Notizie

As the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival comes to a close, the winning films have been chosen.

Claudia Puig, Sbiff director of programming, announced the winners on Saturday during a ceremony at El Encanto, following screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes taking place throughout the city since Feb. 4.

“It’s an undeniable pleasure to celebrate such a diverse and wonderful array of winning films,” said Puig. “We have been so excited to showcase storytelling from 60 countries around the world in our slate of 185 films at Sbiff. The jury winners this year hail from Cyprus, Spain, Germany, Iran, Taiwan and the U.S. and exemplify the best of creative independent filmmaking, covering subjects ranging from immigration, pay equity, environmental dangers, unwanted pregnancy, neuroscience and hempcrete construction. Congratulations to all the winning filmmakers, and a big thank you to our dedicated jurors.”

After Zoe Saldaña received the Sbiff...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Sbiff) has announced the winners of their 40th annual film awards. All three short award recipients are now eligible for the 2026 Academy Awards.

“It’s an undeniable pleasure to celebrate such a diverse and wonderful array of winning films,” said Sbiff director of programming Claudia Puig. “We have been so excited to showcase storytelling from 60 countries around the world in our slate of 185 films at Sbiff. The jury winners this year exemplify the best of creative independent filmmaking, covering subjects ranging from immigration, pay equity, environmental dangers, unwanted pregnancy, neuroscience and hempcrete construction.”

The 2025 Sbiff Awards ceremony took place on Feb. 15 at the El Encanto in Santa Barbara. The winning films were chosen by jury members Margaret Lazarus, Max Barbakow, Estrella Araiza, Shawn Patterson, Jeff Christian, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Gregory Nava, Andres Castillo, and Jeff Arch.

See the full list of winners below:

Audience Choice Award: “Out of Plain Sight,...

When a grieving neuroscientist uses AI technology that allows her to reconnect with her dead father, she finds herself surfing waves of emotion and questioning life itself. That’s the winning premise in O Horizon, writer/director Madeleine Rotzler’s adult fairy tale starring Maria Bakalova, David Strathairn (Nomadland), and — big surprise — Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Aimee Mann, whose music fueled the Magnolia soundtrack and was also featured in Jerry McGuire. “Obviously this is a dream cast,” Rotzler told MovieWeb in a recent interview, adding:

“Great actors make writing great. They're everything. With Aimee, we just got so lucky. I love her music. For her to guide Maria's character and sing music live was a dream. I really wanted the film to cross genres as much as possible, and I’ve always wanted to do live music in a movie. So, having her there, to physically be there singing for us in the film,...

It was challenging for Maria Bakalova to morph into Ivana Trump in The Apprentice, but the Creature Commandos and Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm star is suddenly jazzed about her costars in the film. Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong both nabbed Academy Award nominations for playing Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, respectively, in The Apprentice, the hot topic film that tracks Trump’s rise to power. Speaking with MovieWeb in a recent interview to promote her new film, O Horizon, Bakalova stated:

“I couldn't be more excited that the movie is going to be released again, because we had only a very small theatrical run [...] At the end of the day, I feel it's a very important film. It’s a dive into the individuality of the system, and that's something we need to explore. It's educational in a lot of ways.”

She went on to say that she’s “extremely happy and excited” for Stan.

Maria Bakalova was one of only two survivors in the groovy 2022 Gen Z slasher film, Bodies Bodies Bodies. That horror thrillerhas a curious link to Bakalova’s very different new movie, O Horizon. In a recent MovieWeb interview, the actress revealed that she received the script for the heartwarming indie film on the same day of Bodies Bodies Bodies’ red carpet premiere and the beginning of her New York press tour.

“I was in New York for five days, and it was our press day, the same night we're supposed to be having our premiere,” Bakalova said. “And in between interviews and organizing for the premiere, I was reading the script, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this so much.’” She added:

“Everybody was like, well, [today] is basically the only chance to meet the director. And I remember I left immediately from my hotel to meet Madeleine Rotzler,...

O Horizon is bound to be one of the season's sweetest charmers. The heartwarming indie film stars Maria Bakalova as a neuroscientist grieving the loss of her father (David Strathairn of Nomadland and Good Night and Good Luck). There's a nice sci-fi element, too, placing the film in the realm of magical realism and making it an overall celebration of indie cinema. Written and directed by Emmy winner Madeleine Rotzler (Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus), O Horizon is the kind of movie we need more of.

