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Initially created in 2023, director Nuhash Humayun helmed a four-episode horror anthology titled Pett Kata Shaw for a Bangladeshi streaming service. Those four episodes were combined into one movie for an international release, and now the same has been done for Humayun’s follow-up, “Dui Shaw.” This sequel has a bigger budget, but along with its more impressive production value, it’s also a step up in terms of its storytelling. Humayun has also added a more political edge to his stories here, which take on the thorny subjects of South Asia’s well-documented divisions along class, religious, and gender lines that can be seen at its screening for the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.

Dui Shaw is screening at Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival

In the first segment, “Prayer Time,” after robbing a temple, a group of shady college students, Jahangir (Abdullah Al Sentu), Kaysar (Rizvi Rizu Chowdhury), Raju (Allen Shubhro...

London’s Raindance Film Festival will kick off its 33rd edition with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama “Heavyweight,” starring Nicholas Pinnock, Jason Isaacs, and Jordan Bolger.

The festival will close with the international premiere of Camilla Guttner’s art school drama “The Academy,” featuring Maja Bons as a student navigating the ruthless terrain of the art world.

“Raindance is always one to punch above its weight, so it’s appropriate that the festival’s 33rd edition should open with the world premiere of a British debut feature about a wildcard boxer,” said Raindance founder Elliot Grove.

The festival, running June 18-27 at Vue Piccadilly, marks a significant comeback with 70 narrative and documentary features — a 90% increase from last year and the first time since 2019 the festival will present so many films.

International competition highlights include “Dream!”, a Christmas-set musical following a young girl’s magical journey...

As a storyteller it is vital to not repeat. After his series “Pett Kata Shaw”, director Nuhash Humayun explained he wanted to explore new stories in his new project, again blending modern approaches with Indian folklore and myths. Considering his short feature “Moshari” was produced by director Jordan Peele and actor Riz Ahmed, it is perhaps only a matter of time before he will aim for international audiences. However, “Dui Shaw”, as his new series is named, delves even deeper into folklore while also looking at themes of Bangladeshi politics and society. As Iffla 2025 screens the first two episodes of the series, “Waqt” and “Bhaggo Bhalo”, this review may also be considered a first look.

In “Waqt” we meet four men, Raju (Allen Shubhro), Kaysar (Rizvi Rizu Chowdhury), Jahangir (Abdullah Al Sentu), Jashim (Rafayatullah Sohan) and Altaf (Refat Hasan Saikat). In order to make a bit of cash, they have...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is thrilled to announce the expansion of Iffla Industry Days, a robust two-day forum set to take place on May 8 and May 9, 2025 at the Landmark Theatres Sunset in Los Angeles, CA. Passes are now available at indianfilmfestival.org.

Iffla Industry Days fosters connections between South Asian film and TV creatives and industry leaders. Key executives from Neon, SAGIndie, Netflix, Temple Hill Entertainment, Orion Pictures, Film Independent, Jaya Entertainment, Gaumont Television, Macro, Color Creative, NBCUniversal, and more will participate in a series of Iffla’s dynamic events, including the inaugural program titled Iffla Connect, the Launchpad: Pitch Competition with a $10,000 award, panels and a masterclass.

“Following the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural Industry Day, the expanded Industry Days offers a vital, curated space for visionary creatives from South Asia and its diasporas to connect, engage with prominent industry leaders, forge and nurture meaningful relationships,...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) will spotlight the acclaimed stage adaptation of “Life of Pi” during its expanded Industry Days program. The panel “Bringing Life of Pi to Life – From Page to Stage” will explore the journey of transforming Yann Martel’s beloved novel into groundbreaking theater featuring innovative puppetry and staging.

Cast members Savidu Geevaratne, Sharayu Mahale and Sorab Wadia will participate in a conversation about representation, adaptation and the cultural significance of a South Asian-led narrative on Broadway and beyond.

The panel is part of Iffla’s robust two-day industry forum scheduled for May 8-9, 2025, at the Landmark Theatres Sunset in Los Angeles, which has been expanded following last year’s successful inaugural edition.

“Following the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural Industry Day, the expanded Industry Days offers a vital, curated space for visionary creatives from South Asia and its diasporas to connect,...

The 2025 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) has announced its lineup for its 23rd edition, reinforcing its role as a leading platform for South Asian cinema in the U.S. For over two decades, Iffla has championed bold storytelling and emerging talent. This year’s festival underscores that commitment with two compelling feature directorial debuts – Varsha Bharath’s Bad Girl opening the festival and Lawrence Valin’s Little Jaffna closing it – bookending the event with bold new storytelling.

