![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmJhYzFlZTYtZjg0Yy00ZGY5LWE4MzctYzAzOGJkODk3ZjcyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR56,0,500,281_.jpg)
Night Shift: " While working her first night shift at a remote motel, a young woman, Gwen Taylor (Phoebe Tonkin), begins to suspect that she is being followed by a dangerous character from her past. As the night progresses, Gwen’s isolation and safety, however, are made all the more worse when she starts to realize that the motel might also be haunted."
Writer & Director: The China Brothers (Paul & Ben) Cast: Phoebe Tonkin, Lamorne Morris, Madison Hu, Patrick Fischler, Lauren Bowles, Christopher Denham. Producers: Eric B. Fleischman, Maurice Fadida, John Hodges, Bradley Pilz, Dennis Rainaldi Runtime: 82 minutes Rated: TV-ma Distributor: Quiver Distribution
---
Queer Horror - A Film Guide: "From the beginning, horror has been part of the cinema landscape. Despite some of the earliest genre films with gay directors such as F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) and James Whale, Lgbtqia characters have rarely been portrayed in full view. For decades, filmmakers have...
Writer & Director: The China Brothers (Paul & Ben) Cast: Phoebe Tonkin, Lamorne Morris, Madison Hu, Patrick Fischler, Lauren Bowles, Christopher Denham. Producers: Eric B. Fleischman, Maurice Fadida, John Hodges, Bradley Pilz, Dennis Rainaldi Runtime: 82 minutes Rated: TV-ma Distributor: Quiver Distribution
---
Queer Horror - A Film Guide: "From the beginning, horror has been part of the cinema landscape. Despite some of the earliest genre films with gay directors such as F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) and James Whale, Lgbtqia characters have rarely been portrayed in full view. For decades, filmmakers have...
- 3/8/2024
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzRkMTc3NGQtZDllNC00NTJhLTk1ZTUtODIxNWNlMGFlMTFhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,26,500,281_.jpg)
Prior to making headlines the next day after a short-lived health scare that required a brief stay in hospital, Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins arrived at Dublin’s Complex arts center last Wednesday to present the Dublin film festival’s highest honor to Steve McQueen. Introduced in 2007 and named the Volta Award, after the first commercial cinema set up in Dublin in 1909 by writer James Joyce, its previous recipients include Daniel Day Lewis, Claudia Cardinale and Al Pacino. The famously serious director was in high spirits, enthusing that “festivals are about passion, a passion for film.” “There’s always a buzz, isn’t there?” he continued. “[As you] go to the next picture, the next film, you tend to give people tips and say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to see this, you’ve got to see that…’”
McQueen was in and out of the festival, flying home the same night, fueling...
McQueen was in and out of the festival, flying home the same night, fueling...
- 3/4/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDZhNDRmNWMtY2FmMS00ZWFjLWFlOTgtMzBiMjJmNjE4OTFhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Shot in dense, high-contrast black and white, writer-director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s “Mami Wata,” unspools like a mysterious dream. It’s both inscrutable and hypnotic, delivering indelible images while remaining narratively opaque. Billed as a “West African folklore,” its story could be taken as a straightforward fable about tradition vs. modernity and how power corrupts. But as its plot unravels, confounding layers surface beneath that easy explanation. “Mami Wata,” a Sundance discovery selected to be Nigeria’ official Oscar submission, keeps the audience entranced if never truly engaged.
Taking its cues from the legend of the female water spirit revered in that part of the world, Obasi’s story centers on Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), a medium and healer who claims to hold the keys to the all-powerful Mami Wata. The inhabitants of the isolated oceanside village shower Mama Efe with crops and gifts in an effort to win over the water deity.
Taking its cues from the legend of the female water spirit revered in that part of the world, Obasi’s story centers on Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), a medium and healer who claims to hold the keys to the all-powerful Mami Wata. The inhabitants of the isolated oceanside village shower Mama Efe with crops and gifts in an effort to win over the water deity.