Bakalova evokes great compassion for her character, Abby, who grabs hold of an opportunity to speak and engage with her deceased father, Warren, again — through the use of new AI technology. Trippy. But perhaps not so much, considering the technological advancement these days. The challenge for Abby, however, is that the ripple effects of her actions spread much farther than she ever realized,...

The first time Maria Bakalova came to New York City, she had to flee.

She was in disguise, shooting a scene for 2020’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” that put her alone in a hotel room with Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor touched her midsection and reached down his pants — and then Sacha Baron Cohen burst into the room wearing a wig and lingerie. Giuliani called the police, and Bakalova and Baron Cohen sprinted down Broadway and escaped to Romania to finish the movie.

“We did the scene, and immediately after, police cars started chasing us,” Bakalova remembers. “I was scared I might end up in jail.”

The second time she came to the city, in December 2021, she attended a screening of her A24 movie “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and brought Covid back with her to Los Angeles, where she lives — an unwelcome souvenir that forced her to miss Christmas with her family in Bulgaria.

Adam Pally Cast in O Horizon — Adam Pally joins the cast of Madeleine Sackler’s genre hybrid O Horizon in post-production. Actor and comedian Adam Pally joins the team of O Horizon, which wrapped in the autumn of 2022. The spare but equally distinguished cast also includes Maria Bakalova, David Strathairn, and Winslow Bright. This film is [...]

Continue reading: O Horizon: Adam Pally Joins Cast of Sci-Fi Comedy-Drama...

Exclusive: Adam Pally (Happy Endings) will play a major role in the sci-fi dramedy O Horizon, from O.G. filmmaker Madeleine Sackler, which wrapped production last fall. He’s set to star alongside a previously announced pair of Oscar nominees: Maria Bakalova and David Strathairn.

Pic follows Abby (Bakalova), a brilliant, young neuroscientist who has recently lost her father, Warren (Strathairn), and drowns her grief by spending her days working with a monkey named Dorey. Abby meets a programmer, Sam (Pally), who has created a technology that reconnects Abby with her beloved father. Her relationship with her digitized dad then forces her to re-examine everything from her romantic relationships to her life’s work.

Producers on O Horizon are Joseph Cross, Audrey Tommassini and Paul Nelson. CAA Media Finance is representing worldwide rights.

Pally is an actor, writer, producer and comedian perhaps best known for starring in the beloved sitcom Happy Endings,...

Exclusive: Oscar nominees Maria Bakalova (Bodies Bodies Bodies) and David Strathairn (Nomadland) will topline O Horizon — the second narrative feature from Emmy winner Madeleine Sackler (O.G.), which wrapped production last fall.

The film written and directed by Sackler follows Abby (Bakalova), a brilliant, young neuroscientist who has recently lost her father, Warren (Strathairn), and drowns her grief by spending her days working with a monkey named Dorey. Abby meets a programmer, Sam, who has created a technology that reconnects Abby with her beloved father. Her relationship with her digitized dad then forces her to re-examine everything from her romantic relationships to her life’s work.

Producers on the project include Joseph Cross, Audrey Tommassini and Paul Nelson. CAA Media Finance is selling worldwide rights

Sackler is best known for directing and producing HBO’s O.G. — a groundbreaking 2018 drama, filmed entirely within a maximum-security prison, that had Jeffrey Wright...

After selling her attractive Los Feliz home to Oxycontin heiress Madeleine Sackler, prolific pop music songwriter Ali Tamposi has abruptly shifted residential gears, trading the hipster-approved chicness of L.A.’s Eastside for the relaxed surfer bro vibes of Malibu’s heavily celebrified Point Dume neighborhood. Property records reveal the 30-year-old Florida native has paid nearly $4 million for the longtime home of MTV’s original VJ Martha Quinn and her husband, musician Jordan Tarlow.

Because the transaction transpired off market, photos and details of the house are spare, at best. The Hamptons-style abode sits on a small gated street shared with five other similarly-styled residences. Built in 2003, the two-story, shingle-sided house packs four bedrooms and three baths into about 3,100 square feet of living space, though those figures likely do not include the substantial detached guesthouse, which offers garage bays and almost certainly at least one more bedroom and bath. Quinn...

Last Year’s Winner: “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling”

Still Eligible: No.

Hot Streak: Prior to the Netflix disruption, this category was a three-horse race from 2003 – 2016. During those 13 years, only HBO, History, and PBS earned victories in the category, and aside from one win each from Discovery and CBS, these were the only networks to win in the history of Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special category.

