2023 was an interesting year for the festival.
NYC based LGBTQ+ film festival, NewFest, teamed up with Netflix to create the New Voices Filmmakers Grant. Four recipients, Blanche Akonchong, Livia Huang, Rodney Llaverias and Nyla Moon, were honored at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn on October 17.
Winners of $25,000 each and a year of mentorship, the filmmakers gathered for a panel to discuss their films and journey’s thus far.
Blanche Akonchong directed “Mercury Afrograde,” a film depicting a family’s struggle when their secrets are revealed during mercury retrograde. “I edited it, colored it, I composed the music,” Akonchong told the Knockturnal. “I literally spent the whole first quarter of the pandemic just working on it. It was my catharsis.” The film received NewFest’s Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Director Award in 2020. Blanche is an actor, writer, director and musician who hails from Riverdale, Georgia with Cameroonian roots.
New York native filmmaker and actor, Nyla Moon, created “How Not to Date While Trans.” “I realized that there wasn’t a lot of stories by trans women about the trans experience,” Moon noted. “This is such a fun film and it’s like a love story to the trans community because everyone always talks about our experiences but they don’t listen to us, so I wanted to create this story so people could understand what it’s like actually dating as a trans person.” With this accomplishment, Moon continues to produce and act in more original works.
Working on the development of their first feature film while living between the Dominican Republic and Bogota, filmmaker Rodney Llaverias won the New Fest prize for “The Two-Headed Calf.” In the film, the protagonist comes to terms with their sexuality; a monumental event for most audiences don’t get to see from the queer point of view. “I really wanted to tell this story,” Llaverias admitted on the panel. “I had a very late flourishing when it came to my sexuality (…) I was really tapping into my past, my past traumas; I really wanted to talk about my relationship with my father and what that meant for me.”
“More Happiness,” by Livia Huang also explored parental relationships. “I think we all have evolving relationships with our mothers,” Huang said. “I just had these conversations that I couldn’t really let go of, and ‘More Happiness’ has this conversation with a real mother and daughter pair interspersed with the protagonist’s past memories about the past love affair with her ex girlfriend.” Huang, a Baltimore bred director, created the film as a thesis for Brooklyn College, two years ago.
Creating safe havens for queer communities since 1988, New Fest also dedicated the evening to celebrating thriving artists including Big Mouth’s Brandon Kyle Goodman, Wendell & Wild’s Sam Zelaya and Dead End: Paranormal Park’s; Zach Barack.
After two days of successful panels, press conferences and world premieres, day three of the Mammoth Film Festival proved that attendees were enjoying the weekend of film appreciation to the fullest.
All good things unfortunately must come to an end and on February 6 attendees of the 4th Annual Mammoth Film Festival had to say goodbye to the breathtaking scenes of Mammoth Lakes, but not before the final day of premieres, a mixer and closing ceremony.
The sixth annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival brought the boogeyman to the beloved borough.
With events at fan favorite venues Williamsburg Cinema, Stuart Cinema, and the newly-reopened Nitehawk Cinema, BHFF offered something for everyone. From the sold-out closing night East Coast premiere of The Sadness to the 35mm screening of Session 9 in honor of its 20th anniversary, BHFF truly outdid itself in its first year back in theaters since the pandemic.
See our favorite festival moments below!
The Last Thing Mary Saw is an outstandingly haunting portrayal of a woman in 1843 New York who faces deadly (and supernatural) consequences for her affair with a maid. Stefanie Scott, who also stars in new Peacock series The Girl in the Woods, portrays Mary, who falls in love with Eleanor, played by Isabelle Fuhrman. Rory Culkin stars as a stranger who threatens to disrupt everything. Writer-director Edoardo Vitaletti was present at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival for the U.S. premiere. The film will be distributed by AMC+ and Shudder.
