Pimienta has come on board as co-producer on Sujo, the Sundance Dramatic World Cinema grand jury prize winner that Paris-based Alpha Violet continues to sell in Cannes.
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sydney Film Festival (June 5-16) has unveiled the 12 titles that will play in competition at its 71st edition, including six features that are set to premiere at Cannes this month.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
- 5/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mexican directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo won the Grand Prix at this year’s Sofia International Film Festival (March 13-24).
The Mexican-French-us co-production about a boy who must fight against the temptation of local gangs premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and is being handled internationally by Alpha Violet.
The festival’s top prize has gone to a film from Mexico for the second year running after Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes won last year.
The international jury, presided over by Hungarian actor-writer-director Szabolcs Hadju and including outgoing EFM director Dennis Ruh,...
The Mexican-French-us co-production about a boy who must fight against the temptation of local gangs premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and is being handled internationally by Alpha Violet.
The festival’s top prize has gone to a film from Mexico for the second year running after Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes won last year.
The international jury, presided over by Hungarian actor-writer-director Szabolcs Hadju and including outgoing EFM director Dennis Ruh,...
- 3/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Filmmaker duo Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero have signed with CAA.
Valadez and Rondero co-directed and co-wrote “Sujo,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic competition. The film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Their previous film, “Identifying Features,” won best international feature at the 2021 Gotham Awards. Valadez directed, and Valadez and Rondero co-wrote, co-produced and co-edited.
“Identifying Features” premiered at Sundance in 2020, where it won the audience and screenwriting awards.
In 2017, Rondero’s directorial debut, “The Darkest Days of Us,” won two Ariel Awards in Mexico for best actress and best debut film.
Valadez and Rondero continue to be represented by Silent R Management.
In “Sujo,” a cartel gunman in Mexico is killed, leaving behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside.
Valadez and Rondero co-directed and co-wrote “Sujo,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic competition. The film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Their previous film, “Identifying Features,” won best international feature at the 2021 Gotham Awards. Valadez directed, and Valadez and Rondero co-wrote, co-produced and co-edited.
“Identifying Features” premiered at Sundance in 2020, where it won the audience and screenwriting awards.
In 2017, Rondero’s directorial debut, “The Darkest Days of Us,” won two Ariel Awards in Mexico for best actress and best debut film.
Valadez and Rondero continue to be represented by Silent R Management.
In “Sujo,” a cartel gunman in Mexico is killed, leaving behind Sujo, his beloved 4-year-old son. The shadow of violence surrounds Sujo during each stage of his life in the isolated Mexican countryside.
- 3/21/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Premiering in January to a Sundance Dramatic World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, “Sujo” from “Identifying Features” filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez has expanded its global reach, closing multiple distribution deals forged by Paris-based Alpha Violet, who heads international distribution.
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and McF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
The sales outfit, who co-produced the title alongside Valadez and Romero’s EnAguas Cine, Mexico’s Corpulenta and California’s Silent R Management, have also negotiated a TV deal with HBO Europe on top of closing a recent sale to Mexico and Latin American via Cinepolis. UTA is assisting with the domestic U.S. market.
“It’s been...
- 3/20/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
A snapshot of the most exciting voices working in American and international cinema today––and with a strong focus on newcomers––the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look festival returns this week, taking place March 13-17.
As always, the annual festival brings together a varied, eclectic lineup of cinema from all corners of the world––including a number of films still seeking distribution, making this series perhaps one of your only chances to see these works on the big screen. Check out our top picks below, along with the exclusive premiere of the festival trailer.
Arthur&Diana (Sara Summa)
A lo-fi siblings road trip movie shot with a mix of MiniDV, Betacam, and 16mm, Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana marks an interesting, mostly successful gamble of personal storytelling, in which Summa stars alongside her-real brother, Robin Summa. Jared Mobarak said in his TIFF review, “As such, we glean...
As always, the annual festival brings together a varied, eclectic lineup of cinema from all corners of the world––including a number of films still seeking distribution, making this series perhaps one of your only chances to see these works on the big screen. Check out our top picks below, along with the exclusive premiere of the festival trailer.
Arthur&Diana (Sara Summa)
A lo-fi siblings road trip movie shot with a mix of MiniDV, Betacam, and 16mm, Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana marks an interesting, mostly successful gamble of personal storytelling, in which Summa stars alongside her-real brother, Robin Summa. Jared Mobarak said in his TIFF review, “As such, we glean...
- 3/11/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well has been set as the opening film of the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which has unveiled its full lineup today.
It will mark the Asian premiere of the Hong Kong feature, which debuted in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale last month and won the Teddy Award. Starring Patra Au and Maggie Li, it centres on a lesbian couple in their twilight years. After one of them dies, the other struggles to retain both her dignity and the home they shared for more than 30 years.
Miyake Sho’s All The Long Nights,...
It will mark the Asian premiere of the Hong Kong feature, which debuted in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale last month and won the Teddy Award. Starring Patra Au and Maggie Li, it centres on a lesbian couple in their twilight years. After one of them dies, the other struggles to retain both her dignity and the home they shared for more than 30 years.
Miyake Sho’s All The Long Nights,...
