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Noémie Merlant’s second directorial feature marks a reunion with one of her most iconic collaborators: Her “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” director Céline Sciamma, who co-wrote Merlant’s latest film “The Balconettes.”

Merlant once again transforms onscreen in the role of C-list actress Élise, who has recently been cast as Marilyn Monroe in a TV movie. “The Balconettes” centers on a trio of roommates (one of whom is Élise) that “meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their Marseilles balcony during a sweltering heat wave, until a late-night drink spirals into a bloody confrontation,” as the logline reads. The feature co-stars Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu, and Lucas Bravo, who filmed “The Balconettes” right before Melanie Laurent’s true crime caper “Freedom.” Bravo previously told IndieWire that his turn in “The Balconettes” was a “very demanding role” as he was playing a “sociopath.”

Merlant made her feature directorial debut with “Mi Ubita,...

Exclusive: Boutique distribution company The Forge has acquired North American rights for award-winning New Zealand drama We Were Dangerous.

The film originally world premiered at SXSW last year, where it won the Special Jury Award, and has since been given a theatrical run by Madman Entertainment and Piki Films in New Zealand and Australia.

The Forge plans to release the film theatrically in more than 20 markets from April 4, 2025.

Starring the ensemble cast of Rima Te Wiata, Erana James, Nathalie Morris and Manaia Hall, the coming-of-age film follows a trio of Māori teenagers at the Te Motu School for Incorrigible and Delinquent Girls on an isolated island in 1954.

The girls develop a strong friendship as they rebel against the institution’s Christian indoctrination.

It is the debut film of Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, with a screenplay by Maddie Dai and Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Bill Way, Elliott Whitton and Emily Gotto serving as executive producers.

Exclusive: The Forge has acquired North American rights to Guan Hu’s drama Black Dog, along with worldwide rights to Alison Tavel’s documentary Resynator, slating both acclaimed features for release in theaters in the fourth quarter of this year.

Winning the Un Certain Regard prize in its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Black Dog takes place on the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, watching as Lang (Eddie Peng) returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team to clear the town of stray dogs before the Beijing Olympics, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog; two lonely outcasts finding purpose in each other.

Released theatrically last month in China, the film grossed over $2.4M in just two days at the box office.

The winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature...

Fledgling US distributor and international sales agency The Forge, led by longtime producer and Vashon Island Film Festival director Mark Mathias Sayre, is heading to Cannes with a slate including Civil War epic Freedom’s Path.

Brett Smith’s drama stars Gerran Howell, Rj Cyler, and Ewen Bremner and centres on a Union solider who flees battle and is rescued by a free Black man operating a section of the Underground Railroad.

The roster includes Matthew Mishory’s documentary Fioretta, which will open in the US through Gravitas Ventures and profiles lawyer and philanthropist Randy Schoenberg’s search for his oldest recorded ancestor.

Exclusive: Decker Sadowski (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Shane West are set to star in Katherine Dudas’ horror comedy Theater Is Dead. The film is also written by Dudas (Waking Up Worried), Sadowski, Olivia Blue (This Game’s Called Murder) and Madison Lawlor (Casa Grande).

Production for the film recently wrapped on Vashon Island, Wa.

Blue and Lawlor also star alongside Sadowski and West. The cast is rounded out with Jacob Nichols, Stephanie Suganami (Opus), Colin McCalla (Ruthless), Dylan Adler (First Time Female Director), Tammy Tavares (Days of Our Lives) and Julie Wittner (Acme Saturday Night).

Theater Is Dead is inspired by the all-too-common experience of being an artist taken advantage of by a mentor, and what it means to turn that trauma into female rage. The story follows sheltered Willow (Sadowski), who meets mysterious theater director Matthew Malvaggio (West) when he comes to the isolated island where she lives.

The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company (US), a non-profit 501c3 arts-based social justice organization, is hosting its 2nd Annual Virtually UnUSual Create-a-Thon community fundraiser starting June 1st through June 30th.

Inviting artists everywhere to create, share and inspire, the Virtually UnUsual Create-a-Thon will raise funds to maintain and expand the non-profit’s critical theatre-arts programming for underserved youth and families. The mission of The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company is to mentor, educate, and enrich through the creation of collaborative, original theatre whether in person or virtual. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, US has prioritized reaching and serving youth and families in Los Angeles by quickly pivoting to offer programming virtually to help mitigate the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on under-resourced communities. Their programs have healed children and families through the arts by elevating the power of the voice. Outcomes for participants are life-changing, including academic and emotional growth and increased...