Family drama When I Consume You returned home to Brooklyn, where the film was shot, after premiering at Fantasia Film Festival earlier this year. Siblings Daphne (Libby Ewing) and Wilson Shaw (Evan Dumouchel) tackle their shared childhood traumas while warding off a demon stalker. Director Perry Blackshear told Variety that horror films are specifically designed to be watched in a dark theater: “It feels like when I watch a scary movie in the theater, it’s like going through a kind of timeless ritual where you die, you feel death,” Blackshear stated. “You get to undergo this intense pain and suffering and yet you survive, maybe stronger than when you began. This catharsis is my favorite part of the genre.”
Netflix’s Night Teeth was a crowd-pleaser with a sultry take on sexy vampires who secretly run L.A. We believe it! Debby Ryan and Lucy Fry play two BFFs who take driver Jorge Lendeborg Jr. on a very different type of ride. Megan Fox and Sydney Sweeney have memorable cameos as queen vampires, while Alfie Allen and Alexander Ludwig round out the urban undead underworld. BHFF hosted the world premiere of Night Teeth, now streaming.
The Home Invasion shorts programs featured a slew of standout films, but two especially caught the attention of BFHH audiences: Still Together and Hazel. Christopher Piazza’s Still Together is at once horrifyingly claustrophobic as well as hilarious. A department store window designer falls in love with a Nordic warrior trapped inside a mannequin. The couple try to plan their escape, but will the other employees thwart their happily ever after? A funky score and a bloody kicker prove we are Still thinking about this off-beat take on horror.
Hazel, directed by Jordan Doig, is a memorable portrayal of postpartum depression. New mom Libby struggles to take care of her daughter, Hazel, especially when her husband Pat isn’t supportive. Libby’s downfall into psychosis has a sinister turn, and you have to watch to see how this short film ends. The horror genre is best when its uncovering the real horrific moments of reality, and Hazel does just that.
See the full list of films at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival here!
Oui, j’adore la cinema française!
Merci pour Wes Anderson, because the auteur’s partnership with the French Institute Alliance Française (FI:AF) has brought some of the greatest French films stateside for a very special curated event. Is there a greater double feature–no, triple feature–than Anderson’s ode to a fictional French town with a François Truffaut classic, followed by a Jacques Becker comedy?
While Anderson could not be in-person for the U.S. premiere of his gorgeously whimsical anthology film “The French Dispatch” at the stunning 59th New York Film Festival, he certainly achieved the goal of placing a beret atop the Big Apple thanks to his “French Connection” collaboration with FI:AF.
From Sept. 14 through Oct. 26, running every Tuesday, FI:AF screens selected films through its CinéSalon, beginning with “Peppermint Soda” and concluding with “Antoine and Antoinette.”
Highlights from the program include Truffaut’s “The Man Who Loved Women,” telling the story of a philandering writer whose final lovers reunite at his funeral, while his female editor retraces the missteps of his heart. “Max and the Junkmen” offers a unique twist on a dark comedy about an aloof Parisian detective who tries to deceive a gang of bank robbers, all while falling for one of the criminal’s girlfriends. Lastly, Becker’s “Antoine and Antoinette” is a magnificent romp of a romantic comedy as a young couple seeks out a misplaced winning lottery ticket.
“French cinema has always been part of Anderson’s artistic heritage and the acclaimed auteur has picked some of his favorite French films to be screened for FI:AF audiences,” the site reads. “The series coincides with the highly anticipated release of Anderson’s star-studded film, ‘The French Dispatch.'”
Calling all cinephiles and francophiles, Anderson’s FI:AF curation certainly should not be missed. And, “The French Dispatch” is a must-see, perfect for a hazy fall Sunday where we can all escape into a European fantasy world of art, passion, and promise.
For more information, visit here.
Sean Baker’s latest feature film reveals the grating reality of a decadent West.
Not even a pandemic can hold independent filmmakers down!
Greek filmmaker Jacqueline Lentzou’s feature debut explores the boundaries of familial love through a woman’s journey caring for her ailing father.
New Directors/New Films’ closing night selection ‘All Light, Everywhere’ interrogates the unavoidable biases that hinder pursuit of objective truth. Screened virtually and in person during the New York City festival, the film’s theatrical release is set for June 4th, 2021.