- 3/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Alpha Violet has acquired world sales rights for Uruguayan filmmaking duo Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s new drama Don’t You Let Me Go, exploring themes of friendship and death.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Museum of the Moving Image is pleased to announce the complete lineup for the 13th edition of First Look, the Museum's festival of new and innovative international cinema, which will take place in person March 13–17, 2024. Each year, First Look offers a diverse slate of major New York premieres, work-in-progress screenings and sessions, gallery installations, and fresh perspectives on the art and process of filmmaking. This year's festival introduces New York audiences to more than three dozen works from around the world. The guiding ethos of First Look is openness, curiosity, and discovery, aiming to expose audiences to new art, artists to new audiences, and everyone to different methods, perspectives, interrogations, and encounters. For five consecutive days the festival takes over MoMI's two theaters, as well as other rooms and galleries throughout the Museum—with in-person appearances and dialogue integral to the experience. Each night concludes with one of five...
- 2/14/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
A yearly highlight of New York (or American) programming, the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look will return on March 13 with an opening-night screening of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo, close on March 17 with Bill and Turner Ross’ Gasoline Rainbow, and in the intervening days combine programming of recent cutting-edge highlights with in-person talks and seminars.
First Look’s fixture “Working on It” will run between March 13 and 15, offering “a laboratory for works in progress and dialogues about process, bringing together festival guests, filmmakers, students, writers, and the general public.” Meanwhile, writers and editors from Reverse Shot “will continue discussions begun in last year’s Emerging Critics Workshop throughout the festival.”
So says MoMI’s Curator of Film Eric Hynes:
“Now in its 13th year, First Look has carved out a unique, and we think essential, place in New York’s film and cultural landscape.
First Look’s fixture “Working on It” will run between March 13 and 15, offering “a laboratory for works in progress and dialogues about process, bringing together festival guests, filmmakers, students, writers, and the general public.” Meanwhile, writers and editors from Reverse Shot “will continue discussions begun in last year’s Emerging Critics Workshop throughout the festival.”
So says MoMI’s Curator of Film Eric Hynes:
“Now in its 13th year, First Look has carved out a unique, and we think essential, place in New York’s film and cultural landscape.
- 2/12/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The annual Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look Festival has given IndieWire an exclusive “first look” at the lineup.
The 13th annual event, which takes place March 13 through 17 in Astoria, Queens, opens with the New York premiere of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo,” which recently took home the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The First Look Festival focuses on emerging talents and international voices, with the fest premiering 46 works, including 20 features that represent 21 countries. Highlights include Farhad Delaram’s “Achilles,” Graham Swon’s “An Evening Song (for three voices), and the U.S. premiere of Lois Patiño’s “Samsara.” Zhang Mengqi’s “Self-Portrait: 47 Km 2020,” which won the Award of Excellence winner at the 2023 Yamagata Documentary Festival, will also screen along with Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 2023 IDFA grand prize winner “1489,” the debut for the filmmaker. Returning First Look directors like Michaël Andrianaly...
The 13th annual event, which takes place March 13 through 17 in Astoria, Queens, opens with the New York premiere of Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo,” which recently took home the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The First Look Festival focuses on emerging talents and international voices, with the fest premiering 46 works, including 20 features that represent 21 countries. Highlights include Farhad Delaram’s “Achilles,” Graham Swon’s “An Evening Song (for three voices), and the U.S. premiere of Lois Patiño’s “Samsara.” Zhang Mengqi’s “Self-Portrait: 47 Km 2020,” which won the Award of Excellence winner at the 2023 Yamagata Documentary Festival, will also screen along with Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 2023 IDFA grand prize winner “1489,” the debut for the filmmaker. Returning First Look directors like Michaël Andrianaly...
- 2/12/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A film about growing up in your father’s shadow that mostly (and unexpectedly) examines the role of women as community pillars and violence interrupters, Sujo is the compelling new Sundance award-winning feature from Identifying Features team Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez. The father in question Josue (Juan Jesús Varela Hernández) is a sicario, a brutal gang enforcer killed early in the film by his cartel. The first chapter unfolds as young Sujo (Kevin Uriel Aguilar Luna) watches his father conduct business at a distance, purposefully disorienting passages wherein we overhear conversations. Compounding the confusion, when his father doesn’t return home, we witness a chilling scene in which he’s hidden by his aunt Nemesia (Yadira Perez Esteban) when a member of the cartel comes to exact revenge after Sujo’s father killed his son.
The film’s later passages find Nemesia raising Sujo, who spends time as a...
The film’s later passages find Nemesia raising Sujo, who spends time as a...
- 2/5/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
As the latest feature from writers/directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero (“Identifying Features”) draws to a close, it’s hard to ignore the starkness, pacing, and tone overall; this is hardly the sort of film one puts on as any sort of a palate cleanser. While superbly well-made, beautifully shot, and comprised of a cast firing on all cylinders in terms of acting ability, to make it through “Sujo” is akin to a slight exercise in endurance, though not without a noticeable crescendo as the film chugs along.
Continue reading ‘Sujo’ Review: Mexican Adolescence Meets Cartel Woes In This Slow Burner [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Sujo’ Review: Mexican Adolescence Meets Cartel Woes In This Slow Burner [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/29/2024
- by Brian Farvour
- The Playlist
The winner of the World Dramatic competition at Sundance, co-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s understated and essential Mexican drama “Sujo” is one of two films in this year’s lineup (the other being “Ponyboi”) in which children who were given distinctive names by doomed macho dads spend years wondering what those monikers mean. In both cases, the eventual reveal puts a poignant coda on stories of young Latinos struggling to escape the cycle of ignorance and unhealthy behavior that threatens to pull them under.
