
Berlin-based film expert Dorothee Wenner follows film producer extraordinaire Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima as she travels the streets of Laos cutting deals and green-lighting projects in this profile of Nigeria's booming direct-to-video movie industry. Colloquially known as Nollywood, this thriving film industry turns out approximately 2000 new features every year, generating $250 million in the process and making it a close third to Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of cash generated. In addition to speaking with the producer who plays a crucial role in getting many of these films made, Wenner also speaks with people like editor and 3D effects specialist Maimunah Sayyadi who can frequently be found in the editing room with an infant on her lap as she edits the works of her husband Faruk, a prolific Nigerian filmmaker.
Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is a gritty, darkly funny thrill ride through 1998 New York, with Austin Butler delivering a raw, magnetic turn as Hank Thompson—a washed-up ex-ballplayer turned bartender whose life implodes after cat-sitting for his punk neighbor drags him into a violent underworld of gangsters, crooked cops, and chaos. Brutal yet unexpectedly hilarious, the film blends noir grit with midnight-movie absurdity, proving Aronofsky can reinvent himself while Butler cements his status as a true movie star.
The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor.
When most of us think about diversity in film, we usually think about three things: race, gender, and disabilities. However, there is a forgotten topic... age. These are 12 of the best films about growing old.
Not every silence is empty. Some are filled with things too heavy for words.
A Japanese anime movie that brings survival, adventure, and friendship to the big screen.