News

Applications for Fast Track 2025 are now open, with a non-Member deadline of June 9 (Film Independent Members have until June 23).

Holding Liat, the Best Documentary winner from this year’s Berlinale, is having it’s North American premiere June 9 at the Tribeca Film Festival, but the journey it took to get there was a complicated one. Brothers Brandon Kramer (Director) and Lance Kramer (Producer) found themselves in a unique situation after the events of October 7th 2023. While checking in with their Israeli-American family members, they found that their relative Liat Beinin Atzili had been kidnapped along with her husband Aviv Atzili from their kibbutz in Southern Israel. Liat is an American citizen, and her parents told the brothers about their plan to go to Washington D.C. to lobby American lawmakers to try to get their daughter and husband back.

“We did not know what was about to unfold, but we...

Looking better than ever, Brooke Shields turned heads in a new photo of her celebrating her 60th birthday on the beach.

“That 60 means slowing down,” the post read. “That change is only for your twenties. That it’s too late to learn something new. That my best days are in the rearview. That women ‘of a certain age’ aren’t a force to be reckoned with. That I don’t deserve products made specifically for me. That not every day can be a good hair day.”

Shield’s documentary, Pretty Baby, gave a deeper look into Brooke’s journey with her self-image. It details the relentless public attention she has endured and her grapple with the expectation to appear flawless.

When asked if the documentary made her look back on her career differently, Shields expressed the pride she feels over her accomplishments.

Pretty Baby director Lana Wilson touched on the...

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 Sundance Institute has revealed the fellows for the 2025 directors, screenwriters and Native labs. The Native lab begins in-person April 28 through May 3 in Santa Fe, N.M. while the directors lab returns for its 45th anniversary June 1 through 16 in Estes Park, Colo. The 2025 screenwriters lab will be held online from June 24 through 27, offering filmmakers an “Immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors,” according to a press release.

The 2025 Native lab fellows are: Jared Lank, (Mi’kmaq), Isabella Dionne Madrigal (Cahuilla/Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), Alex Nystrom (Ojibwe) and Jordan Waunch (Métis). The 2025 Native lab artists-in-residence are Sabrina Saleha (Diné) and Svetlana Romanova (Sakha/Even). All six filmmakers will receive guidance from creative advisors including Bryson Chun (Kanaka Maoli), Sarah Friedland, Kiva Reardon, and Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga). The Native Lab is overseen by Sundance Institute Indigenous program director Adam Piron (Kiowa...

Exclusive: Ahead of the April 4th theatrical release of his latest film, The Luckiest Man in America, Samir Oliveros — writer, director, producer, and co-founder of filmmaking collective Plenty Good — has signed with Cinetic Media for management.

A Colombia-born, U.S.-based talent who has leveraged partnerships at home in Latin America to create film and television for global audiences, Olivero’s Luckiest Man is a starry Colombia-based production that sold to IFC Films and Sapan Studio after premiering at TIFF 2024, in one of the few deals of the festival. The stranger-than-fiction story, based on true events, follows an unemployed ice cream truck driver who, in 1984, drives from Ohio to California to become a contestant on the popular game show Press Your Luck and goes on an unprecedented winning streak, all while keeping a big secret.

The project features a stacked cast led by Paul Walter Hauser, which also includes David Strathairn,...

People have been debating the veracity of mediums/psychics and their claims to be clairvoyant as well as their abilities to communicate with the dead for eons. Some claim that these individuals are charlatans and thieves just preying on desperate and gullible people looking for some closure, while others swear by the sessions and find some catharsis in the process. In the new A24 documentary streaming on Max called Look Into My Eyes, acclaimed independent filmmaker Lana Wilson goes beyond the binary argument of whether these mediums are real or fake and makes a brilliant movie about something much more profound as it relates to the human condition and the things that unite us as opposed to dividing. She sets out to discover what we have in common, regardless of which side of the table you're sitting on during a psychic reading, and asks the audience to withhold judgment on her subjects' motivations.

A new year means a batch of new movies on your favorite streaming service, and this month brings a mountain of new releases and originals in addition to terrific library additions. Below we’ve put together a curated list of some of the best new movies streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and beyond this month, from streaming debuts of some of 2024’s best films to starry rom-coms to a good old fashioned Western.

Check out our list of the best new movies streaming in January below.

“Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever” Netflix

Netflix – Jan. 1

The latest must-see Netflix documentary centers around Bryan Johnson, a tech millionaire who is on an eternal quest to turn back the clock. Chris Smith, the filmmaker behind “Wham” and an executive producer of “Tiger King,” directs the new film, which Netflix says, “dives deep into his psyche,...

A pair of filmmakers who we thought struck gold with their Sundance shorts last year (read our top ten short film best of fest piece) in Diffan Sina Norman and Alexandra Qin are among the 11 fellows selected from 3,380 submissions for the upcoming 2025 January Screenwriters Lab. The most established name from the list is Sundance habitual Lana Wilson – who has populated the fest with docus After Tiller, Miss Americana, her two-parter Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields and her narrative debut Look into My Eyes. Her latest project is titled Back Seat.The projects selected for the 2025 January Screenwriters Lab and the artists attending are:

Verano (U.S.A./Mexico):…...

A24 has had a stellar year of releases, although some may have flown under the radar upon their initial release. One such case is Look Into My Eyes, a documentary produced and directed by Lana Wilson that focuses on a group of psychics in New York City. The documentary paints an intimate portrait of these unique individuals and how surprisingly cathartic and therapeutic their psychic readings can be. The film is currently at the #4 spot on Max, a streaming service home to multiple A24 titles.

The documentary first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024, with reviews coming out of the festival calling it tender and entrancing, while also offering a nuanced look into those who claim to be psychics. It currently has a 91% Certified Fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. One consistent highlight throughout reviews is that, rather than attempting to debunk or prove the truth regarding the psychics and their abilities,...

Neo Sora, the filmmaker and artist behind “Happyend,” has signed with Cinetic Media.

The move comes after “Happyend,” which Sora wrote as well as directed, premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. It went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, earning positive reviews at each stop. The coming-of-age story is set in a near-future Japan, where a group of high schoolers fights for a better future against a techno-fascist world fueled by the fear of the next great earthquake.

Metrograph picked up the film for North America distribution after it screened in Venice and will release the film in theaters in 2025. Magnify is handling the rest of the world. The film was produced by Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari, Alex C. Lo and Anthony Chen, and supported by the likes of the Sundance Institute, Gotham Project Market and Talents Tokyo.

Not to be confused with a true-crime docu-series from 2023, the A24 documentary Look Into My Eyes has flown largely under the radar for most movie-goers, despite earning strong ratings and reviews since its release last year. Thankfully, Look Into My Eyes was just made available on Max, so audiences who are looking to experience a profound, emotionally resonant journey through the metaphysical realm should be sure to check it out.

Directed by Lana Wilson and released in January 2024, Look Into My Eyes weaves a story of grief and humanity through the perspective of New York City psychics. The film was inspired by Wilson's own encounter with psychic readings, which took place the day after Donald Trump's first victory in the presidential elections, back in 2016. "I had a very depressing, horrifying night, like a lot of people did," Wilson recounted. She admitted that she'd never before taken psychics very seriously,...

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.

2073 (Asif Kapadia)

Asif Kapadia––the biographical documentary wiz behind contemporary classics like Senna and Amy––opens his semi-fictional film 2073 in a flurry of doc footage. Wildfires, floods, and other such natural disasters set the tone while disturbing clips of cops bashing skulls and riot police brutalizing innocent people cement it for the next 85 minutes. Then comes the fiction: it’s been 37 years since “The Event,” and we’re in the future: the year 2073. – Luke H. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito)

In the middle of Black Box Diaries, journalist Shiori Ito’s debut documentary, Ito grins at the camera as she strolls through downtown Tokyo on the day of her book launch. It’s October 18, 2017. The...

There are certain moments in Look into My Eyes where you cannot help but weep like a baby as your soul is completely crushed. Some other times, you find your chest heavy but also a smile on your face; those are the bittersweet ones. But then, you also drift away, and conversations don’t quite register in your head as you find them boring. That’s not necessarily a problem, because the entirety of Lana Wilson’s documentary is a series of conversations, coming one after another. It’s only normal for the viewers to get drawn in by some of them, while others might not appeal as much. I obviously had to replay the ones I didn’t quite get into for this assignment, which kind of ruined my viewing experience. However, that shouldn’t be your concern. In this article, we’re going to discuss Look into My Eyes...

