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The folks behind the Sundance Film Festival have officially kicked off 2020 by announcing the 118 features that will premiere at Park City, Utah, next month. It's an incredible, and lengthy, list of enticing movies across different competition categories, mixing familiar names (in front of and behind the camera) with a slew of talent ready to be discovered. Consider this like a scavenger hunt for pieces that will ultimately build up 2020's year of film, and that's not counting the titles that Sundance has yet to announce. 

Below is a list of the announced titles, taken straight from the press release for your pleasure. 

The feature films confirmed for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival are:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers Festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include The Farewell, Honey Boy, Clemency, Eighth Grade, Sorry to Bother You and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. 47% of the directors in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition are women; 52% are people of color; 5% are LGBTQ+.

The 40-Year-Old Version / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Radha Blank, Producers: Lena Waithe, Radha Blank, Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jennifer Semler, Rishi Rijani) — A down-on-her-luck New York playwright decides to reinvent herself and salvage her artistic voice the only way she knows how: by becoming a rapper at age 40. Cast: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney, Imani Lewis, T.J. Atoms. World Premiere

BLAST BEAT / U.S.A. (Director: Esteban Arango, Screenwriters: Erick Castrillon & Esteban Arango, Producers: Charles D. King, Poppy Hanks, Erick Castrillon, Ty Walker) — After their family emigrates from Colombia during the summer of ‘99, a metalhead science prodigy and his deviant younger brother do their best to adapt to new lives in America. Cast: Moises Arias, Mateo Arias, Daniel Dae Kim, Kali Uchis, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama. World Premiere

Charm City Kings / U.S.A. (Director: Angel Manuel Soto, Screenwriters: Sherman Payne, Chris Boyd & Kirk Sullivan, Barry Jenkins, Producers: Caleeb Pinkett, Clarence Hammond, Marc Bienstock) — Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence. Cast: Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Meek Mill, Will Catlett, Teyonah Parris, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Kezii Curtis. World Premiere

Dinner in America / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Adam Rehmeier, Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, David Hunter, Ross Putman, John Covert, Sam Slater) — An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with his band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.. Cast: Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Pat Healy, Griffin Gluck, Lea Thompson, Mary Lynn Rajskub. World Premiere

The Evening Hour / U.S.A. (Director: Braden King, Screenwriter: Elizabeth Palmore, Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Braden King, Derrick Tseng) — Cole Freeman maintains an uneasy equilibrium in his rural Appalachian town, looking after the old and infirm while selling their excess painkillers to local addicts. But when an old friend returns with plans that upend the fragile balance and identity he's so painstakingly crafted, Cole is forced to take action. Cast: Philip Ettinger, Stacy Martin, Cosmo Jarvis, Michael Trotter, Kerry Bishé, Lili Taylor. World Premiere

Farewell Amor / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ekwa Msangi, Producers: Huriyyah Muhammad, Sam Bisbee, Josh Penn) — Reunited after a 17 year separation, Walter, an Angolan immigrant, is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teenage daughter. Now absolute strangers sharing a one-bedroom apartment, they discover a shared love of dance that may help overcome the emotional distance between them. Cast: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Zainab Jah, Jayme Lawson, Joie Lee, Marcus Scribner, Nana Mensah. World Premiere

Minari / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lee Isaac Chung, Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh) — David, a 7-year-old Korean-American boy, gets his life turned upside down when his father decides to move their family to rural Arkansas and start a farm in the mid-1980s, in this charming and unexpected take on the American Dream. Cast: Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Youn Yuh Jung, Will Patton, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho. World Premiere

Miss Juneteenth / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Channing Godfrey Peoples, Producers: Neil Creque Williams, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, Toby Halbrooks, Theresa Steele, Tim Headington) — Turquoise, a former beauty queen turned hardworking single mother, prepares her rebellious teenage daughter for the “Miss Juneteenth” pageant, hoping to keep her from repeating the same mistakes in life that she did. Cast: Nicole Beharie, Kendrick Sampson, Alexis Chikaeze, Lori Hayes, Marcus Maudlin. World Premiere

Never Rarely Sometimes Always / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman, Producers: Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, Rose Garnett) — An intimate portrayal of two teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania. Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn and her cousin Skylar embark on a brave, fraught journey across state lines to New York City. Cast: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, Sharon Van Etten. World Premiere

Nine Days / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Edson Oda, Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette Marie Kongsved, Matthew Lindner, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner) — In a house distant from the reality we know, a reclusive man interviews prospective candidates—personifications of human souls—for the privilege that he once had: to be born. Cast: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Bill Skarsgård, Tony Hale, David Rysdahl. World Premiere. Dolby Institute Fellowship

Palm Springs / U.S.A. (Director: Max Barbakow, Screenwriter: Andy Siara, Producers: Andy Samberg, Becky Sloviter, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Dylan Sellers, Chris Parker) — When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated the next morning when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other. Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Meredith Hagner, Camila Mendes, Peter Gallagher. World Premiere

Save Yourselves! / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson, Producers: Kara Durrett, Mandy Tagger, Adi Ezroni) — A young Brooklyn couple head upstate to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with themselves. Cut off from their devices, they miss the news that the planet is under attack. Cast: Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair, Johanna Day, John Early, Gary Richardson. World Premiere

Shirley / U.S.A. (Director: Josephine Decker, Screenwriter: Sarah Gubbins, Producers: Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Sue Naegle, Sarah Gubbins, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman) — A young couple moves in with the famed author, Shirley Jackson, and her Bennington College professor husband, Stanley Hyman, in the hope of starting a new life but instead find themselves fodder for a psycho-drama that inspires Shirley's next novel. Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman. World Premiere

Sylvie’s Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eugene Ashe, Producers: Nnamdi Asomugha, Gabrielle Glore, Jonathan Baker, Matthew Thurm) — Years after their summer romance comes to an end, an aspiring television producer and a talented musician cross paths, only to find their feelings for each other never changed. With their careers taking them in different directions, they must choose what matters most. Cast: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Jemima Kirke. World Premiere

Wander Darkly / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Tara Miele, Producers: Lynette Howell Taylor, Samantha Housman, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson) — New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future. Cast: Sienna Miller, Diego Luna, Beth Grant, Aimee Carrero, Tory Kittles, Vanessa Bayer. World Premiere

Zola / U.S.A. (Director: Janicza Bravo, Screenwriters: Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris, Producers: Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Elizabeth Haggard, Dave Franco, Gia Walsh) 2015: @zolarmoon tweets “wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It's kind of long but full of suspense.” Two girls bond over their “hoeism” and become fast friends. What's supposed to be a trip from Detroit to Florida turns into a weekend from hell. Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo. World Premiere

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION Sixteen world-premiere American documentaries that illuminate the ideas, people and events that shape the present day. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include APOLLO 11, Knock Down The House, One Child Nation, American Factory, Three Identical Strangers and On Her Shoulders. 45% of the directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition are women; 23% are people of color; 23% are LGBTQ+. 

A Thousand Cuts / U.S.A., Philippines (Director and screenwriter: Ramona S. Diaz, Producers: Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Chris Clements, Carolyn Hepburn) — Nowhere is the worldwide erosion of democracy, fueled by social media disinformation campaigns, more starkly evident than in the authoritarian regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Journalist Maria Ressa places the tools of the free press—and her freedom—on the line in defense of truth and democracy. World Premiere

Be Water / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Bao Nguyen, Producer: Julia Nottingham) — In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland of Hong Kong to complete four iconic films. Charting his struggles between two worlds, this portrait explores questions of identity and representation through the use of rare archival, interviews with loved ones and Bruce’s own writings. World Premiere

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets / U.S.A. (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross, Producers: Michael Gottwald, Chere Theriot) — In the shadows of the bright lights of Las Vegas, it's last call for a beloved dive bar known as the Roaring 20s. A document of real people, in an unreal situation, facing an uncertain future: America at the end of 2016. World Premiere

Boys State / U.S.A. (Directors: Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine, Producers: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss) — In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up. World Premiere

Code for Bias / U.S.A., United Kingdom, China (Director, screenwriter and producer: Shalini Kantayya) — Exploring the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s startling discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all. World Premiere

The Cost of Silence / U.S.A. (Director: Mark Manning, Producers: Mark Manning, Langdon Page, Reuben Aaronson) — An industry insider exposes the devastating consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and uncovers systemic corruption between government and industry to silence the victims of a growing public health disaster. Stakes could not be higher as the Trump administration races to open the entire U.S. coastline to offshore drilling. World Premiere 

Crip Camp / U.S.A. (Directors: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht, Producers: Sara Bolder, Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham) — Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement. World Premiere. DAY ONE

Dick Johnson Is Dead / U.S.A. (Director: Kirsten Johnson, Screenwriters: Nels Bangerter, Kirsten Johnson, Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness) — With this inventive portrait, a cameraperson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all. World Premiere

Feels Good Man / U.S.A. (Director: Arthur Jones, Producers: Giorgio Angelini, Caryn Capotosto, Aaron Wickenden)  — When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide. World Premiere

The Fight / U.S.A. (Directors: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres, Producers: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres, Maya Seidler, Peggy Drexler, Kerry Washington) — Inside the ACLU, a team of scrappy lawyers battle Trump’s historic assault on civil liberties. World Premiere

Mucho Mucho Amor / U.S.A. (Directors: Cristina Costantini, Kareem Tabsch, Producer: Alex Fumero) — Once the world's most famous astrologer, Walter Mercado seeks to resurrect a forgotten legacy. Raised in the sugar cane fields of Puerto Rico, Walter grew up to become a gender non-conforming, cape-wearing psychic whose televised horoscopes reached 120 million viewers a day for decades before he mysteriously disappeared. World Premiere

Spaceship Earth / U.S.A. (Director: Matt Wolf, Producers: Stacey Reiss, Matt Wolf) — In 1991 a group of countercultural visionaries built an enormous replica of earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2. When eight “biospherians” lived sealed inside, they faced ecological calamities and cult accusations. Their epic adventure is a cautionary tale but also a testament to the power of small groups reimagining the world. World Premiere

Time / U.S.A. (Director: Garrett Bradley, Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley) Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades. World Premiere

Us Kids / U.S.A. (Director: Kim A. Snyder, Producers: Kim A. Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole, Lori Cheatle) — Determined to turn unfathomable tragedy into action, the teenage survivors of Parkland, Florida catalyze a powerful, unprecedented youth movement that spreads with lightning speed across the country, as a generation of mobilized youth take back democracy in this powerful coming-of-age story. World Premiere

Welcome to Chechnya / U.S.A. (Director: David France, Producers: Alice Henty, David France, Askold Kurov, Joy A. Tomchin) — This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ pogrom raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil. World Premiere

Whirlybird / U.S.A. (Director: Matt Yoka, Producers: Diane Becker, Matt Yoka) — Soaring above the chaotic spectacle of ‘80s and ‘90s Los Angeles, a young couple revolutionized breaking news with their brazen helicopter reporting. Culled from this news duo’s sprawling video archive is a poignant L.A. story of a family in turbulence hovering over a city unhinged. World Premiere

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents around the world offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include The Souvenir, The Guilty, Monos, Yardie, The Nile Hilton Incident and Second Mother.