- 12/8/2023
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
![Lílis Soares](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjQ5Mjg4NGEtYjQ1ZC00NTJjLTk1YzUtN2VmMDU3NTczMDBlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODkyNTA5MjU@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Lílis Soares](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjQ5Mjg4NGEtYjQ1ZC00NTJjLTk1YzUtN2VmMDU3NTczMDBlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODkyNTA5MjU@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Discontent stirs in a village that has rejected modern life to follow a faith healer said to be the representative of the title’s water spirit
This visually beautiful and charismatically acted film is a fierce expressionist reverie or parable of power, shot in a lustrous, high-contrast black-and-white by cinematographer Lílis Soares. It is the work of Nigerian director Cj “Fiery” Obasi, whose nickname makes an interesting elemental contrast to his movie’s watery theme. His storytelling urgency and stripped-down minimalism reminded me at various stages of George Orwell and Julie Dash.
We are in a west African village called Iyi, which has ignored the modern world of science and technology in favour of worshipping the traditional water spirit Mami Wata, through her intermediary and representative on Earth, faith-healer Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), to whom tributes of food and money must be paid. But Efe’s daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh...
This visually beautiful and charismatically acted film is a fierce expressionist reverie or parable of power, shot in a lustrous, high-contrast black-and-white by cinematographer Lílis Soares. It is the work of Nigerian director Cj “Fiery” Obasi, whose nickname makes an interesting elemental contrast to his movie’s watery theme. His storytelling urgency and stripped-down minimalism reminded me at various stages of George Orwell and Julie Dash.
We are in a west African village called Iyi, which has ignored the modern world of science and technology in favour of worshipping the traditional water spirit Mami Wata, through her intermediary and representative on Earth, faith-healer Mama Efe (Rita Edochie), to whom tributes of food and money must be paid. But Efe’s daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh...
- 11/15/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODExZGMyZjUtMGMzOC00N2M5LTljMTItYTYzZmJlNmNjMGY4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Cinemalovers has acquired all rights in Germany and Austria for “Mami Wata,” which world premiered in the World Cinema – Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival, and won the cinematography award.
The film, written and directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, with cinematography by Lílis Soares, is based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology. The producer is Oge Obasi for Fiery Film Company. International sales rights are being handled by Alief, and CAA handled North American rights.
It is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where the villagers worship the Mermaid-deity Mami Wata, and look for guidance from their healer Mama Efe, the intermediary between them and Mami Wata, and Mama Efe’s daughter Zinwe and protégé Prisca.
But when children begin to die and disappear, Jabi, a local, begins to sow doubt amongst the people, while Zinwe runs away propelled by her own anguish. Soon,...
The film, written and directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, with cinematography by Lílis Soares, is based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology. The producer is Oge Obasi for Fiery Film Company. International sales rights are being handled by Alief, and CAA handled North American rights.
It is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where the villagers worship the Mermaid-deity Mami Wata, and look for guidance from their healer Mama Efe, the intermediary between them and Mami Wata, and Mama Efe’s daughter Zinwe and protégé Prisca.
But when children begin to die and disappear, Jabi, a local, begins to sow doubt amongst the people, while Zinwe runs away propelled by her own anguish. Soon,...
- 9/7/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGVlYzMwNDEtYWM5YS00NjMyLWE0ZDgtNDY5N2Q5ZWE0ZGViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Aya Films has acquired U.K. rights to “Mami Wata,” which world premiered in the World Cinema – Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival, and won the Cinematography Award. Variety is debuting the teaser exclusively ahead of the film’s appearance in the Horizons section of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Aya Films will release the film in the U.K. in the fall. Dekanalog will release the film theatrically in North America in the fall as well. International sales are handled by Alief. The producer is Oge Obasi for Fiery Film Company Ltd.
The film, written and directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, with cinematography by Lílis Soares, is based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology.
It is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where the villagers worship the Mermaid-deity Mami Wata, and look to guidance from their healer Mama Efe, the intermediary between them and Mami Wata,...
Aya Films will release the film in the U.K. in the fall. Dekanalog will release the film theatrically in North America in the fall as well. International sales are handled by Alief. The producer is Oge Obasi for Fiery Film Company Ltd.
The film, written and directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, with cinematography by Lílis Soares, is based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology.
It is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where the villagers worship the Mermaid-deity Mami Wata, and look to guidance from their healer Mama Efe, the intermediary between them and Mami Wata,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjM0NGI5NzItZTdhYS00MWZjLWFkZDgtNWE1NjNjM2FjMDI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,15,500,281_.jpg)
Exclusive: Dekanalog has picked up North American rights to the Sundance competition title Mami Wata, the third feature film from Nigerian filmmaker C.J. “Fiery” Obasi.
