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Back in the 1990s, there was no bigger musical superstar than Alfred Moretti. “Global” doesn’t begin to describe his level of fame. His particular brand of old-school glam rock, new-school electro-pop and sheer charisma meant he topped every chart imaginable. He reinvented genres, cavorted with presidents and popes, broke Cindy Crawford’s heart. The man’s fans were legion. Moretti went by many nicknames: The Debutante, The Velvet Collar, Don Diva, The Wizard of Wiggle. Mostly, he was simply Moretti, a God-tier artist artist that earned his place in...

The award-winning Israeli film actor Sasson Gabay will reprise the role of 'Tewfiq' in the upcoming North American tour of the 10-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical, The Band's Visit, the role he created in the 2007 film of the same name and most recently played on Broadway.Joining him for the tour is critically acclaimed 'Beautiful' actress Chilina Kennedy in the role of 'Dina', a role which won a Tony Award for original star Katrina Lenk in 2018.

The award-winning Israeli film actor Sasson Gabay will reprise the role of 'Tewfiq' in the upcoming North American tour of the 10-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical, The Band's Visit, the role he created in the 2007 film of the same name and most recently played on Broadway.Joining him for the tour is critically acclaimed 'Beautiful' actress Chilina Kennedy in the role of 'Dina', a role which won a Tony Award for original star Katrina Lenk in 2018.

From Jonathan Entwistle, creator/director of “The End of the F***ing World” and the producers of “Stranger Things” comes new series “I Am Not Okay With This” based on the Charles Forsman graphic novel. “I Am Not Okay With This” is an irreverent origin story, following a teenage girl navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, all while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and… mysterious superpowers just beginning to awaken from deep within her.

Series Regulars:

Sophia Lillis will play “Sydney.” Sydney is awkward and smart with a dry, witty, sardonic sense of humor. Like many teenagers, she hates high school, doesn’t get along with her mom, and her best friend has a boyfriend she abhors. Though she views herself as painfully average, she is far from it, as she discovers she has telekinetic powers which may prove to be problematic.

Wyatt Oleff will play “Stanley Barber.

One of Ryan O’Connell’s biggest pet peeves is when strangers on the street stop to ask him if he’s “Ok.”

But O’Connell, a gay man with cerebral palsy, knows how he’ll answer that question once his Netflix comedy “Special,” which he writes, executive produces and stars in, drops on Friday.

“I can’t wait to point to my billboard right now and say, ‘I’m just fine,'” he told TheWrap.

Also Read: 'Special' Star Ryan O'Connell Exclusive StudioWrap Portraits (Photos)

The show, co-produced by “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons, centers around what is essentially a younger and more sheltered version of O’Connell, Ryan Kayes — an aspiring writer who still lives with his overprotective mother (Jessica Hecht) and starts an unpaid internship at a new-age confessional blog called “Eggwoke.”

“Ryan kind of has the coming of age journey at 28-years-old,” O’Connell said.

Documentary hits “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and “Three Identical Strangers” are two of the 31 shortlisted films for the International Documentary Association’s award for top feature of 2018.

Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Netflix’s “Shirkers,” and Hulu’s “Minding the Gap” were among the other high-profile titles unveiled on Tuesday.

Morgan Neville’s Fred Rogers story “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” has grossed $22.6 million domestically since its release in June, making it the 12th-highest-grossing doc of all time. Tim Wardle’s “Three Identical Strangers” has also performed well with $12.3 million and is 26th on the list. “Fahrenheit 11/9” has reeled in $6 million since its Sept. 20 launch — far below the record $119 million grossed by Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.

It’s the first time the Ida has unveiled the shortlists in the shorts and features categories. The 34th annual awards will take place on Dec. 8 at Los Angeles’ Paramount Theatre. Nominees...

As a “bomb cyclone” touches down on the east coast, we can think of no better respite from the cold than taking a trip to the beach, courtesy of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary Dina. Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s documentary Dina tells a love story of a unique stripe. The film follows Dina Buno, a 49-year-old living on disability, suffering from a neurological disorder, and her courtship with Scott Levin, a Walmart greeter with Asperger syndrome. Today we’re pleased to present an exclusive clip, featuring Scott and Dina on the beach and a rendition of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.”

