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With Oscar-nominated films like The Substance and A Different Man released last year, it appears that satirical body horror is experiencing a renaissance. The body horror subgenre hasn't seen this much interest since its peak in the '80s, but horror fans seem to be remembering that this is one of the most exciting, thought-provoking horror subgenres. This year has picked up where 2024 left off with another body horror satire released just this month on Shudder. Sasha Rainbow's Grafted doubles as a coming-of-age horror movie about a Chinese immigrant who was born with the same birth defect on her face as her father.

2/5

GraftedHorrorRelease DateSeptember 12, 2024Runtime93 minutesDirectorSasha RainbowWritersHweiling OwProducersMurray Francis, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Fraser Brown, Daniel NegretCast

Joyena Sun Wei

Jess Hong Angela / Wei

Jared Turner Paul

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After winning a scholarship to a prestigious university in Auckland, Wei (Joyena Sun) moves...

Directed by Sasha Rainbow, Grafted (2024) is a gripping exploration of ambition gone awry and the dangerous pursuit of perfection. At its heart, the film follows Wei, a brilliant yet ethically compromised scientist whose revolutionary tissue-regeneration formula sends her life into a downward spiral. As she becomes consumed by her creation, betrayal, and murder pave her path, each act fueled by an unrelenting desire to erase her flaws—both physical and emotional. But as she reshapes herself, the narrative unravels the harrowing consequences of defying nature and fate. What becomes of her? Let’s dive in.

Spoilers Ahead

Grafted (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis: What Happens to Wei’s Father?

Wei’s father, once a dedicated scientist, meets a tragic end due to his obsession with “fixing” the facial scar he and Wei share. He believes the scar is more than a physical flaw—viewing it as an ancestral curse—and devotes...

The following contains spoilers for Grafted, which hits Shudder on January 24th. It also contains descriptions of horror violence.

Shudder continues to be a haven for horror fans, featuring both tried-and-true classics, blood-spattered blockbusters and all manner of independent fare. The latest in this growing selection is Grafted, directed by Sasha Rainbow and starring Joyena Sun, Jess Hong and Eden Hart. Originally premiering in September 2024 and now making its Shudder debut, Grafted is a scathing satire and social commentary on the contemporary obsession with unnatural beauty, conformity, corruption, obsession, and the lengths people will go to in order to fit in or keep up appearances. An unholy fusion of Mean Girls and Face/Off, Grafted has a lot to say about society, teenagers, culture, and the current state of beauty trends. However, in 90 minutes and with an audience of bloodthirsty horror fans to please, Grafted can only cover so many of...

Sasha Rainbow’s body horror, Grafted, is bound to remind you of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance; considering the unrealistic beauty standards promoted by the beauty industry, it only makes sense for more and more films, especially in the horror genre, to question the benchmark. Wei, a bright young student, always felt inadequate because of a scar on her face. She had inherited it from her father, who used to be a scientist but had died a gruesome death due to a failed experiment. They believed the scar on their face was an ancestral curse, and Wei’s father had dedicated a significant portion of his life to finding a solution to ‘fix’ their faces. He initially assumed his experiment had been successful when the cells on his face started to regenerate, but it soon went out of his control. The skin grafting procedure accelerated rapidly, and it ended up covering his mouth,...

Sasha Rainbow's superficiality satire Grafted feels like a J-horror inversion of Coralie Fargeat's breakout body-horror stunner The Substance. Shudder's latest original plays in a sandbox with titles like Sion Sono's Exte: Hair Extensions, where cosmetic alterations lead to unsettling results. Rainbow pulls from traditional mad scientist frameworks to tell a coming-of-age struggle from a Chinese immigrant's perspective, but in doing so, creates push-and-pull friction between a host of thematic intentions. Grafted deals in body-horror squeamishness, slasher heartlessness, and university ecosystems, but it's not always the steadiest execution. Highs are high, but they come at a cost.

Joyena Sun stars as Wei, a shy, reclusive daughter who watches her father die during a skin-replacement experiment gone Twilight Zone-y. He tries to cure them both of genetic facial birthmarks by inventing a self-healing patch using regenerative Corpse Flower cells—but the mind-of-its-own flap spreads over his mouth and nostrils,...