Based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology, Mami Wata is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) acts as an intermediary between the people and the all-powerful water deity Mami Wata, the synopsis reads. However, doubt is sown amongst the people when a young boy is lost to a virus, with Efe’s devoted daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and skeptical protégé Prisca (Evelyne Ily Juhen) at a crossroads. The film picked up the Special Jury Award for Best Cinematography at Sundance.
The pic was shot entirely in the Mono Department in Benin, West Africa. The principle cast features Evelyne Ily, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Kelechi Udegbe, Rita Edochie, and Tough Bone. Further credits include cinematography by Brazillian Dp Lílis Soares,...
Based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology, Mami Wata is set in the remote West African village of Iyi, where Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) acts as an intermediary between the people and the all-powerful water deity Mami Wata, the synopsis reads. However, doubt is sown amongst the people when a young boy is lost to a virus, with Efe’s devoted daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and skeptical protégé Prisca (Evelyne Ily Juhen) at a crossroads. The film picked up the Special Jury Award for Best Cinematography at Sundance.
The pic was shot entirely in the Mono Department in Benin, West Africa. The principle cast features Evelyne Ily, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Kelechi Udegbe, Rita Edochie, and Tough Bone. Further credits include cinematography by Brazillian Dp Lílis Soares,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGVlYzMwNDEtYWM5YS00NjMyLWE0ZDgtNDY5N2Q5ZWE0ZGViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Hot on the tail of a recent slew of pickups and sales, Paris-based sales-producer-distributor Alief has snapped up international rights to the West African folktale “Mami Wata.”
North America rights to the film are represented by Marissa Frobes at CAA Media Finance. Alief is presenting the film to buyers and festival programmers at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin.
The first film from a Nigerian-based director to play (and win an award) at Sundance, this visually striking feature took home the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography for Brazilian Dp Lílis Soares.
Nigerian director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s film tells the story of two sisters who fight to save their people and restore to the land a water deity. According to West African folklore, ‘Mami Wata’ is a terrifying mermaid goddess.
This black-and-white film is set in a beach town where a community must question previously...
North America rights to the film are represented by Marissa Frobes at CAA Media Finance. Alief is presenting the film to buyers and festival programmers at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin.
The first film from a Nigerian-based director to play (and win an award) at Sundance, this visually striking feature took home the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography for Brazilian Dp Lílis Soares.
Nigerian director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s film tells the story of two sisters who fight to save their people and restore to the land a water deity. According to West African folklore, ‘Mami Wata’ is a terrifying mermaid goddess.
This black-and-white film is set in a beach town where a community must question previously...
- 2/19/2023
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
![Luc Dardenne](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMwNjc4MTIxOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTc0MjM4Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Luc Dardenne](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMwNjc4MTIxOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTc0MjM4Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
One of the best showcases of international cinema every year, the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look festival is now in its 12th edition and we’re pleased to exclusively unveil the lineup. Taking place from March 15-19 at the hallowed Queens theater, the selection features 38 works, including 19 features representing more than 22 countries.
Highlights include some of our favorites on the festival circuit in the past year: at long last, the New York premiere of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Cannes prize-winner Tori and Lokita, along with other victors Rodeo and The Eight Mountains; recent Sundance premieres Babak Jalali’s Fremont, Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser’s A Common Sequence, and C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s Mami Wata; Lucrecia Martel’s new short Maid; Gastón Solnicki’s A Little Love Package; Koji Fukada’s Love Life; and much more.
MoMI Curator of Film Eric Hynes said, “The guiding...
Highlights include some of our favorites on the festival circuit in the past year: at long last, the New York premiere of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Cannes prize-winner Tori and Lokita, along with other victors Rodeo and The Eight Mountains; recent Sundance premieres Babak Jalali’s Fremont, Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser’s A Common Sequence, and C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s Mami Wata; Lucrecia Martel’s new short Maid; Gastón Solnicki’s A Little Love Package; Koji Fukada’s Love Life; and much more.