Charter / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Amanda Kernell, Producers: Lars G. Lindström, Eva Åkergren) — After a recent and difficult divorce, Alice hasn't seen her children in two months as she awaits a custody verdict. When her son calls her in the middle of the night, Alice takes action, abducting the children on an illicit charter trip to the Canary Islands. Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Troy Lundkvist, Tintin Poggats Sarri, Sverrir Gudnasson, Eva Melander, Siv Erixon. World Premiere

Cuties / France (Director and screenwriter: Maïmouna Doucouré, Producer: Zangro) — Amy, 11 years old, meets a group of dancers called "Cuties.” Fascinated, she initiates herself to a sensual dance, hoping to join their band and escape family dysfunction... Cast: Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou, Ilanah Cami-Goursolas, Myriam Hamma, Maïmouna Gueye. World Premiere. DAY ONE

Exil / Germany, Belgium, Kosovo (Director and screenwriter: Visar Morina, Producers: Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade) — A chemical engineer feeling discriminated against and bullied at work plunges into an identity crisis. Cast: Mišel Matičević, Sandra Hüller. World Premiere

High Tide / Argentina (Director and screenwriter: Verónica Chen, Producers: Esteban Mentasti, Hori Mentasti) — Laura is spending a few days at her beach house to supervise the construction of a barbecue shed. One afternoon, she seduces the chief builder, who never returns. Over the following days, the builders continually invade her home – until Laura grows ferocious. Cast: Gloria Carrá, Jorge Sesán, Cristian Salguero, Mariana Chaud, Camila Fabbri, Héctor Bordoni. World Premiere

Jumbo / France, Luxembourg, Belgium (Director and screenwriter: Zoé Wittock, Producers: Anaïs Bertrand, Annabella Nezri, Gilles Chanial) — Jeanne, a shy young woman, works in an amusement park. Fascinated with carousels, she still lives at home with her mother. That’s when Jeanne meets Jumbo, the park’s new flagship attraction... Cast: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Sam Louwyck. World Premiere

Luxor / Egypt, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Zeina Durra, Producers: Mohamed Hefzy, Mamdouh Saba, Gianluca Chakra, Hisham Alghanim) — When British aid worker Hana returns to Luxor, a sleepy city on the banks of the Nile, she comes across Sultan, a talented archeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Karim Saleh, Michael Landes, Sherine Reda, Salima Ikram, Shahira Fahmy. World Premiere

Possessor / Canada, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Brandon Cronenberg, Producers: Niv Fichman, Andrew Starke, Kevin Krikst, Fraser Ash) — Vos is a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of the company. When something goes wrong on a routine job, she finds herself trapped inside a man whose identity threatens to obliterate her own. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh. World Premiere

Sin Señas Particulares / Mexico, Spain (Director: Fernanda Valadez, Screenwriters: Fernanda Valadez, Astrid Rondero, Producers: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez, Jack Zagha, Yossy Zagha) Magdalena makes a journey to find her son, gone missing on his way to the Mexican border with the US. Her odyssey takes her to meet Miguel, a man recently deported from the U.S. They travel together, Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel hoping to see his mother again. Cast: Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Ana Laura Rodríguez, Laura Elena Ibarra, Xicoténcatl Ulloa. World Premiere

Summer White (Blanco de Verano) / Mexico (Director: Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, Screenwriters: Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, Raúl Sebastián Quintanilla, Producer: Alejandro Cortés Rubiales) ― Rodrigo is a solitary teenager, a king in the private world he shares with his mother. Things change when she takes her new boyfriend home to live. He must decide if he fights for his throne and crushes the happiness of the person he loves the most. Cast: Adrián Rossi, Sophie Alexander-Katz, Fabián Corres. World Premiere

Surge / United Kingdom (Director: Aneil Karia, Screenwriters: Rupert Jones, Rita Kalnejais, Producers: Julia Godzinskaya, Sophie Vickers) ― A man goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation through London. After he robs a bank he releases a wilder version of himself, ultimately experiencing what it feels like to be alive. Cast: Ben Whishaw, Ellie Haddington, Ian Gelder, Jasmine Jobson. World Premiere

This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection / Lesotho, South Africa, Italy (Director and screenwriter: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Producers: Cait Pansegrouw, Elias Ribeiro) — When her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to reservoir construction, an 80-year-old widow finds a new will to live and ignites the spirit of resilience within her community. In the final dramatic moments of her life, Mantoa’s legend is forged and made eternal. Cast: Mary Twala Mhlongo, Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makheta, Makhoala Ndebele, Tseko Monaheng, Siphiwe Nzima. International Premiere

Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness / Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland (Director and screenwriter: Massoud Bakhshi, Producers: Jacques Bidou, Marianne Dumoulin) — Maryam accidentally killed her husband Nasser and is sentenced to death. The only person who can save her is Mona, Nasser's daughter. All Mona has to do is appear on a TV show and forgive Maryam. But forgiveness proves difficult when they are forced to relive the past. Cast: Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Babak Karimi, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Forough Ghajebeglou, Fereshteh Hosseini. International Premiere

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Honeyland, Sea of Shadows, Shirkers, This is Home, Last Men in Aleppo and Hooligan Sparrow.

Acasa, My Home / Romania, Germany, Finland (Director: Radu Ciorniciuc, Screenwriters: Lina Vdovii, Radu Ciorniciuc, Producer: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan) — In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, nine children and their parents lived in perfect harmony with nature for 20 years–until they are chased out and forced to adapt to life in the big city. World Premiere

The Earth Is Blue as an Orange / Ukraine, Lithuania (Director: Iryna Tsilyk, Producers: Anna Kapustina, Giedrė Žickytė) — To cope with the daily trauma of living in a war zone, Anna and her children make a film together about their life among surreal surroundings. World Premiere

Epicentro / Austria, France, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hubert Sauper, Producers: Martin Marquet, Daniel Marquet, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Paolo Calamita) — Cuba is well known as a so-called time capsule. The place where the New World was discovered has become both a romantic vision and a warning. With ongoing global cultural and financial upheavals, large parts of the world could face a similar kind of existence. World Premiere

Influence / South Africa, Canada (Directors and Screenwriters: Diana Neille, Richard Poplak, Producers: Bob Moore, Neil Brandt) — Charting the recent advancements in weaponized communication by investigating the rise and fall of the world's most notorious public relations and reputation management firm: the British multinational Bell Pottinger. World Premiere

Into the Deep / Denmark (Director: Emma Sullivan, Producers: Mette Heide, Roslyn Walker) — In 2016, a young Australian filmmaker began documenting amateur inventor Peter Madsen. One year in, Madsen brutally murdered Kim Wall aboard his homemade submarine. An unprecedented revelation of a killer and the journey his young helpers take as they reckon with their own complicity and prepare to testify. World Premiere

The Mole Agent / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Maite Alberdi, Producer: Marcela Santibañez) — When a family becomes concerned about their mother’s well-being in a retirement home, private investigator Romulo hires Sergio, an 83 year-old man who becomes a new resident–and a mole inside the home, who struggles to balance his assignment with becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents. World Premiere

Once Upon A Time in Venezuela / Venezuela, United Kingdom, Brazil, Austria (Director: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos, Screenwriters: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos, Sepp R. Brudermann, Producer: Sepp R. Brudermann) — Once upon a time, the Venezuelan village of Congo Mirador was prosperous, alive with fisherman and poets. Now it is decaying and disintegrating–a small but prophetic reflection of Venezuela itself. World Premiere

The Painter and the Thief / Norway (Director: Benjamin Ree, Producer: Ingvil Giske) — An artist befriends the drug addict and thief who stole her paintings. She becomes his closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care, even if her paintings are not found. But then the tables turn. World Premiere. DAY ONE

The Reason I Jump / United Kingdom (Director: Jerry Rothwell, Producers: Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee, Al Morrow)  — Based on the book by Naoki Higashida this immersive film explores the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people around the world. World Premiere

Saudi Runaway / Switzerland (Director and screenwriter: Susanne Regina Meures, Producer: Christian Frei) — Amjad, a young, fearless woman from Saudi Arabia, is tired of being controlled by the state and patronized by her family. With an arranged marriage imminent, a life without rights and free will seems inevitable. Amjad decides to escape. An unprecedented view inside the world's most repressive patriarchy. World Premiere

Softie / Kenya (Director and screenwriter: Sam Soko, Producers: Toni Kamau, Sam Soko) — Boniface Mwangi is daring and audacious, and recognized as Kenya's most provocative photojournalist. But as a father of three young children, these qualities create tremendous turmoil between him and his wife Njeri. When he wants to run for political office, he is forced to choose: country or family? World Premiere

The Truffle Hunters / Italy, U.S.A., Greece (Directors: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw) — In the secret forests of Northern Italy, a dwindling group of joyful old men and their faithful dogs search for the world’s most expensive ingredient, the white Alba truffle. Their stories form a real-life fairy tale that celebrates human passion in a fragile land that seems forgotten in time. World Premiere

NEXT Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity promises that the films in this section will shape a "greater" next wave in American cinema. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include The Infiltrators, Searching, Skate Kitchen, A Ghost Story and Tangerine. NEXT presented by Adobe.

Beast Beast / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Danny Madden, Producers: Benjamin Wiessner, Matt Miller, Tara Ansley) — Three interwoven stories of youths navigating identity, first love, petty crime, and gun violence in a southern American town. Cast: Shirley Chen, Will Madden, Jose Angeles, Courtney Dietz, Daniel Rashid. World Premiere

Black Bear / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lawrence Michael Levine, Producers: Julie Christeas, Jonathan Blitstein, Rick Bosner, Aubrey Plaza, Lawrence Michael Levine, Sophia Takal) — At a remote lake house, a filmmaker plays a calculated game of desire and jealousy in the pursuit of a work of art that blurs the boundaries between autobiography and invention. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon. World Premiere

I Carry You With Me / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Heidi Ewing, Screenwriters: Heidi Ewing, Alan Page Arriaga, Producers: Mynette Louie, Heidi Ewing) — An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same. Cast: Armando Espitia, Christian Vázquez, Michelle Rodríguez, Ángeles Cruz, Arcelia Ramírez, Michelle González. World Premiere

The Killing of Two Lovers / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Robert Machoian, Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford, Robert Machoian) — David desperately tries to keep his family of six together during a separation from his wife. They both agree to see other people but David struggles to grapple with his wife’s new relationship. Cast: Clayne Crawford, Sepideh Moafi, Chris Coy, Aver Pizzuto, Arri Graham, Ezra Graham. World Premiere

La Leyenda Negra / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Patricia Vidal Delgado, Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez) — In Compton, a soon-to-be undocumented teenager fights for her right to stay in America while risking her family, her friendships, and her first love. Cast: Monica Betancourt, Kailei Lopez, Irlanda Moreno, Justin Avila, Sammy Flores, Juan Reynoso. World Premiere

The Mountains Are a Dream That Call to Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Cedric Cheung-Lau, Producers: Alexandra Byer, Madeleine Askwith) — On the Annapurna Massif, Tukten, a young Nepali man setting off for a new life as a laborer in Dubai, encounters an older Australian woman who causes him to change course and discover his homeland in a new light. Cast: Sanjay Lama Dong, Alice Cummins. World Premiere

Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: The Daniels, Hannah Fidell, Alexa Lim Haas, Lucas Leyva, Olivia Lloyd, Jillian Mayer, The Meza Brothers, Terence Nance, Brett Potter, Dylan Redford, Xander Robin, Julian Yuri Rodriguez, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Producers: Olivia Lloyd, Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Taylor Shung) — It's not just a speed boat ride, it's a Miami adventure. Cast: Mel Rodriguez, Finn Wolfhard, Casey Wilson, Adam Devine, Jessica Williams, Robert Redford. World Premiere

Some Kind of Heaven / U.S.A. (Director: Lance Oppenheim, Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Kathleen Lingo, Melissa Oppenheim Lano, Pacho Velez, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman) — Behind the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America’s largest retirement community, The Villages, FL, strive to find happiness and meaning. World Premiere

Spree / U.S.A. (Director: Eugene Kotlyarenko, Screenwriters: Gene McHugh, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Producers: Matthew Budman, Sumaiya Kaveh, John Lang, Eugene Kotlyarenko) — Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver thirsty for followers, has figured out a deadly plan to go viral. As his disturbing livestream is absurdly embraced by the social media hellscape, a comedienne emerges as the only hope to stop this rampage. Cast: Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney, Mischa Barton, Josh Ovalle. World Premiere 

Summertime / U.S.A. (Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada, Screenwriters: Dave Harris, 19 Get Lit Poets, Producers: Kimberly Stuckwisch, Jeffrey Soros, Alisa Tager, Simon Horsman, Diane Luby Lane) — In the heat of the summer, the lives of 25 strangers collide. A love letter to Los Angeles written and performed by a collective of young spoken word poets. Cast: 19 Get Lit Poets. World Premiere. DAY ONE

PREMIERES A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include The Report, Late Night, The Big Sick and Call Me By Your Name.