Fun Fact: One of the Big Four broadcast networks hasn’t been nominated in this category since 2011 — just two years before the TV Academy renamed Outstanding Nonfiction Series as Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Prior to the shift toward including feature-length documentaries, ABC, CBS, NBC, and/or Fox had been in the running nine of the 11 years prior.

Notable Ineligible Series: Docuseries have their own category, so don’t expect the likes of “America to Me” or “Our Planet” here.

At the bottom...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Chiwetel Ejiofor)

The phrase “important film” covers all manner of cinematic sins. If a narrative speaks to a specific issue or disenfranchisement, it can make critique a little complicated. Thankfully, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind plays more like entertainment than education while teaching its viewer something all the same. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, adapted from the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the film’s set in Wimbe, a village in the Southeast African country of Malawi. It concerns the life of a family trying their best to survive both extreme weather and a government that will offer no help.

Jeffrey Wright walked out of his cell when the man locked up next door asked him for a favor. Wearing his tan prison onesie, the Emmy-winner and “Westworld” star looked like everyone else inside Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility — an active maximum security prison. Just another guy, in another cell (cell No. 5), serving another sentence. Wright was used to people thinking this. Throughout the shoot, prison guards and the men they’re guarding mistook him for a convict. Most of the time, Wright said they “would literally look directly through me,” but his neighbor on the block was different.

“He said, ‘Hey man, you got any books?'” Wright recalled. “‘I read all my books.'”

So Wright walked back to his cell and picked out some books he thought this guy would appreciate. “[He was an] older tall and lanky white guy, so I got him some Louis L’Amour, I got him ‘Moby Dick,...

“It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It” is the first widely released documentary to be directed by men still incarcerated in a maximum security prison, but its innovative storytelling doesn’t stop there. As the prisoners interview each other and come to terms with how they received decades-long sentences, their memories are depicted in animated sequences by Yoni Goodman, of “Waltz With Bashir” fame.

In the exclusive behind-the-scenes video below, co-director Madeleine Sackler, the film’s producers, and the incarcerated men themselves take you through the documentary’s premise and purpose.

“The men try to unpack how they all ended up in prison with violent sentences, and they use the experience of learning how to make a film to try to figure those things out,” Sackler says.

Alternating roles in front of and behind the camera, the men of Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility study documentary filmmaking as they create their own autobiographical documentary.

Known for her eye-opening documentaries, Emmy-winning producer/director Madeleine Sackler had not one but two films in 2018’s Tribeca Film Festival: It’s a Hard Truth, Ain’t It and O.G. They’re an effective pairing, almost a prequel-sequel combo: both were filmed in Pendleton Correctional Facility in Indiana in Indiana; Hard Truth is a doc, O.G. is a narrative. The doc came first, almost a research project for the fictional film. In addition to interviewing inmates, Sackler taught a comprehensive filmmaking workshop in the prison. Needless to say, their their real stories served as inspiration for Stephen Belber’s screenplay. Even more impressively, Sackler used the real inmates as actors in O.G.…...

“O.G.” is not “Escape at Dannemora.” It’s not an escape-thriller, even though it is a countdown to an escape. It’s not about the unique qualities of one prison or one special case, even though it was shot in an operating prison and focuses on a solitary man. Madeleine Sackler’s drama is all brooding introversion whereas Ben Stiller’s Showtime series was bubbly extroversion, and the faster audiences realize this, the better. “O.G.” is rewarding on its own terms, when you’re in the mood for a meditative examination of life in prison, but it’s less enthralling when gauged against expectations set by other prison stories.

Take the basic premise: Shot in Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility (about 45 minutes northwest of Indianapolis), “O.G.” is named after its main subject, Louis (Jeffrey Wright). The former leader of a prison gang (and sacrificial lamb of a...

Jeffrey Wright plays an incarcerated man on HBO’s “O.G.” And the actor was, for all intents and purposes, somewhat of an incarcerated man himself for the duration of filming, which was done entirely on location at an active, maximum-security prison in Indiana.

Premiering on HBO this Saturday after debuting at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, “O.G.” was shot over a five-week period in the summer of 2016 at Pendleton Correctional Facility. Several of the staff and men incarcerated at the prison are featured as first-time actors in the film, which was written by Stephen Belber and directed by Madeleine Sackler.