“Grafted” opens as Wei leaves China, bearing the emotional burden of her father’s tragic death. Her move to Auckland University becomes a difficult passage through cultural displacement and personal change. In her new environment, Wei faces loneliness and struggles to fit into an unfamiliar society, where her differences become a source of discomfort.

The film shows Wei’s internal struggles – how she sees beauty’s fleeting nature while feeling inadequate. Her father’s scientific tests, mixing determination with experimentation, follow her like shadows.

The grafting procedure becomes both physical and symbolic, changing her appearance while wearing away her identity. The story offers bold views on society’s beauty ideals, examining the false hopes they create.

Wei faces opposing wishes and overwhelming social pressure. She struggles between what others want and her own fierce drive, becoming trapped in contradiction – her sense of self, like her skin grafts, starts to come apart,...

As it hits Shudder this Friday, Sasha Rainbow’s Grafted is bound to receive a lot of criticism comparing it to another little horror movie called The Substance. That would be fair, as both features deal with a lot of similar themes, from body horror to freak biotechnology to how we succumb to our society’s beauty standards. However, to reduce Grafted to a Substance-like film is more than a little unfair. For starters, the Grafted screen debut is too close to The Substance’s own release date to dub it a rip-off. Secondly, director Coralie Fargeat herself is not shy about admitting to the body horror canon that inspired her own creation. The Substance is full of nods to movies like The Fly and Re-Animator – movies that, no doubt, also inform Rainbow in her film, much like the French classic Eyes Without a Face.

A Chinese student arrives in New Zealand and continues her father’s experimental research in Sasha Rainbow’s cosmetic chiller

Fans of The Substance will probably appreciate this low-budget Kiwi body horror, intent as it is on tearing holes in the human meat carapace in order to question modern beauty standards. Grafted is actually more superficial than Coralie Fargeat’s film in terms of what it says about appearance – but that is somehow fitting and ably concealed by director Sasha Rainbow with a heavy grouting of punky attitude.

Chinese student Wei (Joyena Sun) arrives in New Zealand as an overseas student low on self-confidence, partly because of her facial birthmark. Her father, who also had one, died conducting experimental grafting research; his brilliant daughter – wanting to make him proud and herself beautiful – resolves to pick up where he left off. After she settles in at the house of her cousin...

The body horror genre has been making a mainstream name for itself recently with the success of The Substance. Now comes Sasha Rainbow's feature debut Grafted, clearly tapping into similar themes about feminity and body-image issues with gory glee. This take on the subgenre follows an exchange student's quest to make herself conventionally beautiful. Born with a unique skin condition that she seemingly inherited from her father, Wei (Joyena Sun) takes up his detailed scientific research into grafting new skin onto a body to smooth out imperfections.

'Grafted' Crafts a Bloody Revenge Story

2/5 Grafted Horror

An ambitious yet socially inexperienced exchange student strives to elevate her status in pursuit of popularity.

Release Date September 12, 2024Director Sasha RainbowRuntime 93 minutesCast Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, Jared Turner, Mark Mitchinson, Ginette McDonald, Benjamin HudsonWriters Hweiling OwStreaming Service(s) Producers Murray Francis, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Fraser Brown, Daniel Negret ProsSome nasty,...

In a dingy lab somewhere in China, a young girl named Wei (Mohan Liu) watches her father, Liu (Sam Wang), go about his work. He’s developing a new kind of skin graft procedure that he hopes will rid both of them of the large purple birthmarks adorning their faces. And like your average B-movie scientist with a little too much on the line, Liu decides to use himself as a guinea pig. He applies a strange, fleshy substance to his face and then grins triumphantly as it wriggles into life, replacing his birthmark and melding perfectly with the rest of his skin. But Liu’s delight quickly turns to horror as he discovers—like, well, so many B-movie scientists before him—that his invention works a little too well, and with deadly consequences.

Grafted is full of spluttering effects that look and sound wet and nasty, and they’re...

One of the best parts of entering a brand new year is looking ahead and previewing another packed year for horror. And 2025’s horror slate is densely packed, its release schedule already stacked with exciting adaptations, franchise sequels, reboots, originals, and beyond. Even more exciting is that this only covers what’s already been announced; expect to get inundated with surprise announcements and film festival discoveries to further fill the calendar with horror goodies.