Due to its great success last year, Iffla is furthering its dedication to supporting filmmakers by expanding its Industry Day to a two-day forum offering South Asian film and TV creatives meaningful connections with industry leaders and the opportunity to win a $10,000 Pitch Competition Grant.

The festival runs May 6–10, 2025, at Landmark Theatres Sunset and the WGA Theater. Passes and tickets are available now at www.indianfilmfestival.org.

“Beyond individual highlights, this...

The second episode of Nuhash Humayun’s horror series, Dui Shaw, Bhaggo Bhalo (which literally translates to “Good luck”), carefully threads an allegorical story of capitalism and knots it with the seemingly modest story of an astrologer, more particularly, a palmist. Dui Shaw episode 2 has at its center a palmist, who sits by one of the dusty lanes of Dhaka. One day, he reads the lines on the hand of a woman, and predicts that she will end up getting married twice. On the other hand, the woman’s husband is told that, despite having a planetary position that leans toward enough wealth, he has a really short lifeline. The married man recounts the famous incident where Napoleon slit his lifeline and extended it. Upon learning that the palmist is desperately trying to collect money for his mother’s kidney operation, the man presses the idea that the palmist should...

While Nuhash Humayun’s Pett Kata Shaw reimagines the folktales and folk horror of Bengal that as dinghy run through the cultural veins of the nation, its sequel, Dui Shaw, is a readjustment of its sails to explore modern-day horror and its ramifications. By modern-day horror, I mean horror that is rooted in the lived experience of the citizens of the modern state. There are four stories in this mini-anthology that sheds light on the four avenues for horror to spread its tentacles.

Spoilers Ahead

Where does it all start?

We meet four young men sitting idly at a local paan shop. Two of them are salivating with their desire to own what has caught their eyes—a young woman and a superbike. A fifth arrives and doles out wads of cash in white envelopes. We quickly anticipate the direction it is going to take. Wearing cheap plastic animal masks...

The Bangladesh Ministry of Cultural Affairs has launched an ambitious anthology film project titled “Remembering Monsoon Revolution,” selecting eight accomplished directors to create works that will traverse the breadth of the country. The project will produce six fictional stories and two documentaries, each running 40-50 minutes.

The initiative’s title is a reference to the events of July 2024, referred to as the Monsoon Revolution, that led to then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina‘s flight from the country amid mass protests and the formation of an interim government under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

The project, overseen by celebrated Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki who has been put in charge of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and a three-member search committee including Sumon Rahman, Adnan Al Rajeev and Tanim Noor, will conduct workshops across Bangladesh’s eight divisions. Each director will mentor emerging filmmakers from regional ShilpoKola Academies,...

Nuhash Humayun, the director of ‘Moshari’, the first film from Bangladesh to have been accepted for the Oscars, has said that short films are not only a good way to learn filmmaking, but they also become a filmmaker’s calling card.

The Bangladesh-based writer and director, Humayun, has an undying love for blending genres with a South Asian identity. He is the son of Humayun Ahmed, who was a Bangladeshi filmmaker, screenwriter, and songwriter.

In conversation with Ians, Humayun, who was present here for the Cinevesture International Film Festival 2024 (Ciff), talked about his filmmaking journey, short films, and the success of ‘Moshari’.

Humayun, whose debut film ‘Sincerely Yours, Dhaka’ had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival 2018, shared his views on how short films make an impact in the filmmaking journey.

He said: “People usually say they write a feature film script and that’s how they enter into filmmaking.

The first edition of the Cinevesture International Film Festival (Ciff) to be held in Chandigarh from March 27 to 31 will boast of a host of masterclasses and panel discussions, including one with filmmaker Karan Johar, which film critic Namrata Joshi will moderate.

The 20 masterclasses and panel discussions to be held at Taj Chandigarh will feature Shekhar Kapur, Jaideep Ahlawat, Tahira Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal, Roshan Mathew, Abhay Deol, Sudhir Mishra, ‘Kohrra’ star Suvinder Vicky, Boman Irani, Rasika Dugal, Rajshri Deshpande, Ajitpal Singh, Anurag Singh, Sudhir Mishra and Saugata Mukherjee, Head of Content, SonyLiv, Sony Pictures Network India, etc.

The opening film of the festival is the Cannes award-winning French film ‘The Taste of Things’ starring Juliette Binoche while the closing one is South Korea’s highest-grossing film of 2024 till date — the horror-mystery-thriller ‘Exhuma’ (‘Pamyo’), which premiered at the 2024 Berlinale.