Downhill / U.S.A. (Directors: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Screenwriters: Jesse Armstrong, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stefanie Azpiazu, Erik Hemmendorff, Ruben Östlund) Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reuate their lives and how they feel about each other. Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Zach Woods, Zoë Chao, Miranda Otto. World Premiere

Dream Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Euros Lyn, Screenwriter: Neil McKay, Producers: Katherine Butler, Tracy O’Riordan) — Jan, a cleaner and bartender, decides on a whim to breed a race horse in her Welsh village. As the horse rises through the ranks against all odds, Jan and the townspeople are pitted against the racing elite in a nail-biting race for the national championship. Cast: Toni Collette, Damian Lewis. World Premiere 

Falling / Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark (Director and screenwriter: Viggo Mortensen, Producers: Viggo Mortensen, Daniel Bekerman, Chris Curling) — When 80-year-old independent farmer Willis travels to Los Angeles for an indefinite stay with son John and his family, two very different worlds collide. Mentally declining, Willis' abrasiveness is both caustic and funny, bringing old wounds from the past and years of mutual mistrust to the surface. Cast: Lance Henriksen, Viggo Mortensen, Terry Chen, Sverrir Gudnason, Hannah Gross, Laura Linney. World Premiere. CLOSING NIGHT

The Father / United Kingdom, France (Director: Florian Zeller, Screenwriters: Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller, Producers: Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt) — Anthony is 80 years old. He lives alone in London and refuses the nurses that his daughter tries to impose upon him. Yet help is becoming more pressing, as she has decided to move to Paris. At once comedic and profound, this is a moving story of our human condition. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams. World Premiere

Four Good Days / U.S.A. (Director: Rodrigo Garcia, Screenwriters: Rodrigo Garcia, Eli Saslow, Producers: Jon Avnet, Marina Grasic, Jake Avnet, Jai Khanna, Rodrigo Garcia, Sage Scroope) — Ten years of opioids have left Molly’s life in shambles. A new drug may give her a chance to break free if she is able to stay clean for four days, with the help of her mother Deb, a tough, clear-eyed woman. Their love will be tested to the limits. Cast: Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Stephen Root, Joshua Leonard. World Premiere

The Glorias / U.S.A. (Director: Julie Taymor, Screenwriters: Julie Taymor, Sarah Ruhl, Producers: Alex Saks, Lynn Hendee) — An equal rights crusader, journalist and activist: Gloria Steinem embodies these and more. From her role in the revolutionary women's rights movement to her travels throughout the U.S. and around the world, Steinem has made an everlasting mark on modern history. A nontraditional chronicle of a trailblazing life. Cast: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler, Janelle Monae, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint. World Premiere

Herself / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Phyllida Lloyd, Screenwriters: Clare Dunne, Malcolm Campbell, Producers: Rory Gilmartin, Ed Guiney, Sharon Horgan) — Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self. Cast: Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill. World Premiere

Horse Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Jeff Baena, Screenwriters: Jeff Baena, Alison Brie, Producers: Alana Carithers, Jeff Baena, Alison Brie) — A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life. Cast: Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, Jay Duplass. World Premiere

Ironbark / United Kingdom (Director: Dominic Cooke, Screenwriter: Tom O'Connor, Producers: Adam Ackland, Ben Browning, Ben Pugh, Rory Aitken) — The true story of a British businessman unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with a Soviet officer hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley. World Premiere

Kajillionaire / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Miranda July, Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner) — Low-stakes grifters, Old Dolio and her parents invite a chipper young woman into their insular clan, only to have their entire world turned upside down. Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger. World Premiere

The Last Shift / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Cohn, Producers: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, Sam Bisbee, Alex Lipschultz, Bert Kern) — Stanley, an aging fast food worker, prepares to work his final graveyard shift after 38 years. When he's asked to train his replacement, Jevon, Stanley's weekend takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Richard Jenkins, Shane Paul McGhie, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Birgundi Baker, Allison Tolman, Ed O'Neill. World Premiere

The Last Thing He Wanted / U.S.A. (Director: Dee Rees, Screenwriters: Marco Vallalobos, Dee Rees, Producers: Cassian Elwes, Dee Rees) — A veteran D.C. journalist loses the thread of her own narrative when a guilt-propelled errand for her father thrusts her from byline to unwitting subject in the very story she’s trying to break. Adapted from the Joan Didion novel of the same title. Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez. World Premiere

Lost Girls / U.S.A. (Director: Liz Garbus, Screenwriter: Michael Werwie, Producers: Anne Carey, Kevin McCormick) — When Mari Gilbert's daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Committed to finding the truth, her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered sex workers Mari will not let the world forget. Inspired by true events. Cast: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Lola Kirke, Oona Laurence, Gabriel Byrne, Miriam Shor. World Premiere

The Nest / United Kingdom, Canada (Director and screenwriter: Sean Durkin, Producers: Ed Guiney, Derrin Schlesinger, Rose Garnett, Sean Durkin, Amy Jackson, Christina Piovesan) — Charismatic entrepreneur, Rory, relocates his family to England with dreams of profiting from booming 1980’s London. But as his wife, Allison, struggles to adapt, and the promise of a lucrative new beginning starts to unravel, the couple have to face the unwelcome truths lying beneath the surface of their marriage. Cast: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche. World Premiere

Promising Young Woman / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Emerald Fennell, Producers: Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerly, Josey McNamara, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell) — Everyone said Cassie was a promising young woman... until something abruptly derailed her future. Nothing in Cassie’s life is as it appears: she’s smart, cunning, and living a double life by night. Now, Cassie has a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling take on revenge. Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Jennifer Coolidge. World Premiere

Sergio / U.S.A. (Director: Greg Barker, Screenwriter: Craig Borten, Producers: Brent Travers, Daniel Dreifuss, Wagner Moura) — A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career. Cast: Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, Garret Dillahunt, Will Dalton, Bradley Whitford, Brían F. O’Byrne. World Premiere 

Tesla / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Almereyda, Producers: Avi Lerner, Jeffery Greenstein, Uri Singer, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Isen Robbins) — Highlighting the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology–including his own previous work–by pioneering a system of wireless energy that will change the world. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Kyle Maclachlan, Eve Hewson, Jim Gaffigan, Hannah Gross, Josh Hamilton. World Premiere. Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize 

Uncle Frank / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Alan Ball, Producers: Alan Ball, Peter Macdissi, Michael Costigan, Jay Van Hoy, Bill Block, Stephanie Meurer) — In 1973, when 18-year-old Beth and her uncle Frank take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch's funeral, they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover Walid. A story about family, forgiveness, and our inherent power to choose who we want to be. Cast: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Margo Martindale. World Premiere 

Wendy / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Eliza Zeitlin, Producers: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Paul Mezey, Becky Glupczynski) — Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up. The classic story of Peter Pan is wildly reimagined in this ragtag epic. Cast: Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin, Ahmad Cage, Krzysztof Meyn. World Premiere. Dolby Institute Fellowship

Worth / U.S.A. (Director: Sara Colangelo, Screenwriter: Max Borenstein) — Kenneth Feinberg, a powerful D.C. lawyer appointed Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, fights off the cynicism, bureaucracy, and politics associated with administering government funds and, in doing so, discovers what life is worth. Based on true events. Cast: Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Amy Ryan, Tate Donovan, Talia Balsam, Laura Benanti. World Premiere

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES Renowned filmmakers and films about far-reaching subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Ask Dr. Ruth, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, RBG, An Inconvenient Sequel and The Hunting Ground.  

Aggie / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Catherine Gund, Producers: Catherine Gund, Tanya Selvaratnam) — An exploration of the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund who sold Roy Lichtenstein’s painting “Masterpiece” in 2017 for $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund to end mass incarceration. Cast: Agnes Gund, Darren Walker, Ava DuVernay, Thelma Golden, John Waters, Glenn Ligon. World Premiere 

Assassins / U.S.A. (Director: Ryan White, Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White) — True crime meets global spy thriller in this gripping account of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader. The film follows the trial of the two female assassins, probing the question: were the women trained killers or innocent pawns of North Korea? World Premiere 

Disclosure: Trans Lives On Screen / U.S.A. (Director: Sam Feder, Producers: Amy Scholder, Sam Feder) — An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves. Cast: Laverne Cox, Mj Rodriguez, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Chaz Bono, Jamie Clayton. World Premiere

The Dissident / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Fogel, Screenwriters: Mark Monroe, Bryan Fogel, Producers: Bryan Fogel, Jake Swantko, Mark Monroe, Thor Halvorssen) — When Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world are left to piece together the clues to a brutal murder and expose a global cover up perpetrated by the very country he loved. World Premiere 

Giving Voice / U.S.A. (Directors: James D. Stern, Fernando Villena, Producers: James D. Stern, Karen Bove, Fernando Villena, Schoen Smith, Craig Piligian) — Every year, thousands of high schoolers enter the August Wilson monologue competition for a chance to perform on Broadway. This film follows these students, examining how Wilson and his characters speak to a new generation, inspiring them to listen to his words and find their own voice. World Premiere 

The Go-Go's / U.S.A., Ireland, Canada (Director: Alison Ellwood, Producers: Trevor Birney, Corey Russell, Eimhear O'Neill) — As the first all-female band to play their instruments, write their songs and have a No. 1 album, The Go-Go's made history. Underpinned by candid testimonies, this film chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of a band born in the LA punk scene who became a pop phenomenon. Cast: Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine, Jane Wiedlin. World Premiere 

Happy Happy Joy Joy - The Ren & Stimpy Story / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Ron Cicero, Kimo Easterwood, Producer: Ron Cicero) — Exploring the rise and fall of the groundbreaking animated series Ren & Stimpy and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi, through archival footage, show artwork and interviews with the artists, actors and executives behind the show. Cast: John Kricfalusi, Robyn Byrd, Vanessa Coffey, Chris Reccardi, Richard Pursel, Bobby Lee. World Premiere 

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind / U.S.A. (Director: Laurent Bouzereau, Producers: Natasha Gregson Wagner, Manoah Bowman, Laurent Bouzereau) — Exploring actor Natalie Wood’s life and career through the unique perspective of her daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and others who knew her best. An examination of her personal and professional triumphs and challenges, which have often been overshadowed by her tragic death at age 43. World Premiere 

Okavango: River of Dreams (Director's Cut) / Botswana (Directors and Producers: Dereck Joubert, Beverly Joubert, Screenwriter: Dereck Joubert) — An insiders’ view of one of the greatest river systems on the planet, presented as a love letter, exploring the layers of paradise, limbo and inferno in a natural history echo of Dante’s Divine Comedy, a river of dreams, or beauty of conflict and turmoil. World Premiere 

Rebuilding Paradise / U.S.A. (Director: Ron Howard, Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Xan Parker, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes) — On November 8, 2018, a spark flew in the Sierra Nevada foothills, igniting the most destructive wildfire in California history and decimating the town of Paradise. Unfolding during the year after the fire, this is the story of the Paradise community as they begin to rebuild their lives. World Premiere

Taylor Swift: Miss Americana / U.S.A. (Director: Lana Wilson, Producers: Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Christine O'Malley) — A raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice. Cast: Taylor Swift. World Premiere. DAY ONE

Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Screenwriters: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Sara Newens, Producers: Amy Ziering, Kirby Dick, Amy Herdy, Jamie Rogers) — A brilliant former hip hop executive grapples with whether to go public about her rape by one of the most powerful men in the music industry. A gripping and profound examination of race, gender, intersectionality, and the toll sexual abuse takes on survivors and on society at large. Cast: Drew Dixon, Sil Lai Abrams, Sheri Hines, Joan Morgan, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Shanita Hubbard. World Premiere 

Vivos / Germany, Mexico (Director and Producer: Ai Weiwei) — Since an attack on students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in 2014 resulted in six deaths and in the forced disappearance of 43, the students’ families have been living in limbo with their unanswered questions, their struggle embodying the psychological and emotional toll of endemic violence upon Mexican society. World Premiere

MIDNIGHT From horror and comedy to works that defy genre classification, these films will keep you wide awake, even at the most arduous hour. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Greener Grass, Hereditary, Assassination Nation, The Little Hours and The Babadook.

