समाचार

Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, the directors and subjects of the playful and poetic Hummingbirds, like to sing and dance, take selfies and goof around. It would be easy, at quick glance, to dismiss their mischief as youthful self-absorption. It’s youthful self-absorption, to be sure, but something serious, vibrant and compelling courses through the levity. Silvia and Beba are, respectively, a powerful writer and a gifted musician. They were 18 and 21 when they began making the film, and it catches them in that singular in-between state on the edge of full-fledged adulthood. They’re also intimately acquainted with another in-between, one that’s not as ephemeral: As Mexican immigrants in Laredo, a city on the Texas side of the Rio Grande, they live in an actual borderland.

Shot mostly in the summer of 2019, Hummingbirds, which received a jury award upon its Berlin premiere and took its North American bow at True/False,...

We live in strange times. This young century has been defined by harrowing disasters both natural and man-made, political tribalism, and existential threats to the future of the planet. What better time for documentary filmmaking?

Non-fiction cinema has been evolving since the birth of the medium while capturing a world in motion. From the actualités of the Lumière brothers in the late 19th century to the heavily manipulated ethnographic films of the 1920, from the vérité films of the Maysles brothers to the man-on-the-street agitprop popularized by Michael Moore, documentaries have naturally always been more responsive to their times than any other mode of filmmaking.

Not only do they reveal our world to us, but they shape how we view it, and the early years of the 21st century have proven that to be more true than ever before. On one hand, digital technology has infinitely expanded our range of vision,...

Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon (“Heroin(e)“) and producer Shane Boris (“The Edge of Democracy”), two multi-award winning U.S. filmmakers, are joining forces on hybrid documentary “King Coal,” focused on post-coal Appalachia.

Co-produced by Boris’ outfit Cottage M and Requisite Media, the Tennessee-based company directed by Sheldon, “King Coal” is in an early production stage, scheduled to be completed and delivered by December 2022.

The documentary has been selected to be presented at VdR-Pitching forum, one of the key industry sections at the current Visions du Réel festival edition.

Although its development funding has been grant-driven with partners such as Tribeca, Creative Capital, Sundance, Catapult, Guggenheim Fellowship and West Virginia Humanities Council, the filmmakers continue to apply for grants as well as to speak with potential financing partners to help close its budget and provide strategic and creative support.

“We’ve chosen to independently produce ‘King Coal’ at this time, but...

Execs from Neon, Fox Searchlight, Haut et Court and Film4 set to attend Warsaw initiative.

Top executives from Neon, Fox Searchlight, Haut et Court and Film4 are among the professionals confirmed to mentor six emerging international filmmakers at the second annual New Europe Warsaw Sessions, taking place in the Polish capital from June 23-27.

Ayo Kepher-Maat, director of acquisitions at Us distributor Neon; Peter Spencer, creative executive at Fox Searchlight; Carole Scotta, founder of French producer and distributor Haut et Court; and Julia Oh, commissioning executive at the UK’s Film4, will particpate in masterclasses, networking and creative exchange with the new talents.

Bodies twirl to maddening Edm tunes and wobble home at the break of dawn; nostrils are pierced, snort coke and puff smoke; mouths chew, bite, and meet in voracious kisses; legs squat, twitch, and thrust against naked bodies. Every frame of Henning Gronkowski’s electrifying feature debut Yung exudes a raw physicality, a primal and bodily beauty that springs out of an orgiastic tour de force into the drug-, booze- and sex-propelled lives of four Berlin-stranded teenage girls. Dancing between fiction and documentary until the distinction becomes irrelevant, this manic dream of a film conjures up an uncompromising ethnography at once hallucinatory as a drug-fueled trip, and hyperreal as its bodily aftereffects.

Unfurling like a plotless Bildungsroman caught halfway between Larry Clark’s Kids and Michal Marczak’s All These Sleepless Nights, Yung zeroes in on a quartet of 16 to 18-year-old best friends united by a sense of drift and different forms of self-destructive behavior.