Chinese filmmaker Jing Zou, director of the narrative feature film “A Girl Unknown,” has been named as the winner of the fifth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant from Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum (Nwff). This grant includes an unrestricted cash award of $25,000 to support her directorial debut, which follows a girl from age six through her 30s as she’s passed between multiple families and is inspired by the true story of generations of Chinese girls who were abandoned as a result of the country’s defunct one-child policy.

“I am absolutely honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2024 Lynn Shelton ‘Of a Certain Age’ award for my first feature, ‘A Girl Unknown.’ Thank you for this recognition and for your support,” Zou said in a statement. “I am committed to making the most of this award and to creating a film that honors the spirit of Lynn Shelton.

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the movies, TV shows and live sports that will be available on the Max streaming service in January. The Max January 2025 lineup includes All Elite Wrestling (Aew) and Max Originals Harley Quinn Season 5, Isadora Moon, Mermicorno: Starfall, The Pitt, and the documentary Sons of Ecstasy.

The schedule includes HBO’s C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart, the documentary series An Update on Our Family, Real Time with Bill Maher Season 23, the comedy special Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?, and A24’s The Front Room, Look Into My Eyes, and A Different Man.

You can also tune into Max’s Workplace Watchlist, which highlights series, movies, and reality inspired by the premiere of the Max Original series The Pitt.

The Pitt Featured Programming

Isadora Moon (Max Original Series)

The 12-episode series debuts on January 2.

Based on the globally best-selling beloved book series by Harriet Muncaster,...

On Thursday, Max announced arrival dates for three recent A24 releases: horror comedy “The Front Room,” documentary “Look Into My Eyes,” and psychological thriller “A Different Man.”

Brandy Norwood stars in the scatological horror comedy “The Front Room” as Belinda, a pregnant woman whose life starts to fall apart when her husband’s racist, religious fanatic stepmother Solange (Kathryn Hunter) moves in with them and begins to psychologically torture her. Is Solange possessed by an evil spirit, or is she just a bad person? Find out when “The Front Room” premieres on Max on Jan. 3. The film hails from Max and Sam Eggers, brothers of acclaimed horror filmmaker Robert Eggers.

“Look Into My Eyes” is an intimate documentary about professional psychics in New York City as they do readings for people who are looking for guidance in their lives as they deal with loneliness, disconnection, and grief. It’s directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Lana Wilson,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

An Adrian Lyne retrospective features Fatal Attraction, Jacob’s Ladder, Lolita, and Foxes on 35mm, while Bob Saget and Norm MacDonald’s seminal Dirty Work plays on a print Saturday.

Bam

A Shelley Duvall retrospective is underway.

Museum of Modern Art

A celebration of Robert Frank’s centennial begins.

Museum of the Moving Image

A Lana Wilson retrospective begins while the Frank Oz series continues.

Film Forum

As an Ealing Studios retrospective continues, The General screens on Sunday.

Metrograph

The Beaver Trilogy, The Machinist, and The Last Metro show on 35mm; a Crystal Mosell and Derrick B. Harden retrospective begins while The World Is a Stage, My Crazy Uncle (or Aunt), Insomnia, and Crush the Strong, Help the Weak continue.

IFC Center

A 4K restoration of The Fall plays daily; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Ichi the Killer, Threads,...

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.

Allen Sunshine (Harley Chamandy)

Directed with a sense of tranquil serenity and grounded maturity one might be accustomed to finding in the work of a seasoned director, Allen Sunshine is, quite remarkably, the debut feature of 25-year-old Harley Chamandy. The Montreal-born, New York-based filmmaker received the 2024 Werner Herzog Film Prize for his feature following its Munich Film Festival premiere earlier this year. Having participated in Herzog’s workshop as a 17-year-old, Chamandy’s shared affinity with the legendary German director for the natural world is quite apparent. Shot on 16mm by Kenny Suleimanagich, who brings a painterly touch in capturing the woodland landscape, Allen Sunshine is an affecting, understated look at picking up a life destroyed, and finding a connection with...

National Geographic’s “Sugarcane,” a film about abuse and missing children at an Indigenous boarding school in Canada, leads this year’s nominations for the Cinema Eye Honors awards with six. Cinema Eye recognizes excellence in the artistry and craft of nonfiction filmmaking. “Sugarcane” will face off against “Black Box Diaries,” “Dahomey,” “Daughters,” “Look Into My Eyes,” “No Other Land,” and “Soundtrack to Coup d’Etat” for Best Feature. See the full list of nominees below.