An optimistic entry in a traditionally brutal genre, “Sujo” is a story about defying gravity. Like Sleeping Beauty — who manages to prick her finger, even after all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were thought destroyed — or tragic figures from Greek mythology whose fates are dictated by the gods, the title character seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of his father, Josue...
An optimistic entry in a traditionally brutal genre, “Sujo” is a story about defying gravity. Like Sleeping Beauty — who manages to prick her finger, even after all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were thought destroyed — or tragic figures from Greek mythology whose fates are dictated by the gods, the title character seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of his father, Josue...
- 1/29/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The Sundance Film Festival announced its 2024 winners on January 26, two days before the festival’s end date. The Awards Ceremony took place at The Ray Theater in Park City, Utah. This year marks its 40th annual festival run taking place from January 18 to January 28.
In the Summer, a film director Alessandra Lacorazza, won the top honor, U.S. Grand Jury Prize, starring Lio Mehiel.
Last year, Mehiel told uInterview exclusively about the importance of trans representation.
“Whenever there is an uptick of queer or trans representation in the media, there is an equal and perhaps greater response from the other side … that are looking to suppress trans rights, trans agency [and] queer liberation,” Mehiel told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “While in Hollywood we are seeing trans representation and this film is able to be part of that movement, this film is more important now than ever because even just in Utah,...
In the Summer, a film director Alessandra Lacorazza, won the top honor, U.S. Grand Jury Prize, starring Lio Mehiel.
Last year, Mehiel told uInterview exclusively about the importance of trans representation.
“Whenever there is an uptick of queer or trans representation in the media, there is an equal and perhaps greater response from the other side … that are looking to suppress trans rights, trans agency [and] queer liberation,” Mehiel told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “While in Hollywood we are seeing trans representation and this film is able to be part of that movement, this film is more important now than ever because even just in Utah,...
- 1/27/2024
- by Ann Hoang
- Uinterview
A still from In ‘The Summers’ by Alessandra Lacorazza (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Sundance announced its winners on Friday morning, with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers took the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Brendan Bellomo’s Porcelain War the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sundance announced its winners on Friday morning, with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers took the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Brendan Bellomo’s Porcelain War the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony revealed winners Friday honoring the best of this year’s lineup in Park City.
The U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers, about two sisters who navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, Nm. Lacorazza also won a special jury prize for directing.
See the full list of winners below.
Other Grand Jury winners unveiled today in the ceremony at the Ray Theatre included Porcelain War in the U.S. Documentary competition, A New Kind of Wilderness in the World Cinema Documentary competition, and Sujo in the World Cinema Dramatic competition.
Angela Patton and Natalie Rae’s documentary Daughters received the Festival Favorite Award, which Park City audiences select across all new feature films presented at the festival, as well as the Audience Award for the U.
The U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers, about two sisters who navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, Nm. Lacorazza also won a special jury prize for directing.
See the full list of winners below.
Other Grand Jury winners unveiled today in the ceremony at the Ray Theatre included Porcelain War in the U.S. Documentary competition, A New Kind of Wilderness in the World Cinema Documentary competition, and Sujo in the World Cinema Dramatic competition.
Angela Patton and Natalie Rae’s documentary Daughters received the Festival Favorite Award, which Park City audiences select across all new feature films presented at the festival, as well as the Audience Award for the U.
- 1/26/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
While there’s still a few days left of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Ferrari, Sundance 2024, Once Within a Time, Four Daughters & More”>including the opportunity to watch many titles from the comfort of your own home, the juries have now handed out their awards. Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to: In The Summers (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Porcelain War (U.S. Documentary Competition), Sujo (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and A New Kind of Wilderness (World Cinema Documentary Competition).
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
Check out the full list below and see all of our reviews here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. — On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cast: René Pérez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lío Mehiel, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival awards were announced today at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
See the list of 2024 winners below, and congrats to all the winners.
Festival Favorite Award
Daughters (USA) – Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Grand Jury Prize
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
Directing Award
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance
Suncoast (USA) – Nico Parker
Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble
Dìdi – Sean Wang
Audience Award
Dìdi – Sean Wang
U.S. Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize
Porcelain War – Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
Directing Award
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Special Jury Award for Sound
Gaucho Gaucho (USA, Argentina) – Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
Special Jury Award for The Art of Change
Union (USA) – Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Frida...
See the list of 2024 winners below, and congrats to all the winners.
Festival Favorite Award
Daughters (USA) – Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Grand Jury Prize
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
Directing Award
In the Summers (USA) – Alessandra Lacorazza
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance
Suncoast (USA) – Nico Parker
Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble
Dìdi – Sean Wang
Audience Award
Dìdi – Sean Wang
U.S. Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize
Porcelain War – Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
Directing Award
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Special Jury Award for Sound
Gaucho Gaucho (USA, Argentina) – Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
Special Jury Award for The Art of Change
Union (USA) – Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Frida...