Educational distributor Kanopy has struck a deal with Paramount Pictures, adding 100 classic films from the studio’s library to the on-demand streaming service. Twenty-five of those titles – including “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Harold and Maude,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “Saturday Night Fever” — are available to stream now. The other 75 titles will be added in the coming weeks and months. (The full list is at the bottom of this article.)

Kanopy has been a pioneer in the educational market, first in its move away from physical media and toward a streaming app that is available on Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, and iOS and Android devices. Last year, they also expanded beyond universities and institutions and started to aggressively strike deals with public libraries making Kanopy available to a far wider percentage of the population. Now those with a public library card can access the free streaming service in a number of major cities,...

As Martin Scorsese once said, “Music and cinema fit together naturally. Because there’s a kind of intrinsic musicality to the way moving images work when they’re put together. It’s been said that cinema and music are very close as art forms, and I think that’s true.” Indeed, the right piece of music — whether it’s an original score or a carefully selected song — can do wonders for a sequence, and today we’re looking at the 25 films that best expressed this notion this year.

From seasoned composers to accomplished musicians, as well as a smattering of soundtracks, each musical example perfectly transported us to the world of the film. We should note that Twin Peaks: The Return, with both its sound design and weekly musical selections, was the most eclectic, transportive aural experience of the year, but we reserved this list to theatrically-released films.

Check out...

All These Sleepless Nights (Wszystkie nieprzespane noce) The Orchard Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B- Director: Michal Marczak Written by: Michal Marczak, Cast: Krzystof Bagilski, Michal Huszcza, Eva Lebuef Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 4/7/17 Opens: April 14, 2017 in NY; April 7 in L.A. and San Francisco Watch these hedonistic Polish youths and […]

The post All These Sleepless Nights Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

As the rest of us wallow in our envy as our peers jet to the annual Sundance Film Festival, it’s good to take a moment and reflect on some of the films of Sundance past. One in particular, “All These Sleepless Nights” has made its trailer debut after having premiered in Sundance in 2016. The studio The Orchard has picked up the World Cinema Directing award winner for a spring release and the trailer offers up a greater idea of the atmosphere to expect.

Continue reading Dreamy, Electric Trailer For Sundance Winner ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Brings That Summer Feeling at The Playlist.

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Dave Made a Maze, Wexford Plaza, Withdrawn, The Real Wi-Fi of Baltimore, Abstract: The Art of Design, All These Sleepless Nights appeared first on /Film.

"Blurs the line between documentary and fiction like few films before it." The Orchard has released a trailer for a film from last year's Sundance Film Festival, titled All These Sleepless Nights, a Polish docu-drama about the wild lives of carefree youngsters growing up in Poland. The film follows students Kris (Krzysztof Baginski) and Michal (Michal Huszcza) across two summers in Warsaw, who experience life to the limit spending all night at clubs and parties around the city. Described by The Film Stage as "a music-filled ode to the ever-shifting bliss and angst of youth", this seems like a mesmerizing portrait of what life is like growing up in Europe in this day and age. This trailer is amazing, I'm totally into this and really, really want to see it. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Michal Marczak's All These Sleepless Nights, from YouTube: A new era is coming,...

As I get ready to head out to Park City for another Sundance, a new trailer for one of my favorites from last year’s festival, Michal Marczak‘s All These Sleepless Nights, has arrived. A beautiful journey as we float through the music-filled lives of youth in Warsaw, The Orchard will release the film this spring, following a screening as part of Lincoln Center’s Film Comments Selects. The new U.S. trailer for the winner of the directing award in its World Cinema – Documentary category at Sundance, gorgeously evokes what makes the film special, as well as including one of our quotes.