But Wright, who is obviously not actually imprisoned himself, tells TheWrap that he became so comfortable shooting inside a prison cell that it was a “little unsettling.”

Also Read: 'Westworld': Jimmi Simpson Tells Us He Has 'Not Been Invited' Back for Season 3

“It was funny, during breaks I actually went into Louis’ [Wright’s character’s] cell,...

Nineteen years ago, Jeffrey Wright performed in a trying environment. It was raining a small ocean in Manhattan as he stood atop the outdoor stage of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, delivering Marc Antony’s stirring “Friends, Romans, countrymen” monologue in Julius Caesar. It was clear the play would soon end, and it was the final Shakespeare in the Park production of the summer. But no one moved as Wright punctured sheets of rain with his fire until Caesar had been fully eulogized. It was extraordinary, even for an extraordinary actor.

In recent years, pop culture has witnessed the true-crime genre dominate podcasts, films, and series with works such as Serial, American Crime Story, and The Staircase. But seldom has the world seen a production process quite as involved as that of HBO's upcoming drama O.G., which is shot inside of an actual prison and stars real inmates. Because of the relevant and believable storyline, you may be wondering if it's inspired by a true story. Before the movie and its complementary documentary (more on that below) air, here's what you need to know about its story and groundbreaking film-making approach.

O.G. Is Not Based on a True Story

O.G. is about Louis, an incarcerated man who was once the head of a prison gang and now awaits his impending release after a 24-year sentence. As Louis tries to save a new inmate named Beecher from trouble, he...

Jeffrey Wright, the most compelling reason to watch HBO’s new film “O.G.,” is among television’s best actors at switching between codes or manners of being. On “Westworld,” his timeline-toggling android swaps personae so delicately that his performance gains in resonance when recalled in retrospect. (Perhaps that’s why Wright has been so oddly underrated through the show’s first two seasons.) And, in the more earthbound “O.G.,” Wright plays a longtime prisoner who’s learned the ways to deal both with his captors and his fellow incarcerated men, but who faces the pressure of impending release. It’s a typically well-wrought performance in a film not quite built to hold it; the actor shows us new things about the plight of the individuals caught up in mass incarceration and given too few resources for life after, even as the film itself deals in heavy-handed and often obvious notes.

Trailer Offering an intimate and unflinching look at the journey of an incarcerated man’s final path to freedom, after he served a lengthy sentence, is a unique opportunity for filmmakers. Emmy Award-winning director, Madeleine Sackler, perfectly embraced that challenge of showcasing the difficulties that prisoners face as they’re set to reenter society after finishing their […]

The post 2018 Tribeca Film Festival Interview: Madeleine Sackler and Boyd Holbrook Talk O.G. (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

In today’s TV news roundup, premiere dates are announced for “What We Do in the Shadows” on FX and a pair of prison films on HBO.

Casting

DC Universe has announced that Meg DeLacy and Jake Austin Walker will join the cast of “Stargirl,” the subscription service’s upcoming series following high-school aged heroes as they form the Justice Society of America. DeLacy co-stars as Cindy Burman, daughter of the villainous Dragon King (Nelson Lee) and one of the school’s most popular and feared students. Walker will play an undisclosed DC character.

Dates

FX has revealed that the vampire comedy series “What We Do in the Shadows” will premiere on Wednesday, March 27 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt and run for 10 episodes. Based on the film of the same name by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, the show will be a documentary-style look at the undead lives of three vampires,...

Jeffrey Wright stars in O.G., a new film from HBO debuting next month. Wright plays a man in the final weeks of a 24-year prison sentence. The nature of Wright’s release becomes challenged when he decides to take a new inmate under his wing. Director Madeleine Sackler filmed O.G. in a real prison, with some of the men […]

The post ‘O.G.’ Trailer: Jeffrey Wright is a Changed Man appeared first on /Film.

O.G. Trailer Madeleine Sackler‘s O.G. (2018) movie trailer stars Jeffrey Wright, Theothus Carter, William Fichtner, Boyd Holbrook, and Mare Winningham. O.G.‘s plot synopsis: “O.G. follows Louis (Jeffrey Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes [...]

Continue reading: O.G. (2018) Movie Trailer: Jeffrey Wright is a Prison Inmate Whose Freedom is Imperiled by a New Arrival...