“Dina is a sometimes uncomfortable film to watch, especially as we wonder how certain moments were constructed: is this a performative piece or vérité? And does it matter? We can’t forget Robert Flaherty was a kind of con man in his own right,...

The documentary film and television community came together to honor their own at the festive 33rd Annual Ida Documentary Awards celebration Saturday night at the Paramount Studio Theatre. The evening’s top prizes went to Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s Sundance-jury-winning love story “Dina” for Best Feature, and Laura Checkoway’s Oscar-shortlisted “Edith+Eddie” for Best Short.

Other winners included Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin’s Oscar-shortlisted “La 92” for the ABC News VideoSource Award, PBS’ Independent Lens for Best Curated Series, HBO’s “The Defiant Ones” for Best Limited Series, BBC’s “Planet Earth II” for Best Episodic Series, The New York Times Op-Docs for Best Short Form Series (which boasts three Oscar-shortlisted shorts), and Joel Fendelman’s “Man on Fire” for the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award.

Charles Burnett presented the Emerging Filmmaker Award to Yance Ford, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award for Storytelling,...

The 33rd annual Ida Documentary Awards named Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini's Dina Best Feature, with HBO's The Defiant Ones nabbing the honor forBest Limited Series. Laura Checkoway’s Edith+Eddie was named best short. The awards ceremony, hosted by actor/comedian Maz Jobrani, was held tonight at Los Angeles’ Paramount Theatre. Other winners included Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin's La 92, PBS' Independent Lens, BBC's Planet Earth II, The New York Times Op-Docs, and Joel…...

The 33rd annual Ida Documentary Awards named Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini's Dina Best Feature, with HBO's The Defiant Ones nabbing the honor forBest Limited Series. Laura Checkoway’s Edith+Eddie was named best short. The awards ceremony, hosted by actor/comedian Maz Jobrani, was held tonight at Los Angeles’ Paramount Theatre. Other winners included Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin's La 92, PBS' Independent Lens, BBC's Planet Earth II, The New York Times Op-Docs, and Joel…...

The International Documentary Association on Saturday night presented its 33rd annual awards at a ceremony at Los Angeles' Paramount Theatre hosted by Iranian-American actor and comedian Maz Jobrani. Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini's Dina and Laura Checkoway's Edith+Eddie won the top honors of best feature and best short, respectively.

"The best feature and best short award winners both represent unlikely love stories, each one tender, tragic and ultimately life-affirming,” Ida executive director Simon Kilmurry said in a statement. “Dina and Edith+Eddie are both distinguished by their unforgettable lead characters and their sensitive elicitation of universal truths."

Other...

“Dina,” Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ film about a romance between two people on the autism spectrum, was named the best nonfiction feature of 2017 at the 33rd Annual Ida Documentary Awards, which took place on Saturday night on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. The film had to be considered a real underdog going into the awards ceremony, because it was the only nominee in the Best Feature category with no shot at an Oscar doc nomination. The other four nominees in the category — “City of Ghosts,” “Faces Places,” “La 92” and “Strong Island” — all made...

In typical fashion, this year's Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature began at Sundance, with the festival yielding several standouts. Winner of the U.S. documentary Grand Jury Award was Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles' Dina (The Orchard)–which follows autistic couple Dina Bruno and Scott Levin's wedding preparations. Step (Fox Searchlight) received rave reviews for its upli ing story of a transformative dance troupe at a Baltimore girls' school, while Damon Davis and…...

Updated with show host: A look at ground-level resistance in Syria and a portrait of the L.A. riots 25 years later are among the nominees for Best Feature at the 33rd Ida Documentary Awards, hosted by Superior Donuts regular Maz Jobrani. Matthew Heineman's City of Ghosts and T.J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay’s La 92 will go up against Dina, Antonio Santini & Dan Sickles' "real-life romantic comedy"; Faces Places, Agnès Varda & Jr's journey through rural France; and Strong Isl…...