- 1/26/2024
- by Prem
- Talking Films
The human spirit can be remarkably resilient, but humankind’s capacity for violence sadly makes that resilience more necessary than it should be. Fernanda Valadez’s Sujo meditates, ponders and reaches touching heights as it follows the marked son of a dead sicario from childhood to young adulthood as he tries to escape the cycle of violence and death that plague his village and his family.
The movie is another triumph for writer/director Valadez, who made the 2020 Sundance hit Identifying Features with screenwriter Astrid Rondero, who collaborates with him again here, and actor Juan Jesús Varela, who plays the title character from his teenage years on. It captures danger, suspense, tenderness and hope as it considers how someone can escape their apparent destiny.
Set in a rural Mexican village where cartels call the shots and everyone else hopes to live life peacefully, the story follows Sujo and his family.
The movie is another triumph for writer/director Valadez, who made the 2020 Sundance hit Identifying Features with screenwriter Astrid Rondero, who collaborates with him again here, and actor Juan Jesús Varela, who plays the title character from his teenage years on. It captures danger, suspense, tenderness and hope as it considers how someone can escape their apparent destiny.
Set in a rural Mexican village where cartels call the shots and everyone else hopes to live life peacefully, the story follows Sujo and his family.
- 1/22/2024
- by Jeremy Mathews
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Goodbye Horses: Valadez & Rondero Explore a Valley of Violence
Working as co-directors on their latest feature Sujo, Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero once again explore families dismantled by circumstance and violence. Having previously worked together on the exceptional Identifying Features (2020), on which Valadez served as director/producer from a script by Rondero, they explore another intimate saga for their titular protagonist, a young boy haunted by the dangerous legacy of his father, threatened by a perpetual cycle of violence. Juxtaposing the inherent menace lurking beneath the rural idyll of Tierra Caliente with the submerged promises buried in the urban sprawl of Mexico City, this four part narrative is a slow burn slippery slope until it reaches the grace notes of a third act atonement, revealing the graceful answer to what’s in a name.…...
Working as co-directors on their latest feature Sujo, Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero once again explore families dismantled by circumstance and violence. Having previously worked together on the exceptional Identifying Features (2020), on which Valadez served as director/producer from a script by Rondero, they explore another intimate saga for their titular protagonist, a young boy haunted by the dangerous legacy of his father, threatened by a perpetual cycle of violence. Juxtaposing the inherent menace lurking beneath the rural idyll of Tierra Caliente with the submerged promises buried in the urban sprawl of Mexico City, this four part narrative is a slow burn slippery slope until it reaches the grace notes of a third act atonement, revealing the graceful answer to what’s in a name.…...
- 1/19/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Early in writer-directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero’s Sujo, the eponymous character (initially played by Kevin Aguilar) faces down the prospect of his own death. Josué (Juan Jesús Varela Hernández), a cartel sicario from Michoacán, Mexico, was branded a traitor and murdered, and now, Sujo, his only son, must be dealt with. The only indication that little Sujo even grasps the danger of the situation is when he wets himself while hiding under a table as a cartel assassin comes calling. But it doesn’t matter to the cartel that the boy is far too young to seek vengeance. What matters is Sujo’s connection to Josué, and that the burden of history and blood is such that it may very well shape him into his father’s son.
In this way, the film concerns itself with legacy and free will. Sujo’s aunt, Nemesia (Yadira Pérez), begs for the child’s life,...
In this way, the film concerns itself with legacy and free will. Sujo’s aunt, Nemesia (Yadira Pérez), begs for the child’s life,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Steven Scaife
- Slant Magazine
For the larger part of the last two decades, Mexican cinema has been over saturated with hard-to-stomach chronicles of the monstrous drug violence ravaging the country, but no one is approaching such darkness with the layered sensibility and aesthetic poetry of directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero. Proven by their soul-shattering and award-winning previous collaboration, “Identifying Features” (which Valadez directed and Rondero co-wrote), they see the ongoing crisis not for its potential for spectacle or tactless shock value, but for the unspeakable human tragedy that it is.
While “Identifying Features” followed a mother searching for her son, a migrant victim of the horrors, their slightly more hopeful latest, “Sujo,” flips the focus to trace how young men from small, impoverished towns are trapped by the inescapable cycles of violence and become ruthless perpetrators. Here, Valadez and Rondero, now officially co-writing and co-directing, extend their cinematic empathy even to those society...
While “Identifying Features” followed a mother searching for her son, a migrant victim of the horrors, their slightly more hopeful latest, “Sujo,” flips the focus to trace how young men from small, impoverished towns are trapped by the inescapable cycles of violence and become ruthless perpetrators. Here, Valadez and Rondero, now officially co-writing and co-directing, extend their cinematic empathy even to those society...