The festival advisory board includes Rana Daggubati, former Head of Cannes Film Market Jerome Paillard,...

India premieres of France’s “The Taste of Things” and Korea’s “Exhuma” will open and close respectively the first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival.

Tran Anh Hung won best director at Cannes 2023 for “The Taste of Things,” which was subsequently submitted as France’s official entry to the Oscars’ international feature category. Jang Jae-hyun’s “Exhuma” is Korea’s biggest box office hit of 2024.

International highlights of the program include Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning “The Zone of Interest,” Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster,” Darren Aronivsky’s “The Whale,” starring Brendan Fraser, Steffi Niederzoll’s Berlinale winner “Seven Winters in Tehran,” Anthony Chen’s Singapore Oscar entry “Breaking Ice” and Prasanna Vithanage’s Busan-winning “Paradise.”

Indian films include Jayant Digambar Somalkar’s Toronto winner “Sthal,” Karan Tejpal’s Venice title “Stolen,” Rima Das’ Toronto title “Tora’s Husband,” Gurvinder Singh’s Rotterdam film “Adh Chanani Raat,” Lijo Jose Pellissery...

Former Cannes film market director Jerome Paillard, Indian actor and producer Rana Daggubati and Nicole Guillemet who was co-director of the Sundance Film Festival have joined the advisory board of the inaugural Cinevesture International Film Festival in India.

The advisory board also includes Indian filmmaker Ajitpal Singh, Bangladeshi director Nuhash Humayun and “Make Money Screenwriting” series author Julian Friedmann.

The festival will take place in Chandigarh, northern India, March 27-31. Bina Paul, who was artistic director at the International Film Festival of Kerala for more than a decade, will fulfil that role at the Chandigarh event. Film critic Namrata Joshi serves as market curator.

The festival is the brainchild of Nina Lath Gupta, who previously headed Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest co-production market, from 2006 to 2018. Cinevesture’s focus is on building the business of film and addressing the needs of a producer at various stages of filmmaking.

“There is...

The rise of quality in the entries of this list becomes evident every year, with movies from countries such as Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan finding a number of way outs through festivals and streamers, winning awards all over. Of course, Iran still heads the region, as its biggest movie industry, but the biggest surprise this year came from Sri Lanka, which produced three films of true quality.

Without further ado, here are the best West-Central Asian (rest of Asia one could say) films of 2023, in random order. Some films may have premiered in 2022, but since they mostly circulated in 2023, we decided to include them.

20. Under the Sky of Damascus by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh (Syria)

“Under the Sky of Damascus” is a great documentary, a testament to the quality and the impact of the medium, and a movie that truly deserved the International Competition Golden...

Kit Vincent’s debut ‘Red Herring’ also won best UK feature

US actor Michael Pitt was among the winners at the UK’s 31st Raindance Film Festival (October 25-November 4).

Pitt won best performance for his portrayal of a once-renowned boxer on a path to redemption in Jack Huston’s directorial debut Day Of The Fight. The UK drama premiered in Venice’s Horizons Extra strand earlier in September.

Best UK feature was won by Kit Vincent’s debut Red Herring, a documentary about his diagnosis with a terminal brain tumour. It is also one of the five films nominated for the Bifa Raindance Maverick award.

Kit Vincent’s debut ‘Red Herring’ also won best UK feature

US actor Michael Pitt was among the winners at the UK’s 31st Raindance Film Festival (October 25 – November 4).

Pitt won best performance for his portrayal of a once-renowned boxer on a path to redemption in Jack Hutson’s directorial debut Day Of The Fight. The UK drama premiered at Venice Horizons Extra earlier this year.

Best UK feature was won by Kit Vincent’s debut Red Herring, a documentary surrounding his diagnosis of a terminal brain tumour. It is also one of the five films nominated for the Bifa Raindance Maverick award.

Bangladeshi filmmaker Nuhash Humayun’s “Pett Kata Shaw” won best international feature at the 31st Raindance Film Festival’s jury awards. British documentary filmmaker Kit Vincent won best U.K. feature for his debut feature “Red Herring.”

Some 75% of this year’s features are debuts and debut features swept the board at the jury awards with all eight award-winning films being debuts.

Michael Pitt won best performance for British actor Jack Huston‘s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.” Fisnik Maxville was named best director for his debut feature “The Land Within,” which previously won awards at Tallinn Black Nights, Galway Film Fleadh and PriFest. Catalan directors Alejandro Rojas and Sebastián Vasquez won the discovery award for their debut feature “Upon Entry.”

Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman and Edivan Guajajara’s “We Are Guardians” won best documentary while David Wyte won best cinematography for “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.

The 31st edition of London’s Raindance Film Festival will open with the U.K. premiere of British actor Jack Huston’s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.”

The film comes to Raindance fresh off its Venice debut, where Huston was honored by Variety as a breakthrough director.

The story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he left prison stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi.

The U.K. premiere of Isabel Coixet’s “Un Amor” will close the festival after it bows at San Sebastian. Based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel, Laia Costa plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion.

Updated with Best Screenplay Award for Switch, written by Sara Robin: The 19th HollyShorts Film Festival has handed out its awards, including the Grand Prix Best Short Award to We Were Meant To, an honor that comes with a $60,000 prize from Panavision.

Tari Wariebi directed We Were Meant To, set in a reality where “Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage.” The film stars Tim Johnson Jr. The Grand Prix Award qualifies the short for Oscar consideration. Also qualifying for the Oscars are Misan Harriman’s The After, which won Best Live Action Short, Rita Basulto’s Humo (Smoke), winner of the Best Animation Award, and Elisa Gambino’s Every Day After, winner of Best Documentary Short.

‘Humo’

The After stars David Oyelowo and Jessica Plummer. Animated winner Humo, meanwhile, “follows a boy called Daniel, who travels to a dark destination known as the smokehouse.

In a HollyShorts Film Festival awards ceremony that took place at midnight the day before a tropical storm was scheduled to his Los Angeles, Tari Wariebi’s “We Were Meant To” won a $60,000 prize and with the win qualified for the Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short category.

The awards were originally scheduled to be handed out on Sunday evening at the TLC Chinese Theatre, but they were moved to the unusual Saturday midnight slot as Hurricane Hilary approached.

“We Were Meant To,” set in a world where Black men can fly, won the Grand Prix for the best short in the 10-day festival, which began on Aug. 10 at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. For the first time, the top film also received a $60,000 prize from Panasonic, in addition to the Oscar qualification.

Three other films also qualified for this year’s Oscars by winning awards at HollyShorts: Misan Harriman’s “The After,...

Quebec festival wrapped on August 9.

Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.

In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and

Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).

The full list of audience award winners appears below.

A couple weeks ago, the Fantasia International Film Festival announced the films that won jury prizes at the 27th edition of the show, which recently came to a close. Yesterday, our own Tyler Nichols shared his list of favorite films from this year’s Fantasia festival. Now Fantasia has unveiled the list of audience award winners, with wins going to films like Talk to Me, The Roundup: No Way Out, Kurayukaba, and Satan Wants You, among others. The full list can be seen below:

Best International Feature

Gold: Talk To Me

Silver: Late Night With The Devil

Bronze: Hundreds Of Beavers

Best Asian Feature

Gold: The Roundup: No Way Out

Silver: River

Bronze: Phantom (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)

Best Animated Feature

Gold: Kurayukaba

Silver: The Concierge

Bronze: The First Slam Dunk

The Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)

Satan Wants You – This year’s...

This year's Nifff was quite intently focused on Asian cinema. It was not only the retrospective of Katsuhito Ishii, but also the Asian competition, with “Marry My Dead Body” receiving the Audience Award and the fact that Nuhash Humayun's “Foreigners Only” won both the Youth Award and the Audience Award for Best Short Film. Most of all, however, because “Tiger Stripes” was the winner of the Grant Award, the H.R. Giger “Narcisse” for Best Feature. Even UK-produced, “Raging Grace”, which won two awards, has Filipino Max Eigenmann as its protagonist.

Our coverage includes interviews with the person of honor (Ishii) along with the big winner Amanda Nell Eu and Anurag Kashyap, whose film “Kennedy” also screened.

You can check the full articles by clicking on the titles

Interview with Katsuhito Ishii Film Review: Tiger Stripes (2023) by Amanda Nell Eu

The metaphor for the body changes women experience when their...

On Saturday evening, the curtain fell on the vibrant 22nd edition of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff). For 9 days, over 55,000 festival-goers were able to explore the many aspects of genre cinema in the presence of our 122 guests. The International Jury awarded the prestigious H.R. Giger “Narcisse” Award for best feature film to Tiger Stripes, the first feature film from Amanda Nell Eu. The overall prize list gives prominence to emerging filmmakers. It also awarded the Imaging The Future Award for best production design to Ti West's Pearl.

“Amanda Nell Eu managed to create a unique world that makes the audience experience the simultaneously realistic and fantastic adventures of a young girl that hits puberty in contemporary Malaysia. The maturity and the freshness of this debut feature convinced us. Granting it the award seemed like the obvious choice: we have discovered a new voice of fantastic cinema”, declared...