Agnes Varda and Jr’s wry French travelogue “Faces Places,” Matthew Heineman’s Syrian conflict documentary “City of Ghosts” and Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s L.A. riots chronicle “La 92” are among the nominees as the year’s top nonfiction films at the International Documentary Association’s 2017 Ida Documentary Awards, the Ida announced on Wednesday. Also nominated for the Ida Awards’ top honor: “Dina,” Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ film about a romance between two people on the autism spectrum, and “Strong Island,” Yance Ford’s look at the killing of her brother. Last year, four of the five Oscar doc nominees,...

The International Documentary Association has announced their Best Feature and Best Short nominees, as well as the recipients of Creative Recognition awards, for the 2017 Ida Documentary Awards. In the competition categories, the nominees for Best Feature include “City of Ghosts,” “Dina,” “Faces Places,””La 92,” and “Strong Island,” while the Best Short section includes nods for “Edith+Eddie,” “The Fight,” “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” “Long Shot,” “Mr. Connolly Has Als,” and “The Rabbit Hunt.”

“The diverse array of films nominated this year underscore the vibrancy and elasticity of documentary form,” said Simon Kilmurry, Ida’s Executive Director in an official statement. “These films address the most urgent contemporary global matters — and the most intimate emotional territory. All of them demonstrate the courage and ingenuity of nonfiction media makers.”

Read More:2017 Ida Documentary Awards Nominees Announced, Including ‘Icarus,’ ‘The Keepers,’ and ‘The Vietnam War’

The winners for...

This beautifully shot movie, whose principals emerge as intensely likable and intelligent, avoids cliche and sometimes feels like an arthouse reality show

Here is a sweet, tender documentary study, showing a middle-aged man and woman, Dina and Scott, preparing to get married. They both have autism. It is a beautifully shot, coolly composed movie, in which the principals emerge as intensely likable and intelligent. The film avoids obvious cliches taken from, say, Diane Arbus or Grey Gardens, although the influence of both is plain.

Weirdly, this could almost be a scripted, fictional drama; I can imagine a shot-for-shot, line-for-line remake starring Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. It also feels sometimes like a classy arthouse reality show: directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini interestingly include a moment in which Dina ponders how reality shows are made. And the emotional mule kick in this film is that Dina was abused and seriously assaulted by a previous partner,...

The nonfiction organization Cinema Eye and its nominations committee of top international documentary film programmers, curators, and filmmakers has picked their annual list of “Unforgettables” who helped to define documentary cinema in 2017. They selected 30 individuals from 15 different films to be in the running for this year’s Cinema Eye awards. Like the Doc NYC shortlist, many of the films on this curated list are in the running for the year’s top awards, including the Oscar. “Jane,” “Faces Places,” “City of Ghosts,” and “Strong Island” continue to lead the documentary awards pack.

The full slate of Cinema Eye nominations for nonfiction feature, short, and broadcast films/series will be be announced on Friday, November 3 in San Francisco at Sffilm’s Doc Stories event. Awards will be presented in New York City at the Museum of the Moving Image on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

Read More:doc NYC Announces Its Awards Short List, Including ‘Icarus,...

The nonfiction organization Cinema Eye and its nominations committee of top international documentary film programmers, curators, and filmmakers has picked their annual list of “Unforgettables” who helped to define documentary cinema in 2017. They selected 30 individuals from 15 different films to be in the running for this year’s Cinema Eye awards. Like the Doc NYC shortlist, many of the films on this curated list are in the running for the year’s top awards, including the Oscar. “Jane,” “Faces Places,” “City of Ghosts,” and “Strong Island” continue to lead the documentary awards pack.

The full slate of Cinema Eye nominations for nonfiction feature, short, and broadcast films/series will be be announced on Friday, November 3 in San Francisco at Sffilm’s Doc Stories event. Awards will be presented in New York City at the Museum of the Moving Image on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

Read More:doc NYC Announces Its Awards Short List, Including ‘Icarus,...

Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its 15-film Short List of Oscar contenders along with its opening-night selection, “The Final Year,” in which Greg Barker follows key members of Barack Obama’s administration during their last year in office. The festival runs November 9-16.

Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.

Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...

Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its 15-film Short List of Oscar contenders along with its opening-night selection, “The Final Year,” in which Greg Barker follows key members of Barack Obama’s administration during their last year in office. The festival runs November 9-16.

Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.

Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...