Welcome to Bloody Disgusting’s 2025 Horror Preview.

How massive will 2025 be for horror? If this preview of the year’s looming horror offerings is any indication, horror fans may be spoiled for choice. Of course, expect some release dates to shift and many surprises yet to get announced in the coming months. In other words, this is only the beginning of the year’s horror offerings.

Here are over 50 horror movies we’re excited to check...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

If you are a horror fan then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription you might be wondering what’s in store for you in January 2025. Don’t worry there is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month and we have listed the 10 best movies coming to Shudder in January 2025.

The Others (January 1) Credit – Dimension Films

The Others is a gothic supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar. The 2001 film follows Grace as she moves in a Jersey house with her three children but she soon begins experiencing strange occurrences and becomes convinced that the house is haunted. The Others stars Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes,...

Filmmaker after filmmaker are taking an axe to beauty standards and character's bodies. As audiences become obsessed with the gory, hyperrealistic effects of modern movie-making, body horror is on the rise, and this time it's a classic case of self-inflicted destruction. The horror streaming platform Shudder has acquired another body horror film, following the success of The Substance. Fans of the likes of David Cronenberg rejoice, for it is a great time of resurgence and expansion of the gruesome genre, with new additions from unique perspectives coming in to refresh the horror sub-category. New Zealand-born director Sasha Rainbow's DIY body horror film Grafted will, similarly to Demi Moore's horror hit, explore themes of beauty and social acceptance through the mutilation of human flesh.

A story of a Chinese scholarship student with a facial birthmark and a father who studied skin grafting, Rainbow's directorial debut pits beauty and brains against each other.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy: With a release date of April 17, 2026, we now have an official title for the latest horror film from Evil Dead Rise's Lee Cronin, who is is writing and directing the film, produced by Atomic Monster, Blumhouse and Doppelgängers, for New Line.

"This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I'm digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening," said writer/director Lee Cronin.

As previously announced, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are co-financing the film. James Wan, Jason Blum and John Keville are producers on the film. Michael Clear, Judson Scott and Macdara Kelleher are executive producers. Alayna Glasthal is the executive overseeing the project for Atomic Monster.

Lee Cronin is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.

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Grafted: "Chinese...

Chinese scholarship student Wei travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university. Shy, introverted, and hiding a genetic facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends. Determined to change her fate, Wei immerses herself in her late father's research, working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could cure her deformity. As her experiments take a dark turn, she becomes more dangerous and unhinged, willing to eliminate anyone who threatens her secret.   Sasha Rainbow's body horror flick, Grafted, starts streaming on Shudder on Friday, January 24th. The official trailer has gone out today. Check it, and a small batch of stills, down below.    That third image reminds us of iconic images of...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Shudder has released a new trailer for Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut Grafted, a malicious cosmetic cocktail of body horror with squelching sounds to enhance the horror.

Grafted is set to premiere on Shudder on January 24, 2025.

In the film, “Chinese scholarship student Wei travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university. Shy, introverted, and hiding a genetic facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends. Determined to change her fate, Wei immerses herself in her late father’s research, working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could cure her deformity. As her experiments take a dark turn, she becomes more dangerous and unhinged, willing to eliminate anyone who threatens her secret.”

The upcoming body horror movie stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, and Jared Turner. It was written by Mia Maramara, Hweiling Ow, Lee Murray, and Rainbow.

Daniel Kurland...

AMC Networks’ Shudder has announced the titles that will be available on the streaming service next month. The Shudder January 2025 slate includes horror, thriller, and supernatural titles.

The January schedule includes the films Dark Match, Get Away, Grafted, Red Rooms, and more. The second season of Horror’s Greatest will also continue to roll out.

Shudder’s expanding library of films, TV series, and original content is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Get Away Shudder January 2025 Highlights

The Others – Streaming on Shudder January 1

In 1945, immediately following the end of the Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that her home is haunted. Starring Nicole Kidman, the film was directed by Alejandro Amenábar.

The Wolf Man – Streaming on Shudder January 1 (US)

Upon his return to his father’s estate,...

Shudder has announced its full January 2025 lineup this week, with new originals, exclusives and catalogue titles headed our way next month.