In 2023, four of the five eventual Academy Award nominated Documentary Feature films were nominated by Ceh earlier in the season, including the Oscar winner “20 Days in Mariupol.” Last year’s Ceh winner “32 Sounds” failed to earn a nomination from the Academy. The last two films to win the Oscar without first being recognized with a nomination by Ceh were “My Octopus Teacher” in 2020 and “Free Solo” in 2018.

Cinema Eye will return to...

Sugarcane, the story of sexual abuse and disappearances at a school for Indigenous children in British Columbia, leads the nominations for the prestigious documentary-focused Cinema Eye Honors awards with six. Four films are next with five noms each: Dahomey, Eno, Frida and No Other Land. See the full list below.

Sugarcane, Dahomey and No Other Land will vie for the marquee Nonfiction Feature prize along with Black Box Diaries, Daughters, Look Into My Eyes and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. This is the first year that the named nominees in the Nonfiction Feature category will include the entire creative team: directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers, visual designers and significant on-screen participants.

The producers of Sugarcane, No Other Land, Hollywoodgate, Mistress Dispeller, Porcelain War and Union are up for the Production prize. The Cinema Eye winner in that category has gone on to take the Documentary Feature Academy...

Sugarcane, the Nat Geo documentary feature about abuse and forced separations in a Canadian Indigenous community, landed a field-leading six nominations for the Cinema Eye Honors, the organization, which celebrates nonfiction work made for big and small screens, announced on Thursday.

Among the noms for Sugarcane is one for best nonfiction feature, a category in which it will compete alongside Mubi’s Dahomey and the U.S.-distributor-less No Other Land, which both garnered five noms, and MTV Docs’ Black Box Diaries, Netflix’s Daughters, A24’s Look Into My Eyes and Kino Lorber’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.

This is the first year in which the nominees for best nonfiction feature will include the entire creative team behind each doc — the directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers, visual designers and significant on-screen participants.

The audience choice award, nominees for which were determined by more than 30,000 votes from nonfiction lovers around the world,...

The Canadian film “Sugarcane” continued its impressive awards-season streak on Thursday, leading all films in nominations for the 18th annual Cinema Eye Honors.

The film from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, which looks into cases of abuse and forced separation in an Indigenous community, received six nominations, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature. Mati Diop’s “Dahomey” and Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor’s “No Other Land” received five nominations.

“Sugarcane” is now the only film of 2024 to be nominated in the top nonfiction category at the Cinema Eye Honors, Critics Choice Documentary Awards and Gotham Awards, and also to be included on the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards long list and Doc NYC’s short list of likely awards contenders.

Nominees in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category were “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,” “No Other Land,” “Black Box Diaries,” “Daughters,” “Look Into My Eyes” and “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.

The Cinema Eye Honors, an Oscar bellwether that often predicts the Best Documentary Feature race, has unveiled its 2025 nominations.

Leading the pack is “Sugarcane,” Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s documentary about abuse in an Indian residential school in Canada. The film earned rave reviews out of Sundance, and here earned six nominations. It’s followed by two hits from the 2024 Berlin Film Festival: “Dahomey,” Mati Diop’s exploration of the artifacts of colonial Africa, and Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor’s Israel-Palestine conflict documentary “No Other Land,” which each received five nominations. Two portraits of major 20th-century artists, Carla Gutiérrez’s “Frida” and Gary Hustwit’s “Eno,” also received five nominations a piece.

The 18th annual Cinema Eye Honors will take place on Thursday, January 9 at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem. Keep reading for a complete list of nominees.

Nonfiction...

Cinetic Media has signed Amalia Ulman, the multi-hyphenate behind “El Planeta,” a critically acclaimed absurdist comedy.

“El Planeta” was written, directed and produced by Ulman, who starred in the feature as well. It premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film festival in World Competition. The film was then given the prestigious opening night slot at Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films. “El Planeta” is set in the industrial northern Spanish city of Gijon during the 2009 economic crisis and follows mother and daughter grifters, who resort to ever more desperate schemes to maintain their lifestyle. Ulman is currently in post on her second feature film.

In addition, Ulman’s work as a visual artist has shown at the Tate Modern and had engagements at Art Basel. She was lauded as “the first great Instagram artist” for her piece “Excellences and Perfections.” Her work has been compared to Agnes Varda,...