I saw in my review, “Blurring the line between documentary and fiction like few films before it, Michal Marczak‘s All These Sleepless Nights is a music-filled ode to the ever-shifting bliss and angst of youth set mostly in the wee hours of the day in Warsaw,...

Awards season keeps ticking right along, but tonight’s Cinema Eye Honors promised at least a tiny respite from narrative-based filmmaking, as the New York City-set ceremony is all about honoring the best in the year’s documentary filmmaking.

Big winners included Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson,” which picked up Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, along with editing and cinematography wins. Right behind it was Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America,” which earned Edelman a directing win, along with a production win for Edelman and Caroline Waterlow. Best TV offering went to “Making a Murderer.”

Nominations were lead by Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro” and “O.J.: Made in America,” which each pulled in five nominations apiece, though Johnson’s “Cameraperson” and Gianfranco Rosi’s “Fire at Sea” aren’t far behind, with four nominations each. Both Peck and Rosi’s features ultimately walked away without an award.

Keep up with the glitzy awards world with our weekly Awards Roundup column.

– Megan Ellison will receive the Producers Guild of America’s 2017 Visionary Award at the PGA Awards on January 28, 2017 in Los Angeles. The award recognizes television, film, or new media producers for their unique or uplifting contributions to our culture through inspiring storytelling or performance.

Ellison is being recognized with the award for her work as a fierce supporter of distinctive and creative voices in films such as “American Hustle,” “Her,” “The Master,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher,” and most recently “20th Century Women.”

Read More: Annette Bening to Receive Career Achievement Award, Ridley Scott Honored By Directors Guild and More

“Megan Ellison joined our industry when she founded Annapurna Pictures just over six years ago, and she got here just in time,” PGA awards chairs Donald De Line and Amy Pascal said in a statement. “Megan and her...

The Costa Rica International Film Festival (Crfic) has announced its complete lineup for its fifth edition. This year, 72 films have been chosen to represent the world’s best in independent cinema, with four world premieres and three Latin American premieres taking place, and over 60 features to be presented for the first time in the region.

“At Crfic we are interested in approaching the idea of artistic diversity; covering a broad spectrum of styles and proposals found in contemporary national and international cinema,” said Marcelo Quesada, Artistic Director for the Festival. “Our identity and our program is built around a free, coherent and risky cinema that moves away from the usual places and bring us closer to different voices and world visions from over 30 countries.”

Read More: Costa Rica Selects Esteban Ramirez’ ‘Presos’ as Oscar Submission

Taking place at the capital city of San José, the festival will run from December...

Sixteen Films exec will discuss her experience of navigating the international production market.

Rebecca O’Brien, the multi-bafta nominated producer of films including Cannes’ Palme d’Or winners The Wind That Shakes The Barley and I, Daniel Blake, has joined the line-up of speakers at the 2016 Screen Film Summit (November 24).

Click here to pick up your tickets

The regular Ken Loach collaborator, a Pact council member whose early credits include box office hit Bean (co-producer) and iconic Stephen Frears drama My Beautiful Laundrette (location manager), will discuss the advantages and pitfalls of co-productions, and offer her advice on how to navigate the international co-production market.

O’Brien, director Loach and writer Paul Laverty recently won an outstanding contribution to film award at the Scottish BAFTAs [Nov 6] for their production outfit Sixteen Films.

The company recently garnered seven Bifa 2016 nominations for I, Daniel Blake and one for documentary Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach.

The Screen...

The nominees for the 10th annual Cinema Eye Honors have been announced, with “I Am Not Your Negro” and “Oj: Made in America” both receiving five each. They’re followed in short order by “Cameraperson” and “Fire at Sea,” which along with “Weiner” are all in contention for the top prize. A total of 37 features and five shorts will be in contention at the upcoming ceremony, which “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James will host from the Museum of the Moving Image on January 11. Here’s the full list of nominees:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

“Cameraperson” (Kirsten Johnson)

“Fire at Sea” (Gianfranco Rosi)

“I Am Not Your Negro” (Raoul Peck)

“Oj: Made in America” (Ezra Edelman)

“Weiner” (Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg)

Outstanding Achievement in Direction

Kirsten Johnson, “Cameraperson”

Gianfranco Rosi, “Fire at Sea”

Raoul Peck, “I Am Not Your Negro”

Robert Greene, “Kate Plays Christine”

Ezra Edelman, “Oj:...