"I'm sure that you are a different person, but I don't want you to get out." Damn this looks intense. HBO has debuted an official trailer for an indie drama titled O.G., which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. This was filmed at an actual prison, with real-life prisoners playing prisoners. The story centers on Louis, a maximum-security inmate and a former gang leader who genuinely regrets his crimes and, while serving over 24 years behind bars, has tried to live a new life of dignity and self-respect. Just weeks before release, he encounters Beech, a new prisoner (played by real-life inmate Theothus Carter) who asks for his help. "The younger inmate echoes of his older counterpart, stirring instincts within Louis that had long been buried beneath a tough exterior." Jeffrey Wright stars, with William Fichtner, Boyd Holbrook, Mare Winningham, Bahni Turpin, Yul Vazquez, David Patrick Kelly, and Ato Essandoh.

HBO enters 2019 preparing for the ending to end all endings: “Game of Thrones” final season is set for March, but closing such a key chapter to the premium cable network’s history only invites questions for its future. What’s next for the franchise? What’s next for HBO? And ultimately, what else can HBO produce to drive viewership, subscriptions, and awards in a crowded TV landscape?

The coming year will hold even more answers, starting with the series listed below. In 2019, HBO is expanding even further — more foreign language series to appeal globally, more TV movies to attract a burgeoning cinematic fan base, and more original programs overall, big and small, to fill the increasing demand for high-quality content. It’s not a question of which series will be the next “Game of Thrones,” but which series (plural) can help HBO retain its premium status. Here’s a few...

HBO has acquired “O.G.,” a feature film starring Jeffrey Wright and directed by Madeleine Sackler. Written by Stephen Belber, the film was shot in its entirety on location at Indiana’s maximum-security Pendleton Correctional Facility.

“O.G.” premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, where Wright won the award for best actor in a U.S. narrative feature film. In it Wright plays Louis, once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes a new arrival under his wing. Theothus Carter and William Fichtner also star.

“We are proud to bring filmmaker Madeleine Sackler’s film to HBO audiences,” said Len Amato, president, HBO Films. “Groundbreaking in being filmed at an actual prison, with many of the men incarcerated there cast in acting roles, O.G. takes an intimate and unflinching look at the journey...

HBO has picked up O.G., a narrative feature starring Jeffrey Wright that was filmed entirely in a maximum-security prison. Directed by Emmy winner Madeleine Sackler and also starring Theothus Carter and William Fichtner, it premiered in April at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Wright won Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film.

The premium cabler also said today that it has acquired It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It, a documentary shot at Pendleton during the same production period as O.G. More on that film below.

Shot on location at Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility, O.G. follows Louis (Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes under his wing new arrival Beecher (Carter), who is being courted by gang leadership. Coming to grips with the indelibility of...

HBO announced on Friday that it has acquired the Jeffrey Wright-led film “O.G.”

The film was directed by Emmy-winner Madeleine Sackler (“Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus”) from a script penned by Stephen Belber, who won an Emmy for HBO’s “The Laramie Project.”

“O.G.,” which was filmed entirely at an Indiana max security prison, follows Louis (Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes new arrival Beecher (Theothus Carter), who is being courted by gang leadership, under his wing. Coming to grips with the indelibility of his crime and the challenge of reentering society, Louis finds his freedom hanging in the balance as he struggles to save Beecher.

Also Read: Jeffrey Wright Hunts Wolves in 'Incredibly Tight' Thriller 'Hold the Dark' (Video)

“Over the past four years,...

HBO has acquired a new film.

The premium cable network has snatched up the rights to the narrative feature O.G., starring Westworld star Jeffrey Wright. The film, directed by Emmy-winner Madeleine Sackler and written by Stephen Belber, first premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, where Wright won the award for best actor in a U.S. narrative feature film.

O.G., which also stars Theothus Carter and William Fichtner, was filmed entirely on location at Indiana’s maximum-security Pendleton Correctional Facility. It follows Louis (Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks ...

Set in a maximum-security prison, O.G. gets many of the details right about incarceration, from the mutual respect amongst inmates who have accepted why they’re there, and the guards and vocational staff who have a job to do. The opening exchange is startling for a prison picture; as the doors of Louis’ (Jeffrey Wright) cell open a corrections officer makes small talk with him, asking him if he’s seen the game. Later, when he’s the subject of an investigation he’s pressed for information by Danvers (William Fichtner), a special investigations detective with whom he’s had a long history. They banter like old friends until he crosses a line, admitting to a consensual sexual relationship with a vocational staff member that Danvers will pretend he didn’t hear. Prisons are indeed a strange place, where the violent offenders break off into packs. Louis was once...