Amulet / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Romola Garai, Producers: Matthew James Wilkinson, Maggie Monteith) — Tomaz, an ex-soldier now homeless in London, is offered a place to stay at a decaying house, inhabited by a young woman and her dying mother. As he starts to fall for Magda, Tomaz cannot ignore his suspicion that something insidious might also be living alongside them. Cast: Carla Juri, Alec Secareanu, Imelda Staunton, Angeliki Papoulia. World Premiere

Bad Hair / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Justin Simien, Producers: Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Eddie Vaisman, Justin Simien) — In this horror satire set in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own. Cast: Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood, Laverne Cox. World Premiere. DAY ONE

His House / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Remi Weekes, Producers: Edward King, Martin Gentles, Roy Lee, Aidan Elliott, Arnon Milchan) — A young refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in a small English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface. Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith. World Premiere

Impetigore / Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Joko Anwar, Producers: Shanty Harmayn, Tia Hasibuan, Aoura Lovenson, Ben Soebiakto) — An out-of-luck woman decides to go back to her secluded home village in hopes of inheritance. Little does she know, the villagers have been waiting for her because she got what they needed to lift off a plagueing curse. Cast: Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Ario Bayu, Asmara Abigail. International Premiere

The Night House / U.S.A. (Director: David Bruckner, Screenwriters: Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski, Producers: David Goyer, Keith Levine, John Zois) — A widow begins to uncover her recently deceased husband's disturbing secrets. Cast: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Stacy Martin, Evan Jonigkeit, Vondie Curtis-Hall. World Premiere

The Nowhere Inn / U.S.A. (Director: Bill Benz, Screenwriters: Carrie Brownstein, Annie Clark, Producers: Jett Steiger, Lana Kim, Annie Clark, Carrie Brownstein) — When St. Vincent sets out to make a documentary about her music, the goal is to both reveal and revel in the unadorned truth behind her on-stage persona. But when she hires a close friend to direct, notions of reality, identity, and authenticity grow increasingly distorted and bizarre. Cast: Annie Clark, Carrie Brownstein. World Premiere

Relic / Australia (Director: Natalie Erika James, Screenwriters: Natalie Erika James, Christian White, Producers: Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Riva Marker, Jake Gyllenhaal) — When Edna, the elderly and widowed matriarch of the family, goes missing, her daughter Kay and granddaughter Sam travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna. Cast: Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote. World Premiere

Run Sweetheart Run / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shana Feste, Producers: Jason Blum, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Aml Ameen, Dayo Okeniyi, Betsy Brandt, Shohreh Aghdashloo) — A blind date turns violent and the woman has to get home through Los Angeles, with her date in pursuit. Cast: Ella Balinska, Pilou Asbaek, Clark Gregg. World Premiere

Scare Me / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Ruben, Producers: Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Josh Ruben) — During a power outage, two strangers tell scary stories. The more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life in the dark of a Catskills cabin. The horrors of reality manifest when Fred confronts his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller. Cast: Aya Cash, Josh Ruben, Chris Redd, Rebecca Drysdale. World Premiere

SPOTLIGHT The Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love from throughout the past year. Films that have played in this category in recent years include The Biggest Little Farm, The Death of Stalin, The Rider, Ida and The Lobster.

And Then We Danced / Sweden, Georgia, France (Director and screenwriter: Levan Akin, Producers: Mathilde Dedye, Ketie Daniela) — In the conservative confines of modern Tbilisi, Merab, a competitive dancer, is thrown off balance by the arrival of Irakli, a fellow male dancer with a rebellious streak. Cast: Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili, Ana Javakhishvilli, Kakha Gogidze, Anano Makharadze.

The Assistant / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kitty Green, Producers: Kitty Green, Scott Macaulay, James Schamus, P. Jennifer Dana, Ross Jacobson) — A day in the life of Jane, an assistant to a high-powered film executive. Cast: Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Makenzie Leigh, Kristine Froseth, Jon Orsini, Noah Robbins. 

The Climb / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Covino, Screenwriters: Michael Covino, Kyle Marvin, Producers: Noah Lang, Michael Covino, Kyle Marvin) Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond—until Mike sleeps with Kyle's fiancée. A portrait of a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak, and rage. Cast: Kyle Marvin, Michael Covino, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt, Judith Godrèche. 

Collective / Romania, Luxembourg (Director and screenwriter: Alexander Nanau, Producers: Alexander Nanau, Bianca Oana) — Investigative journalists uncover massive fraud in the Romanian health care system revealing the price of corruption and ultimately, the price of truth. Cast: Catalin Tolontan, Mirela Neag, Razvan Lutac, Tedy Ursuleanu, Vlad Voiculescu, Camelia Roiu. U.S. Premiere

Ema / Chile (Director: Pablo Larraín, Screenwriters: Guillermo Calderón, Alejandro Moreno, Producer: Juan de Dios Larraín) — After a shocking incident upends her family life and marriage to a tempestuous choreographer, Ema, a reggaeton dancer, sets out on an odyssey of personal liberation in this incendiary story of art, desire, and the modern family. Cast: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera. 

La Llorona / Guatemala, France (Director and screenwriter: Jayro Bustamante, Producers: Jayro Bustamante, Herminio Gutiérrez, Gustavo Matheu, Marina Peralta, Georges Ranand) — Enrique, a retired general who oversaw the Maya genocide, is haunted by his devastating crimes. A tale of horror and fantasy, reimagining the Latin American fable as an urgent metaphor of Guatemalan recent history and its unhealed political wounds. Cast: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Julio Diaz, Margarita Kénefic, Juan Pablo Olyslager, Ayla-Elea Hurtado. 

The Perfect Candidate / Germany, Saudi Arabia (Director: Haifaa Al Mansour, Screenwriters: Haifaa Al Mansour, Brad Niemann, Producers: Roman Paul, Gerhard Meixner, Haifaa Al Mansour, Brad Niemann) — A determined young Saudi doctor’s surprise run for office in the local city elections sweeps up her family and community as they struggle to accept their town’s first female candidate. Cast: Mila Alzahrani, Dhay, Khalid Abdulrahim, Shafi Al Harthy. DAY ONE

KIDS This section of the Festival is especially for our youngest independent film fans. Programmed in cooperation with Utah Film Center, which presents the annual Tumbleweeds Film Festival, Utah’s premiere film festival for children and youth. Films that have played in this category in recent years include The Elephant Queen, Science Fair, My Life as a Zucchini, The Eagle Huntress and Shaun the Sheep. 

Binti / Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Frederike Migom, Producer: Katleen Goosens) — Twelve-year-old Binti dreams of becoming a famous vlogger like her idol Tatyana. But when the police raid her home, and try to deport her and her dad, they are forced to flee. Together with her friend Elias she now plots the perfect plan to stay in the country. Cast: Bebel Tshiani Baloji, Mo Bakker, Joke Devynck, Baloji, Caroline Stas, Noa Jacobs. U.S. Premiere

Come Away / United Kingdom, U.S.A. (Director: Brenda Chapman, Screenwriter: Marissa Kate Goodhill, Producers: Leesa Kahn, James Spring, David Oyelowo, Steve Richards, Andrea Keir) — Before Alice found Wonderland, and Peter became Pan, they were brother and sister. When their brother dies in an accident, they seek to save their parents from downward spirals until finally they're forced to choose between home and imagination, setting the stage for their iconic journeys into Wonderland and Neverland. Cast: Angelina Jolie, David Oyelowo, Jordan Nash, Keira Chansa, Reece Yates, Michael Caine. World Premiere

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made / U.S.A. (Director: Tom McCarthy, Screenwriters: Stephan Pastis, Tom McCarthy, Producers: Tom McCarthy, Jim Whitaker) — The hilarious exploits of Timmy Failure and his 1,500-pound polar bear partner, Total, as they operate Total Failure, Inc., a Portland detective agency. Based on the book by Stephan Pastis. Cast: Winslow Fegley, Ophelia Lovibond, Wallace Shawn, Craig Robinson, Kyle Bornheimer. World Premiere

In Mexico City, two ambulances race to the scene of an accident. With a camera mounted in the front of the front of the vehicle, we watch as the Ochoa family direct traffic with a loudspeaker and weave between cars. The Ochoa family are among the many for-profit private ambulances that work the streets of the thriving metropolis. But in a city of nine million people, the government operates fewer than 45 emergency ambulances to serve the population. In that resource-void, this for-profit industry has emerged.

Made over the course of three years, director Luke Lorentzen’s “Midnight Family” follows the working nights of the Ochoa family in a visceral documentary experience. Structured around a series of accidents that escalate in terms of tension and moral complexity, the film showcases the industry's intense atmosphere. Between these various incidents, we see the family in waiting; eating tacos, discussing money and arguing. A narrative balances many different threads, it showcases the many tensions of life on the edge of survival for the patients but also the Ochoa family, who also struggle to make ends meet. 

At the RIDM documentary film festival in Montreal, Lorentzen spoke with RogerEbert.com about the filmmaking process, documentary ethics in “Midnight Family.”

Considering the subject matter that daunting to screen Midnight Family for the first time in Mexico?

The first screening we did in Mexico was at the Guadalajara film festival, which was a good experience. Then we played the opening night of Ambulante, which was 3,000 people outdoors in the center of the city, very close to where the film was shot. There were ambulances circling the Plaza, going to scenes and coming back to catch the rest of the film. 

How did people respond?

The ambulance system, as it works, is not something people know about. At the same time, the kind of street-level corruption and government dysfunction is something that they are so over-comfortable with [that it] lands with a sense of surprise and shock, but not in the sense that it does in the U.S. It's more like, "Of course, that's how this happens." They're also able to see a lot more of the comedy. Just in the way the family interacts, some of the words they use and their accents are typical of Mexico City. It plays a bit more, not as a dark comedy, but then there's just more humor. 

How did you meet the Ochoa family and decide to make a film about them?

I moved to Mexico City right after I graduated from college and I went there for a variety of reasons, but it was pretty spontaneous. I was looking for something to do with my life. Through that process, I woke up one morning and parked about one block from my apartment was the Ochoa family. I asked them if I could ride along for a night to just see what healthcare and Mexico city was like and was just like totally blown away on that first evening. I saw a lot of what you see in the film, chasing ambulances to accidents and this family drama set in this underground world. 

I filmed over the course of three years and that was not what I expected when I went there for the first time. I was 23 years old and it was very spontaneous but ended up working out. I continue to tell myself that really meaningful things can come from everyday, unexpected encounters. 

How did you secure the resources to make the film?

I started mostly on my own with the camera that I already had. I shot enough footage to put together a three-minute sample reel that I then pitched at a festival in Camden, Maine. I met a producer, who's now my closest collaborator. He took it out to pitch to a few organizations and we got $20,000 from Catapult Film Fund, which was enough to get us really far because I was doing pretty much everything. It was enough to rent an additional camera so I could shoot on the windshield and in the back of the ambulance and pay for some travel. But we shot the film for almost nothing. Once we started editing and had more to show people, we were able to raise a proper budget for editing and sound.

How do you work shooting in such a confined space?

[The cameras are] Sony FS-7s. I use the same camera on the hood of the ambulance as I did in the back. It was a matter of me of night after night learning how to navigate this space. The Ochoas had such a repetitive routine that I could make pretty firm decisions about how to shoot things. I built this muscle of kind of navigating really tricky situations with a pretty clear sense of where people would end up moving and what the shots are like. It took months of trial and error before I got even close to that. Most of the film, despite having shot over the course of three years, comes from the last three weeks of production, like 75% of it. That's for a lot of reasons, one of which is that I just didn't know what I was doing in the beginning. And the other is my relationship with the family just like continued to grow and the intimacy got better and better until I was finally where I needed to be.

You're dealing with people like in very vulnerable situations where you do manage to preserve so much of their privacy and so much of their autonomy. How much of this was a conscious choice?

In the middle of really emotionally gut-wrenching moments, I needed to stay razor-focused on framing something just enough so that you know what's going on and have a sense of a person, a real individual being there while keeping their privacy. The way I started shooting the kind of initial concept for the film was to see if I could tell the whole story just with the one camera mounted on the windshield. I don't know if you've seen “Manakamana” but that film really inspired me. I wanted to see if I could tell a story with just one angle. You would hear and get a sense of what was happening outside and in the back, but you would never see it. Part of that was that was, I just didn't feel comfortable filming patients and I didn't know how to kind of deal with that process. Night after night, I slowly kind of observed and started to think about how I might begin shooting in the back. Little by little I expanded what I was willing to film and that grew into what you see in the film. It would come down to showing up to an accident about half the time just turning the camera off because it didn't feel right or someone asked me not to stop filming or I just like didn't feel like I could get the right kind of permission. And then half of the time I would be able to. People, in a really surprising way, were far more willing to share some of these moments than I expected them to be.

Part of my process was trying to connect with people. Not all of it is perfect, you know it's a messy world and part of wanting to shoot it alone was to kind of thread the needle of some really complicated situations with my own kind of ethical gut, and not put that on a crew member or kind of a larger team who might think differently about it. I did have a singular moral grounding that I would take through the whole process.

Early on I felt when I was in the ambulance I felt sometimes like the Ochoas are my best friends and that they were just the most lovely people. Then sometimes I really feared for some of their patients and dealing with that kind of spectrum of feelings, in terms of how the systems work, I knew that the worst version would sugar coat how complicated it all gets. I did feel responsible to not just the Ochoa family and giving them the dignity that they had showed me but also to the patient's side of the story, which was also valid and who were put through some things they shouldn't have been.

