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“I definitely arrived here with some films that I was like, ‘I want to make sure I grab that’ and ‘I own it and I have it,’ but upon arrival I have been washed in in the blood of Criterion.”

This was actor Jeremy Pope’s reaction upon entering the sacred Criterion Closet and seeing all the stunning cinema that lay before him. Without delay, Pope’s first selection was Carl Franklin’s Los Angeles-set noir, “Devil in a Blue Dress.”

“This film speaks to me because my first real job was this show called ‘Hollywood’ that I shot with Ryan Murphy for Netflix and this film, set in the I think it’s like, late ‘40s/‘50s, felt very identical to the experience that my character Archie was about to go on, so this became like such an inspiration and like a point of reference,” said Pope. “Love the film,...

Team Experience has been looking at LGBTQ+ related Oscar nominations.

by Nick Taylor

Over the course of June, one of my big cinematic missions was to watch as many queer documentaries as I could. A broader understanding and recognition of lived queer experiences, either through art or lived interaction, is something I’m finding increasingly valuable and incredibly grateful for. Past or present lives, always reflecting so many potential futures - cherish that shit! Cinema allows for a unique view on long-gone lives I would never have met. A lot of my dive has been focused on the Criterion Channel’s various LGBTQ+ playlists. If you haven’t already seen Dressed in Blue, Tongues Untied, and Shakedown, watch them all now and learn from their authors, the multitude of voices in front of and behind the camera bravely willing to show us who they are and what they know.

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt,...

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.

BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)

In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score. Directed by Matt Johnson, it tells the true story of Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, software engineers who founded the company Rim in the mid-80s and later invented a cellphone that could handle email. The film begins on the day when they meet Jim Basillie (Glenn Howerton), a Rottweiler who, alongside Lazaridis’ genius, turned Rim’s invention (only later christened BlackBerry) into the world’s most ubiquitous mobile device––at least for a time. – Rory O. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

The Hole in the Fence (Joaquín del Paso...

Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.

Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...

After decades of toiling in relative obscurity, Jenni Olson is finally receiving the industry recognition she deserves. Her collection of rare 35mm and 16mm queer film prints was acquired by Harvard’s Film Archive last summer. Her films “The Joy of Life” (2005) and “The Royal Road” (2015), which both premiered at Sundance, recently became available on the Criterion Channel alongside her many short films. She was a 2018 MacDowell fellow, and is in development on her third feature-length essay film, “The Quiet World,” which received funding from the Catapult Film Fund and Field of Vision.

Now, she’s the latest recipient of a special Teddy Award from the Berlinale, which recognizes a figure “whose work has made an exceptional contribution…to queer perspectives in art, culture and the media.” Past recipients include Tilda Swinton, Christine Vachon, John Hurt, and Udo Kier.

Anyone involved in queer film over the last three decades will know Olson.

Must of the Month

A great way to celebrate Pride this year is with The Signifyin’ Works of Marlon Riggs, a Criterion Collection box set that pays tribute to an essential voice in LGBTQ+ cinema and Black filmmaking. Before his death of HIV/AIDS complications in 1994, Riggs created a vital body of work that includes the sensual and poetic “Tongues Untied” — a film decried on the senate floor by Jesse Helms, and recommendations don’t come much higher — the incisive documentary “Color Adjustment,” about the history of Black characters on American TV, and brilliantly moving personal and experimental films like “Black Is… Black Ain’t” and “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regrets).” This compilation of a singular artistic voice belongs in every library.

New Indie

Carrie Coon and Jude Law gave firecracker performances in the under-seen “The Nest” (IFC/Shout Factory) from director Sean Durkin (“Martha Marcy May Marlene...

From its first edition 24 years ago, the Jihlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, running Oct. 27-Nov. 8, has always gone its own way — largely thanks to director Marek Hovorka and his team, who never wanted to run just another venue for screening docs.

These days, the Czech Republic’s prime doc event continues that mission even as it’s been forced by government Covid-19 safety restrictions to go fully online. A digital version will in fact be a permanent Jihlava feature going forward, Hovorka says, but after this year it will be balanced with live events to create a hybrid fest format.

For 2020, rather than simply streaming films, he says, Jihlava will create a rich experience online and on the ground with top doc makers and leading thinkers visiting the central Bohemian town for talks to be aired live from the Lighthouse. This glassed-in shipping container converted into a studio is installed on Masarykovo namesti,...