Michael Cera, who previously contributed music for Scott Pilgirm vs. The World and Juno, has teamed up with Sharon Van Etten for the song "Best I Can." The track is featured in Dina, an upcoming documentary that's based on the life of Dina Buno and her fiance Scott Levin. Cera was immediately taken with the [...]...

Michael Cera just released a new song, but no, he’s not singing on it.

On Monday, the Superbad actor released the upbeat, synth-heavy song “Best I Can” from Dina, an upcoming documentary he wrote original music for.

“Best I Can” features singer Sharon Van Etten and Cera, 29, told Pitchfork the song was originally just a placeholder until the film’s directors got the rights to use another song.

“I said, ‘Well, let me take a stab at making a pop song for that spot,” Cera said. The directors ended up getting the rights to the song they wanted, but...

Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize earlier this year, Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s documentary Dina tells a love story of a unique stripe. The film follows Dina Buno, a 49-year-old living on disability, suffering from a neurological disorder, and her courtship with Scott Levin, a Walmart greeter with Asperger syndrome. Featuring a score by Michael Cera, the first trailer has now arrived ahead of an October release.

“A tender love story, Dina is a documentary that could easily be mistaken for a fiction film. Framed in long takes, often on a tripod, several choices other than its style call the film’s legitimacy into question, including a key moment which occurs in the film’s third act that leaves one wondering if directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini are playing fair. The film, up until that moment, is so engrossing that as manipulative as it may appear,...

Out of great pain can sometimes come great joy, just ask documentarian Dan Sickles, one of the directors behind the Sundance Grand Jury-prize winning documentary “Dina.”

For Sickles, the intensely personal doc has an added dimension — he and co-director Antonio Santini were completing their first film together, “Mala Mala,” when both of Sickles’ parents passed away. In order for the pair to juggle both the editing of the film and Sickles’ new familial responsibilities, they picked up and moved, along with editor Sofia Subercaseaux, to suburban Philadelphia, the home of the Sickles’ family. That’s where a new story awaited them.

Read More:‘Dina’ Review: An Asperger’s Doc That Dares To Find Sex On The Spectrum — Sundance 2017

Sickles’ father had been a friend and a mentor to the eponymous Dina since he taught her at the local high school, eventually helping to co-found the Abington Aktion Club, a social...

Getting out early can be an advantage in the documentary race, which is often front loaded at January’s Sundance Film Festival. While a raft of movies made their mark, the question is which ones can sustain support through the end of the year.

Among that festival’s breakouts were three Syria documentaries. Daring and timely “City of Ghosts” (July 14, A & E/Amazon Studios), which is Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated border drug war thriller “Cartel Land,” will get a major push. Any footage from Syria came from the fearless Raqqa journalists he tracked through Turkey and Germany, where they discover that they are not necessarily safe — anywhere.

It remains to be seen if there will be room for more than one Syrian documentary. HBO Documentary Films is forgoing Emmy consideration for “Winter on Fire” nominee Evgeny Afineevsky’s harrowing “Cries From Syria” (March 10, HBO), planning an Oscar push this fall.

Event to run in Los Angeles from August 10-13.

Seven films will screen at Sundance Next Fest at the Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles in August.

Quentin Tarantino and Mudbound and Pariah director Dee Rees will receive the Sundance Institute’s Vanguard Award.

The line-up features Janicza Bravo’s Lemon; the first seven episodes of Marvin Lemus’ comedic drama Gente-fied; Justin Chon’s Next 2017 audience award winner Gook; Marianna Palka’s Bitch starring Jason Ritter and Jaime King; documentary grand jury prize winner Dina from Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles; Alex Ross Perry’s Golden Exits; and Michelle Morgan’s L.A. Times.

Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper said: “This year’s weekend festival offers everything from a Sundance throwback to our first-ever Next Fest episodic screening; the perfect blend to give Angelenos a taste of our Park City festival. A majority of these movies, filmmakers and musicians are from Los Angeles, so it’s a...

AFI Docs’ 15th edition will open with Icarus and close with Year Of The Scab.

The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the full slate of films for AFI Docs 2017.

Spotlight screenings include Peter Bratt’s Dolores, Su Rynard’s Mosquito, and Whitney: “Can I Be Me” from Nick Broomfield.