Fantasia’S 27th Edition To Open With Pascal Plante’S Red Rooms Multiple World Premiere discoveries, continental bows of Vincent Must Die, Restore Point and Insomniacs After School, new works from Junta Yamaguchi, Yuval Adler, Zach Clark, Nuhash Humayun and Olivier Godin, the Canadian premiere of the acclaimed instant-classic horror film Talk To Me, national launches of …

The post Fantasia Launches Second Wave of Titles for 27th Edition, July 20 – August 9 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Montreal fest runs July 20-August 9.

The 27th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival (July 20-August 9) in Montreal will open with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s cyber thriller Red Rooms (Chambres Rouges).

The film will get its world premiere in Karlovy Vary and follows a tech-savvy overachiever who becomes obsessed with the high-profile trial of a serial killer.

As reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path in search of the final piece in the puzzle, the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl. Sphere Films International recently launched sales in Cannes.

Second wave...

Exclusive: Quebec’s Fantasia International Film Festival will open its 27th edition with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s latest pic Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges).

Plante will bring the pic to his native Quebec following a Competition bow at Karlovy Vary in June. The film, Plante’s third, follows the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier, which has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.

The Nicolas Cage-starrer Sympathy for the Devil will have its international premiere at Fantasia. Written by Luke Paradise, the pic follows “The Driver” (Joel Kinnaman), who finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after being forced to drive a mysterious man, “The Passenger” (Cage). As their white-knuckle ride progresses, it becomes clear that...

The Asian representation in Vienna Shorts this year was quite restricted with just 8 movies in the program. However, among those, there are definitely a couple of gems, while the diversity is impressive, since experimental, animation, comedy, horror, drama are just some of the elements that appear in the film. Without further ado, here is a list of all the Asian entries, in random order.

Click on the titles for the full articles. The roundup will be updated.

Hito (2023) by Stephen Lopez

Stephen Lopez can easily be described as one of Khavn's “students”, since his chaotic style of filmmaking with the many, absurd vignettes, the constant mocking of a number of concepts including the title and his filmmaking itself, the music video aesthetics and the sociopolitical commentary are all elements found in Khavn's cinema. At the same time though, Lopez is somewhat more grounded in terms of his script,...

Following the excellent “Moshari”, Bangladeshi Nuhash Humayun has come up with another horror short, this time focusing on a local concept, of a preference regarding white foreigners in terms of a number of financial aspects, including apartment rent and retail trade.

“Foreigners Only” is screening at Vienna Shorts

Hasan, a tannery manager who has developed intense skin problems due to his work, is desperately trying to find an apartment to live. Not even money, however, seem to convince the latest landlord, who does not want locals, and even more, someone like Hasan in his apartments. With his girlfriend already having broken up with him due to his profession, the tanner finds himself in his wit's end when, during a visit to a pharmacy, the owner usher a Caucasian male to the front of the busy line. Violence ensues, with Hasan finding a rather extreme solution to his problems.

Nuhash Humayun...

by Fahmidul Haq

The Cinema of Bangladesh continues its renewed vibrance in 2022 which began in the last year. In this post-pandemic year, Bangladeshi theaters were hit by two blockbusters – “Hawa” and “Poran”. These two films also got global theatrical release in the USA, the UK, Australia and in a few more countries, primarily targeting the diaspora Bangladeshis which is also a new phenomenon established by these two films.

This year some films earned critical acclaim too by winning awards in Moscow, Austin and Kolkata. Among the selected 10 films, at least three are made by debutant directors, which signifies that a bunch of upcoming directors with the previous ones will ensure the decade of 2020s as the new wave of Bangladeshi Cinema. However, restrictive censor codes are barriers here and director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki was found outspoken this year in the process of prolonged censor battle for his film Shonibar Bikel...

Genre filmmaker Jordan Peele and Sound of Metal star Riz Ahmed have come on board to executive produce the live action horror short Moshari, which is written, directed, produced, and edited by Nuhash Humayun (Sincerely Yours). Peele and Ahmed both happen to be Oscar winners, as Peele won Best Original Screenplay for writing Get Out and Ahmed wrote and starred in the Best Live Action Short Film winner The Long Goodbye.

An exploration of climate change in Bangladesh, Moshari follows two sisters forced together to survive in a strange new world while battling their own inner demons.

Win Rosenfeld and Dana Gills of Peele’s company Monkeypaw Productions and Allie Moore of Ahmed’s company Left Handed Films are also now executive producers of Moshari.