- 1/19/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? We think our most significant location was Nemesia’s house, the protagonist’s aunt. It’s the place where Sujo grows up, physically but also spiritually. We have scouted that area for years now: a rural community in the outskirts of Guanajuato, Mexico, Fernanda’s hometown. […]
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? We think our most significant location was Nemesia’s house, the protagonist’s aunt. It’s the place where Sujo grows up, physically but also spiritually. We have scouted that area for years now: a rural community in the outskirts of Guanajuato, Mexico, Fernanda’s hometown. […]
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Were Very Fortunate to Be Allowed to Shoot There” | Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Sujo, the Sundance 2024 World Cinema Dramatic Competition premiere directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, follows the life of a Mexican boy who is orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. Below, cinematographer Ximena Amann, who also shot Rondero’s previous film, The Darkest Days of Us, discusses the challenges and delights of working with children and shooting in a protected natural area with minimal equipment. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sujo, the Sundance 2024 World Cinema Dramatic Competition premiere directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, follows the life of a Mexican boy who is orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. Below, cinematographer Ximena Amann, who also shot Rondero’s previous film, The Darkest Days of Us, discusses the challenges and delights of working with children and shooting in a protected natural area with minimal equipment. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Simplicity Would Become One of Our Fundamental Rules”: Dp Ximena Amann on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In Sujo, co-directed by Astrid Rondero (The Darkest Days of Us) and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features) and premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the eponymous child is left orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. The film then follows the turbulence that echoes throughout his life as he grows older. The film’s editor, Susan Korda, is best known for the Oscar-nominated For All Mankind, but she also edited Rondero’s The Darkest Days of Us and Valadez’s Identifying Features. Rondero and Valadez also worked on each other’s films, making this […]
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In Sujo, co-directed by Astrid Rondero (The Darkest Days of Us) and Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features) and premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the eponymous child is left orphaned when his father, a cartel gunman, is killed. The film then follows the turbulence that echoes throughout his life as he grows older. The film’s editor, Susan Korda, is best known for the Oscar-nominated For All Mankind, but she also edited Rondero’s The Darkest Days of Us and Valadez’s Identifying Features. Rondero and Valadez also worked on each other’s films, making this […]
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Creating Editorial Iterations Can Often Be Like Smelling Too Much Perfume”: Editor Susan Korda on Sujo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Ahead of its international bow in World Cinema Dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, Beverly Hills-based United Talent Agency’s Independent Film Group has pounced on domestic sales representation for the unconventional narco narrative “Sujo,” from “Identifying Features” creators Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez.
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
UTA joins Paris-based outfit Alpha Violet (“Apples”), which handles international sales as well as co-producing the new Sundance title.
“Alpha Violet is thrilled to continue working with Fernanda and Astrid after the success of ‘Identifying Features.’ Being a larger team to support our filmmakers is fantastic!” Virginie Devesa, co-head of Alpha Violet, told Variety.
Screening within the fest’s World Cinema Dramatic competition, the project tackles inherited identity and the weighty struggles that suffocate cartel communities through the eyes and experiences of a toddler, Sujo, who comes of age having lost parents in a town marred by brutality.
“In Mexico, there’s an immense crisis...
- 1/18/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
The Göteborg Film Festival has unveiled the competition titles selected for its 47th edition, which runs from January 26 to February 4. (Scroll down for the full list).
Göteborg is split into four competition strands. The main strand is the Nordic Competition, which features nine films from the Nordic region. The competition’s winner takes home the Dragon Award and a Sek 400,000 cash prize. The rest of the festival comprises the Nordic Documentary Competition, the Ingmar Bergman Competition for first-time filmmakers, and the International Competition.
Among the Nordic highlights is Madame Luna, Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa’s return to Nordic filmmaking following a series of Hollywood titles such as Morbius and Safe House. Inspired by real-life events, the film follows an Eritrean refugee who gets stuck in Libya and becomes a notorious human trafficker known as “Mama Luna” with deep ties to the Italian Mafia. When she is forced to flee to...
Göteborg is split into four competition strands. The main strand is the Nordic Competition, which features nine films from the Nordic region. The competition’s winner takes home the Dragon Award and a Sek 400,000 cash prize. The rest of the festival comprises the Nordic Documentary Competition, the Ingmar Bergman Competition for first-time filmmakers, and the International Competition.
Among the Nordic highlights is Madame Luna, Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa’s return to Nordic filmmaking following a series of Hollywood titles such as Morbius and Safe House. Inspired by real-life events, the film follows an Eritrean refugee who gets stuck in Libya and becomes a notorious human trafficker known as “Mama Luna” with deep ties to the Italian Mafia. When she is forced to flee to...
- 1/9/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Duván Duque, the Colombian writer-director behind 2024 Oscar-qualifying short All-Inclusive, has signed with UTA and Silent R Management.
World premiering at TIFF last year before going on to play over 70 festivals around the world, where it picked up 20+ awards, Duque’s latest watches as a young boy’s fragile family is shaken when his desperate father faces the possibility of money laundering as a way out of their financial struggles, putting the kid’s precious bond with his stepmother at risk. By shifting the focus from a spectacular tales of drug lords to the emotional journey of a boy with little control over his fate, the drama offers a fresh angle on Colombian society, transcending the typical tropes through which it’s represented.
All-Inclusive was produced by Oscar-nominated French producers Christophe Barral and Toufik Ayadi of Srab Films, as well as Colombian producer Franco Lolli...
World premiering at TIFF last year before going on to play over 70 festivals around the world, where it picked up 20+ awards, Duque’s latest watches as a young boy’s fragile family is shaken when his desperate father faces the possibility of money laundering as a way out of their financial struggles, putting the kid’s precious bond with his stepmother at risk. By shifting the focus from a spectacular tales of drug lords to the emotional journey of a boy with little control over his fate, the drama offers a fresh angle on Colombian society, transcending the typical tropes through which it’s represented.
