Lola, a powerful female boxing feature film, has been accepted into the American Black Film Festival, which continues its 24-year legacy of providing a platform for diverse storytelling and emerging filmmakers. The festival is scheduled to take place online on August 21-30 at http://www.abff.com
In the early aughts, in a small Iowa town, Alice — a student at the local Catholic high school — enjoys watching Titanic and testing her knowledge of movie titles with word scrambles played in online chat rooms. When one of her internet encounters takes an unexpected turn, she suddenly discovers there’s pleasure to be had in pleasuring oneself. Not long after, she attends a four-day Catholic retreat, where she struggles to reconcile her nascent urges with the prospect of eternal judgment
Called “one of the most prescient films of the decade,” She Dies Tomorrow from Neon and writer/director Amy Seimetz, centers on a woman who believes she is about to die from a mysterious illness that is also highly contagious. The psychological thriller, which recently went through sound and picture finishing at Goldcrest Post in New York, delves into universal feelings of anxiety and dread through a story that blends horror, humor, drama and the surreal. Seimetz used sound to convey the feeling of fear.
Amazon Studios has acquired the worldwide rights to Oscar-winning actress Regina King’s feature directorial debut, One Night in Miami, written by Olivier-nominated Kemp Powers, based on his 2013 stage play. Producers are Jess Wu Calder and Keith Calder of Snoot Entertainment (Blindspotting, Anomalisa) and Jody Klein of ABKCO (The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus). King and Powers are executive producers.
The MetFilm School has launched the Dan Demissie Voices That Matter scholarship, which is designed to support the next generation of black filmmakers, recognizing the importance of accessibility and equality within the screen industry. Film producer Dan Demissie died last July at the age of 37.
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto will host an online product demonstration titled Media Accessibility, Creative Captioning and Subtitling. The demonstration will cover the SubtitleNext software Profuz Digital. The online event takes place via Zoom on Wednesday August 5 at 4:00 p.m. EDT, with American Sign Language provided throughout the presentation.
Rooftop Films, in partnership with Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Hall of Science, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, has announced the opening of two drive-in festival locations in New York City. The Queens Drive-In will open in partnership with MoMI and NYSCI on the grounds of the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Brooklyn Drive-In opened this past weekend on the pier of The Brooklyn Army Terminal, in partnership with NYCEDC. Both venues will present films throughout the summer and fall of 2020.
The fifth annual Hip Hop Film Festival returns for four days of fresh, featuring film screenings, virtual DJ battles, master classes known as Master Cyphers, and more. The festival takes viewers through a series of live events produced through 24/7 Films TV August 6-9.
New York Women in Film & Television has received a significant grant from the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The funding will provide general operating support for the organization and will allow it to further its initiatives in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top executives at the Sundance Institute have issued a statement announcing a one million dollar fund for filmmakers as well as other initiatives to support film artists during and after the pandemic.