Rosenfeld and Gills provided the following statement to Variety: “Moshari is a unique horror short in that it’s profoundly visual and emotionally striking from the first frame.

For Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together” short film, it was crucial that the visuals captured the vulnerability and toxicity of a relationship in an intimate space.

“It challenged me to actually live in what I was writing, and really be there and be present with Taylour [Paige],” Lamar said. “And I remember us going back and forth and feeling like, damn, I understand this character even more because I’m evoking the energy from it and the passion from it because it’s alive, and it’s direct.”

Directed by Free, Lamar and Jake Schreier, “We Cry Together” follows Lamar in a heated argument with his partner, played by “Zola” star Taylour Paige. The video features the theatrical song from his fifth album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.” The immersive experience was shot in one single take with live vocal tracks.

“We Cry Together” is among the many films hoping...

Nuhash Humayun‘s live action short film Moshari just got a big-time cosign, with Variety reporting that both Jordan Peele and Riz Ahmed have come on board to Executive Produce.

Moshari is said to be an “exploration of climate change in Bangladesh.”

According to the official logline, “The film follows two sisters forced together to survive in a strange new world while battling their own inner demons.”

Peele will Executive Produce the short film through Monkeypaw Productions.

“Moshari is a unique horror short in that it’s profoundly visual and emotionally striking from the first frame,” said Monkeypaw’s Win Rosenfeld and Dana Gills. “Nuhash drew us into his dynamic post-apocalyptic world and never let go. It’s a film about survival, love and family, but it’s also a terrifying and novel take on what a monster movie can be.”

Riz Ahmed and Left Handed Films’ Allie Moore added in their own statement,...

Jordan Peele and Riz Ahmed are set to executive produce Nuhash Humayun’s live-action short film “Moshari,” Variety can reveal.

The Oscar winners have boarded Humayun’s exploration of climate change in Bangladesh, which has caused both personal and global tragedies. “The film follows two sisters forced together to survive in a strange new world while battling their own inner demons,” reads the logline.

Peele, who won three Oscars (including for best director) for “Get Out” as well as a best picture statue for “BlacKkKlansman”), will EP through his company Monkeypaw Productions. Ahmed, who has previously won an Oscar for best live action short for his film “The Long Goodbye” as well as garnering an Oscar nom for his turn in “Sound of Metal,” will EP through his company Left Handed Films.

“Moshari,” which has won a number of accolades including the SXSW Jury Award and awards from Fantasia, HollyShorts and Melbourne festivals,...

Chorki, one of the leaders in Bangladesh’s fiercely competitive Bengali-language streaming landscape, has revealed a strong 2023 slate.

The 25-strong lineup is director-driven, helmed by 25 of the leading lights of the Bangladesh industry. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (“No Land’s Man”), leads the slate with “Ministry of Love,” details of which are under wraps at the moment. Abdullah Mohammad Saad, whose “Rehana” was at Cannes and Busan in 2021, also has an under wraps projects in the lineup.

Abu Shahed Emon (“Jalal’s Story”) has thriller “Mercules” in the works for Chorki, where a woman must find out if the love of her life and father of her unborn child is a rapist.

In Syed Ahmed Shawki’s period drama “Bypass,” set amid the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence, two young riders set on a motorcycle journey throughout the battle-scarred countryside witnessing the conflict’s effects on common people.

Robiyul Alam Robi’s...

20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween Brings 20 Spooky Shorts from Diverse, Emerging Filmmakers for Huluween: "In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween series of spooky shorts is back for a third season! Twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more.

Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity. Snatched (dir. Michael Schwartz) features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.

Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (“Insidious”), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

David Worthen Brooks, 20th Digital Studio head...

Two MTV Documentary films vying for Academy Awards attention — Ondi Timoner’s “Last Flight Home” and Tanaz Eshaghian’s short “As Far as They Can Run” — garnered the top nonfiction honors at the 23rd annual Woodstock Film Festival.

“Last Flight Home,” about Timoner and her family’s last days with her father, won the best documentary prize, while “As Far as They Can Run,” about disabled children in rural Pakistan who have been deemed “useless” by their communities, took home the fest’s best short documentary award.

“Last Flight Home” premiered at Sundance earlier this year before opening the Telluride Film Festival in September. This year marked Timoner’s first time at the Woodstock fest.

“The greatest joy I have is sharing my work in person,” Timoner told Variety. “The reason I make films is to impact people and this film is doing that more than any other film I’ve made.