Feature film selections include Bill Nye: Science Guy from David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, Sundance grand jury prize-winner Dina from Antonio Santini and Daniel Sickles, and Cine Sao Paulo from Ricardo Martensen and Felipe Tomazelli.

The festival will also feature nine virtual reality films including After Solitary by Cassandra Herrman and Lauren Mucciolo.

AFI Docs will showcase 103 films representing 28 countries in the festival set to run from June 14-18 in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, Maryland.

As previously announced, the fetival will open with Icarus and close with Year Of The Scab.

Additonal highlights are the AFI Docs Forum open to festival-goers, and the Impact...

Rooftop Films has announced its lineup for the 2017 Summer Series. This year’s series will feature more than 45 outdoor screenings in more than 10 venues, including films like Michael Showalter’s Sundance hit “The Big Sick” Ana Lily Amirpour’s “The Bad Batch,” (dates still Tbd).

The series kicks off on Friday, May 19 with “This is What We Mean by Short Films,” a collection of some of the most innovative, new short films of the past year. The screening will take place on the roof of The Old American Can Factory, in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The following night, Saturday, May 20, Rooftop will present a sneak preview screening of Zoe Lister-Jones’ 2017 Sundance entry, “Band Aid,” free and outdoors at House of Vans in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

The entire lineup so far is below. Tickets are already for sale.

Friday, May 19

“This is What We Mean by Short Films”

Saturday, May 20

“Band Aid” (Zoe Lister-Jones)

Saturday,...

If one wants to experience the best independent cinema the year has to offer this summer, one of your best bets is the well-curated line-up at Brooklyn’s BAMcinémaFest. They’ve now unveiled this year’s slate for the festival running from June 14-25, including some of of my favorite films of the year thus far (A Ghost Story, Golden Exits, Columbus, Marjorie Prime, and Landline) as well as highly-anticipated others (the SXSW hit Gemini and Stephen Cone‘s Princess Cyd come to mind).

“I’m incredibly proud of the program our team has put together,” says Gina Duncan, Associate Vice President, Cinema. “From the endearing comedy The Big Sick to the micro-budget Princess Cyd and Lemon, the audacious first feature from Janicza Bravo, the line-up truly reflects the breadth of American independent cinema today. Other highlights include the world premiere of Jim McKay’s, En el Séptimo Día an...

The festival will close with A Ghost Story, starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara.

The line-up for the 5th Sundance Film Festival: London (June 1-4) has been announced.

Scroll Down For Full List

The festival will comprise 14 UK and international feature film premieres from this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, as well as 15 shorts, including a strand dedicated to new UK shorts.

As previously announced, the festival will open with Miguel Arteta’s Beatriz at Dinner, starring Salma Hayek.

It will close with the UK premiere of David Lowery’s A Ghost Story [pictured], starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara.

Other highlights from this year’s programme include Bushwick, starring Dave Bautista and Brittany Snow; true-life crime drama Crown Heights, which won the Us dramatic audience award; jury prize-winning documentary Dina, Michael Almereyda’s Marjorie Prime, starring Jon Hamm and Geena Davis, and Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick, which Amazon...

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– Cardiff Animation Nights will be returning to run a dedicated animation strand at Cardiff Independent Film Festival (C.I.F.F.) for a second year this May. This year’s animation strand at C.I.F.F. will comprise three programs of animated short films in competition for the Best Animation Award, as well as an Animated Family Shorts program curated by renowned Cardiff-based studio Cloth Cat Animation, networking events, and an Animation Quiz run by the team at Skwigly Animation Magazine.

The competition program features animated short films from across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia, including Mikey Hill’s The Orchestra, Anete Melece’s Analysis Paralysis, Chris Shepherd’s Johnno’s Dead, Ross Hogg’s Life Cycles and Alois Di Leo’s Way of Giants.

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– The 2017 HollyWeb Festival, sponsored by AMC Independent and running March 30 – April 2, has announced the full schedule of digital series, filmmaker panels, and events for this year’s edition of the festival, celebrating the world’s premiere digital content. 97 digital series will have episodes screened at AMC Universal CityWalk 19 (100 Universal City Plaza), the Universal Hilton (555 Universal Hollywood Drive), and the Fonda Theatre (6126 Hollywood Blvd.).