MoMI Curator of Film Eric Hynes said, “The guiding...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNzNmOGU5YTgtOGFiYS00MGI4LTkxOWItNjIyZmU5YTg3ZmU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR80,0,500,281_.jpg)
A folkloric African water deity is the titular focus of Mami Wata, the Sundance-premiering film from writer-director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi. The revered Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) serves as the conduit between the inhabitants of the seaside village of Iyi and the sacred water spirit, but a brewing period of civil unrest threatens to throw the entire village into extended tumult. When a young boy dies of a virus, neither human nor spirit can intervene to stop more bloodshed. Cinematographer Lílis Soares discusses the influences and approaches she utilized while shooting the sumptuous black and white film. See all responses to […]
The post “A Story That Plays With the Senses”: Dp Lílis Soares on Mami Wata first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Story That Plays With the Senses”: Dp Lílis Soares on Mami Wata first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNzNmOGU5YTgtOGFiYS00MGI4LTkxOWItNjIyZmU5YTg3ZmU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR80,0,500,281_.jpg)
A folkloric African water deity is the titular focus of Mami Wata, the Sundance-premiering film from writer-director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi. The revered Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) serves as the conduit between the inhabitants of the seaside village of Iyi and the sacred water spirit, but a brewing period of civil unrest threatens to throw the entire village into extended tumult. When a young boy dies of a virus, neither human nor spirit can intervene to stop more bloodshed. Cinematographer Lílis Soares discusses the influences and approaches she utilized while shooting the sumptuous black and white film. See all responses to […]
The post “A Story That Plays With the Senses”: Dp Lílis Soares on Mami Wata first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Story That Plays With the Senses”: Dp Lílis Soares on Mami Wata first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2Q2NjQxODYtMGU1NC00ZTY5LThlMmMtNDMyNzg5NGMxZjkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2Q2NjQxODYtMGU1NC00ZTY5LThlMmMtNDMyNzg5NGMxZjkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
In C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s Mami Wata, black becomes a canvas onto which the director paints a propulsive and vivid narrative. The shade takes on new roles and meanings in this feature about brewing ideological differences in a fictional West African village. Black shadows the waves crashing the shores as one character contemplates the fate of her people. Black sharpens the designs drawn in white paint on the faces of villagers. Black portends the sinister, the vengeful, the hopeful and the renewed faith swirling within an allegory for the slow creep of modernity.
The film takes place in Iyi, the village where Mami Wata, the water deity of West Africa and its diaspora cultures, has reigned via her intermediary Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) for decades. Obasi begins his wily, supernatural tale with generational tension: Mame Efe’s daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) storms out of their home after her mother...
The film takes place in Iyi, the village where Mami Wata, the water deity of West Africa and its diaspora cultures, has reigned via her intermediary Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) for decades. Obasi begins his wily, supernatural tale with generational tension: Mame Efe’s daughter Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) storms out of their home after her mother...
- 2/1/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNGFjNWQzYjMtOTBmZS00YjIyLWE1ZTItYmM1OGI1MDI3YWU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,40,500,281_.jpg)
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the festival’s first in-person competition since 2020, has revealed its award winners.
The big winners included Maryam Keshavarz‘s The Persian Version, which earned both the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and A.V. Rockwell‘s A Thousand and One, which took home the Grand Jury Prize in the same category.
The Persian Version explores an Iranian-American family’s past as its patriarch gets a heart transplant while A Thousand and One centers around a mother who kidnaps her son from the foster care system in order to find a path toward redemption.
Other winners include Festival Favorite Radical directed by Christopher Zalla and Grand Jury Prize winner for U.S. Documentary, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
The festival has highlighted 101 different features and 64 shorts. These films were selected from a total of 15,856 submissions. Most of...
The big winners included Maryam Keshavarz‘s The Persian Version, which earned both the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and A.V. Rockwell‘s A Thousand and One, which took home the Grand Jury Prize in the same category.
The Persian Version explores an Iranian-American family’s past as its patriarch gets a heart transplant while A Thousand and One centers around a mother who kidnaps her son from the foster care system in order to find a path toward redemption.
Other winners include Festival Favorite Radical directed by Christopher Zalla and Grand Jury Prize winner for U.S. Documentary, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
The festival has highlighted 101 different features and 64 shorts. These films were selected from a total of 15,856 submissions. Most of...
- 1/28/2023
- by Alex Nguyen
- Uinterview
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTk3YjNmMDctYmUwNi00ZTBmLWFlZjYtNzQ0YTNmOTZhZDgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,26,500,281_.jpg)
Festival runs through January 29.
A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand And One took the 2023 Sundance U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic prize and Charlotte Regan’s UK entry Scrapper earned the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance awards ceremony on Friday.