Three Tribeca Film Festival Awards for Diane, written and directed by Kent Jones Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Kent Jones's Diane, starring Mary Kay Place, is the big winner at the Tribeca Film Festival Awards, taking home Best Us Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography for Wyatt Garfield. Best International Narrative Feature went to Marios Piperides for Smuggling Hendrix and Best Documentary Feature to Gabrielle Brady for Island Of The Hungry Ghosts.

Tribeca Best New Narrative Director winner Shawn Snyder for To Dust Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Best New Narrative Director goes to Shawn Snyder for To Dust, starring Matthew Broderick and Géza Röhrig. Best Actress in a Narrative Feature went to Alia Shawkat for Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter and Best Actor to Jeffrey Wright in Madeleine Sackler’s O.G.. Best International Narrative Actress to Joy Rieger in Keren Ben Rafael's Virgins and Best Actor to Rasmus Bruun in...

Top honors at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival have gone to Diane for the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Smuggling Hendrix for Best International Narrative Feature, and Island of the Hungry Ghosts for Best Documentary Feature. On the acting side, Alia Shawkat won Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film for Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter, and Jeffrey Wright took the Best Actor honor for O.G.

First-time narrative director and writer Kent Jones (who is also the executive director of the New York Film Festival) won two prizes at Tribeca for Diane, and the film starring Mary Kay Place won three. Estelle Parsons, Andrea Martin, Deirdre O’Connell and Jake Lacy co-star in the film, about a widowed, altruistic seventysomething woman whose life is dictated by the needs of others, and who finds herself forced to look at her own identity.

Screenings of...

Five years ago, documentary filmmaker Madeleine Sackler started the process of making “O.G.” and “It’s A Hard Truth Ain’t It” – both feature-length films premiering at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival – with the goal of capturing the experience of living in a prison. While there are millions of people incarcerated throughout the U.S., gaining access to a group of prisoners (and a prison) would prove extremely difficult. The only state Sackler was even able to engage in conversation about her films, after numerous inquiries, was Indiana.

“In certain ways, what I learned was that the walls are there to keep us out more than to the keep [the prisoners] in,” said Sackler in an interview with IndieWire.

Yet once Sackler finally was able to visit the Pendleton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Indiana, and sat down to interview dozens of the inmates and staff, she discovered nearly all...

Dating back almost five years ago now, Emmy-winning director director Madeleine Sackler found herself compelled by the notion of shooting a film (or two) within a maximum security prison, collaborating with the incarcerated in her filmmaking pursuits. Cultivating a relationship with the people at Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility, Sackler was able to do just that, working with hundreds of inmates over an extended period. The unique creative partnership resulted in two films: documentary It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It, and the fictional O.G. starring Jeffrey Wright, William Fichtner and Boyd Holbrook, both of which place a necessary spotlight on incarcerated America.

In O.G., Westworld‘s Wright portrays maximum-security prison inmate Louis, who finds himself on the cusp of release after living a life behind bars for 24 years. Encountering the newly incarcerated Beech (Theothus Carter), Louis attempts to serve as a role model for the young man,...

Exclusive: Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke has signed on to two Tribeca Film Festival titles as Executive Producer, Madeleine Sackler’s feature O.G. and her documentary It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It, both of which were shot in Indiana’s maximum-security Pendleton Correctional Facility.

O.G. which premieres tonight at 7Pm Est at the SVA2 stars Jeffrey Wright as a security prison inmate who is on the cusp of being sprung until unfortunate complications occur when he meets a younger inmate, reminiscent of himself. You can watch a clip of the movie above.

“In prison you can be surrounded by thousands of people but yet feel lonely. I think Jeffrey Wright brought that feeling to life with his performance. This movie shows the inner workings of prison politics and the repercussion of the crimes committed,” says Burke about O.G.

It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It,...

Lodged between the meat market of the Sundance Film Festival every January and the prestige of the Cannes Film Festival every May, the Tribeca Film Festival is an odd duck. Each and every April for the last 16 years, Tribeca has showcased a wife variety of (mostly) independent movies, many of which struggle to see the light of day. Still, there’s always a gem or two in the lineup, and even the occasional Academy Award nominee. With screenings for press beginning before this month is out, now is a solid time to take a look at some of what Tribeca has to offer for 2018. First up, it’s worth noting some of the prior Tribeca titles that have struck my fancy. Last year, it was the grouping of Blame, The Boy Downstairs, and especially Flower that highlighted a rather week lineup. The year before, 2016 featured Between Us, Dean, Don’t Think Twice,...