HollyWeb Festival Co-Director Daniel Doherty said, “From the beginning, the HollyWeb Festival has sought to shine a light on web series creators, honor their collective vision and work, as well as create a yearly event where they can gather and meet, exchange notes, and possibly form partnerships that will lead to even more outstanding and entertaining web series.” HollyWeb Co-Director Jennifer Doherty,...

Many of the films at this year’s True/False Film Festival spotlighted men and women who have been pushed to the margins but continue to fight for their voice to be heard. Whether it’s a film about young women in Copenhagen revealing their stories about sex and love (Venus) or the men and women from the city of Ferguson protesting in the streets (Whose Streets?), this year’s selection of films told the stories of those that are often ignored.

Dina Buno is one of those voices that is often ignored by society. Dina is an earnest look at a woman living with disabilities – both mental and physical. She lives with Asperger’s, depression, Ocd, and aspects of Autism (as we later learn while she gets her nails done). But she has also fallen victim to physical trauma that is slowly hinted at throughout the film, until a...

Producer of Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven and Happiness discussed her career at the Glasgow Film Festival.

In a wide-ranging In Conversation session at the Glasgow Film Festival, producer Christine Vachon revealed a surprising truth about Killer Films, the New York City-based company she set up in 1995 alongside Pamela Koffler: Still Alice is the first and only of their productions to return a net profit to the company.

Vachon had previously confirmed the same in her 2006 book A Killer Life: How An Independent Film Producer Survives Deals And Disasters In Hollywood And Beyond.

Even in the tough world of independent film, that admission raised eyebrows given Killer’s role in films including Boys Don’t Cry (1999), which won Hilary Swank the best actress Oscar, Todd Solondz’s Happiness (1998), Mark Romanek’s One Hour Photo (2002) and Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven (2002).

Vachon has subsequently produced a string of critical hits, including Haynes...

Exclusive: Documentary company closes sales on 78/52, Dries, and Citizen Jane: Battle For The City.

UK documentary specialists Dogwoof has racked up a series of deals on its European Film Market slate.

Alexandre O. Phillippe’s 78/52, which Dogwoof acquired in Sundance, has gone to Scandinavia (Non Stop Entertainment) and Spain (A Contracorriente). The film is a close-up look at Alfred Hitchock’s iconic shower scene from Psycho and had its Efm market premiere on Friday (Feb 10).

Reiner Holzemer’s Dries, an intimate portrait of the fashion designer Dries Van Noten, has gone to: Japan (New Select), Hong Kong (Edo), Belgium (Dalton); Australia and New Zealand (Madman); with an in-flight world deal (excluding United Kingdom and Australia) signed with Jaguar.

Matt Tynauer’s Citizen Jane: Battle For The City, the story of journalist and activist Jane Jacobs and her battles with New York town planner Robert Moses, has sold to: Hong Kong (Edko); Commonwealth of Independent States (Beat Films); Italy...

Dogwoof has taken UK distribution rights and will also handle international sales on the title.

Documentary specialist Dogwoof has picked up UK distribution and international sales rights to Sundance Us Documentary grand jury prize winner Dina.

Directed and produced by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, the film follows an unconventional love story which charts the evolving relationship of an eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter.

The Orchard previously picked up rights for North America.

The film is a Moxie Pictures and El Peligro production. Dan Cogan and Jenny Raskin of Impact Partners, Danny Levinson and Robert Fernandez of Moxie Pictures, Stephanie Choate, and Christine Vachon of Killer Pictures all served as executive producers.

The deal was negotiated by Oli Harbottle, Dogwoof’s head of distribution, with David Koh and Josh Braun of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.

Harbottle commented on the acquisition: “In Dina, Dan and Antonio have created a stunningly cinematic film, which lovingly...

The Orchard has acquired the North American distribution rights to the documentary “Dina,” which won the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize. The film explores the unconventional romance between Dina, a 49-year-old in suburban Philadelphia, and her fiancé Scott, a Walmart door greeter. “Dina” chronicles their evolving relationship as it develops.