When first approaching Marlon Riggs’ small yet impactful filmography, it is impossible to ignore the breadth of documentary modes utilized to tell his stories and shed light on the experiences of gay Black men, fluidly gliding between multiple approaches to explore various facets of storytelling. With his entire oeuvre now on the Criterion Channel, Riggs’ extensive prowess for wielding the documentary as a force for compassion is available for all to see.

I was first introduced to Riggs’ work through his made-for-tv documentary Color Adjustment (1992), an exhaustively well-researched non-fiction film exposing how TV’s many attempts to assimilate Black characters on screen, and therefore into white homes, has time and again missed the mark. From the calcified stereotypes of Amos ‘n’ Andy and Beulah to the lack of culture seen in shows such as Julia, TV executives continually misjudge appropriate portrayals. Upon revisiting, though, I was struck by Riggs’ ability...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSZhang Yimou's One SecondZhang Yimou's latest One Second has been pulled from its competition slot at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film's official Weibo account cites "technical reasons," though some have speculated that the Cultural Revolution-set drama may have run into censorship troubles. Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito are both in talks to join Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, about African American veterans who return to Vietnam in search of a body and some hidden gold. “'I’ve done everything I need to do, I made a million films, I’ve been around the world,' she told CBS2’s Cindy Hsu. 'It’s been a pleasure to live and living has been terrific.'" One of the great pioneers of queer cinema, Barbara Hammer, speaks to CBS New York about "right to die" laws.

The following essay was written by a participant in the 2016 New York Film Festival Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring critics co-produced by IndieWire, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Film Comment.

There is a moment in “Toni Erdmann” when a man looks at his daughter after she has ignored him during a marathon shopping trip with her boss’s wife. “Are you really human,” he asks? The line’s earnest delivery draws laughs, channeling the film’s successful pitting of a career-obsessed daughter against her prankster father in the most embarrassing situations. But the question strikes an anxious nerve running through several recent films, a number of which were featured in the New York Film Festival this fall. All of them are propelled by questions about the fate of the millennial in a challenging world.

The answer, the films tell us as they grapple with possible futures for the young,...

Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.

Jan Nemec‘s last film, The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street, Roberto Andò‘s The Confessions, Anthropoid, and more will premiere at the 2016 Karlovy Vary Festival.

Watch a trailer for an upcoming concert in Denmark featuring the music of Lars von Trier‘s film:

The New York Asian Film Festival 2016 has unveiled its full line-up.

Tim Robbins reflects on working with Robert Altman in The Player, now on Criterion:

Slate highlights the 50 greatest movies by black directors:

Despite everything, black filmmakers have produced art on screen that is just as daring, original, influential, and essential as the heralded works of Welles, Coppola, Antonioni, Kurosawa, and other nonblack directors.

Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...

Other titles include Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan, starring Greta Gerwig, and David Farr’s The Ones Below, starring David Morrissey.Scroll down for full lists

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has announced the first titles in Panorama – its strand that comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles.

The initial features include three from the UK, with John Michael McDonagh returning to Berlin for the world premiere of War On Everyone.

The film, a satire centred on two corrupt cops in New Mexico, stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, Theo James and Tessa Thompson.

McDonagh was previously in Panorama in 2011 with The Guard and 2013 with Calvary.

Also from the UK is David Farr’s The Ones Below, which revolves around a couple expecting their first child who discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below. Receiving its European...

The Panorama program has not only announced a first round of titles for the 66th Berlinale, including Rebecca Miller's Maggie's Plan with Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph, it's also unveiled revival screenings celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Award, the "only official Lgbtiq (in short, queer) film prize at an A-festival in the world." Among the highlights are Chantal Akerman's Je, tu, il, elle and Toute une nuit, Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol, Isaac Julien's Looking for Langston, Barbara Hammer's Nitrate Kisses, Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman and Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied. » - David Hudson...

The Panorama program has not only announced a first round of titles for the 66th Berlinale, including Rebecca Miller's Maggie's Plan with Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph, it's also unveiled revival screenings celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Award, the "only official Lgbtiq (in short, queer) film prize at an A-festival in the world." Among the highlights are Chantal Akerman's Je, tu, il, elle and Toute une nuit, Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol, Isaac Julien's Looking for Langston, Barbara Hammer's Nitrate Kisses, Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman and Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied. » - David Hudson...