Look Into My Eyes is a new documentary that takes a neutral look at a much-maligned profession in New York

A woman seeks to learn information about her birth parents in China – are they alive? Do they ever think about her? A man wants to confirm that his former pet bearded dragon, which he gave up for adoption, is Ok. Another woman, a doctor, has thought for decades about a 10-year-old girl she tried to save on one of her first days of residency, the victim of a drive-by shooting – “how is she?” A young man hopes for guidance in this messy, confusing, exhausting business of being alive.

These are a few of the clients – some hopeful, some skeptical, all yearning for something – who consult psychics in plaintive, open-hearted fashion in Look Into My Eyes, documentarian Lana Wilson’s remarkable new film on a group of mediums in New York.

When Imagine Documentaries president Sara Bernstein pitched New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams on making a film about her career, even the veteran journalist didn’t understand why Bernstein was interested. “What do you want to make a doc about me for?” Adams asked the “Jim Henson: Idea Man” producer. “Everybody has a documentary. My dentist has a documentary!”

Good line — and she must have a great dentist.

An incomplete list of this year’s celebrity docs includes Simone Biles, Celine Dion, Steve Martin, Roger Federer, Stevie van Zandt, Brian Eno, Frida Kahlo, Devo, Christopher Reeve, Sue Bird, Andrea Bocelli, Elton John, Martha Stewart, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul Anka, Pharrell Williams, and Bruce Springsteen.

The appetite seems nearly endless, but producers say it’s increasingly difficult to find famous people whose lives haven’t flashed before our eyes. Said Bernstein, “The challenge today is, who hasn’t had a documentary?...

On election night 2016, director Lana Wilson had been shooting all night on the Atlantic City boardwalk, capturing images of President-elect Donald Trump’s bankrupted casinos.

“I was heartbroken, frightened, depressed, and I was waiting for my ride back to New York when I saw a sign in the distance that said ‘$5 Psychic Readings,’” said Wilson while on IndieWire’s Toolkit podcast to discuss her new A24 documentary “Look Into My Eyes.”

Without giving it too much thought, Wilson, who had never been to a psychic, walked in, pulled back a curtain, and found two empty chairs.

“No one was there, but I took a seat, and as soon as I sat down, I had the sensation of a flash of sudden clarity. I had the feeling of looking in a mirror at my own internal state at that moment, and all of the vulnerability I brought into that room, and I felt really emotional,...

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lana Wilson explores the relationships between New York City psychics and their clients in a compelling character study about the desperate need for human understanding. Look Into My Eyes takes a compassionate and nonjudgmental stance on a profession widely derided as exploitative. Cynics, including this reviewer, need to view this film dispassionately with an open mind. Wilson isn't trying to sway disbelievers or catch charlatans in action. There are times when the clairvoyants, who've also suffered significant personal trauma, miss the mark completely, but their profound healing effect on the psychologically wounded cannot be ignored.

No Frills in This Intimate Look at Psychics and Believers

Look Into My Eyes 3.5/5 RDocumentary HorrorDrama

A group of New York City psychics conducts deeply intimate readings for their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection and healing.

Release Date September 6, 2024Director Lana WilsonRuntime 1h 44mWriters Lana WilsonStudio A24, Artemis Rising Foundation,...

Have you ever wondered about the work of psychics? What really happens behind closed doors in those storefront mystical shops? The new documentary Look Into My Eyes provides an intimate look at the lives of several New York City psychics, exploring both their practices and personal journeys. Filmed by skilled nonfiction director Lana Wilson, it had its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Wilson gains rare access to follow seven diverse psychic practitioners. Their specialties vary from healing ancestral trauma to impromptu party readings to communicating with deceased pets. But Wilson resists quick judgment, observing each subject’s methods up close with empathy. She also gently probes their backgrounds to add understanding. Deeper portraits emerge of people finding purpose in their gifts while grappling with private pains.

A balanced perspective is provided on the believability of psychic ability itself. But perhaps what matters most is...

Documentarian Lana Wilson is known for taking unconventional, humanistic approaches to her subjects, and her latest effort, Look Into My Eyes, is no different. Although the film’s purposefully restrained filmmaking approach and somewhat repetitive nature could be off-putting to impatient viewers, there is certainly merit in its frank, emotional discussion of topics like grief and spirituality that makes it worth attention.

Look Into My Eyes Review

Look Into My Eyes follows a group of psychics in New York City as they conduct a series of intimate sessions with their clients. It’s a fascinating subject that is not often discussed in media — especially in a way that is as vulnerable and emotional as this — with the noble intent of bringing humanity to something that is frequently dehumanized.