Speakers confirmed for the annual summit, which will take place November 24 at Picturehouse Central, include Andy Harries, Tim O’Shea, Tristan Goligher, Faye Ward, Eve Gabereau, Chris Green and David Hancock; finance breakout area new addition.

Award-winning writer-director Susanne Bier, fresh from the success of hit BBC/AMC mini-series The Night Manager, will deliver the keynote speech at the Screen Film Summit 2016, to be held on November 24 at Picturehouse Central in London.

The accomplished Danish film-maker, who has directed 14 feature films to date including Brothers (2004), Things We Lost In The Fire (2006), Love Is All You Need (2012) and Serena (2014), won a Primetime Emmy this year for her direction on The Night Manager. She also has an Oscar win, with drama In A Better World scoring Best Foreign-Language Film in 2011.

Bier will deliver the Film Summit’s keynote address followed by an on-stage conversation with Screen editor Matt Mueller.

To book tickets click here

She joins a roster of high-profile...

Hugh Jackman first portrayed Logan, aka Wolverine, in 2000’s “X-Men.” Now eight films later he’s reprising his role as the brooding mutant for the ninth and final time in “Logan.” The first trailer for the highly-anticipated R-rated action film has just been released and is sure to leave fans wanting more.

Read More: ‘X-Men’ Series In The Works At Fox, Matt Nix & Bryan Singer To Produce

Directed by James Mangold, the final Wolverine film is set in 2024, one year after the events of “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Per IMDb, “Logan and Professor Charles Xavier must cope with the loss of the X-Men when a corporation lead by Nathaniel Essex is destroying the world leaving it to destruction. With Logan’s healing abilities slowly fading away and Xavier’s Alzheimer’s forcing him to forget, Logan must defeat Essex with the help of a young girl named Laura Kinney,...

“All These Sleepless Nights,” which won the directing award in the World Cinema — Documentary section at this year’s edition of the Sundance Film Festival, has released its first trailer. The new look at Michal Marczak’s film comes courtesy of the Stockholm International Film Festival, where “Sleepless” is screening ahead of its stateside release via the Orchard. Watch the trailer below.

Read More: True/False: The Director of ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Doesn’t Care if You Think His Film is Nonfiction

Sundance’s Tabitha Jackson said that “All These Sleepless Nights” is “not about [anything], but then again, it’s about everything: life, death and love” when the quasi-documentary first played in Park City. The trailer finds a group of revelers dancing on the beach, almost taking on the air of a music video.

Read More: Watch: Exclusive ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Clip Teases Sundance’s Most Unconventional Documentary...

While Kate Plays Christine deservedly got attention at Sundance this year for pushing the boundaries of the documentary form, Michal Marczak‘s All These Sleepless Nights also warrants a mention. A beautiful journey as we float through the lives of youth in Warsaw, it got picked up by The Orchard for a U.S. release likely next year, but first it will be released in Poland and now the first trailer has arrived.

Winner of the directing award in its World Cinema – Documentary category at Sundance, the jury said, “This filmmaker made a visually stunning film with unique vision. We feel the director is pushing the art of nonfiction into brave new territories. We the jury is really looking forward to see what this talented filmmaker does in the future.”

I saw in my review, “Blurring the line between documentary and fiction like few films before it, Michal Marczak‘s...