All-Inclusive was produced by Oscar-nominated French producers Christophe Barral and Toufik Ayadi of Srab Films, as well as Colombian producer Franco Lolli...
- 12/15/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Girls Will Be Girls To Premiere At Sundance Film Festival 2024: Here’s Everything You Should Know About Chadha & Ali Fazal’s Debut Production! ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Shivani Negi
- KoiMoi
If you are looking to stir emotions and grab some tissues this weekend Our Friend has got you covered.
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
- 1/22/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
A week after Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela) announces his immigration dreams to his mother Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) — a simple plan, consisting of alighting to Arizona with his best friend Rigo (Armando García), getting a job, and not much else — the young Mexican teenager is gone. Months later, the boys have yet to announce their arrival in the United States, nor have they returned to the landlocked state of Guanajuato. They, like so many before and likely after them, have simply gone missing, and in a country where such a tragedy is all too common, it falls on the people they’ve left behind to figure out what has happened to their beloved boys.
Fernanda Valadez’s feature directorial debut “Identifying Features” takes that seemingly tear-jerking concept — one beset by knotty bureaucratic issues, painful language barriers, and the sense of further danger around every bend — and turns it into an artfully...
Fernanda Valadez’s feature directorial debut “Identifying Features” takes that seemingly tear-jerking concept — one beset by knotty bureaucratic issues, painful language barriers, and the sense of further danger around every bend — and turns it into an artfully...
- 1/21/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Gotham Awards for the best in independent film kicked off this unusual awards season on Monday night, January 11. Presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, these kudos are usually handed out in early December but were pushed back (as were many awards events) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So who won? Scroll down for the complete list of winners, updated live as they were announced.
SEEGotham nominee John Magaro (‘First Cow’) on how Cookie and King-Lu are ‘almost soulmates’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman,...
SEEGotham nominee John Magaro (‘First Cow’) on how Cookie and King-Lu are ‘almost soulmates’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman,...
- 1/12/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Gerardo Naranjo’s “Kokoloko” took home the Premio Mezcal for best Mexican film at the hybrid 35th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), which wrapped Friday, Nov. 27.
The love triangle drama signals a return to the big screen for Naranjo who has spent nearly a decade after his 2011 hit “Miss Bala” directing episodes of such high-profile series as “Narcos,” “The Bridge” and “Fear the Walking Dead.”
Shot in 16 mm, Naranjo’s drama about a woman caught between two men, one a violent cousin holding her captive, first debuted at Tribeca where lead Noe Hernandez won the Best Actor prize. The Match Factory handles international sales.
Chilean film and TV writer-director-producer Andres Wood won the Best Ibero-American film prize with his political thriller “Spider,” that tracks the disparate fates of right-wing radicals in the early ‘70s, prior to the coup d’état that heralds the military regime of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Drama...
The love triangle drama signals a return to the big screen for Naranjo who has spent nearly a decade after his 2011 hit “Miss Bala” directing episodes of such high-profile series as “Narcos,” “The Bridge” and “Fear the Walking Dead.”
Shot in 16 mm, Naranjo’s drama about a woman caught between two men, one a violent cousin holding her captive, first debuted at Tribeca where lead Noe Hernandez won the Best Actor prize. The Match Factory handles international sales.
Chilean film and TV writer-director-producer Andres Wood won the Best Ibero-American film prize with his political thriller “Spider,” that tracks the disparate fates of right-wing radicals in the early ‘70s, prior to the coup d’état that heralds the military regime of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Drama...
- 11/29/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
‘Nomadland’ and ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ secure two nominations each.
Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow leads the nominations for the 30th IFP Gotham Awards, in which the nods for best feature are all directed by women.
Period drama First Cow, first seen at Telluride 2019 and released by A24, secured four nominations for best feature, screenplay and actor, for John Magaro, as well as breakthrough actor, for Orion Lee.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Titles that scored two nominations included Chloe Zhao’s Venice Golden Lion winner Nomadland, for best feature and actress Frances McDormand; and Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always,...
Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow leads the nominations for the 30th IFP Gotham Awards, in which the nods for best feature are all directed by women.
Period drama First Cow, first seen at Telluride 2019 and released by A24, secured four nominations for best feature, screenplay and actor, for John Magaro, as well as breakthrough actor, for Orion Lee.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Titles that scored two nominations included Chloe Zhao’s Venice Golden Lion winner Nomadland, for best feature and actress Frances McDormand; and Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always,...
- 11/12/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
This year’s awards season, delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally got underway with the announcement of the 2021 Gotham Awards nominations on November 12 (last year’s big reveal was on Oct. 24). These awards are presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and honor the best of the year as determined by small committees of film journalists and festival programmers. The five Best Feature nominees, which were all directed by women, are: “The Assistant,” “First Cow,” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Nomadland” and “Relic.” Scroll down to see the complete list of contenders.
Will these awards preview the Oscars? Perhaps. Last year’s Best Feature award went to “Marriage Story,” which did go on to reap a Best Picture bid. However, that was the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, its rival Gotham Awards nominees — “The Farewell,” “Hustlers,” “Uncut Gems” and “Waves” — were all snubbed by the Academy Awards.
Why is this?...