Read More: Sundance 2017 Award Winners: ‘I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore,’ ‘Dina’ and More Pick Up Grand Jury Prizes

Directed and produced by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, the film is executive produced aby Christine Vachon, Robert Fernandez, Dan Levinson, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin and Stephanie Choate.

“’Dina’ is a masterful film that achieves cinematic artistry — from cinematography to editing — while capturing a universal story of love, second chances, and at its core, the strength of a remarkable and unforgettable woman,” Danielle Digiacomo, vice president of acquisitions at The Orchard, said in a statement.

The Orchard has picked up North American distribution rights to the documentary Dina, which walked away from the Sundance Film Festival with the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize. 

Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini directed the cinema verite-style doc, which follows the relationship between Dina, a 49-year-old in suburban Philadelphia, and her fiancé Scott, a Walmart door greeter, as they navigate the more intimate parts of their unconventional romance.

Orchard is planning a fall release.

Sickles and Santini produced the pic, while Christine Vachon, Robert Fernandez, Dan Levinson, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin and Stephanie Choate served as executive producers.

Submarine negotiated the deal on...

The Orchard has acquired North American rights to Dina, the documentary from Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini that scored the Sundance Film Festival's U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize over the weekend. A fall release is planned. The film explores an unconventional romance between Dina and Scott, two people who have never been valued for their eccentricities. It chronicles their evolving relationship as it develops – celebrating their differences, their quest for sexual…...

“Dina,” the Sundance award winner in the U.S. Documentary Competition, has been acquired by The Orchard for North American distribution. The Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini film centers around a charismatic couple headed for the altar, grappling with their idiosyncrasies and life on the autism spectrum. “‘Dina’ is a masterful film that achieves cinematic artistry — from cinematography to editing — while capturing a universal story of love, second chances, and at its core, the strength of a remarkable and unforgettable woman,” said Orchard VP of Acquisition Danielle Digiacomo. Also Read: 'Icarus' Director on Helping Anti-Doping Expert Flee Russia (Video) Digiacomo negotiated for The Orchard,...

A Ghost StoryBelow you will find our favorite films of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Awardstop Picksjosh Cabritai.Call Me By Your NameII.A Ghost StoryIII.Beatriz at Dinner, Dayveon, Dina, Golden Exits, Kuro, Person to PersonLAWRENCE N Garciai.Call Me By Your NameII.Golden Exits, My Happy FamilyIII.Beatriz at Dinner, Dina, The Big Sick, Landline, Long Strange TripCORRESPONDENCESBy Josh Cabrita and Lawrence N Garcia#1 Josh Cabrita on William Oldroyd's Lady Macbeth, Dustin Guy Defa's Person to Person | Read#2 Lawrence N Garcia on Travis Wilkerson's Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?, Gillian Robespierre's Landline, Damien Power's Killing Ground, Taylor Sheridan's Wind River | Read#3 Josh Cabrita on Bryan Fogel's Icarus, Dee Rees' Mudbound, David Lowery's A Ghost Story | Read#4 Lawrence N Garcia on Luca Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name, Matthew Heineman's City of Ghosts,...

The distributor plans an autumn release after closing a deal with Submarine for all North American rights.

Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini directed the Us Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner about an eccentric couple and their unconventional romance.

Sickles and Santini produced the film by Dina Moxie Pictures, Killer Films, El Peligro and Cinereach.

Impact Partners and Stephanie Choate financed Dina and the executive producers are Christine Vachon, Robert Fernandez, Dan Levinson, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin and Choate.

“Dina is a masterful film that achieves cinematic artistry – from cinematography to editing – while capturing a universal story of love, second chances, and at its core, the strength of a remarkable and unforgettable woman,” The Orchard vice-president of acquisitions Danielle Digiacomo said.

“The Orchard was immediately taken with it, and we cannot wait for larger audiences to embrace Dina and her world.”

“After 49 years struggling to find her place in the world, we wanted...

A tender love story, Dina is a documentary that could easily be mistaken for a fiction film. Framed in long takes, often on a tripod, several choices other than its style call the film’s legitimacy into question, including a key moment which occurs in the film’s third act that leaves one wondering if directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini are playing fair. The film, up until that moment, is so engrossing that as manipulative as it may appear, I’m willing to forgive the choice of pulling back the curtain a bit on a moment that’s offered up with little context.