Cinema Eye, the organization that recognizes outstanding craft and artistry in nonfiction filmmaking, has announced their annual list of The Unforgettables, designed to highlight “this year’s most notable and significant nonfiction film subjects.” This is Cinema Eye’s tenth anniversary year, and the fourth straight year that they have unveiled their list of Unforgettables, which IndieWire is very happy to exclusively reveal below.

The Unforgettables list aims to celebrate the year’s most exciting collaborations between filmmakers and their subjects, and it’s hard to imagine a list more representative of that ideal than this one. Standouts include director Kirsten Johnson of “Cameraperson,” actress Kate Sheil of “Kate Plays Christine,” subject Sharon Jones of “Miss Sharon Jones!” and both Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner from the revealing feature “Weiner.” And that’s just the start of a list that’s wonderfully representative of some of this year’s most indelible doc subjects.

The 27th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 9 - 20) will present 200 films from 70 countries.

The Stockholm International Film Festival will kick-off with Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake, followed by a mid-festival ‘middle film’ screening in the shape of Nate Parker’s Birth of A Nation, and will close with Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea.

Directors attending the festival include Francis Ford Coppola (who will receive the lifetime achievement award, present a public talk, and screen Apocalypse Now), Ken Loach, Francois Ozon (who receives the festival’s Visionary Award), Ira Sachs, Alice Lowe, Mark Cousins, Anne Fontaine, Gabe Klinger, and many more.

The festival’s main competition line-up is:

A Decent Woman by Lukas Valenta Rinner (Arg, S Kor, Aus)A Taste Of Ink by Morgan Simon (Fr)Albüm by Mehmet Can Mertoğlu (Tur, Fr, Rom)Are We Not Cats by Xander Robin (Us)Birth Of A Nation by [link...

New Horizons Studio 2016

Organized within the framework of the 16th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival, the 7th edition of the New Horizons Studio took place from 24 to 26 July in Wrocław, the 2016 European Capital of Culture.

The most important training program of the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival has two objectives: to teach, during three days, young European directors and producers about the workings of the international film market, particularly production, promotion and distribution, and to raise awareness of the importance of the pitch in the film pre-production process. In relation to the latter, it offers, as a matter of fact, training in pitching to twenty-four participants from ten countries all over Europe.

Apart from the aforementioned intense three-day teachings and lectures on production, promotion and distribution of a film, the participants also had the opportunity to take part in team-to-expert sessions about the pitch itself during which they discussed,...

A Sunday in the Country 2016For the 5th time, “A Sunday in the Country,” one of the most inventive and out of the box workshops for young European film critics and journalists, was organized within the framework of the 16th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in an old guest house by the Bystrzyckie lake during the first weekend of the cinematic event (21–24 July, 2016).

There, in Zagórze Śląslie in Lower Silesia, during three days, the group watched and discussed films, networked, exchanged thoughts and practices and shared their professional experiences. Under the tutelage of Pascal Edelmann of the European Film Academy, Ula Śniegowska of the New Horizons Association and the Dutch film critic of de Filmkrant, Dana Linssen, the critics and journalists spent the weekend cooking, networking, watching films, meeting with filmmakers and discussing cinephilia as well as issues such as the critic’s responsibility — if there is one — towards...

Exclusive: Wroclaw moves 2017 dates to accommodate World Games; Polish festival reveals 2016 New Horizons winners.

The film festivals in Wroclaw and Locarno are set for a collision course as both festivals will be held concurrently for the first time next year.

A Locarno spokesperson confirmed to Screen that the Swiss festival’s 70th edition will be held from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 12 August, while New Horizons will kick off its 17th outing a day later, from Thursday 3 August, according to the New Horizons press department.

New Horizons’ organisers were obliged to change its dates from the traditional slot in the last two weeks in July as the Polish city will be hosting the 10th edition of sports event the World Games.

Speaking exclusively to Screen, New Horizons festival president Roman Gutek explained that the decision to move to August for 2017 had been made two years ago in order to avoid a strain on resources in the city.

¨We have consulted...