Will these awards preview the Oscars? Perhaps. Last year’s Best Feature award went to “Marriage Story,” which did go on to reap a Best Picture bid. However, that was the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, its rival Gotham Awards nominees — “The Farewell,” “Hustlers,” “Uncut Gems” and “Waves” — were all snubbed by the Academy Awards.
Why is this?...
- 11/12/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The starting pistol of awards season has been officially fired with the 30th annual IFP Gotham Awards announcing its nominations and making history. For the first time, women direct all the nominees for best feature. Among them are “The Assistant” from Kitty Green, “First Cow” from Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Eliza Hittman, “Nomadland” from Chloé Zhao and “Relic” from Natalie Erika James.
In the best actor category, Chadwick Boseman received a posthumous nomination for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” a performance likely to be shortlisted by many awards bodies over the next few months. The other nominees included Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jude Law (“The Nest”), John Magaro (“First Cow”) and Jesse Plemons (“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”).
For the actresses, the group gave a very diverse field of cultures and experience. Nicole Beharie’s turn in “Miss Juneteenth” is a riveting portrait, and...
In the best actor category, Chadwick Boseman received a posthumous nomination for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” a performance likely to be shortlisted by many awards bodies over the next few months. The other nominees included Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jude Law (“The Nest”), John Magaro (“First Cow”) and Jesse Plemons (“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”).
For the actresses, the group gave a very diverse field of cultures and experience. Nicole Beharie’s turn in “Miss Juneteenth” is a riveting portrait, and...
- 11/12/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Project directed by Fernanda Valadez is proving a hot commodity at Efm.
Fernanda Valadez’s Sundance double winner Identifying Features is proving a hot commodity at Efm as Alpha Violet reported two key initial European deals likely to spark further sales.
Mfa Film Distributionacquired German rights, while Bodegalicensed the film for France. Last month Kino Lorber took North American rights to the filmafter it premiered in Park City in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Alpha Violet is in talks with other territories and anticipates a strong international festival run.
The drama takes place in northern Mexico against a backdrop of...
Fernanda Valadez’s Sundance double winner Identifying Features is proving a hot commodity at Efm as Alpha Violet reported two key initial European deals likely to spark further sales.
Mfa Film Distributionacquired German rights, while Bodegalicensed the film for France. Last month Kino Lorber took North American rights to the filmafter it premiered in Park City in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Alpha Violet is in talks with other territories and anticipates a strong international festival run.
The drama takes place in northern Mexico against a backdrop of...
- 2/23/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Filmmakers discuss financing, government support, and what they plan to do next.
In a special edition of our podcast series, Screen International donned its winter gear and flew into Park City, Utah, for a chat with four international filmmakers at Sundance Film Festival 2020.
Listen to the podcast on Apple, Android or Spotify
Each director’s new film screened in the prestigious World Cinema Dramatic Competition section: Maïmouna Doucouré brought Cuties (France); Fernanda Valadez Identifying Features (Mexico/Spain); Visar Morina Exil (Germany/Belgium/Kosovo); and Aneil Karia Surge (UK).
All four films address notions of belonging and human connection, yet in...
In a special edition of our podcast series, Screen International donned its winter gear and flew into Park City, Utah, for a chat with four international filmmakers at Sundance Film Festival 2020.
Listen to the podcast on Apple, Android or Spotify
Each director’s new film screened in the prestigious World Cinema Dramatic Competition section: Maïmouna Doucouré brought Cuties (France); Fernanda Valadez Identifying Features (Mexico/Spain); Visar Morina Exil (Germany/Belgium/Kosovo); and Aneil Karia Surge (UK).
All four films address notions of belonging and human connection, yet in...
- 2/6/2020
- by 14¦Screen staff¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
With the first Sundance Film Festival of the new decade wrapping up today, the award winners have been announced. Leading the pack is Minari, which picked up U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, and Boys State, which was awarded U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. It was also announced that Tabitha Jackson will be the new director of the festival, following John Cooper’s departure.
Check out the full winner list below, along with links to our reviews where available, and return for our wrap-up. See our complete coverage here.
2020 Sundance Film Festival Feature Film Awards
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, for Boys State / U.S.A. — In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Lee Isaac Chung,...
Check out the full winner list below, along with links to our reviews where available, and return for our wrap-up. See our complete coverage here.
2020 Sundance Film Festival Feature Film Awards
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, for Boys State / U.S.A. — In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Lee Isaac Chung,...
- 2/2/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
MinariU.S. – DRAMATICGrand Jury PrizeMinari (Lee Isaac Chung)Directing PrizeRadha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version) Audience Award Minari (Lee Isaac Chung) Special Jury Award for Ensemble CastCharm City Kings (Angel Manuel Soto) Special Jury Award for Auteur FilmmakingShirley (Josephine Decker)Special Jury Award for Neo-RealismNever Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)Waldo Salt Screenwriting AwardEdson Oda (Nine Days)U.S. – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury Prize Boys State (Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine) Directing Prize Garrett Bradley (Time) Audience Award Crip Camp (Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht)Special Jury Award for EditingTyler H. Walk (Welcome to Chechnya)Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction StorytellingDick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson)Special Jury Award for Emerging FilmmakerFeels Good Man (Arthur Jones)Special Jury Award for Social Impact FilmmakingThe FightWorld Cinema – DRAMATICGrand Jury Prize Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness (Massoud Bakhshi) Directing Prize Maïmouna Doucouré (Cuties) Audience Award Identifying Features (Fernanda Valadez)Special Jury Award for...