Audience award winners included Maryam Keshavarz’s The Persian Version in U.S. Dramatic Competition, Madeleine Gavin’s Beyond Utopia in U.S. Documentary, Mstylav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol in World Cinema Documentary, and Noora Niasari’s Shayda in World Cinema Dramatic.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said the selection “demonstrated a sense of...
A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand And One took the 2023 Sundance U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic prize and Charlotte Regan’s UK entry Scrapper earned the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance awards ceremony on Friday.
Audience award winners included Maryam Keshavarz’s The Persian Version in U.S. Dramatic Competition, Madeleine Gavin’s Beyond Utopia in U.S. Documentary, Mstylav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol in World Cinema Documentary, and Noora Niasari’s Shayda in World Cinema Dramatic.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said the selection “demonstrated a sense of...
- 1/27/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTJiZDdmODMtNzk2My00NTJkLWEzMTMtNGE5MzIxNGE0ZThjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTJiZDdmODMtNzk2My00NTJkLWEzMTMtNGE5MzIxNGE0ZThjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
A Thousand and One took the jury prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, with Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project taking the top prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition section.
A Thousand and One is directed by A.V. Rockwell and follows a mother who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system, a secret that threatens their way of life as Terry gets older. The Focus Features title stars Teyana Taylor, Josiah Cross and Will Catlett.
“When I was writing this film, I was thinking about mother and son relationships. I was thinking about Black women and Black men relationships. I was thinking about marginalized people and their relationship to their homes,” said Rockwell, accepting the award. “Thank you to everyone for seeing all of those groups and for seeing me.” A tearful Jeremy O. Harris, who was a part of the dramatic jury,...
A Thousand and One is directed by A.V. Rockwell and follows a mother who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system, a secret that threatens their way of life as Terry gets older. The Focus Features title stars Teyana Taylor, Josiah Cross and Will Catlett.
“When I was writing this film, I was thinking about mother and son relationships. I was thinking about Black women and Black men relationships. I was thinking about marginalized people and their relationship to their homes,” said Rockwell, accepting the award. “Thank you to everyone for seeing all of those groups and for seeing me.” A tearful Jeremy O. Harris, who was a part of the dramatic jury,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjEyOGQ1MTUtOWE4OS00OTNiLTlmYzUtZjllYjc4N2NkMzU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Back in Park City, Utah, for the first time since 2020, the Sundance Film Festival concluded with an in-person awards show. The U.S. dramatic grand jury prize went to the Focus Features release “A Thousand and One,” from debut writer-director A.V. Rockwell, one of eight women in this year’s female-led competition.
Jeremy O. Harris, a member of the three-person U.S. dramatic jury at Sundance, choked back tears as he presented the award to Rockwell, admitting that he left the director’s premiere screening and cried on the street, as the film unearthed “all the feelings I’ve learned to mask in public spaces.”
Rockwell’s film is set in an unforgiving New York City in the late ’90s, where a single mother moving from shelter to shelter kidnaps her 6-year-old son from foster care. As they improbably forge a life and bond, their darkest secret threatens to disrupt what they’ve built.
Jeremy O. Harris, a member of the three-person U.S. dramatic jury at Sundance, choked back tears as he presented the award to Rockwell, admitting that he left the director’s premiere screening and cried on the street, as the film unearthed “all the feelings I’ve learned to mask in public spaces.”
Rockwell’s film is set in an unforgiving New York City in the late ’90s, where a single mother moving from shelter to shelter kidnaps her 6-year-old son from foster care. As they improbably forge a life and bond, their darkest secret threatens to disrupt what they’ve built.
- 1/27/2023
- by Matt Donnelly and Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDkyYzZiNTItZjgyOS00ZGIzLTk3MmItYmYxZjRlOTE3YmIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR10,0,500,281_.jpg)
As the first in-person Sundance Film Festival since 2020 draws to a close, it’s time to see which films are taking home the festival’s most coveted awards. While there are many ways to measure success at Sundance — and many filmmakers are certainly more interested in a big sale than a trophy — the awards are nevertheless an important way of measuring which films resonated with the Park City crowd.
Friday’s award ceremony is the culmination of what has already been a very eventful festival. Despite the multitude of changes that the independent film world and the streaming industry are currently undergoing, this year’s festival still featured its share of buzzy premieres and splashy acquisitions. One of the most talked about movies in Park City has been Chloe Domont’s erotic thriller “Fair Play,” which sold to Netflix for a reported price of 20 million. The festival also featured some...