Exclusive: Italian distributor buys docs including Zero Days and Lo And Behold and a number of narrative dramas.

Italian distributor I Wonder Pictures has struck deals for a number of documentaries, confirming its place as a key player in the doc market.

Andrea Romeo, I Wonder managing director, has picked up a number of films that screened at the recent Italian Biografilm festival, of which he is also the artistic director.

Acquisitions include Alex Gibney’s Zero Days, Werner Herzog’s Lo And Behold and Morgan Neville’s Music Of Strangers about cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.

Also picked up were the Paula Vaccaro and Jim Jarmusch-produced celebration of Howard Bookner, Uncle Howard; refugee story Those Who Jump; doc thriller The Lovers And The Despot; and Ester Gould’s Strike A Pose, the what-happened-next chronicle about the dancers of Madonna’s 1990 music tour.

I Wonder, which has previously released documentaries Citizenfour, The Look Of Silence and [link...

The final film of Jan Nemec, who died in March, to play in the main competition.Scroll down for competition line-ups

The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.

The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.

The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.

Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.

Debut features...

It might be missing the industry saturated Park City fervor, but the smaller, shorter, and more intimate Columbia, Missouri based True/False Film Festival is the Rolls-Royce (by way of John Deere) of doc focused cinema. Filmmaker Laura Poitras is not alone in stating that her “love for True/False runs deep – from the smart programming, passionate audiences, inspired buskers, and fabulous venues.” Time and time again, selected filmmakers throughout this year’s edition expressed their love of the fest, while plenty of filmmaker personalities from prior editions could be spotted milling around town as casual filmgoers happy to pay to relive the experience.

With a highly curated program just shy of 50 films shown on 9 different screens (each of which are walkable in just 5-10 minutes of one another) over just 4 days, True/False centers its attention on quality and community, both locally and cinematically. For a city with a...

In what marks the fourth Sundance acquisition for the company, The Orchard has picked up North American distribution rights to director Michal Marczak's documentary All These Sleepless Nights which won the Festival’s year’s Directing Award in its World Cinema Documentary competition. The film chronicles two Warsaw summers when classmates Kris and Michal resolve to experience life to the limit. The film was produced by Endorfina Studio and Pulse Films and was produced by…...

Plus: Erik Lomis exits TWC, joins Annapurna; and more…

San Francisco’s Golden Gate 3D will produce the large format film Cuba (working title) in association with BBC Earth, which will support marketing and promotion. Giant Screen Films will distribute globally.

Neil Nightingale (Walking With Dinosaurs, One Life, Tiny Giants, Wild Africa) is on board as executive producer. Production is currently underway with a release target of early 2017.

Erik Lomis has become the latest high-ranking executive to leave The Weinstein Company, where he served five years as head of domestic distribution. Lomis has joined Annapurna Pictures in an unspecified role. A spokesperson confirmed Lomis had joined Megan Ellison’s company but did not elaborate. Reports speculated Ellison is launching a distribution arm.The Orchard has acquired all North American rights from Submarine Entertainment to Michal Marczak’s documentary All These Sleepless Nights. The film from Endorfina Studio and Pulse Films earned the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award in...

All These Sleepless Nights was presented in Sundance’s documentary section, but those going in hoping to learn something about insomnia will probably come away disappointed, at least in a sense. The film is far more concerned with watching twenty-somethings Kris (Krzysztof Baginski) and Michal (Michal Huszcza) as they move furniture (widescreen is for snakes, funerals, and couches dontcha know), chase girls, set up low-rent performance art pieces, try drugs, dance, and break into extravagant private property. The degree to which any of this is scripted seems continually up for grabs; all the performers are billed as themselves, and there are certain major life events (breakups, mostly) that happen off-camera, as though the actors told writer/director/cinematographer Michal Marczak to stop filming when their lives became too painful.

But there is, just as potently, the sensation that Marczak is prodding them along, suggesting actions and more often settings to...