Get ready to start the new year with buzzy genre thriller Red Rooms, horror-comedy Get Away, the straight cut of New French Extremity film Irreversible, and more.

Read on for the full January 2025 lineup from Shudder:

Get Away

Shudder Original Film

Directed by Steffen Haars

Streaming On Shudder January 10

Synopsis: The Smith family’s much-needed vacation to the remote Swedish island of Svalta takes a dark turn when they arrive during preparations for a mysterious local festival that celebrates a dark history. Unsettled by the unfriendly locals and strange rituals, they try to make the best of their trip, stubbornly enjoying the island’s isolation and natural beauty. However, as the festival looms closer, the family realizes something far more sinister is unfolding—especially when they discover that a...

2024 has been a great year for horror fans, especially over on Shudder, where some of the most ambitious and original movies have debuted to widespread acclaim. It appears as if 2025 is going to be no different, as the streaming service has just acquired the rights to The Ugly Stepsister – a twisted fairy tale that puts a body horror spin on an old classic.

Written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt (in her feature debut), The Ugly Stepsister stars Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Ane Dahl Torp, and follows the character of Elvira as she "prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will compete with the beautiful and enchanting Agnes to become the belle of the ball." The film was unveiled as part of the 2025 lineup of movies at the Sundance Film Festival, with Shudder...

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival has unveiled its audience and jury award honorees for its 2024 edition, which ran from Oct. 17-24 at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations.

Taking home the best film and best ensemble awards from the Dark Matter Jury was “Dead Talents Society” from writer-director John Hsu. The comedy horror, starring Bo-lin Chen, Sandrine Pinna and Gingle Wang, follows a ghost who joins a supernatural talent agency in hopes of becoming an urban legend.

Emma Benestan won best director from the Head Trip Jury, which honors films that deviate from the typical horror formula. Her film, “Animale,” follows a young bullfighter who begins noticing disturbing changes after a violent incident in the ring. Cast members include Oulaya Amamra, Damien Rebattel and Vivien Rodriguez.

For the Shorts Jury, Grace Rex’s script for “The Shadow Wrangler” took home best screenplay. Following an audiobook narrator tortured by...

Compared to Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and the wild works of Takashi Miike by Daniel Kurland in his recent review for Bloody Disgusting, Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut Grafted has received an official trailer from its Australian distributor this week. Over in Australia, the film will release in cinemas on November 21, and you can find that official trailer below.

Here in the States, the body horror movie has been acquired by Shudder for North America, UK, and Irish release, and Shudder has dated Grafted for premiere on January 24, 2025.

In the film, “Chinese scholarship student Wei travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university. Shy, introverted, and hiding a genetic facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends.

“Determined to change her fate, Wei immerses herself in her late father’s research, working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could cure her deformity.

It’s incredibly human to want to be seen and accepted, warts and all. It’s a deeply vulnerable experience and territory that can be ripe for horror as characters reach troubling breaking points in order to become popular and stop feeling like an outcast. People will do whatever it takes to fit in, even if that means losing themselves in the process. It’s perhaps quite fitting that Grafted, the debut feature film from New Zealand filmmaker Sasha Rainbow, has come out during the same time as Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, a movie that’s about altering one’s appearance to be accepted. Grafted is the perfect companion piece and counterpoint. They both explore similar themes and fragile characters, but go about this in entirely different ways.

Grafted comes across as the stitched together synthesis of Eyes Without A Face, Single White Female, and Re-Animator. There are also...

Mister Smith Entertainment has revealed further sales of the body horror feature “Grafted” to multiple territories following this weekend’s Spanish premiere screening at Sitges Film Festival, and the announcement of Shudder’s North America and U.K. and Ireland acquisition of the film.

“Grafted,” the directorial debut of Sasha Rainbow, whose short film “Kamali” was nominated for a BAFTA and long-listed for an Oscar, was acquired by Twelve Oaks for Spain, Front Row Entertainment for the Middle East, Blitz for Ex-Yugoslavia, Forum Film for Poland, The Film Group for Greece/Cyprus, Active Cinema Group for Cis, Baltic States and Ukraine, Superfine Films for India, and Ricochet Digital Media for Airlines.