Disney’s 20th Digital Studios has been releasing horror shorts as the Bite Size Halloween series on the Hulu streaming service for two seasons now, and a third season of the series is set to premiere on October 1st. Tomorrow! With that date so near, a trailer for Bite Size Halloween season 3 has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

Bite Size Halloween season 3 consists of twenty-one shorts that star the likes of Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law), Brendan Hines (Locke & Key), Misha Osherovich (Freaky), Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical), Lin Shaye (Insidious), David Costabile (Breaking Bad), Rebekka Johnson (Glow), and singer-songwriter Kate Nash.

The shorts that make up the season are titled Nian, Ticks, Snatched, Nzu, Bug, Incomplete, Remote, Live Bait, Foreigners Only, Mr. Crocket, Angels, Disposal, The Heritage, Fracture, Bad Rabbit, Sleep Study, Go to Bed Raymond, The Kapre, Alone with Him, Trespassers, and Ride or Die.

In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s series of spooky shorts Bite Size Halloween is back for a third season, Hulu had officially announced a couple weeks back.

A whopping twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more.

Watch the official trailer for “Bite Size Halloween” Season 3 below!

“Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity,” notes the press release.

Snatched (dir. Michael Schwartz), for starters, features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.

Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (Insidious), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s series of spooky shorts Bite Size Halloween is back for a third season, Hulu had officially announced last week.

A whopping twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more.

Check out the brand new image gallery and poster art below!

“Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity,” notes the press release.

Snatched (dir. Michael Schwartz), for starters, features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.

Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (Insidious), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween series of spooky shorts is back for a third season, Bloody Disgusting learned today.

A whopping twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more.

Bloody Disgusting has an exclusive first look below.

“Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity,” notes the press release.

Snatched (dir. Michael Schwartz), pictured above, features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.

Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (Insidious), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

20th Digital Studio’s...

Compton-based filmmaker Victor Gabriel is among a select group of filmmakers to punch their ticket for the Oscar race, after scoring wins at the HollyShorts Film Festival.

Gabriel’s 13-minute film Hallelujah won the Grand Prix for Best Short at the festival’s awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon. HollyShorts is an Oscar-qualifying festival, so the win for Hallelujah makes it immediately eligible for Oscar consideration. Producer Duran Jones won the festival’s Best Producer prize.

Two other winners qualified for Oscar consideration: Mulaqat/Sandstrom, directed by Seemab Gul, won Best Live Action short, and Scale, directed by Joseph Pierce, won the award for Best Animation (scroll for full list of winners).

Hallelujah touches on the loss of someone to gun violence, a tragedy with ripple effects on several members of a family.

“After an inexplicable event, two brothers have to take on the guardianship of their nephew and niece,” Gabriel...

Victor Gabriel’s “Hallelujah,” Seemab Gul’s “Mulaqat/Sandstorm” and Joseph Pierce’s “Scale” have won the top awards at the 2022 HollyShorts Film Festival, which presented its prizes on Saturday afternoon in Hollywood — thus qualifying for this year’s Academy Awards.

“Hallelujah” won the Grand Prix for the festival’s best short, “Mulaqat/Sandstorm” took the honors as the best live-action short and “Scale” won for animation. HollyShorts is an Oscar-qualifying festival for the short-film categories, and the winners of those three awards are automatically entered in the Oscar race.

The award to “Hallelujah” was presented via video by this year’s Oscar winners for Best Live Action Short, “The Long Goodbye” filmmakers Riz Ahmed and Aniel Karia. The Oscar winners for the 2018 live-action short “Skin,” Jamie Ray Newman and Guy Nattiv, presented the awards to “Mulaqat/Sandstorm” and best-director winner Carlos Segundo (“Sideral”), respectively.

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Oscars Short Doc...

Having its world premier in SXSW 2022, where it won Grand Jury Award for Best Midnight Short, Bangladeshi short “Moshari” (which means mosquito net) went on to win multiple Oscar qualifying awards at Atlanta Film Festival, Short Shorts & Asia, and a Jury’s Choice at Bifan. Its festival path all over the world is continuing non-stop and we just caught it in Fantasia.

“Moshari” is screening on Fantasia International Film Festival

The film shows its colors from the beginning, with a dead cow being feasted upon by mosquitoes, while a young girl is chanting a prayer and her older sister urges them to live. It is soon revealed that the two live in Bangladesh, one of the few places in the world that has survived the catastrophe brought by mosquitoes, as a man on a speakerphone heard throughout the area is eloquently spreading. Bangladeshi have achieved that in the simplest of ways,...