Mike Myers’ Supermensch and fashion house doc Dior and I among sales.

Ahead of next week’s, UK-based sales agent Dogwoof has secured a string of TV deals for their current slate.

Dior and I has been sold to Canal+ (France). This recent Dogwoof acquisition is the latest fashion film from Frédéric Tcheng (Diana Vreeland, The Eye Has to Travel, Valentino: The Last Emperor) and tells the inside story of designer Raf Simons taking over the iconic fashion house.

Recently opened in the Us and the UK, Finding Fela from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney chronicles the life and death of Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti. It has been sold to Arte France, Vpro (Netherlands) and AMC Global (Mena, Cee).

Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia’s Web Junkie about China’s teen internet de-programming camps continues to sell, with sales to Arte France, Pts (Taiwan), Ebs (Korea), Trt (Turkey), Ruv (Iceland), Doc24 (Russia) and AMC Global (Iberia, Mena)

Further...

Exclusive: Producer and director Madeleine Sackler (The Lottery, Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus) and actor and director Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl, Little Accidents, Behind the Candelabra) have teamed to launch their own development and production company, Madbrook Films. The New York City-based shingle will produce passion projects from both partners as well as other writers and directors, starting with the short film Peacock Killer.

Adapted from Sam Shepard’s story of the same name, Peacock Killer marks Holbrook’s debut as a writer and director. The film stars Boardwalk Empire‘s Shea Whigham and True Grit‘s Elizabeth Marvel in the tale of reconciliation between a man and his dog after a peacock comes between them. Holbrook filmed the project this winter in upstate New York and was completed with the help of a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which raised over $17,000 for the project.

Madbrook is also developing Uncle Sam,...

Dealing with the subject of “The Last Dictator of Europe”, the deprivation of human rights and oppression that forces people into exile, it is easy to label Dangerous Acts “important.” If for no other reason this is because films such as Madeleine Sackler’s documentary are holding a fundamentally important discussion and reflection of our contemporary world. The question that needs to be answered however is whether the artistic merit is equal to the importance of the subject matter? Fortunately, Dangerous Acts is that “important” film, in consideration of both artistic merit and subject matter.

If cinema is torn between reality and fiction, then alongside the recent documentary Plot for Peace which told the until then untold story of the mysterious “Monsieur Jacques” who helped free Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa, Dangerous Acts is a further testament that compelling narratives lie in the fabric of the reality of the everyday.

★★★★☆In Dangerous Acts (2013), Madeleine Sackler documents a year in the life of the Belarus Free Theatre (Bft), an acclaimed theatrical troupe forced to work underground in their native country. President Lukashenko, often dubbed Europe's last remaining dictator, has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for the past twenty years. Free expression is suppressed and dissidents are frequently harassed or even imprisoned. As all the theatres are state-owned, the Bft has, since its founding back in 2005, put on a series of secret performances that explore issues deemed sensitive by the state. As well as politics, these pieces have explored alcoholism, sexual orientation and suicide.

Ahead of the UK theatrical release of Madeleine Sackler’s Dangerous Acts, HeyUGuys caught up with the talented filmmaker to discuss her latest documentary about the Free Theatre’s attempts to express themselves under a totalitarian regime and their subsequent exile.

Madeleine shared with us her journey in getting this film made, confronting the opening and closing challenges of documentary filmmaking, art as a means to counter repression and the human need to be true to oneself as well as the unexpected evolution of Dangerous Acts.

Why a career in documentary filmmaking? Was there that one inspirational moment?

This is my third documentary, and I started off as an editor working in film, television and commercials. I’d always wanted to make a film but I was waiting for the right moment as well as the right story. I was most excited by stories that were narrative based, and I...

Documentaries about the effects of the internet on children and a personal account of one of the last remaining dictator states in the world are currently screening at Idfa.

Dogwoof Global has made theatrical sale deals for InRealLife by Beeban Kidron to Canada (Kinosmith) and Australia (Vendetta) and has also sold Dangerous Acts by Madeleine Sackler to Canada (Kinosmith).

Both films are currently in selection at Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam).

The sales were brokered by Ana Vicente, head of theatrical sales at Dogwoof Global with Robin Smith, president of Kinosmith, and Jill McNab of Vendetta Films.