The story of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize winner follows Dina Buno, a 49-year-old living on disability, suffering from a neurological disorder, and her courtship with Scott Levin, a Walmart greeter with Asperger syndrome. The filmmakers arrive after Scott proposes to Dina at a Red Robin,...

My Happy FamilyDear Josh,With a festival like Sundance, where critics and distributors alike are clamoring to find the next big thing, certain types of films are bound to get lost in the shuffle. Such is the case with Ramona Diaz’s fine, unassuming documentary Motherland. Centering on the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Metro Manila, one of the busiest maternity wards in the Philippines, the film has a wealth of fascinating material. A nurse tallies the number of women and children in the ward; a young mother learns of “Kangaroo Mother Care” (widely used because of a lack of incubators); a nurse attempts to convince various mothers to use an Iud; the ward doctor drones over the Pa system in a strict, motherly tone (the way one would speak to a summer camp group). There’s a great documentary to be made here, so it's somewhat frustrating that Motherland is merely quite good.

In a ceremony last night hosted by Jessica Williams — and one marked by presenters, winners and festival reps denouncing, in ways subtle and direct, the Trump administration’s immigration ban — the winners of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival were announced. First-time feature director Macon Blair’s character-based crime thriller I don’t feel at home in this world anymore won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, while Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s comedy-tinged doc about a romance between a couple living on the autism spectrum, Dina, won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. On the World Cinema side, Tarik Saleh’s The Nile Hilton […]...

Fares Fares and Hania Amar in The Nile Hilton Incident - in Cairo, weeks before the 2011 revolution, Police Detective Noredin is working in the infamous Kasr el-Nil Police Station when he is handed the case of a murdered singer. He soon realizes that the investigation concerns the power elite, close to the President’s inner circle. Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival drew to a close last night at an awards ceremony in Park City, Utah, that was dominated by talk of Donald Trump's executive order to ban Muslims travelling from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia, including refugees, from entering the Us for the next 90 days.

The big winners included Syrian documentary The Last Men In Aleppo, directed by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen, Macon Blair's drama I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore, Dina, direted by DAn Sickles and Antonio Santini...

This year’s Sundance Film Festival was expected to hit some topical notes and in that regard, the documentary competition did not disappoint. This year’s section dealt with some of the most contentious international issues of our times.”City of Ghosts,” Matthew Heineman’s powerful followup to the Oscar-nominated “Cartel Land,” deals with the courageous investigative journalists of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, who have risked their lives to smuggle out footage of the war crimes being committed on Syrians by Isis. Jeff Orlowski’s “Chasing Coral” exposed the impact of climate change on coral reefs, while “Icarus” tackled Russia’s doping scandal.

“Quest,” the understated vérité effort from Jonathan Olshefski, was especially relevant. The film follows an African American family in Philadelphia over the course of a decade. Starting with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, “Quest” climaxes with the arrival of Donald Trump. As the family watches Trump on television,...

The Sundance 2017 juries and audiences unveiled their picks on Saturday night.

In the grand jury prizes, Macon Blair’s I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore claimed the Us dramatic award and Dina by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini won U.S. documentary.

Tarik Saleh’s The Nile Hilton Incident won world dramatic and Last Men In Aleppo by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen prevailed in the world documentary category.

In the audience awards, Matt Ruski’s Crown Heights and Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Coral were the favourites in the Us dramatic and documentary strands.

World cinema selections I Dream In Another Language by Ernesto Contreras and Joe Piscatella’s Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower emerged victorious in the dramatic and documentary sections.

“This has been one of the wildest, wackiest and most rewarding festivals in recent memory,” said festival director John Cooper. “From a new government to the independently organised Women’s March On Main...

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close with tonight’s awards ceremony. While we’ll have our personal favorites coming early this week, the jury and audience have responded with theirs, topped by Macon Blair‘s I don’t feel at home in this world anymore., which will arrive on Netflix in late February, and the documentary Dina. Check out the full list of winners below see our complete coverage here.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Larry Wilmore to:

Dina / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini) — An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Peter Dinklage to:

I don’t feel at home in this world anymore. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Macon Blair) — When a depressed woman is burglarized, she...