How did editing process work?

The concept of what I wanted to do came very early, but it took so long to get the material to support that idea. The idea was simple, the film would have five or six accidents and in each accident, I want the moral complexity to increase. There is also a tension between this family trying to survive, patients trying to survive and the two kinds of bumping into each other in different ways throughout the film. The first couple of accidents give you key bits of information that you need, like how this ambulance works, who the characters are. And then the midpoint of the film is when you kind of see how they get paid by this one hospital, you might not fully process it at that moment, but it is a breadcrumb that hopefully, you come back to at the end of the film.

I had this chart that I would draw, that kind of looked like a heartbeat. It was a huge simplification. I think when you're editing a film, it's good to kind of heighten things, emotional qualities to think about them in absolute terms, knowing that they are far more ambiguous and complicated, but it would be kind of moments that added to their heroicness and then moments that had it to their darkness and wanting the film to oscillate.

Can you talk about the film's sound design, especially considering the tight-quarters and the DIY atmosphere, how did you achieve such a rich sound mix?

I had an audio recorder that was bolted to my camera. Then I had four wireless channels so everyone would have a wireless mic and there was a shotgun to capture other sounds. All I was focused on was getting clear dialogue and nothing else. Once we locked the edit of the film, with a team of sound designers, we went back to the ambulance and put microphones in different places and structured them like a sound system—the way a theatre is structured. The thinking was to imagine the theatre as being the ambulance. We spatialized sound in a way that threw you into that space in a really immersive way. There was a team of three amazing people who spent like two months just doing sound. It was what we spent most of our budget on. There's no music in the film but there's just so much to play with in terms of the emotional qualities of all these sounds. 

I want to even do better on the next film, by really starting early on in the process. How do we go about recording sound that makes this as immersive and real and powerful? “Manakamana” is another example that inspired me. Like all the Harvard Sensory Ethnography films, sound is present in a very forward way.

The balance between loudness and quietness was also visual. I wanted to be able to have these crazy chase scenes and then give you just like an empty street shot for nine seconds. Just give you this moment to just like get a palate cleanser so that you can feel something in the next scene and not be so overwhelmed. And so just thinking about the edit was creating these spaces where people could take a breath, but not so much so that they disconnected with the sound.

Somewhere along the way, a boy’s father has changed. He used to be romantic toward his wife. He used to be positive. He used to be a father figure the boy could count on. Somewhere along the way, his mind changed. He ceased to be the man the boy knew. Now, he’s temperamental. He’s erratic and unstable. He hits and scars his wife with a burning kettle. This is his nature now.

The boy, Tempest (Yared Scott), has many questions about this new man and what happened to the old one. He likens it to the sounds that cicadas make in the summer, a constant buzzing that almost serves as a warning of some kind of the things about to change. But how come that buzzing never goes away?

Charles Williams’ lyrical and hypnotic short film, “All These Creatures,” is a meditation on how those closest to us can somehow become strangers or even unrecognizable monsters. It's a compassionate portrayal of a son coming to terms with his father who is succumbing to mental illness. The film consists largely of Tempest’s inner monologue, but when we finally see a scene of dialogue between the two characters, there is a deep sense of how they have grown so far apart. The acting and directing in this scene is quite an accomplishment in itself. 

Cinematographer Adric Watson makes the most of the dark spaces in each scene. It complements Tempest’s struggle to find a light in his and his father’s darkness, and the result is a visually stunning tragedy. "All These Creatures" evokes a mood that is hard to shake off once it’s over. It’s no wonder it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s that good.

How did this idea come about?

It was the combination of two things in particular. I’d always wanted to convey the felt experience of growing up under a volatile or violent parent. But I wanted it to be multifaceted and portray the subtler reverberations; how it haunts your sense of self and implants all these other questions and fears. 

Then, my daughter was about to be born and I was thinking about how we reuate our memories of our parents as we get older; how we humanize these mythic images we have. If they’re destructive it’s really necessary, I think, just to separate yourself from that impact. Maybe they were damaged themselves, or mentally ill. 

So marrying these two aspects—with someone re-uating memories of parental trauma and trying to understand and maybe find compassion—started it off.

It seems incredibly personal. Was it hard to pare it down to a short?

It was. But I really wanted it to feel concise. The idea of bifurcating it helped. So the first half is the fractured memories and poetic perspective which then transitions into a more real time experience. The simplicity of that felt like a way to keep it contained, while also not being simplistic or one note. Also the impact of my daughter being born helped. Not because of some kind of profound change I underwent, but I think it allowed me to be more personal simply because I had a lot less time to tie myself in knots. In that state I was less ashamed of making something close to the bone.

I can definitely see certain influences here, but I'd rather you tell me who some of your influences are, if you can. 

There weren’t any major influences in its inception. It felt more like I was more noticing similarities with other filmmakers’ sensibilities as it went along. I could see something of the Dardennes and Malick and Cassavetes, but almost from the outside.

There’s the difference between influences and references too though. For example there was some inspiration I felt from the Safdie Brothers, but I don’t think it’s referenced in the film in any literal way. Then there were references that didn’t necessarily inspire the film, but helped articulate the kind of lexicon I was searching for, like Tarkovsky with my cinematographer, or Harmony Korine with my Production Designer. 

One example that was hard to reference was the voice over, which is of course so crucial. I thought of “Badlands” initially, I liked the innocence of that but without the irony of it being kind of a romantic diary entry. I wanted something more broken and curious. Later I found this little bit of voice over in the documentary “Streetwise” that had this unaffected but very moving quality, so that was really valuable.

How did you go about casting the film? 

Firstly I felt we just needed to find the boy in the film and cast around him. The father’s role has a lot more range, but the boy’s role is so innate and required qualities I knew would be very hard to find in someone so young, so that had to take precedence.

I felt if I could find the right soul, regardless of their background, I could re-write the script around them. So I made the decision to cast without restrictions on race. When I suggested this to my casting agent (whom I thought would hate the idea) she suggested opening up gender too! So we just looked for anyone who had the right soul in that pre-adolescent range.

It was through this that we found Yared Scott, who had Ethiopian Australian heritage. So I brought on four different Ethiopian Australian advisors, to make sure what I was doing was accurate and sensitive to their culture. All of whom were enormously supportive and generous.

Then we were very lucky to find Mandela Mathia who plays the father, he was studying acting at NIDA in Sydney. Also Helen who plays the mother, who my casting agent found. Then I cast the other roles through a mixture of street casting and open auditions 

I eventually cast someone just to do the voice over as well. Yared had all of the right visual presence for the role, but I needed something else for the voice which was it’s own thing. I eventually found this great kid, Melchisedek Nkailu. He had never done any kind of performing before, but had exactly the voice I was looking for and over many hours we managed to piece it together.

What were some of the challenges you had during production? 

I had a producer that disappeared about two weeks before filming ... and then I realized she had perhaps exaggerated some of the commitments that had been made. So that was a challenging start! But it was all difficult. I had a great cast, but most of whom were untrained child actors, which meant short shooting days as well, then bugs, driving scenes, shooting on film, one animal in particular—and all with everyone donating their services and working for free. So nothing came easy and I’m incredibly grateful for the help we had.

You can never fully anticipate the challenges. For example, I went to do a day of pick-ups a month after our shoot and our main location had been bulldozed to the ground! A lot of these challenges come down to budget, which forces you to roll the dice a lot.

Have you had any reactions from anyone who could relate to it in some way?

I have had many people relate to the film, not just in terms of the literal situation the boy is in, though there has been that. A lot of people have connected to the themes and the understanding of trying to come to terms with a volatile parent, and their memories of their private childhood fears. It’s been really wonderful to see it connect like that.

What's next for you?

There’s a feature I’ve been writing called “Inside,” which is in some ways an extrapolation of the short, but in a different environment. I’m hoping to shoot that next year. There’s also another feature called “Kingdom Come.” It’s US set, based on a true story that happened there at the end of the '70s. I’ve been obsessed with that story for years, so that’s something I’m looking forward to as well.

If I can, I just want to say thanks for this interview. I love this website and miss Roger Ebert’s presence in our culture deeply. He had a profound talent and was very generous in making it accessible. He’s both a reference and an influence.

Director Martin Scorsese isn't shy to sing the praises of Netflix these days. They funded his long-term project "The Irishman," which based on the true story of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran (Robert De Niro), the labor union official with connections to both infamous mobster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and controversial labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Sheeran was long suspected in Hoffa's 1975 disappearance, confessing in the 2004 Charles Brandt book, "I Heard You Paint Houses.

Scorsese and De Niro felt it would be the perfect cinema reunion, and gathered a dream team cast that includes Pacino in his first collaboration with Scorsese, and Pesci's welcome return to the screen. For the Australian Broadcasting Company and RogerEbert.com, Australian reporter Katherine Tulich spoke to Scorsese and Pacino about making the film. 

The Unloved started six years ago as a way to reclaim some of the ironclad consensus that ruled critical thinking, as a way of trying to separate the present of film criticism from the past, to show that there were people no longer content to just take the old assumptions at face value. "Ishtar"? It’s great and shouldn’t have ended Elaine May’s career and we’re now at the point where the general line on her is we did her a tragic disservice by not begging her to keep directing. That’s the beauty of living now. We all have a chance to change what we understand to be true about art. It’s freeing and beautiful and it’s been one of the most consistent joys of my job. Who says "Jupiter Ascending" or "Mortal Engines" has to be as bad as everyone said? Why can’t I just treat them like great works of art from a fascinating time? I’ve been allowed by the editors at this site to write about Rob Zombie the way I think about him, as one of the great American artists. I was allowed and encouraged to ignore consensus and go looking for beauty and value in whatever works I pleased. I was allowed to take over the Ebert twitter account and talk about Spielberg’s "Lincoln."

<span class="s1" This, The Unloved, has been the most creatively fulfilling and rewarding project I’ve yet embarked upon. Which sort of makes up for the raft of truly horrible tragedies that seem unwilling to subside. The Unloved has been a repository for my emotional turmoil, as well as a place I get to go long on termite art and white elephant art alike. This video is no different, a sort of summation of the things I’ve been dealing with all year. I wanted to make a list of my favorite Unloved films of the decade (surely Anonymous remains the film I’m the most alone in my ardor, even if "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" remains my favorite and I’ll be watching it this holiday season) but that felt trite. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs because I survived. I wanted to cry and laugh and wail and gnash my teeth, because I survived. I am not happy about it, but I survived everything time has yet thrown at me.

The Unloved is not simply the series where I ask you to bear with me while I rhapsodize some forgotten would-be classic, some poetic misfire a lone critic needs re-thought. This is where I tell you what one voice among many endures. I am one person talking to you. I work in a bar four days a week and feel rather like Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg’s version of Abe Lincoln, not a great man, but someone that everyone needs to run petitions and arcane land ownership agreements by. People hear that I’m in movies (“My husband says you’re in sharks,” says Lorraine Gary’s Mrs. Chief Brody in "Jaws") and they want to know what I think of this or that, the big movies, the hefty ones. But all I want to tell them is to go take risks. Taking risks has brought me no little happiness--it’s put me face to face with ecstasy and monumental regret, but it’s how we feel alive. It’s the thing that brought me this close to true fulfillment, it flew me to Los Angeles to talk about my life’s work with Patton Oswalt, it’s invented the identity hiding beneath the bartender trying to pay rent. I am who I am because I love movies and take risks on them. Whatever life takes from me I will always take risks on art. The world could end tomorrow and I’ll be scared and upset, but I did the best I knew how to do. I made movies I wanted to see, and I defended the art I loved above all else.

<span class="s1" Thank you, Brian, Nick, Matt, Chaz, the whole Ebert family, thank you. Thank you for giving me purpose and for giving me a space to be myself. For not reigning me in or making me feel unwanted, for making me aware of my value. Thank you Nell, Jana, Max, Matt, Ben, Vikram; thank you, Odie; thank you, Omer M. Mozaffar, the kindest man alive; thank you, Seongyong Cho, my brother; thank you Michael Mirasol, the angel on my shoulder; thank you Olivia, my sister. I love you all. Thank you to the people whose names I fear to type, thank you, thank you, you have all granted me my identity. I am here because all of you showed me how to be myself. I can only hope, reader, that I have helped you feel more at peace with who you are.

Daggers and blades and Macguffins... oh my!

FINALLY!!

His search is at an end.

A massive interview for a massive new sequel!

FinnPoe will have to live on in the head canon of shippers.

The Deadpool actor calls his new movie “Maximum Bayhem”

He's not wrong.

