Latest in Indies

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Will Pullen (Greyhound, Apple's Dickinson, Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird) has boarded Midday Black Midnight Blue, the upcoming feature debut by Samantha Soule (Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, Godless) and Daniel Talbott (ABC's The Conners, Spike's The Mist). Pullen will star alongside Soule in the…

Sony Pictures Classics has made some tweaks to its release schedule for four upcoming pics and one that’s already in theaters. The distributor run by co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard said that Dror Moreh’s documentary The Human Factor, which opened last month in Los Angeles and New York, will go nationwide…

EXCLUSIVE: Jenna Ushkowitz (Glee), Veronica Dunne (K.C. Undercover) and Chelsea Alden (13 Reasons Why) are set to lead actor-director Marla Sokoloff’s indie ensemble comedy Rosé All Day. Alice Hunter (Another Period), Briana Cuoco (Flight Attendant), Cameron Kelly (Masters of Sex) and Avery Norris (White Elephant)…

Of the 238 feature documentaries to qualify for Oscar consideration this year, two of the most acclaimed contenders come from Romania—an impressive achievement for the Eastern European nation. Collective, Romania's official Oscar entry for Best International Film, has won more than 20 prizes to date and this week was…

It was a bit of a wait, thanks to the pandemic, but the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations for the 2020-21 season finally were announced today, with A24’s First Cow, Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A24’s Minari, Focus Features’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Searchlight’s Nomadland taking the five slots…

The IFC Films documentary MLK/FBI from filmmaker Sam Pollard (Two Trains Runnin’, Eyes on the Prize) makes its debut in select theaters today as well as on demand. The release aligns with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 18 and it is super relevant to America’s wild inequity and racist treatment of the Black…

EXCLUSIVE: Dekanalog, a new theatrical and digital distribution company with an emphasis on presenting international titles for U.S. audiences, will launch in March with four films on its initial slate. The company will release Keep an Eye Out, an absurdist comedy directed by Quentin Dupieux, online on March 5. The…

The IFP has rebranded as The Gotham Film and Media Institute on the eve of the 30th annual Gotham Awards. Usually a harbinger of Oscar season, the 2021 edition of the show on Monday night will be an early sign of how to hand out film statuettes and pay tribute to creative luminaries during Covid-19. Founded in 1979 as…

A small side-effect of the pandemic—very small, given the scale of the overall disaster—has been an obvious buckling of the film calendar. Dates have been pushed. Release dates revised. Decisions postponed. The awards season is a mess. In a normal year, like dimly remembered 2019, the movie media and their minders…

Amazon is set to find the beat with the upcoming Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed which hits select theaters today before moving to Prime Video on December 4. The film marks the feature directorial debut of Darius Marder, who co-wrote the movie with Abraham Marder. Sound of Metal follows punk-metal drummer Ruben…

The Independent Film & Television Alliance, which produces the annual American Film Market, has elected eight new members to its board. The new directors include executives from such companies as Lionsgate, Myriad Pictures and XYZ Films. The latest additions to IFTA’s board are J.D. Beaufils (VMI Worldwide), Scott…

Neon will bring some passionate romance in Ammonite this weekend. The period pic starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan opened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September where it immediately garnered buzz as an Oscar favorite. Written and directed by Francis Lee, Ammonite is set in the 1840s and follows…