Read More: The 2016 Indiewire Sundance Bible: All the Reviews, Interviews and News Posted During The Festival "All These Sleepless Nights"During a festival that saw multiple titles blur the lines of the traditional documentary, Michal Marczak's "All These Sleepless Nights" made the strongest case for foregoing those genre distinctions altogether. Following a handful of Warsaw youth on their search for stability and meaning in city life, Marczak threads a fluid and assured narrative that's almost hyper-real. Along the way, his subjects cycle through angst, intimacy and uncertainty, all against a shifting array of gorgeous backdrops. Sparsely furnished apartments, rain-drenched parks, moonlit beaches and even the middle of a busy street all serve as the canvases for its characters' tales of youthful indecision. And there's some joy amidst those struggles, particularly in the film's musical moments (it's amazing what one simple Disney song singalong or...

Blurring the line between documentary and fiction like few films before it, Michal Marczak‘s All These Sleepless Nights is a music-filled ode to the ever-shifting bliss and angst of youth set mostly in the wee hours of the day in Warsaw, Poland. Marczak himself, who also plays cinematographer, is wary to delineate the line between narrative and nonfiction, and part of the film’s joy is forgoing one’s grasp on this altering perspective, rather simply getting wrapped up in the immaculately-shot allure of its location.

The main through-line, if one can even qualify it as such, follows Kris, who recently broke up with his girlfriend, and Michal, a twenty something pair eager to find nightly amusement and perhaps some greater significance in their repetitive lives. As they glide through a dark Warsaw, illuminated by street lamps and the strobing lights from whatever party they stumble across ,”playing” themselves,...

Nate Parker's racial drama "The Birth of a Nation" took both the top honors of the grand jury prize and the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival which held its ceremony tonight.

The film, a drama about the life of Nat Turner and the slave rebellion he led in antebellum Virginia, made headlines several days ago when it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record-shattering $17.5 million.

It also marks the fourth year in a row where one film has taken the top two prizes in U.S. dramatic competition following 2013's "Fruitvale Station," 2014's "Whiplash" and last year's "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl". The U.S. documentary grand jury prize was awarded to "Weiner," a behind-the-scenes portrayal of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign.

In the World Cinema dramatic competition the grand jury prize went to Elite Ziker's "Sand Storm" which deals with...

Nate Parker’s directorial debut claimed the Us Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and corresponding audience award at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, capping off a barnstorming week for the slave revolt drama.

Last week The Birth Of A Nation sparked a bidding frenzy that resulted in the biggest on-site deal in the festival’s history as Fox Searchlight paid $17.5m for worldwide rights.

Sonita, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s film about a rapping Afghan teenager opposed to arranged marriage, earned similar double honours as it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and audience awards.

The Us Grand Jury Prize: Documentary award went to Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg’s Weiner, while the audience voted for Brian Oakes’ Jim: The James Foley Story.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic went to Elite Zexer’s Sand Story and the audience choice was Carlos del Castillo’s Between Land And Sea.

In other winners:...

A ‘constructed reality’ film about a pair of hard-partying twentysomethings, this exuberant movie has ragged truths to tell about youth, fun and friendship

The late Jacques Rivette pushed the boundaries between film and narrative fiction, with a theory that claimed every film ever made is a documentary of its own making. Written and directed by Michał Marczak, All These Sleepless Nights takes the concept further with a documentary that stars Krzysztof Bagiński, Michał Huszcza and Eva Lebuef, all of whom play themselves. Unlike the scripted reality of say the Real Housewives franchises or Keeping Up With the Kardashians, nothing feels ridiculously contrived or superficial, although there is lots of “drama”.

Related: Film director Jacques Rivette, stalwart of the French new wave, dies aged 87

Continue reading...

Titles include Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney, and Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America (pictured); Next strand also announced.Scroll down for full list

Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.

Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.

Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...