recent Victoria Justice-led The Perfect Match, one will sense some familiarity within the story. If one has seen Love, Guaranteed, then Rachel Leigh Cook’s performance will feel consistent. However, Netflix has one thing over Hallmark: The streamer's exuberant budgets and jet-setting productions. A Tourist's Guide to Love is not remarkable, but its simplicity and familiarity are comfortable and,...

“Spurred by a film production crew who claimed she has no imagination, a blind grandma constructs an unusual cycling simulation with common household items.” (Official)

“Aunt Lotus & Her Dream Bicycle” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative

While existing as a rather one-note creative project, “Aunt Lotus & Her Dream Bicycle” manages to take its simple premise and evoke a sincere sentimentality for its characters. Furthermore, through ‘Aunt Lotus” relationship with her filmmaker son, the short reflects a deep respect for older generations and how they can inspire creatives. The end result is a touching experience that resonates love of cinema and family.

Through ‘Aunt Lotus', director Kew Lin creates a charismatic and convincing persona who is not weighed down by her liability, always thriving for something greater and confident in herself. Eccentric and bubbly, the aforementioned ‘dream bicycle' acts as a celebration of the past as opposed to...

Exclusive: Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) has signed on to star as Dr. Audrey Evans in Audrey’s Children—the biopic on the healthcare hero, which Ami Canaan Mann is directing for Amasia Entertainment (Wild Mountain Thyme) and Resonate Entertainment (Sitting in Bars with Cake).

Evans is the revolutionary pediatric oncologist best known as the co-founder of Ronald McDonald House Charities—the world-famous organization that provides housing and support to millions of families in 62 countries around the world. The film set in 1970 will follow her as she is recruited to run the Oncology Department at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. During a time when 90 of patients were dying of cancer, Dr. Evans sought out to become a pioneer in the clinical study and treatment of childhood cancers. She is often described as rebellious and unconventional, having broken all the rules and risked her career to overhaul treatments and provide housing...

IndieWire reached out to the cinematographers and directors behind the scripted narrative features premiering this week at Sundance to find out which cameras, lenses, and formats they used, and why they chose them to create the looks and meet the production demands of their films. Here are their responses.

Films in U.S. Dramatic Competition are below, Premieres are on Page 2, Next Page 3, Midnight Page 4. Films appear in alphabetical order by title.

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition

“Before You Know It”

Dir: Hannah Pearl Utt, DoP: Jon Keng

Format: 3.2K Prores 4444

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini

Lens: Cooke S4i

Keng: The cast was made up of primarily women across all age groups, so I wanted a lens set that would render their faces well without being overly clinical and sharp. The S4s have a very pleasant way of compressing people’s faces, even at wider focal lengths. I chose...