Things got personal at Cannes Market’s Fantastic 7 showcase this year, highlighting upcoming genre projects selected by seven festivals including Spain’s Sitges, Bucheon in South Korea, Cairo, Guadalajara in Mexico, SXSW and Toronto, as well as Whanau Marama New Zealand Intl. Film Festival.

“I think it’s my most personal film ever,” said director Jaume Balagueró, also behind “[Rec],” co-directed with Paco Plaza.

In his latest film “Venus,” presented by Sitges, he will combine elements of survival drama and modern witchery. Starring Ester Expósito, it’s produced by Álex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang.

“Why? Because it combines many elements I am personally interested in,” he told Variety.

“It’s a horror, but it’s also a very moving film about love and revenge. It’s very special to me.”

In “La mala madre” (“The Bad Mother”), director Alicia Albares will also draw from her own experiences, moving along...

Exclusive: Anonymous Content and CAA have signed Nuhash Humayun, the Bangladeshi writer-director whose horror short Moshari won the Grand Jury Award at SXSW 2022, for representation.

The original 22-minute horror-fantasy pic was the first film from Bangladesh to premiere in SXSW’s Midnight Shorts Program. It follows sisters Apu (Sunerah Binte Kamal) and Ayra (Nairah Onora Saif), who seek shelter inside archaic mosquito nets—the only way to survive against bloodthirsty monsters—if they can first survive each other. Moshari also this year won the Atlanta Film Festival’s prize for Best Narrative Short.

In addition to SXSW, Humayun’s projects have earned support from Sundance, Film Independent and ScreenCraft. The filmmaker was a ScreenCraft 2022 Film Fund Jury Winner and the first Bangladeshi fellow accepted to the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive. Up next for Humayun as a director is the feature Moving Bangladesh—a subversive corporate drama, which is currently in pre-production.

Non-profit arts organization Film Independent, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has announced that the Sloan Film Summit is officially returning this year after a pandemic-imposed delay. IndieWire exclusively shares the news here.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports films and filmmakers with a science focus. Kogonada’s “After Yang” was awarded the Sloan prize 50,000 distribution grant at Sundance 2022. Past supported filmmakers include Damien Chazelle and Aneesh Chaganty.

This year’s Summit will take place April 8–10 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and will feature screenings, workshops, and panels for artists, featuring filmmakers and scientists as they discuss the way art and science interact and can benefit each other. A special keynote address will be delivered by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Andrea Ghez.

The seventh triennial Summit will celebrate the thriving nationwide Sloan Film Program, bringing together over 150 screenwriters, directors, and producers, as well as working...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has announced the programming lineup for its 2022 edition, which includes Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” as a gala presentation.

The festival, which spotlights films made about the Indian diaspora from filmmakers of Indian heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a return to in-person screenings for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of the festival, 10 feature films and 16 short films will be screened, including a world premiere and two North American premieres.

“Reflecting on Iffla’s 20 years, we find ourselves overjoyed by the range of incredible talent we have discovered and celebrated, introducing numerous emerging and established voices to Los Angeles,” Iffla executive director and founder Christina Marouda said in a statement. “We are also incredibly proud of the sense of family and community we have accomplished over the last 20 years. We are...

Chicago – Groundbreaking filmmakers often start at the South by Southwest Festival. Influencers like the Duplass brothers, Chicago’s Joe Swanberg and Lena Dunham got their first prominent notices at the fest. In that spirit, the 2022 SXSW Grand Jury Awards were announced on March 15th.

The top film in Narrative Features was “I Love My Dad” by writer/director James Morosini, featuring Patton Oswalt and Morosini himself as father and son reconnecting under odd circumstances. The Documentary Feature awardee was “Master of Light” by Rosa Ruth Boesten, an unusual profile of painter George Anthony Morton, as he struggles to render his mother. And the Narrative Short deemed best is by writer/director Tang Yi, entitled “All the Crows in the World,” with its “inventive story and critiques of patriarchal culture.”

The following is the list of top honorees …

Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature

I Love My Dad

Photo credit: SXSW.

Films will continue to be available on festival platform until March 21.

James Morosini’s I Love My Dad starring Patton Oswalt and Morosini has won SXSW 2022’s Narrative Feature Competition and Rosa Ruth Boesten’s Master Of Light the documentary feature competition.

In other juried and special awards announced on Tuesday night (15) Antonia Campbell-Hughes’s It is In Us All earned special jury recognition for extraordinary cinematic vision. All 2022 film categories will be eligible for category-specific audience awards which will be announced next week.

“It was extraordinary to gather together in person again after so long and we are so...