Like his MCU character, Chris Hemsworth loves his hammers.

But really, I'm not THAT surprised to hear this.

The massive new attraction is almost here, but does it live up to expectations?

Plot twist.

The next Disney+ original movie is almost here.

I'm excited to watch The Irishman. Too bad it's almost impossible for me.

நடிகர்கள்: சமுத்திரகனி , தம்பிராமையா , அதுல்யா இசையமைப்பாளர் -ஜஸ்டீன் பிரபாகரன் இயக்குனர் : அன்பழகன் சென்னை: சாட்டை பட இயக்குனர் அன்பழகன்- சமுத்திரகனி கூட்டணியில் உருவாகியிருக்கும் படம் தான் அடுத்த சாட்டை .இந்த படம் சாட்டை படத்தோட தொடர்ச்சி கிடையாது ,இது அப்படியே வேறு கதையாகும் .இந்த படத்தில் சமுத்திரகனி ,தம்பி ராமையா,அதுல்யா ரவி,யுவன்

சென்னை : இப்போ வரும் அப்போ வரும் என்று பல நாட்கள் அல்ல பல மாதங்கள் தள்ளி போய் பல வருடங்களாக மாறி தற்போது வேல்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தின் முயற்சியால் வெளியாகி இருக்கும் படம் தான் "எனை நோக்கி பாயும் தோட்டா ". எனை நோக்கி பாயும் தோட்டா படத்தை இயக்கியுள்ளார் கௌதம் வாசுதேவ் மேனன் .இந்த

சென்னை : இயக்குனர் பாலு மஹேந்திரா இயக்கத்தில் 1979ல் உருவான படம் தான் அழியாத கோலங்கள் ,தற்போது இந்த படத்தின் 2ஆம் பாகமான அழியாத கோலங்கள்2 படம் வெளியாகி உள்ளது .இந்த படத்தில் பிரகாஷ் ராஜ், அர்ச்சனா ,ரேவதி ,நாஸர் ஆகியோர் முக்கிய கதாபாத்திரங்களில் நடித்து உள்ளனர்.இந்த படத்தை மூத்த பத்திரிக்கையாளர் எம்.ஆர்.பாரதி இயக்கியுள்ளார். பாலு

சென்னை : ஃப்ரோசன் 2 படம் 2013 ல் வெளியான ஃப்ரோசன் படத்தின் நீட்டிப்பே ஆகும்.இந்த படம் வால்ட் டிஸ்னி தயாரித்து இருக்கும் 58வது அனிமேஷன் படமாகும் . கம்ப்யூட்டர் கிராபிக்ஸ் முறையில் தயாரிக்கப்படும் இவ்வகையான படங்களுக்கு பொருட்செலவு கிடையாது ,ஆனால் மிக பெரிய தொழில்நுட்பங்களும் ,தொழில் நுட்ப கலைஞர்களும் தேவைப்படுகிறார்கள் . இவ்வைகயான படங்கள்

சென்னை: கிரிசாயா இயக்கத்தில் த்ருவ் விக்ரம், பானிடா சந்து, பிரியா ஆனந்த் நடிப்பில் உருவாகியுள்ள ஆதித்ய வர்மா இன்று திரைக்கு வந்துள்ளது. தெலுங்கில் வெளியான அர்ஜுன் ரெட்டி மற்றும் அதன் ஹிந்தி ரீமேக்கான கபீர் சிங் படங்கள் வெற்றியை பதிவு செய்த நிலையில், த்ருவ் விக்ரம் நடிப்பில் உருவாகியுள்ள ஆதித்ய வர்மா எப்படி இருக்கிறது என்பது குறித்து

சென்னை: விஜய்சேதுபதி போன்ற டாப் ஹீரோக்களுக்கே படம் வெளியாவதில் இப்போதெல்லாம் சிக்கல் உருவாகிறது. படம் ரிலீசாகும் நேரத்தில் அதன் கழுத்தை பிடிக்கும் போக்கு தமிழ் சினிமாவின் எதிர்காலத்துக்கு நிச்சயம் நல்லது அல்ல. கோடிக்கணக்கில் விளையாடப்படும் சினிமா விளையாட்டில் பலரது வாழ்வாதாரமும் அடங்கியிருக்கிறது. படங்களின் பட்ஜெட், ஹீரோக்களின் சம்பளம் அதிகமாவது தான் இதற்கு பிரச்சனையாக பார்க்கப்படுகிறது. சிறு பட்ஜெட்டில்

நடிகர்கள்: வாசி ஆசிப், பூஜா ஸ்ரீ ,சீமான் ,போஸ் வெங்கட் மற்றும் பலர். இசையமைப்பாளர் - ஸ்ரீ காந்த தேவா. இயக்குனர் - R. விஜய் ஆனந்த் - ஆர். சூரியன். சென்னை : இதுவும் விவசாயத்தை மையமாக வைத்து உருவான கதை தான் என்பது மகிழ்ச்சி ஒருபக்கம் இருந்தாலும் இன்னுமாடா விவசயாத்த இப்படி கூவி கூவி

சென்னை: ட்ரீம் வாரியர் பிக்ச்சர்ஸ் - எஸ்.ஆர் பிரபு எப்பொழுதுமே தரமான வித்தியாசமான கதைகளை தேர்வு செய்வதில் கெட்டிக்காரர். இந்த முறை நல்ல கதை மட்டும் அல்லாமல் ரிலீஸ் செய்வதிலும் தைரியமும் துணிச்சலையும் காட்டி உள்ளார். எவ்ளோ படங்கள் போட்டிக்கு வந்தாலும், நல்ல கதைகளை மக்கள் ஆதரிப்பர் என்ற அவரது 100% நம்பிக்கை வீண் போகவில்லை.

சென்னை: பிகில் படத்திற்கு கலவையான விமர்சனங்கள் வந்துகொண்டிருக்கின்றன. விஜய் - அட்லீ கூட்டணி மூன்றாவது முறையாக இணைந்துள்ள படம் பிகில். கடந்த இரண்டு படங்களும் சூப்பர் ஹிட் என்பதால் இப்படத்திற்கு பெரும் எதிர்பார்ப்பு நிலவுகிறது. பிகில் படம் இன்று ரிலீசாகியுள்ள நிலையில், அதிகாலை சிறப்பு காட்சி பார்த்த ரசிகர்கள் டிவிட்டர் உள்ளிட்ட சமூக வலைதளங்களில் கருத்து தெரிவித்து

நடிகர்கள் : வி.சிவா சிறுவன் அஹான் சத்யன் தேஜஸ்வி மற்றும் பலர் இயக்குனர்: பிரதீப் கிளிக்கர் சென்னை: இப்போது தமிழ் சினிமாவில் நாய்கள் சீசன் போல் இருக்கிறது. தொடர்ந்து நாய்களை மையமாக வைத்து எடுக்கப்படும் படங்கள் வெளியாகி வருகின்றன. சமீபத்தில் தான் "பப்பி" என்று ஒரு திரைப்படம் நாய்களுக்கும் உணர்ச்சி இருக்கிறது, அவைகளும் ஒரு உயிருள்ள ஜீவன்

நடிகர்கள்: வருண்சம்யுக்தா ஹெக்டேயோகி பாபு இயக்கம்: நட்டு தேவ்இசை : தரண்குமார்ஒளிப்பதிவு : தீபக் குமார் பாதேதயாரிப்பு: ஐசரி கே.கணேஷ் சென்னை: மிகவும் சீரியஸ் படங்களாக பார்த்து வந்த நம்ம தமிழ் ரசிகர்களுக்கு விருந்தாக மிகவும் யூத்தான ஒரு கதைக்களத்தோடு ரசிகர்களை"பப்பி"திரைப்படம் மூலம் மகிழ்வித்துள்ளார் அறிமுக இயக்குனர் நட்டு தேவ். வேல்ஸ் இன்டர்நேஷனல் சார்பில் ஐசரி

 சென்னை: சிவப்பு மஞ்சள் பச்சை படத்திற்கு பிறகு சித்தார்த் நடித்திருக்கும் ஒரு வித்தியாசமான ஆர்கானிக் பேய் கதை. கேத்தரின் தெரேசா, சதீஷ், ஆடுகளம் நரேன், மயில்சாமி, மனோபாலா ஆகியோர் நடிப்பில் ஆக்சன் த்ரில்லராக உருவாகியுள்ள படம் தான் அருவம். உருவம் இல்லாத ஒன்றை தான் அருவம் என்று சொல்லுவார்கள். அது போலே பல காட்சிகளில் திகில்

சென்னை: நேற்று வெளியான மலையாள படமான ஜல்லிக்கட்டு இணையம் முழுக்க மிக சிறப்பான வரவேற்பை பெற்றுள்ளது. சினிமா ரசிகர்களுக்கு இந்த வாரம் மிக சிறப்பான வாரம் என்றுதான் கூறவேண்டும். தமிழில் வெளியான அசுரன் படம் இணையம் முழுக்க நல்ல விமர்சனத்தை பெற்று வருகிறது. அதே சமயம் இன்னொரு பக்கம் கேரளாவில் இருந்து ஜல்லிக்கட்டு படம் வெளியாகி உள்ளது.

Cast: Kiran Abbavaram,Rahasya Gorak, Rajkumar others

Music: Jay.....

Cast: Sandeep Madhav, Muskaan Khubchandani, Devika, Manoj, Vinay Varma others

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Cast: Sree Vishnu, Nikki Tamboli, Sreekanth, Rohini Cinematography:Sid Music: Suresh Bobblli Producers: Rizwan .....

Cast: Ravi Babu, Neha Chauhan, Sri Muktha Bharani ,Shankar Mukhtar Khan

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Cast: Vijay, Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek, Kathir

Telugu Dia.....

പണ്ടത്തെ പോലെ അല്ല. ഇപ്പൊ തിയേറ്ററിൽ പോയില്ലെങ്കിലും ചാനലിലോ സ്ട്രീമിലോ യൂടൂബിലോ ഒക്കെയായി ഇറങ്ങുന്ന മിക്ക സിനിമയും എല്ലാവരും കാണുന്നുണ്ട്. അതൊരു നല്ല കാര്യമാണെന്ന് 'കെട്ട്യോളാണ് എന്റെ മാലാഖ' കണ്ടപ്പോൾ തോന്നി. കാരണം പടം മുന്നോട്ട് വെക്കുന്ന വിഷയം അത്ര പ്രസക്തമാണ്.കല്യാണം കഴിക്കാൻ പോവുന്ന കുട്ടായിമാർ നിർബന്ധമായും കണ്ടിരിക്കേണ്ട ചിത്രമെന്ന് അടിവര

പൂഴിക്കടകനിൽ ജയസൂര്യ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന രഘുറാം ഐഎഎസ് എന്ന കഥാപാത്രത്തിന് നമ്മുടെ ശ്രീറാം വെങ്കട്ടരാമനുമായി ചെറുതല്ലാത്ത സാമ്യമുണ്ട്. ലുക്കിലും നില്പിലും നടപ്പിലും ബുള്ളറ്റ് യാത്രകളിലുമെല്ലാം കാണാമിത്. പോരാത്തതിന് ഇടുക്കി ജില്ലാ കളക്ടറുമാണ് കഥാപാത്രം. ശ്രീറാമിന്റെ വീരസാഹസിക കൃത്യങ്ങൾ മാധ്യമങ്ങൾ പടിപ്പുകഴ്ത്തിയ കാലത്ത് ഡിസൈൻ ചെയ്ത കഥാപാത്രവും സിനിമയുമാണെന്നത് വ്യക്തം (പഴയ ഓൺലൈൻ പൂഴിക്കടകൻ വാർത്തകളും റെഫർ ചെയ്യാം).

രസമുണ്ടായിരുന്നു കമലയുടെ ട്രെയിലർ തിയേറ്ററിൽ കാണാൻ. അതേ മനോഹാരിത സിനിമയിലുടനീളം നിലനിർത്താൻ രഞ്ജിത്ത് ശങ്കറിന് സാധിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു --- ഇന്ന് കമലയുടെ ഫസ്റ്റ് ഡേ ഫസ്റ്റ് ഷോ കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടിരുന്നപ്പോൾ ചിന്തിച്ചു. പ്രേതം സീരിസിനെക്കാളും പുണ്യാളൻ സീരീസിനെക്കാളും മേരിക്കുട്ടിയെക്കാളുമൊക്കെ വൃത്തിയുള്ള ഒരു രഞ്ജിത്ത് ശങ്കർ മൂവിയാണ് കമല. കമല; ദുരൂഹതയുടെ സൗന്ദര്യം എന്ന് അടിവര.

