Post-WWII national anxieties offer a glimpse into our current tolerance for totalitarianism in Brooklyn 45, writer-director Ted Geoghegan’s latest horror effort. Presented as a real-time film in a bottle setting, the film takes place during the immediate aftermath of the war as a group of veterans meet at one of their Brooklyn (by way of Chicago) abodes to reconnect and (attempt to) mend fresh wounds. Clive “Hock” Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden) hosts the group, who assemble in part to support their old friend after his wife’s recent suicide. Rounding out the guest list is Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsay), who worked as […]

The haunted halls of a defunct Catskills hotel wreak psychological violence on a group of young, queer city slickers in Bad Things, the long-awaited sophomore feature from writer-director Stewart Thorndike. Arriving nearly a decade after Lyle, Thorndike’s sapphic take on Rosemary’s Baby starring Gabby Hoffmann, Bad Things similarly tackles plot points and thematic fixations of another scary movie staple—Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining—through a thoroughly queer and feminist perspective. Ruthie (Gayle Rankin) is debating whether or not to sell the now-derelict hotel her mother used to run years prior. With a decisive real estate meeting only days away, Ruthie assembles a […]

Founded in 1999 and situated in the historic arts colony on the Massachusetts Cape, the Provincetown International Film Festival has been a bastion for independent filmmakers and their projects for a quarter of a century, with classics such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Cameraperson and Coffee & Cigarettes appearing across its programming. PIFF has also long been known for its established rapport with queer directors (John Waters has returned annually to present awards and host events) and the the LGBTQ+ community that resides in the town year-round. PIFF’s 2023 edition, which begins today and runs through the 18th, is the festival’s […]

Filmmaker is pleased to host the exclusive trailer premiere of Film at Lincoln Center’s forthcoming retrospective series “Marco Ferreri: Beyond the Absurd,” which was co-produced by Cinecittà. The most comprehensive U.S. retrospective of the Italian director’s work will take place at FLC from June 9 through 22, with several films presented on 35mm. Per the press release: Highlights include Ferreri’s third feature The Little Coach, starring the famous comic actor José Isbert, which established young Ferreri as a European master of black humor; The Ape Woman, which underwent harsh censorship and is now presented with its three different endings: the […]

Our projected identities—and the constant performance inherent in presenting ourselves—fuel the surrealist philosophy of Ted Schaefer’s Giving Birth to a Butterfly. The filmmaker’s directorial debut, from a script he co-wrote with author Patrick Lawler, delves into a psychedelic psychology of what truly constitutes “the self” (very fitting for a collaborative duo who met through a mutual therapist). Giving Birth to a Butterfly largely consists of a roadtrip odyssey shared by Diana (Annie Parisse), a pharmacist stuck in an unfulfilling marriage to aspiring chef Daryl (Paul Sparks), and Marlene (Gus Birney), a heavily pregnant young woman who’s dating Diana’s son Drew […]

Investigating the death of a utopian vision coalesces with a survey of a “developing” dystopian hellscape in Museum of the Revolution, the sprawling, meditative effort from filmmaker, researcher and educator Srđan Keča. Through a series of charming vignettes that are nonetheless thick with human despair (and radical joy in the face of it), Keča’s documentary examines the crumbling remains of the titular edifice in the otherwise rapidly evolving city of Belgrade, Serbia. Construction of the building originally commenced in 1961, and the never-formally-erected Museum of the Revolution was conceived as a grand tribute to then-socialist Yugoslavia. Yet the project was […]

The delicate coming-of-age process is curbed by one family’s struggle with a so-called “crisis” in Stay Awake, writer-director Jamie Sisley’s feature debut. Of course, the crisis at hand is the opioid epidemic, and the afflicted party is a tight-knit family living in a small Virginia town. Michelle (Chrissy Metz, best known for her role on NBC’s This Is Us) is a single mother who undeniably loves her two sons Ethan (Wyatt Oleff) and Derek (Fin Argus). But unfaltering devotion on its own cannot keep Michelle sober, particularly when her doctor keeps refilling her highly-addictive prescription. Most nights, the brothers find themselves desperately […]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has ventured into the realm of audio storytelling with “The Art of Documentary,” a six-episode podcast hosted by Jim LeBrecht, who co-directed and co-produced Crip Camp with Nicole Newnham. Each episode will feature LeBrecht engaging in a discussion with a different documentarian about their individual experiences while crafting their films. “I was approached by Randy Haberkamp and Dina Michelle at the Academy if I’d be interested in hosting and developing this podcast,” LeBrecht told Filmmaker. “To be honest, I was honored. I’ve been an Academy member for a few years but my […]

Filmmaker presents the exclusive trailer premiere of German filmmaker Natalia Sinelnikova’s directorial debut We Might As Well Be Dead. The film was the opening night title at the 2022 Berlinale in the festival’s German Perspective category and winner of Best Cinematography at last year’s Tribeca Festival. Hope Runs High will release We Might As Well Be Dead in New York City this month before expanding to more U.S. and Canadian cities over the summer. Originally, We Might As Well Be Dead was conceived by Sinelnikova as a thesis film to win comparisons to Yorgos Lanthimos‘s  The Lobster. The film’s official synopsis […]

Prismatic Ground, the New York-based film festival that showcases experimental documentary and avant-garde works, kicks off this week. Spanning five days and six theaters, the festival will run from May 3-7 with screenings at the Museum of the Moving Image, Maysles Documentary Center, BAM Cinematheque, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, Light Industry and Anthology Film Archives. Now in its third year, Prismatic Ground’s 2023 slate features approximately 60 films, including both recent films from contemporary artists and new restorations of work from essential filmmakers. During a recent chat with Prismatic Ground’s founder and director Inney Prakash, he emphasized that the festival’s lineup […]