RELATEDThe Front Room Review — Kathryn Hunter Is Fun in Otherwise Tedious A24 Dark Comedy

One of the most interesting things about Look Into My Eyes...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on September 5th, reviewing the new documentary “Look Into My Eyes.” It has a limited release on September 6th, with a wider rollout throughout the month. See local listings.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The film is a straight ahead talking heads doc about that phenomenon and the people who get into the profession. Talking to and profiling seven self proclaimed psychics – Per Erik Borja, Eugene Grygo, Nikenya Hall, Phoebe Hoffman, Michael Kim, Sherrie Lynne and Iika Pinheiro – the films delves into the why’s of how people get to the advocation, the sensitivities involved and the clients whose paths had led them to seek such a service, revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection, and yes, healing.

”Look Into My Eyes” is in limited theaters beginning September 6th, and will rollout throughout the month. See local listings Featuring profiles of Per Erik Borja,...

Docs are prominent among specialty releases this weekend with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker renovating a massive Mexican restaurant and creative takes on psychics, oysters, Abraham Lincoln and Casablanca bread riots. The Thicket starring Peter Dinklage marks Tubi Films’ first non-day-and-date release. French Canadian chiller Red Rooms gets a U.S bow from Utopia. Screens for indie fare have been scarce and are now running over with Tim Burton’s anticipated wide release Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! starts a limited run this weekend and has been racking up significant presales that promise one of the highest per-screen averages for a documentary since Covid at its first stop, Alamo Denver. Deadline hears theaters initially scheduled two shows a day but have been upping that to 4-5 shows, possibly with more to be added.

Directed by Arthur Bradford, the doc premiered at Tribeca where it won the audience award,...

Psychic tradition has been part of history for thousands of years, yet the process can still feel mysterious to many. Documentarian Lana Wilson, who previously captured portraits of Taylor Swift and Brooke Shields, found herself curious about the field during the pandemic while living in NYC.

So, with her film crew, she set out to capture psychics working in the city and the result is the fascinating Look Into My Eyes, a Sundance-premiering documentary that touches on the eccentric lives of those who dedicate their lives, amongst other artistic pursuits, to connecting with the souls of many that come to them to seek solace and resolution.

Ahead of the film’s theatrical release from A24, I spoke with Lana Wilson about her approach to the film and working with the psychics, psychic readings versus therapy, obsessions with art, putting on a performance, the loneliness (and connection) in NYC, and much more.

Look Into My Eyes doesn’t set out to prove or disprove the possibility of clairvoyance, although some of the readings filmed might cause a particularly lenient skeptic to second guess. Director Lana Wilson’s documentary about psychics in New York City is a simple film: it interviews and follows a group of psychics,...

If you’ve already dived into our massive fall movie preview, then you have a strong sense of what to have on your radar over the next four months. Now let’s examine September a little closer, already including a few new additions since our fall preview went up. Of course, from Venice to TIFF to NYFF, much of the month will be dedicated to our festival coverage, which you can follow here.

12. The Featherweight (Robert Kolodny; Sept. 20)

With the never-ending glut of biopics, particularly those centered in the world of sports, it can often feel like there’s not much new territory to cover. While Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw recently showed how a singular vision can elevate the genre, another film taking place partially inside the ring breathes new life. Robert Kolodny, who worked on the cinematography team of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Procession,...

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,...

Summer’s over. Looks like it’s time to get back to work. And by work, we mean some serious movie watching. Luckily September doesn’t disappoint. We have everything from the highly-anticipated Megaopolis, the self-funded opus from Francis Ford Coppola, to the star-studded Netflix affair His Three Daughters, to the return of the king of tight, gnarly thrillers, Jeremy Saulnier, with his new one, Rebel Ridge. Oh, and a doc about psychics from a Fast-Track alum, with Lana Wilson’s Look Into My Eyes. Looks like the fall is shaping up to be quite the movie season. Now get out there and start watching!

A Different Man

When You Can Watch: September 20

Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)

Director: Aaron Schimberg

Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson

Why We’re Excited: Yet another selection in this month’s Film Independent Presents series, writer-director Schimberg’s latest offering is...

Not many documentaries have to account for an audience that will assume the subject matter is bullshit. But filmmaker Lana Wilson was primed to take on that challenge when she chose to begin capturing the emotionally charged alchemy of psychics practicing in New York City. After all, she was an admitted skeptic herself. Even so, she found herself in the office of a psychic seeking answers in the wake of the 2016 election.