“Grafted,” which uses the horror genre to expose and subvert the current obsession with beauty, body image and social acceptance, stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, who recently starred in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” Jared Turner, Eden Hart and Sepi To’a,...

Shudder has just announced that it acquired the North American, UK, and Ireland rights to Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut, Grafted. The streaming giant also announced that it will be releasing the film on its platform early next year. This news comes ahead of the movie's Spanish premiere at the 2024 Sitges Film Festival, which is happening this weekend.

Grafted is described as a satirical body horror film. Rainbow, who has previously helmed short films, directed this movie from a script she co-wrote with Mia Maramara, Hweiling Ow, and Lee Murray. In addition, Murray Francis and Leela Menon are signed on as producers with Fraser Brown executive producing.

Rainbow expressed her excitement about partnering with Shudder via a Shudder press release:

Partnering with Shudder is a dream come true—for those of us who like our dreams dark and full of twists, and there’s no better place to unleash Grafted...

In Search of Darkness celebrates 5th anniversary with Free 24-hour stream on YouTube: "Creatorvc, the minds behind smash-hit Aliens Expanded, announce a limited release of the original In Search of Darkness ‘80s horror documentary on Youtube for Free streaming for 24 hours on October 6, 2024, in celebration of the 5th anniversary of its world premiere at Beyond Fest. The Free stream begins at 12 midnight Est on October 6th, 2024 at midnight.

Their most popular film, In Search of Darkness is a deep dive into the horror hits from one of the most celebrated decades in genre film. Dubbed “a journey into iconic ‘80s horror,” the four-hour documentary features interviews with legendary filmmakers, writers, actors and special effects masters. Spanning one of the most impactful decades in genre film, the documentary includes Keith David (The Thing), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), John Carpenter, Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and many, many more.

The...

Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut, Grafted, a satirical body horror movie, has been acquired by Shudder for North American, UK, and Irish release ahead of its Spanish premiere at the 2024 Sitges Film Festival.

Shudder has dated Grafted for release on the streaming service on January 24, 2025.

The body horror film follows “Chinese scholarship student Wei, who travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university. Shy, introverted, and hiding a genetic facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends. Determined to change her fate, Wei immerses herself in her late father’s research, working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could cure her deformity. As her experiments take a dark turn, she becomes more dangerous and unhinged, willing to eliminate anyone who threatens her secret.”

The film stars Joyena Sun, Jess Hong, and Jared Turner. It was written by Mia Maramara,...

Shudder has acquired North America and UK & Ireland rights from Mister Smith Entertainment to Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut Grafted ahead of its Spanish premiere at Sitges Film Festival this weekend.

The body horror screens in the Midnight X-Treme strand on Saturday and Sunday (October 5 and 6) and follows Wei, a shy Chinese scholarship student hiding a genetic facial birthmark, who travels to New Zealand to study medical research at a prestigious university.

When Wei is shunned by her social butterfly cousin Angela and her glamorous friends, she immerses herself in her late father’s research into a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that could help her.

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (Bhff) announced today the full program for its 2024 incarnation, running October 17-24 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Audiences are in for an unworldly lineup of films and events, including a special screening of Larry Fessenden’s Habit with the Leviathan Award Ceremony, honoring his film career, hypes the press release.

In addition, Bloody Disgusting’s Screambox Original Series “Tales From the Void” will be screening alongside Joe Begos’s newest grindhouse horror Jimmy & Stiggs!

Here are the full deets…

The Opening Night film is the NY premiere of Dead Mail from directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy. The 2024 festival boasts the North American Premieres of exciting new films: Tiago Teixeira’s unsettling body horror film Custom; a new documentary on horror at the turn of the millennium from Phillip Escott and Sarah Appleton, Generation Terror; and New...

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Announces Full 2024 Program: "The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (Bhff) announces today the full program for its 2024 incarnation, running October 17-24 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Audiences are in for an unworldly lineup of films and events, including a special screening of Larry Fessenden’s Habit with the Leviathan Award Ceremony, honoring his film career.

The Opening Night film is the NY premiere of Dead Mail from directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy. The 2024 festival boasts the North American Premieres of exciting new films: Tiago Teixeira’s unsettling body horror film Custom; a new documentary on horror at the turn of the millennium from Phillip Escott and Sarah Appleton, Generation Terror; and New Zealand director Sasha Rainbow’s film Grafted.