അന്പതാമത് ഇന്ത്യൻ അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര ചലച്ചിത്രോത്സവത്തിൽ ഇന്ത്യൻ പനോരമ വിഭാഗത്തിൽ ആയിരുന്നു ടി കെ രാജീവ്‌ കുമാറിന്റെ കോളാമ്പി എന്ന സിനിമയുടെ പ്രീമിയർ ഷോ. രാജീവ്കുമാർ, നായികയായ നിത്യാമേനോൻ, ഛായാഗ്രാഹകൻ രവി വർമ്മൻ, നിർമാതാവ് രൂപേഷ്, സിനിമയിലെ മറ്റ് താരങ്ങളായ രോഹിണി, സുരേഷ് കുമാർ, മഞ്ജുപിള്ള, വികെ പ്രകാശ് എന്നിവരും മലയാള സിനിമയിൽ നിന്നുള്ള മറ്റ് പ്രമുഖരും പനാജിയിലെ

  ഐഎഫ്എഫ്ഐയിലെ ഇന്ത്യൻ പനോരമ വിഭാഗത്തിൽ പ്രദര്ശിപ്പിച്ചപ്പോഴാണ് ആർ പാർത്ഥിപന്റെ ഒത്ത സെരുപ്പ് സൈസ് ഏഴ് കാണുന്നത്. പാർത്ഥിപൻ എഴുതി പാർത്ഥിപൻ സംവിധാനം ചെയ്ത് പാർത്ഥിപൻ നായകനായി അഭിനയിച്ച ഒത്ത സെരുപ്പ് (മലയാളത്തിൽ പറയുമ്പോൾ 'ഒറ്റച്ചെരുപ്പ്') നിർമ്മിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതും പാർത്ഥിപൻ തന്നെ. എന്നാൽ ഒറ്റച്ചെരുപ്പിന്റെ ഏറ്റവും വലിയ സവിശേഷത ഇതൊന്നുമല്ല; 120 മിനിറ്റ് ദൈർഘ്യമുള്ള പടത്തിൽ പാർത്ഥിപൻ മാത്രമേ സ്‌ക്രീനിൽ പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെടുന്നുള്ളൂ. ഒറ്റച്ചെരുപ്പ് അപൂർവ മനോഹരം എന്ന് അടിവര

നാച്ചുറൽ റോളുകളിൽ തന്നെ മാസ് ആണ് വിജയ് സേതുപതി. സ്വാഭാവികതയാണ് മച്ചാന്റെ മെയിൻ. തമിഴിൽ മാത്രമല്ല മലയാളത്തിലും സേതുപതിക്ക് ആരാധകർ ഈ ഒരൊറ്റ കാരണത്താലാണ്. പക്ഷെ അത് അറിയാത്ത ഒരാൾ അങ്ങേര് മാത്രമാണെന്നു തോന്നുന്നു. കൊമേഴ്‌സ്യൽ ആക്ഷൻ ഹീറോ ആവാനുള്ള സേതുപതിയുടെ തീരാത്ത ആസൈ തുടർന്ന് കൊണ്ടേയിരിക്കുകയാണ്. സംഘകാലപ്പഴമയുള്ള രചനയും നിർമ്മിതിയുമായി ഒരു ക്ളീഷേത്തമിഴൻ എന്ന് അടിവര

  ജാക്ക് ഡാനിയൽസ് എന്ന് കേൾക്കുമ്പോൾ വെള്ളമടി പ്രേമികൾക്ക് മനസ്സിൽ തോന്നുന്ന ഒരു വിറുവിറുപ്പ് ഉണ്ട്. ജാക്ക് ആൻഡ് ഡാനിയലിന്റെ ട്രെയിലർ തിയേറ്ററിൽ കണ്ടപ്പോൾ അതുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. പടം ഇന്ന് റിലീസായപ്പോൾ ആ ഒരു എനർജി ലെവൽ പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ചു തന്നെയാണ് ടിക്കറ്റെടുത്തത്.   കളർഫുൾ കാറ്റ് ആൻസ് മൗസ് ഗെയിം; ജസ്റ്റ്‌ ഫോർ നേരമ്പോക്ക് എന്ന് അടിവര

ലാൽജോസിന്റെ ഇരുപത്തഞ്ചാമത്തെ സിനിമയാണത്രെ നാൽപത്തിയൊന്ന്. ഇരുപത് വർഷം മുൻപ് പെരിന്തൽമണ്ണ ജഹനാരാ എന്ന തിയേറ്ററിൽ ഇരുന്ന് ഒരു മറവത്തൂർ കനവ് എന്ന സിനിമ എഫ്ഡിഎഫ്എസ് കണ്ടത് ഇന്നലത്തെ പോലെ ഓർമ്മയുണ്ട്. (ആ തിയേറ്റർ പിന്നീടെന്നോ ചരിത്രത്തിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി). അത് കഴിഞ്ഞ് ചന്ദ്രനുദിക്കുന്ന ദിക്കിൽ കണ്ടത് ഓർമ്മയുണ്ട്. മീശ മാധവൻ, ക്ളാസ്‌മേറ്റ്സ്, അയാളും ഞാനും തമ്മിൽ ഒക്കെ

മന്നാർ മത്തായി സ്പീക്കിംഗ് എന്ന സിദ്ദീഖ് ലാൽ സിനിമയിൽ കൊച്ചിൻ ഹനീഫയുടെ കഥാപാത്രമായ എൽദോയെ സിനിമയിലെടുത്തുവെന്ന് പറയുമ്പോൾ, അദ്ദേഹവും കൂട്ടുകാർക്കുമുണ്ടാക്കുന്ന ആനന്ദലബ്ധിയുടെ വിവിധ ഭാവങ്ങൾ അടങ്ങിയ സീനുകൾ എക്കാലത്തെയും രസകരമായ സീനുകളിലൊന്നാണ്. എന്നാൽ യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ എൽദോനെ സിനിമയിലെടുക്കുന്നില്ല. 'മറിച്ച് അത് വെറുമൊരു പ്രഖ്യാപനം മാത്രമാണ്. പക്ഷേ അതുപോലും ആളുകളിൽ എത്ര മാത്രം സന്തോഷമുണ്ടാക്കുന്നുവെന്നത് ഈ രംഗങ്ങളിലൂടെ നമുക്ക്

കഴിഞ്ഞ വർഷത്തെ ഇൻറർനാഷണൽ ഫിലിം ഫെസ്റ്റിവൽ ഓഫ് ഇന്ത്യയിൽ പനോരമ വിഭാഗത്തിലേക്ക് വമ്പൻ സ്രാവുകൾക്കൊപ്പം തെരഞ്ഞെടുക്കപ്പെട്ടതിലൂടെ ശ്രദ്ധ പിടിച്ചു പറ്റിയ കുഞ്ഞു സിനിമയാണ് മക്കന. കഥ, തിരക്കഥ, സംഭാഷണം, സംവിധാനം റഹിം ഖാദർ. ഈ മേഖലയിൽ പുതുമുഖമാണ്. അയ്യമ്പുഴ പൊലീസ് സ്റ്റേഷനിൽ സിവിൽ പോലീസ് ഓഫീസറുമാണ് ഇദ്ദേഹം.   പനോരമയിലെത്തിയെങ്കിലും വെറും ആവറേജ് എന്ന് അടിവര

കൊക്ടെയിൽ, ഈയടുത്ത കാലത്ത്, ലെഫ്റ്റ് റൈറ്റ് ലെഫ്റ്റ്, കാറ്റ് തുടങ്ങി കുറച്ച് സിനിമകളിലൂടെ ഒരു വിഭാഗം മലയാളപ്രേക്ഷകരെ ഇമ്പ്രെസ് ചെയ്യിപ്പിച്ച സംവിധായകൻ ആണ് അരുൺ കുമാർ അരവിന്ദ് . മേൽപറഞ്ഞ സിനിമകൾ ഒന്നും തന്നെ വിജയങ്ങൾ ആയിരുന്നില്ല എന്നുമാത്രമല്ല ബോക്സോഫീസിൽ നല്ല ഫഷ്റ്റ് ക്ലാസ് തോൽവികളുമായിരുന്നു. ഒരു വിഭാഗക്കാരുടെ അരുമ എന്ന് ആദ്യമേ പറഞ്ഞത് അതുകൊണ്ടാണ്.

ചെറിയ സിനിമകൾ. പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് ചെറിയ ബഡ്ജറ്റിലുള്ള സിനിമകൾക്ക് പലപ്പോഴും ഒരേ ഘടന കാണാം. എന്നാൽ ഇതിനിടക്കും ചില വിസ്മയങ്ങൾ സംഭവിക്കാറുണ്ട്. അത് ചിലപ്പോൾ സിനിമ മൊത്തത്തിലാകാം. സിനിമയുടെ കഥയിലാകാം. അവതരണത്തിലാകാം. ഗാനങ്ങളിലാകാം. ക്യാമറാവർക്കിലാകാം. ഒരുപക്ഷെ വസ്ത്രാലങ്കാരത്തിലോ മേയ്ക്കപ്പ് മാനിലോ നമുക്ക് ഈ അത്ഭുതം കണ്ടെത്താം. ഈയൊരു രീതിയിൽ സമീപിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ് ടേക്ക് ഇറ്റ് ഈസി വേറിട്ടൊരു സിനിമാ ആസ്വാദനം

പാട്ടും ഡാൻസും സിനിമയിൽ ഒരു അനിവാര്യ ഘടകമാണെന്നതിൽ നിന്ന് മാറി ചിന്തിക്കുവാൻ മുഖ്യധാരാ സിനിമകൾക്ക് സാധിക്കാറില്ല. സിനിമയുടെ കാലാകാലങ്ങളായുള്ള നടപ്പുശീലക്കാർ ഇനിയങ്ങനെയൊരു താൽപര്യമുണ്ടെങ്കിൽ അതിനെ സമ്മതിക്കുകയുമില്ല. എന്നാൽ സിനിമ കാണുവാൻ പ്രേക്ഷകനെ പ്രേരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന --- പോസ്റ്ററിലടക്കം 'No Song, No Romance' എന്നെഴുതി കാണിച്ചു കൊണ്ടൊരുു സിനിമ. ഇതാണ് കൈദി എന്ന തമിഴ് സിനിമയെ കൂടുതൽ

ಶ್ರೀರಾಮಚಂದ್ರನ ಪರಮಭಕ್ತ. ರಾಮನಂತೆ ಏಕಪತ್ನಿ ವ್ರತಸ್ಥ. ಮದುವೆ ಆದ್ಮೇಲೆ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಮದುವೆಗೂ ಮುಂಚೆ ಯಾರನ್ನು ಕಣ್ಣೆತ್ತಿ ನೋಡಲ್ಲ, ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಮಾಡಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಶಪಥ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಅಪ್ಪಟ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿಯ ದಾಂಪತ್ಯ ಸಂಕಟದ ಕಥೆ. ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ಖುಷಿ ಕೊಡುತ್ತೆ. ಪೂರ್ತಿ ವಿಮರ್ಶೆ ಮುಂದೆ ಓದಿ... ಚಿತ್ರ: ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ: ಚಂದ್ರಮೋಹನ್ ನಿರ್ಮಾಪಕ: ಉದಯ್ ಕೆ ಮೆಹ್ತಾ

ಕಡಿಮೆ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಶಾಲೆಯನ್ನು ಮುಚ್ಚಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಭವಿಷ್ಯ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರಬೇಕು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಕಾನ್ವೆಂಟ್ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಬೇಕು. ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಮಾರ್ಕ್ಸ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಪೋಷಕರ ಗೌರವ ಅಳೆಯಲಾಗುತ್ತೆ. ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಓದುವ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಪೋಷಕರ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತಿಕಗೆ ನಿರ್ಧಾರವಾಗುತ್ತೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಮನಸ್ಥಿತಿವುಳ್ಳ ಸಮಾಜದಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಎಷ್ಟ ತೊಂದೆಯಾಗುತ್ತೆ? ಇಂತಹ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯ ಸಮಾಜವನ್ನು ಮನರಂಜನೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದೆ ಕಾಳಿದಾಸ

ಪಿ ವಾಸು ನಿರ್ದೇಶನ ಎಂದಾಗ, ದ್ವಾರಕೀಶ್ ಬ್ಯಾನರ್ ಎಂದಾಗ, ಶಿವರಾಜ್ ಕುಮಾರ್ ನಟನೆ ಎಂದಾಗ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಮೂರನ್ನು ಈಡೇರಿಸುವ ಸಿನಿಮಾ 'ಆಯುಷ್ಮಾನ್ ಭವ'. ಇದು ತುಂಬು ಕುಟುಂಬದ, ಸುಂದರ, ಸಂಗೀತಮಯ ಸಿನಿಮಾ. ಫ್ಯಾಮಿಲಿ ಕೂತು ಖುಷಿಯಿಂದ ನೋಡಬಹುದಾದ ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಕೌಟುಂಬಿಕ ಸಿನಿಮಾ.