“I couldn’t believe I was walking in there. I was never a religious person,” Wilson shares over Zoom. “Yet this day, I found myself going to a psychic for comfort — and I did feel comforted. And I thought, ‘What does it mean that I just felt better after I talked to this stranger for five minutes?’”

That question grew in Wilson’s mind for several years while she made behind-the-curtain documentaries about Taylor Swift and Brooke Shields.

Now that we’re into September – hopefully, you’ve read our preview from last week – many are hoping the box office can sustain its summer business. This week’s offering, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” surely will help. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Back in 1988, director Tim Burton teamed with Michael Keaton for the comedy “Beetlejuice,” which was Burton’s second feature film as a director. The movie became a relatively big hit, made on a fairly small budget, putting Burton and Keaton into a place where they could tackle “Batman” the following year.

The original “Beetlejuice” starred Alec Baldwin in a year in which he became a bigger star, along with Geena Davis, who was also starting a burgeoning career. Catherine O’Hara had already been doing the Canadian sketch comedy show “Sctv” for many years and taking on smaller film roles before being cast in that film, but more importantly,...

On Election Night 2016, Lana Wilson fell into despair while on a filming assignment at a Trump property in New Jersey. As part of her search for meaning, she gravitated toward a storefront medium to calm her sense of dread. Two election cycles later, the same outcome looms as a possibility once again. But in the intervening eight years, Wilson has unpacked her initial impulse to seek solace from strangers in troubled times and reflected upon the power of the psychic reading in the documentary Look Into My Eyes.

Wilson’s film quickly moves beyond evaluating the correctness of her subjects’ clairvoyance. She instead narrows her focus on the connection that occurs during a reading between the psychics and their clients. More than people looking for answers, she finds individuals seeking connection through speaking and listening. Look Into My Eyes does expand its purview to cover more than just the sessions,...

Dialogue between psychics and their subjects, the core dynamic of Lana Wilson’s documentary Look Into My Eyes, is heard before it’s seen in the opening scene. This choice serves as the first of many indications that Wilson’s interest doesn’t lie solely in a reality (or lack thereof) that’s capable of being established through sight alone. Rather, it’s the act of questioning—and the unexpected connections that form in the process—that moves this portrait of New York City’s mediums beyond a mere interrogation of their veracity.

Wilson begins the documentary proper with a series of tableaus in isolated portraiture to establish the client side of the conversation. These soul-searchers all need resolution to quell lingering doubts and demons within relationships where traditional means of interpersonal communication are no longer possible. More than a truthful answer, they seek an elusive sense of internal peace.

With the rise of alternative spiritual documentaries this year, including Lana Wilson’s buzzy “Look Into My Eyes” about psychics, it’s only fitting that an early festival favorite also centers on mysticism.

Documentary “Wishing On A Star,” which will premiere at Venice and also screen at TIFF, follows an Italian astrologer who encourages people to be “reborn.” The docu-drama is directed by Peter Kerekes, who co-wrote the film with Erica Barbiani.

The official synopsis reads: “Luciana, a Neapolitan astrologer, has a method to make her clients’ wishes come true. All they need to do is take a trip on their birthday to a precise destination to be reborn under a new sky. Whether it’s Taipei, Beirut, or a nearby village, during these birthday journeys, the protagonists will go through unexpected transformations to help them discover what they truly desire.”

The feature is billed as a blend of documentary with storytelling elements.

With the summer movie season now quietly winding down, fall is upon us. As we do each year, after highlighting the best films offered thus far, we’ve set out to provide an overview of the titles that should be on your radar.

Featuring 40 films, the below preview includes both the best we’ve already seen (with full reviews where available) and the anticipated with (mostly) confirmed release dates over the next four months. A good amount will premiere these next few weeks at Telluride, Venice, TIFF, and NYFF, so check back for our reviews. Dates below are theatrical releases unless otherwise noted.

For more, explore our 20 most-anticipated films premiering at fall festivals that currently don’t have a fall release date confirmed.

Rebel Ridge (Jeremy Saulnier; Sept. 6 on Netflix)

A ruthlessly efficient thriller fueled by boiling rage, Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge wastes no time setting the stakes. Terry Richmond...

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.