The festival will feature the world premieres of Izzy Lee's first feature, House Of Ashes; the atmospheric ghost story,...

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 2024 edition, which runs from Oct. 17-24. All films will be screened at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations.

Opening with Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s crime thriller “Dead Mail,” Bhff will feature the North American premieres of Tiago Teixeira’s erotic body horror “Custom,” Phillip Escott and Sarah Appleton’s late ’90s horror documentary “Generation Terror” and Sasha Rainbow’s “Grafted” starring Jess Hong.

Films receiving their world premieres at Bhff include Izzy Lee’s directorial debut “House of Ashes,” the queer science fiction adventure “Psychonaut” and “Lilly Lives Alone” starring Jeffrey Combs.

“Fear in Focus” is set to return for Bhff 2024, with this year’s rendition centering around horror films from Spain. The sidebar program will feature a 35mm screening of “The Blood Spattered Bride” and a showing of the Spanish version of “Dracula” with...

The 44th running of the Hawaii International Film Festival presented by Halekulani will open with “Tinā,” an uplifting drama film that marks the feature directorial debut of Miki Magasiva, and close with Sori Fumihiko’s “Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality.”

In between, the festival will pack in 92 features and 114 short films, major awards for guests including Jimmy O Yang, Hong Kong’s Sandra Ng and documentary filmmaking star Stanley Nelson.

“This year, we have the largest selection of Hawai`i films in competition in the festival’s history, are presenting multiple films that explore Indigenous perspectives, narrative sovereignty, and the nurturing of cultural identity, and additionally, we are launching a new spotlight showcasing the best in television,” said Beckie Stochetti, Hiff executive director.

Hailing from New Zealand, with dialog in English and Samoan, “Tinā” sees Anapela Polata’ivao (“Our Flag Means Death”) portray a well-respected and gifted vocal coach endure family tragedy...

On the eve of Cannes, film financing and sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has made several key promotions as well as adding a new hire to its team.

Shane Kelly, who has been with the company since 2019, is being promoted to senior vice president, international sales and acquisitions. In this new role, he will continue to oversee sales and distribution efforts while formalizing the addition of project acquisitions as part of his purview, continuing to report to Mister Smith CEO David Garrett. In his previous role as VP international sales and distribution, Kelly has been instrumental in helping manage the company’s slate through sales, financing, marketing and distribution.

In addition, Emma Mason is being promoted to vice president, international marketing and publicity and will continue to lead the marketing and publicity team and oversee festival strategy for the Mister Smith slate.

Katie Hogan is being promoted to distribution and marketing executive,...

Bloody Disgusting has learned of an upcoming body-horror movie titled Grafted this week, with Variety reporting that Sasha Rainbow (Kamali) will be directing the feature film.

The UK’s Mister Smith Entertainment has picked up international rights to the upcoming movie, Variety also reports, and they’ll be launching sales next month in Cannes.

“The film tells story of a Chinese student who travels to New Zealand to complete the scientific work of her deceased father only to find a new way of achieving popularity, one body at a time.”

“I am incredibly excited about playing in the body-horror space for such an incredible, surprising, female-lead-project like Grafted,” Sasha Rainbow said in a statement.

Joyena Sun, Jared Turner, Jess Hong, Eden Hart, Sepiutaruth To’a, Ginette McDonald and Mark Mitchinson star in Rainbow’s feature debut.

“We loved Grafted from the first page and after hearing Sasha’s pitch we...

U.K.-based sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment has picked up international rights to “Grafted,” a New Zealand-set horror film which marks the feature directing debut of Sasha Rainbow. The film is now in production. Mister Smith will launch sales next month in Cannes.

The film tells story of a Chinese student who travels to New Zealand to complete the scientific work of her deceased father only to find a new way of achieving popularity, one body at a time.

“I am incredibly excited about playing in the body-horror space for such an incredible, surprising, female-lead-project like ‘Grafted.’ I can’t wait to unleash it to audiences around the world,” said Rainbow. She previously directed 2018 short film “Kamali,” about a mother fighting for her daughter’s rights through skateboarding in India, which was nominated for a BAFTA and long-listed for an Oscar.