Fyi for those of you in the Los Angeles area... screenings of a pair of films that I've championed on this blog a number of times in the past (as well as the filmmakers). Well-worth seeing in a theatrical setting, so take advantage.Outfest-ucla Legacy Project Screening SERIESOn Sunday, June 22, UCLA Film & Television Archive presents a special screening of Brother to Brother (2004) and Tongues Untied (1989), two landmark films by African American directors that boldly expanded the boundaries of queer filmmaking.Director Rodney Evans (Brother to Brother) will be present in person to discuss the ongoing influence of these works on the...

With the premiere of HBO’s Looking still over a week away, this is the perfect time to remember another TV series about a group of gay (and straight) friends in San Francisco. It was 20 years ago today that Tales Of the City made its American television debut.

Based on the newspaper column–later book series–by Armistead Maupin, Tales centers around a found family living together in a boarding house at 28 Barbary Lane. Tenants include Mary Anne Singleton, a naive girl fresh off the bus from Cleveland, Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, a gay emigré from Florida, his best friend Mona Ramsey, a frustrated feminist copywriter, and Brian Hawkins, a leftie lawyer who dropped out and became a waiter. They all live under the eye of enigmatic landlady Anna Madrigal. Tales stars Laura Linney as Mary Anne, Marcus D’Amico as Mouse, Chloe Webb as Mona, Paul Gross as Brian and Olympia Dukakis as Mrs.

Tonight, Monday, February 4, at 7 pm, the Museum of the Moving Image's ongoing Changing the Picture series of screenings and discussions here in NYC, which celebrates and explores the work of film and television artists of color, will present Making Roots, Making TV History - a discussion with Ben Vereen, Lou Gossett Jr., LeVar Burton, and Leslie Uggams (stars of the landmark television miniseries) on the show’s production and its long-lasting legacy. The discussion will be moderated by Donald Thoms, Vice President of Programming for PBS. This roundtable is in addition to Tongues Untied, True Tales Told, 10 days ago,...

Next Monday, February 4, at 7 pm, the Museum of the Moving Image's ongoing Changing the Picture series of screenings and discussions, which celebrates and explores the work of film and television artists of color, will present Making Roots, Making TV History - a discussion with Ben Vereen, Lou Gossett Jr., LeVar Burton, and Leslie Uggams (stars of the landmark television miniseries) on the show’s production and its long-lasting legacy. The discussion will be moderated by Donald Thoms, Vice President of Programming for PBS. This roundtable is in addition to Tongues Untied, True Tales Told, 10 days ago, which featured the...

After a few words about "ice cream that's supposed to taste like movies" (no, really), editor Gary Morris introduces the latest edition of one of our favorite film journals, Bright Lights:

 

Matt Brennan leads off this issue with a deep-sea dive into the "body politic/body politics" trope, in the process giving readers something in short supply today: hope. Lesley Chow also shows a bold optimism in mining culture for its treasures in a provocative piece on cinema experimentalists Chris Marker, Alexander Sokurov, and José Luis Guerín. Our buddy Dave Saunders reminds us of the pleasures of Buñuel in Mexico and Béla Tarrin Edinburgh in a rather enchanting piece.

If Boris Barnet is not a household word in your house, you should consider moving. The brilliant Boris is the subject of a lengthy, authoritative profile by new contributor Giuliano Vivaldi, and you'll be running to the nearest Russian cinematheque after you've read this one.

The original reality show broke ground with Pedro.

On November 11, 1994, the day after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired, Pedro Zamora succumbed to complications from AIDS. Most of the world had only known him since June of that year, but the 22-year-old had made the most of the short time he’d spent on earth.

Born in Cuba, raised in Miami, Pedro was diagnosed as HIV+ while still in high school, and had dedicated his life to being an educator on the disease. Prior to appearing on the groundbreaking MTV reality show, he had already spoken about the disease with Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, and before a session of Congress.

But it was by appearing on The Real World: San Francisco that he managed to have a global impact. For many young people, Pedro was the first real, out gay man they ever saw...

WASHINGTON -- It's been about a decade since PBS aired Tongues Untied, the controversial 1991 documentary about gay black men, and 1994's Tales of the City, one of the first shows to broadcast nudity. Back then, Republican lawmakers were leading the charge to dismantle the service, decrying it as being too liberal and too racy for the American mainstream. Now the tide may have turned as public broadcasting is reaping political benefit from commercial broadcasters' over-the-top programming. Executives with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and NPR on Wednesday sold lawmakers on the idea that public broadcasting is an island of wholesome and educational programming in a sea of sleaze.