- 2/2/2020
- MUBI
World Cinema Dramatic entries Surge, Cuties among winners.
Mexican missing persons drama Identifying Features has won the World Cinema Dramatic audience award and the section’s juried screenplay prize for director Fernanda Valadez and co-writer Astrid Rondero at the Sundance awards ceremony.
Saturday’s (February 1) event in Park City, Utah, also honoured the UK’s Ben Whishaw with the World Cinema Dramatic special jury award for acting for Aneil Karia’s Surge, which Protagonist Pictures sells internationally, while Cuties on the Netflix slate from director Maïmouna Doucouré won the World Cinema Dramatic directing award.
Kino Lorber acquired North American rights...
Mexican missing persons drama Identifying Features has won the World Cinema Dramatic audience award and the section’s juried screenplay prize for director Fernanda Valadez and co-writer Astrid Rondero at the Sundance awards ceremony.
Saturday’s (February 1) event in Park City, Utah, also honoured the UK’s Ben Whishaw with the World Cinema Dramatic special jury award for acting for Aneil Karia’s Surge, which Protagonist Pictures sells internationally, while Cuties on the Netflix slate from director Maïmouna Doucouré won the World Cinema Dramatic directing award.
Kino Lorber acquired North American rights...
- 2/2/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
The narrative feature “Minari” and the documentary “Boys State” have won the top prizes from the U.S. jury at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, which announced its winners at an awards ceremony on Saturday night. “Minari,” director Lee Isaac Chung’s coming-of-age story about a Korean-American boy, also won the festival’s audience award.
The only other films to win more than one award were “Identifying Features” (“Sin Senas Particulares”), Fernanda Valadez’s drama about a Mexican woman searching for a son who disappeared while attempting to cross the border; and “I Carry You With Me,” in which documentary director Heidi Ewing makes her narrative feature debut about an aspiring Mexican chef whose life changes when his sexuality becomes public. “Identifying Features” won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic section and a jury award for its screenplay, while “I Carry You With Me” won the audience award in...
The only other films to win more than one award were “Identifying Features” (“Sin Senas Particulares”), Fernanda Valadez’s drama about a Mexican woman searching for a son who disappeared while attempting to cross the border; and “I Carry You With Me,” in which documentary director Heidi Ewing makes her narrative feature debut about an aspiring Mexican chef whose life changes when his sexuality becomes public. “Identifying Features” won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic section and a jury award for its screenplay, while “I Carry You With Me” won the audience award in...
- 2/2/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Sundance Film Festival had its share of big deals this year, from the record-setting $17,500,000.69 that Neon and Hulu paid for Palm Springs to a pair of $12 million deals for The Night House (Searchlight) and Uncle Frank (Amazon).
With the powder still settling, the 2020 fest handed out its annual awards Saturday night in a ceremony at Basin Fieldhouse in Park City, where it also revealed that Tabitha Jackson has been named the new Director, succeeding the retiring John Cooper.
Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari was the big winner tonight, taking both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Based on Chung’s real life, the drama follows a Korean-American family that moves from L.A. to Arkansas to chase the American Dream.
Other films that have managed to take the top two awards at the fest recently include Birth of a Nation in...
With the powder still settling, the 2020 fest handed out its annual awards Saturday night in a ceremony at Basin Fieldhouse in Park City, where it also revealed that Tabitha Jackson has been named the new Director, succeeding the retiring John Cooper.
Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari was the big winner tonight, taking both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Based on Chung’s real life, the drama follows a Korean-American family that moves from L.A. to Arkansas to chase the American Dream.
Other films that have managed to take the top two awards at the fest recently include Birth of a Nation in...
- 2/2/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close in Park City, and that means that this year’s award winners have been announced. The awards spotlight standout films across the festival’s various categories, including U.S. films spanning fiction and documentary, as well as foreign-made films, and Next and Midnight selections.
This year’s fest brought a bounty of riches that are continuing to attract buyers, including high-profile pickups from Neon and Hulu (“Palm Springs”), Sony Pictures Classics, Searchlight Pictures (“The Night House”), and more. The 2020 Sundance Film Festival broke a number of records, from diversity in its programming to sales. Culled from 15,000 submissions, the 2020 edition offered up a range of timely, boundary-pushing documentary and narrative storytelling, promising new voices and satisfying new heights from established filmmakers. (Check out IndieWire’s roundup of the best 15 films out of Sundance here.)
Netflix, which owned this year’s Academy Awards nominations,...
This year’s fest brought a bounty of riches that are continuing to attract buyers, including high-profile pickups from Neon and Hulu (“Palm Springs”), Sony Pictures Classics, Searchlight Pictures (“The Night House”), and more. The 2020 Sundance Film Festival broke a number of records, from diversity in its programming to sales. Culled from 15,000 submissions, the 2020 edition offered up a range of timely, boundary-pushing documentary and narrative storytelling, promising new voices and satisfying new heights from established filmmakers. (Check out IndieWire’s roundup of the best 15 films out of Sundance here.)
Netflix, which owned this year’s Academy Awards nominations,...
- 2/2/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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