The cast of “Grafted” is headed by Joyena Sun,...

Production underway on Yamc’s first title ‘Grafted’ from Sasha Rainbow.

Head Gear Films’ Phil Hunt is partnering with Australia-New Zealand horror distribution specialists Monster Pictures on (Yet) Another Monster Company (Yamc), a New Zealand-based label for developing, distributing and financing horror and genre titles.

Yamc has an investment partnership with Hunt’s UK firm Head Gear, and is looking for projects from writers, directors, producers and creative teams. Operating out of New Zealand, Yamc has plans for an Australia-based version in the future.

The company is already in production on its first title Grafted, a coming-of-age body horror from New Zealand filmmaker Sasha Rainbow,...

‘1917’ leads the way; Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, ‘Parasite’, ‘Bait’ among the winners.

The 2020 Bafta Film Awards are taking place tonight (2 Feb) at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page and on Twitter as they are announced.

The ceremony started at 18:45 UK time and finishes at approximately 21:30, with Graham Norton on hosting duties for the first time.

Joker leads the way with 11 nominations. The Irishman and Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood follow on 10, with 1917 earning nine nods.

Winners as they happen in bold (latest first), below.

Leading Actress Jessie Buckley...

Further prizes awarded to Quentin Tarantino, Edward Norton, Peter Greenaway and Richard Gere.

Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher won the Golden Frog at Poland’s EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival on Saturday (November 16).

The box-office hit, starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips, also won the audience award at the festival, which returned to Torun, Poland.

Scroll down for full list of winners

The Silver Frog went to cinematographer César Charlone for his work on Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes, while Vladimír Smutný won the Bronze Frog for Vaclav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird.

Second World War drama The Painted Bird,...

“Joker” cinematographer Lawrence Sher’s bid, along with director Todd Phillips, to try something “perhaps even a bit artful” won big Saturday in Torun, Poland as he took the top prize at the EnergaCamerimage Intl. Film Festival.

The Golden Frog for cinematography, along with the audience prize, went to his work filming Joaquin Phoenix in the dark origin story of Batman’s nemesis for its “dystopian storytelling” that “challenges us and unsettles us,” the jury said.

Sher quipped that such a gritty film from “the guys who made ‘The Hangover’ is not always expected.”

The fest wrapped in its new home, the historic city where it was first launched 27 years ago, after screenings of 188 films, most judged by some of 48 jurors in 10 competition categories.

The filming of cinematographer Cesar Charlone in Fernando Meirelles’ portrait of rivalry within the Vatican, “The Two Popes,” won the Silver Frog, while Vladimir Smutny’s...

Camerimage, the festival in Toruń, Poland dedicated to the art of cinematography, handed out its prestigious Frog prizes this evening. The big winner was “Joker” cinematographer Lawrence Sher, who won the top prize, the Golden Frog, in addition to the Audience Prize. The Bronze Frog was awarded to “The Painted Bird” Dp Vladimír Smutný, while “The Two Popes” Dp César Charlone won the Silver Frog. A full list of winners at the end of this article.

Now in its 27th year, Camerimage has become homecoming week for cinematographers from around the globe, with a vast number of the best DPs, past and present, in attendance. From an awards perspective — considering cinematographers nominate their colleagues — it’s hard to overestimate the value of DPs presenting their work and discussing their craft with their tight-knit community during the week-long celebration.

Sher — whose “Joker” screened early in the fest, and has been in...

The fact that Sasha Rainbow's short film "Kamali", about the life of India's skateboarding star Kamali Moorthy, has qualified for Oscars 2020, is an "unbelievable milestone" for the London-based director.

Sasha says Kamali's story represents an "incredible moment in India", and she wishes to enter the final race for the Academy Award next year.

"Kamali" narrates the story of how single mother Suganthi fought against all odds to raise her nine-year-old daughter Kamali so she can become a skateboarder. The film had its Us premiere at the Academy Award-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival, where it screened as part of the Transient Youth program and won Best Short Documentary.

Shot in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, the over 23-minute film is a tale of determination, hope, passion, dreams and breaking away from the gender struggles.

"Even qualifying for the Oscars is an unbelievable milestone and we have high hopes to make it into the final selection.