Friday’s award ceremony is the culmination of what has already been a very eventful festival. Despite the multitude of changes that the independent film world and the streaming industry are currently undergoing, this year’s festival still featured its share of buzzy premieres and splashy acquisitions. One of the most talked about movies in Park City has been Chloe Domont’s erotic thriller “Fair Play,” which sold to Netflix for a reported price of 20 million. The festival also featured some...
- 1/27/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDhlNjAxMzItOWE0ZC00MDkwLThlNTAtNGVjNjhhMTE0NDg1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Dekanalog releases the film in select theaters on Friday, September 29.
Mami Wata is a multifaceted figure whose personae is as diverse as the diaspora that venerates her. A patroness of beauty, money, and all things that ebb and flow, she’s sometimes depicted as being half-woman, half-fish. At other times, she’s shown with a gigantic serpent wrapped around her shoulders. She’s a relatively new deity who arose between the 15th and 20th centuries, a period when Africa became heavily involved in global trade. Her name comes from pidgin English, the language of commerce, and translates as “Mother Water.” She’s a water spirit, ruling over the seas that separated captive Africans from their homes and brought foreign people and influences to African shores, and she can be as benevolent or as cruel as the ocean itself.
Mami Wata is a multifaceted figure whose personae is as diverse as the diaspora that venerates her. A patroness of beauty, money, and all things that ebb and flow, she’s sometimes depicted as being half-woman, half-fish. At other times, she’s shown with a gigantic serpent wrapped around her shoulders. She’s a relatively new deity who arose between the 15th and 20th centuries, a period when Africa became heavily involved in global trade. Her name comes from pidgin English, the language of commerce, and translates as “Mother Water.” She’s a water spirit, ruling over the seas that separated captive Africans from their homes and brought foreign people and influences to African shores, and she can be as benevolent or as cruel as the ocean itself.
- 1/25/2023
- by Katie Rife
- Indiewire
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmY4MjNlMWQtZTE2Yy00YTFjLTljMmItYmQyOTc0YTVjZDY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Seven years before its Jan. 23 world premiere in Park City — the first-time that a homegrown Nigerian feature has scored a coveted slot in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance — C.J. Obasi’s “Mami Wata” began with a vision.
The director was sitting on a West African beach, in between projects and contemplating his next move. Suddenly, an apparition came to him: A mermaid standing on the ocean’s shore, beckoning to a mysterious young woman behind him.
“It was really vivid,” Obasi says. “It was in black and white. In the vision, the goddess’ eyes are red, but also very soft. There was a kindness to her eyes. When I came to, I said, Ok, so my next movie is ‘Mami Wata.’”
What followed was a personal and professional journey to understand that moment on the beach, and to breathe life into a movie about the titular mermaid-deity of West African folklore.
The director was sitting on a West African beach, in between projects and contemplating his next move. Suddenly, an apparition came to him: A mermaid standing on the ocean’s shore, beckoning to a mysterious young woman behind him.
“It was really vivid,” Obasi says. “It was in black and white. In the vision, the goddess’ eyes are red, but also very soft. There was a kindness to her eyes. When I came to, I said, Ok, so my next movie is ‘Mami Wata.’”
What followed was a personal and professional journey to understand that moment on the beach, and to breathe life into a movie about the titular mermaid-deity of West African folklore.
- 1/24/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODBkNTNkMWEtODNkZC00YjRhLWE2ZGUtNjM1OTk0NDBhZTMyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
IndieWire has published its extensive survey regarding the cameras and lenses that shot 40 narrative films at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. We took the data and organize it in order to find a segmentation and tendency, by also comparing it to the previous years. The Arri Alexa Mini remains the king. However, diversity is significantly reduced. No Red, no Blackmagic, and no mirrorless. That’s unfortunate.
Sundance 2023: Camera manufacturers’ chart Sundance Film Festival 2023
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,660 attending in 2016 (yeah – that’s insane). It takes place each January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at the Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films,...
Sundance 2023: Camera manufacturers’ chart Sundance Film Festival 2023
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,660 attending in 2016 (yeah – that’s insane). It takes place each January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at the Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Yossy Mendelovich
- YMCinema
imdb.1eye.us, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.