InRealLife, directed by Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) is a Sky Atlantic / BFI-funded feature and travels from the bedrooms of British teenagers to Silicon Valley, to find out what exactly the internet is doing to our children.

Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus by Madeleine Sackler, produced by Andrea Meditch, is an account...

I learned a lot of things I did not know in Madeleine Sackler's astonishing documentary "Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus," which HBO Documentary Films scooped up before its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. (HBO will air the film in 2014.) The weird title starts to make sense when you see the movie, which chronicles the many hurdles placed in front of an underground theater troupe, the Belarus Free Theatre, which insists on performing despite being barred from working for pay within the last surviving Communist dictatorship in Eastern Europe.  Not only is it moving to watch these artists express their rage and frustration and tell the stories of their lives, but their urgency and compulsion to perform against all odds feeds their art. It's damned compelling. British playwright Tom Stoppard saw the troupe in Minsk and said: "I wish all my plays would be...

The Toronto Film Festival is off and running, which means deals are being made. Here’s a look at what’s happened so far :

Indie distributor A24 Films (The Bling Ring, Spring Breakers) has acquired the rights to Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi thriller Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson as a seductive alien who feasts on humans. [Deadline]

Millennium Entertainment secured the U.S. rights to John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo, in which Turturro’s character becomes Woody Allen’s pimp. The comedy also stars Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara. [Deadline]

Claude Lanzmann’s (Shoah) Holocaust documentary The Last of the...

Dogwoof has boarded international rights for Madeleine Sackler’s Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus.

The film has its world premiere in Toronto on Sept 9. HBO has acquired Us TV rights.

Dogwoof Global, who brokered the deal with executive producer Andrea Meditch, will represent the film across all foreign platforms and territories.

“We are thrilled to be working with the wonderful team at Dogwoof on international sales for Dangerous Acts. Making the film required acts of heroism from not only the theatre members, but also an international crew, so we are excited to share their story around the world,” said director Madeleine Sackler.

The film looks at the acclaimed Belarus Free Theatre, which attempts to stage though-provoking theatre in one of the world’s most repressive regimes.

“This is a terrific portrait of Belarus Free Theatre and their struggle against the last dictatorship of Europe. The footage that was smuggled out of the country is extraordinary...

HBO Documentary Films, on a roll this year with a new spate of programming, has acquired U.S. television rights to the social revolution doc "Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus" ahead of the film's world premiere at Tiff this weekend. "Dangerous Acts" highlights the work of the award-winning Belarus Free Theatre group, which challenges social and political issues in Belarus, currently under the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. All of the founders of Bft -- Natalia Kaliada, Vladimir Shcherban and Nikolai Khalezin -- currently live in exile in London. Featuring smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, "Dangerous Acts" is an intimate look at a contemporary revolution as it goes behind the scenes of artists fighting for their work and safety. Directed by Madeleine Sackler (2010's "The Lottery"), the film will debut on HBO in 2014.

>New York, Sept. 3, 2013 – HBO Documentary Films has acquired the U.S. television rights to Madeleine Sackler’s feature documentary Dangerous Acts Starring The Unstable Elements Of Belarus, it was announced today. The film will have its world premiere Sunday, Sept. 8 at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and debut on HBO in 2014. Dangerous Acts Starring The Unstable Elements Of Belarus highlights the powerful and innovative work of the award-winning Belarus Free Theatre (Bft) group. Founded in March 2005 by Natalia Kaliada, Vladimir Shcherban and acclaimed journalist Nicolai Khalezin – all of whom currently live in exile in London – Bft creates theater that challenges social and political issues in their home country of Belarus and the current regime of Alexander Lukashenko, often called the last dictatorship in Europe. An associate of the Young Vic Theatre in the UK, Bft has performed at venues around the world, including the Public Theater in the U.S.

HBO has picked up the U.S. television rights to Madeleine Sackler's "Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus," a doc about the the award-winning Belarus Free Theatre (Bft) group. The third film from the director of 2010's "The Lottery," "Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus" is set to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8th. The festival's description, written by Thom Powers: Creating provocative theatre carries risks: emotional, financial, and artistic. For the Belarus Free Theatre, there are additional risks of censorship, imprisonment, and worse. In "Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus," director Madeleine Sackler goes behind the scenes with the troupe of gutsy performers who defy Europe's last remaining dictatorship. In the Republic of Belarus, the authorities forbid theatrical treatment of topics such as sexual minorities, alcoholism, suicide, and politics. The Free...