Variety & Rolling Stone’s Truth Seekers Summit, presented by Paramount+, is dedicated to honoring those who prioritize the discovery of truth. Curated by the editors of Variety and Rolling Stone, the collection of panelists at this year’s annual summit showcased a remarkable lineup of documentary filmmakers, political journalists and overall advocates for justice. The event featured thought-provoking discussions and insights from renowned figures such as acclaimed documentary maker Alex Gibney, comedian and host Amber Ruffin, the tireless crusaders behind the “Unsolved Mysteries” series and many more.

Key moments included a panel of political correspondents and anchors comprised of Abby Phillip, Yamiche Alcindor, Katy Tur, Tony Dokoupil, and Geoff Bennett, who discussed the realities and hypocrisies of covering former President Donald Trump. CBS News President Susan Zirinsky also joined the conference to discuss the documentary “We Will Dance Again.” The event concluded with the presentation of the Truth Seekers Award to journalist E. Jean Carroll.

A24 has a great slate of movies hitting theaters this Fall, “Babygirl,” “A Different Man,” and “We Live In Time” among them. But don’t sleep on “Look Into My Eyes,” Lana Wilson‘s Sundance 2024 favorite, which leads the studio’s theatrical charge in early September. And Wilson’s latest doc is a perfect cinematic apertif for horror movie season (A24 also has you covered there with “The Front Room” on September 20 and “Heretic” on November 15): an in-depth look on the day-to-day life of psychics and their clients in NYC.

Continue reading ‘Look Into My Eyes’ Trailer: Lana Wilson’s Sundance Favorite About NYC Psychics Hits Theaters On September 6 at The Playlist.

Famed documentarian Lana Wilson has taken on her most ambitious subject yet: the past, the present, and especially the future, as told by psychics.

The “Miss Americana,” “The Departure,” and “After Tiller” director’s “Look Into My Eyes” follows a group of New York City psychics as they conduct readings for their clients, “revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection, and healing,” per the logline.

The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was later acquired by distributor A24.

Wilson told IndieWire at the festival that she was inspired to explore the psychic industry while in production on another documentary that overlapped with the 2016 election. Wilson stumbled into a psychic’s booth while on location, and realized how fascinating the psychic subculture is.

“I guess I thought as psychics much more trivially than that, like a silly thing to do at a party,” Wilson said in our studio. “And that...

"What else would you like to know?" A24 has revealed an official trailer for a small documentary film titled Look Into My Eyes, the latest doc creation from acclaimed filmmaker Lana Wilson. This initially premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and it also screened at Cph:dox, Full Frame, True/False, and Hot Docs. Look Into My Eyes is an intimate and cathartic journey into the world of New York City's psychics and their ongoing search for connection. The film offers a very rare caught-on-camera look at the work of psychics - focusing the lens both on them and on their clients in various conversations. Five different psychics are featured & profiled, and many of their candid conversations are featured, making for a fascinating look into their lives. Are they bogus? Is it all made up? Maybe it is, but this doc shows it it's also helpful anyway – for...

While they’ve only backed a few documentaries, notably De Palma, Boys State, Occupied City, and the re-release of Stop Making Sense, A24’s latest foray into the realm of non-fiction explores the psychic realm. Look Into My Eyes, from After Tiller, Miss Americana, and Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields director Lana Wilson, follows a group of New York City psychics as they conduct deeply intimate readings for their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of connection, healing, and the eternal need to have witnesses to better see ourselves. Ahead of a September 6 release, the first trailer has now arrived.

Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “Ask enough people what they think about psychics and clairvoyants, and you’ll probably get eye-rolls. Whether referencing the storefront tarot readers or the more seriously minded seers who perform seances and communicate with those who have transitioned into the afterlife, the impression of this spiritual trade is generally disbelief.

A24 has released the trailer for the documentary “Look Into My Eyes,” from “Miss Americana” director Lana Wilson.

Per the official logline, “‘Look Into My Eyes’ sets its gaze upon a group of New York City psychics as they conduct deeply intimate readings for their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of connection, healing, and the eternal need to have witnesses to better see ourselves.”

Wilson’s previous films include the Taylor Swift documentary “Miss Americana,” “The Departure,” “After Tiller” and the two-parter “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” which earned two Emmy nominations.

“This film is not only an exploration of the phenomenon of psychic readings — it’s an invitation to think about the role of art and performance in our lives,” Wilson said of “Look Into My Eyes” in March.

“Look Into My Eyes,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January of this year, is produced by Kyle Martin. The...