'ಐ ಯಾಮ್ ವರ್ಜಿನ್.. ಐ ಸ್ವಿಲ್ ಫಿಟ್ ಟು ಹ್ಯಾವ್ ಅಲ್ ರೈಟ್ಸ್ ಟು ಲೀವ್..'' ಇದು ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾದ ರಂಗನಾಯಕಿ ಹೇಳುವ ಮಾತು. 'ರಂಗನಾಯಕಿ' ಎದುರು ನಿಂತ 'ದಂಡುಪಾಳ್ಯ' ಗ್ಯಾಂಗ್ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗುವ ಒಬ್ಬ ಯುವತಿ ಹೇಗೆ ಆ ಘಟನೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊರಬರುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಹೇಗೆ ಅದನ್ನು ಧೈರ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ, ಸಮಾಜ ಆಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ರಂಗನಾಯಕಿ

ಎರಡು ದಿನ ಮುಂಚಿತವಾಗಿ ಕಾಲಿವುಡ್ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಹಬ್ಬ ಶುರುವಾಗಿದೆ. ಕಾರಣ ಇಳಯದಳಪತಿ ವಿಜಯ್ ನಟನೆಯ 'ಬಿಗಿಲ್' ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಅದ್ದೂರಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಯಾಗಿದೆ. 'ಬಿಗಿಲ್' ಸಿನಿಮಾದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಜಯ್ ಮೂರು ಶೇಡ್ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಫುಲ್ ಬಾಲ್ ಆಟದ ದೃಶ್ಯಗಳು ರೋಮಾಂಚಕವಾಗಿವೆ. ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ ಅಟ್ಲೀ ಸ್ಕ್ರೀನ್ ಪ್ಲೇ ಯನ್ನು ಜನ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ವಿಜಯ್ ಪವರ್ ಫುಲ್ ನಟನೆ ಇಷ್ಟ ಆಗಿದೆ.

ಕೆಲದಿನಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ 'ಭರಾಟೆ' ಸಿನಿಮಾದ ಆಕ್ಷನ್ ಟೀಸರ್ ವೊಂದು ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಆಗಿತ್ತು. ಆ ಟೀಸರ್ ತುಂಬ ಫೈಟ್ಸ್ ಗಳು ಇತ್ತು. ಅದೇ ರೀತಿ ಸಿನಿಮಾದ ತುಂಬ ಆಕ್ಷನ್ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡಿದೆ.ಮಾಸ್ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ಫುಲ್ ಕಿಕ್ ಕೊಡುವಂತೆ ಭರಾಟೆ ಮೂಡಿಬಂದಿದೆ.

ಶರಣ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಕಾಸಿಗೆ ಮೋಸ ಆಗಲ್ಲ. ಮನರಂಜನೆಗೆ ಕೊರತೆ ಇರಲ್ಲ. ಕಾಮಿಡಿ ಕಿಕ್ ಪಕ್ಕಾ ಎಂಬ ಮಾತುಗಳಿವೆ. ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನ ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿರುವ ಚಿತ್ರವೇ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಇನ್ ಅಮೇರಿಕಾ.

ಮೆಗಾಸ್ಟಾರ್ ಚಿರಂಜೀವಿ, ಬಿಗ್ ಬಿ ಅಮಿತಾಭ್ ಬಚ್ಚನ್, ಕಿಚ್ಚ ಸುದೀಪ್, ವಿಜಯ್ ಸೇತುಪತಿ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ದೊಡ್ಡ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕಲಾವಿದರು ಅಭಿನಯಿಸಿರುವ ಸೈರಾ ನರಸಿಂಹ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಇಂದು ದೇಶ ವಿದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರ್ಯಾಂಡ್ ಆಗಿ ತೆರೆಗೆ ಬಂದಿದೆ. ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ ಹೋರಾಟಗಾರ ಉಯ್ಯಾಲವಾಡ ನರಸಿಂಹ ರೆಡ್ಡಿಯ ಜೀವನಾಧಾರಿತ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಇದಾಗಿದ್ದು ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಾರಿ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮೂಡಿಸಿತ್ತು. ನಿಯಮ ಮೀರಿ ರಿಲೀಸ್

'ಅಂಬಾರಿ', 'ಅದ್ಧೂರಿ', 'ರಾಟೆ' ಸಿನಿಮಾಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೇಮ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದ, ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ ಎಪಿ ಅರ್ಜುನ್ ಮತ್ತೆ ಲವ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ ಮೂಲಕ ಬಂದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. 'ಕಿಸ್' ಒಂದು ಕ್ಯೂಟ್ ಲವ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದು ಇಂದಿನ ಯುವ ಜನತೆಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟ ಆಗುವ ಒಂದು ಡಿಸೆಂಟ್ ಕಮರ್ಷಿಯಲ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾ.

ಗಾಂಧಿನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸದ್ಯ ಪೈಲ್ವಾನ್ ಚಿತ್ರದ್ದೇ ಮಾತು. ಒಂದು ಕಡೆ ಪೈಲ್ವಾನ್ ಚಿತ್ರದ ಪಾಸಿಟಿವ್, ನೆಗೆಟೀವ್ ಅಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಡೆ, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ತಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಎರಡು ಸ್ಟಾರ್ ನಟರ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳ ಅನಾವಶ್ಯಕ ವಾಕ್ಸಮರ. ಹಿಂದೊಮ್ಮೆ, ಚಿತ್ರ ವಿಮರ್ಶಕರು ಒಂದು ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದರು. ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡಿ ಹೊರಬರುವಾಗ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕ ಚಿತ್ರದ ಕೆಲವೊಂದು ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ, ಪಾತ್ರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆಂದರೆ, ಚಿತ್ರ

''ಬಲ ಇದೆ ಅಂತ ಹೊಡೆದಾಡುವವನು ರೌಡಿ. ಆದ್ರೆ, ಬಲವಾದ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊಡೆದಾಡುವನು ಈ ಪೈಲ್ವಾನ'' 'ಪೈಲ್ವಾನ್' ಕ್ರೀಡಾ ಹಿನ್ನಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಪಕ್ಕಾ ಕಮರ್ಷಿಯಲ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾ. ಮನರಂಜನೆ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುವವರಿಗೆ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಇಷ್ಟ ಆಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಸುದೀಪ್ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಪೈಲ್ವಾನ್ ಹಬ್ಬದಂತೆ ಇದೆ. ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಎಂಬ ಕುಸ್ತಿ ಪೈಲ್ವಾನನ ಸಾಧನೆಯ ಕಥೆಯೇ ಈ ಚಿತ್ರ. ಅದ್ದೂರಿಯಾಗಿ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾದ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತಿಕೆಯ ಸಿನಿಮಾ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಹಸವೂ ಇದೆ. ಸಂಬಂಧದ ಮಹತ್ವವೂ ಇದೆ.  

'ಬಾಹುಬಲಿ' ಸಿನಿಮಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಪ್ರಭಾಸ್ ಅಭಿನಯದ ಚಿತ್ರ ಬರ್ತಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ ಕುತೂಹಲ, ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿತ್ತು. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕಂತೆ ಸಾಹೋ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಕೂಡ ರಿಲೀಸ್ಗೆ ಮುಂಚೆ ಸದ್ದು ಮಾಡಿತ್ತು. ಸಾಹೋ ಚಿತ್ರಮಂದಿರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಮೇಲೆ ಮಿಶ್ರಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ ಎದುರಾಗಿದೆ. ಚಿತ್ರ: ಸಾಹೋನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ: ಸುಜಿತ್ ರೆಡ್ಡಿಕಲಾವಿದರು: ಪ್ರಭಾಸ್, ಶ್ರದ್ಧಾ ಕಪೂರ್, ಜಾಕಿ ಶ್ರಾಫ್, ನೀಲ್ ನಿತಿನ್ ಮುಖೇಶ್, ಅರುಣ್ ವಿಜಯ್, ಮಂದಿರಾ ಬೇಡಿಬಿಡುಗಡೆ:

ಯಾವುದೇ ಕಾಲ ಇರಲಿ... ಟ್ರೆಂಡ್ ಹೇಗಿಯೇ ಬದಲಾಗಲಿ.. ಇಂಡಸ್ಟ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾರರ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾಗಳು ಬರುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ದೆವ್ವಗಳಿಗೆ ಯಾವ ಹೊತ್ತು ಬಿಡಿ... ಅಂದಹಾಗೆ, ಈ ವಾರ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಹಾರರ್ ಥ್ರಿಲ್ಲರ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಚಿತ್ರಮಂದಿರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಿದೆ ಅದೇ 'ರಾಂಧವ'. ನಾಯಕ ರಾಬರ್ಟ್ (ಭುವನ್ ಪೊನ್ನಣ್ಣ) ವಿಚಿತ್ರವಾದ ಗೂಬೆಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಡಾಕ್ಯೂಮೆಂಟರಿ ಮಾಡಲು ಹೊರಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಹೀಗೆ ಇರುವ ನಾಯಕನಿಗೆ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಕನಸುಗಳು

Arsenal's interim coach Freddie Ljungberg says he will have a chat with Nicolas Pepe to help the Ivorian forward feel more settled after his club record move from Lille.

Marc Wilmots has left his role as coach of the Iran national team, just seven months after replacing Carlos Queiroz at the helm of the three-time Asian champions.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Scott McTominay has become virtually "undroppable" after the midfielder produced another dominant display in Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool's bandwagon rolled on as they crushed Merseyside rivals Everton 5-2 at Anfield but Leicester City's pursuit continued with a seventh successive Premier League victory to stay eight points behind on Wednesday.

Tammy Abraham scored a goal and set up another on his return from injury as Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday to put their Premier League campaign back on track after two straight defeats.

Liverpool delivered a first-half masterclass to humiliate Everton at Anfield on Wednesday, surging into a 4-2 halftime lead and adding a late fifth to maintain their charge towards a first league title in 30 years.

For English cricket fans who witnessed Bob Willis's ferocious spell of fast bowling to win the third Ashes test at Headingley in 1981 it was an unforgettable and iconic sporting afternoon.

Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy struck for the seventh Premier League game in a row to help his rampant side to a 2-0 home win over basement club Watford on Wednesday, a seventh consecutive league victory that leaves them second in the table.

Russia's anti-doping chief has called for the dismissal of all national team athletics coaches and the creation of an international working group to help lift the suspension against the country's athletics federation, a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed.

Kenya's three-time London Marathon champion, Mary Keitany, said on Wednesday she still has enough energy to win in major races including at the Olympic Games next year.

Moviegoers have been offered rolling seats, 3D glasses and even rain and smells in recent years as theater chains seek to fill seats.

A showbiz decade marked by the emergence of the #MeToo movement, drama at Oscar time and a clutch of star-studded royal weddings is drawing to a close. Following are selected highlights.

South Korean actor Cha In-ha was found dead in his home, police said on Wednesday, the country's third young celebrity to die over the past two months as concern mounted over the intense social pressures that artists face.

Veteran British rockers The Who will play Cincinnati next year for the first time since 1979, when a stampede before a concert they were giving in the city killed 11 fans.

South Korea's K-pop culture is one of the country's most lucrative soft power exports and has drawn a massive audience of young people internationally, especially in other Asian markets.

Braving perils from blood-sucking leeches to tigers and using transport as basic as elephants, scientists have journeyed like "Indiana Jones" to remote locations to collect wild cousins of crop seeds in a project to help tackle climate change.

From the world's youngest self-made billionaire to celebrities in court, the world of entertainment produced a wide array of headlines this year. Below are some of the biggest showbiz stories of 2019.