Festivals

Killers of the Flower Moon to Receive the Vanguard Award at the Palm Spring International Film Awards | Festivals & Awards

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“‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is a powerful and important film not only for its cinematic poetry, but also as a complicated story about the suspicious murders of members of the Osage Nation, one which fully illustrates the evils of racism and corruption,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film features a powerhouse … Read more

Chaz Ebert Celebrates 25 Years of Ebertfest While Honored at University of Illinois Alumni Awards Gala | Festivals & Awards

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“I cannot believe that it was almost 25 years ago that Roger and I started the Roger Ebert Film Festival at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana,” said Ebert. “And I am pleased to be installed as an Honorary Alumnus. Over these years our mission of encouraging empathy through the movies has grown to include … Read more

Black Harvest Film Festival 2023 Highlights: John Singleton, Tyler Perry, and A Vibrant Artistic Community | Festivals & Awards

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It’s been a year since the festival’s co-founder, the dearly missed Sergio Mims, passed away. Celebrating its 29th iteration, the first program directly untouched by Mims, the festival conjured a theme that implicitly connected the gathering to its enduring past while looking toward a necessary future. Lead Curator Jada-Amina and Coordinator Nick Leffel rang the … Read more

Black Harvest Film Festival 2023 Interview: Monica Sorelle on Her Richly Personal Mountains | Festivals & Awards

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Speaking of timing being on your side, you mentioned in the Q&A last night that the script was written in 2019, but you didn’t begin filming until 2022 because of the pandemic. With the extra time, the script shifted. In what ways did it shift? The general story and the general approach was always there. … Read more

Black Harvest Film Festival 2023: Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, Black Barbie: A Documentary, We Were Meant To, Burnt Milk | Festivals & Awards

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Not only did Black Harvest Film Festival feature a band of boundary pushing features, there were also smart, imaginative shorts too. Tari Wariebi’s “We Were Meant To,” which initially premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2023, comes out of the AFI Conservatory. The film elegantly mixes fable with political subtext through a community of Black men … Read more

Oscar-winning Filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry to Receive the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival’s Inspire Award | Festivals & Awards

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According to the festival’s press release, the Inspire Award is “given to a filmmaker who influences and inspires filmmakers to create empowering and positive messages for young audiences. Cherry’s Oscar-winning project, ‘Hair Love,’ about an African American father attempting to do his daughter’s hair for the first time, won the 2020 Academy Award for Best … Read more

CIFF 2023: Table of Contents | Festivals & Awards

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The following table of contents includes our complete coverage of the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival, as written by Brian Tallerico, Nick Allen, Robert Daniels, Marya E. Gates, Peter Sobczynski,  Zachary Lee, and Chaz Ebert.  CIFF 2023: All Happy Families, Bike Vessel, Departing Seniors, Memorial by Robert Daniels CIFF 2023: The Taste of Things, Fallen Leaves, La Chimera by Peter Sobczynski  CIFF 2023: … Read more

CIFF 2023: The Space Race, Food Roots, The Echo | Festivals & Awards

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At a brisk 59 minutes, “Food Roots” embodies, for better and worse, the frantic and voracious hunger (pun intended) Dec himself felt once he set foot in the Philippines. He goes from island to island, often meeting a family member and learning to cook a new food item. But the film is sometimes rushed, especially … Read more

NYFF 2023: Pictures of Ghosts, Eureka, Last Summer | Festivals & Awards

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Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho tells us the origins of his love for motion pictures, developed in the city of Recife at theaters like the Veneza and Sao Luiz. Though these cinemas were closed over time and converted into different spaces with new people and memories, the ghosts of the films of the director’s youth … Read more

CIFF 2023: Explanation for Everything, About Dry Grasses, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World | Festivals & Awards

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Abel (Adonyi-Walsh Gáspár) is a student in Budapest who is taking his final exams, but he finds himself more distracted by a crush on a classmate named Janka (Lilla Kizlinger), who has her own crush on her married, much older teacher, Jakab (András Rusznák). Whether or not what unfolds in “Explanation for Everything” is a … Read more