Page 34 - Peter Nicks News Today

Homeroom The new crop of films that screened at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals are evidence that the global pandemic is having an impact on the stories filmmakers want to tell: "The pandemic has just exposed and revealed so many issues that were in our society." The coronavirus pandemic has obviously changed how movies are being made, with the extra costs involved in testing and implementing strict hygienic regimes, and the constant threat hanging over every shoot that a local outbreak ...

click to enlarge Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jack Mitchell This year the 2021 Sundance Film Festival was virtual, and its offerings trimmed down from previous years. It included 73 feature films, 50 short films, four Indie Series, 23 talks and events, and 14 New Frontier multimedia projects. We watched 38 of the 73 films, inclu...

Courtesy of Sundance Institute The crop of documentaries that premiere at the Sundance Film Festival is always wide-ranging, both in style and in content. And this year’s selections were no exception, even if the 2021 festival was an unusual one, having largely migrated to digital platforms. They ran the gamut from dramatic explorations of refugees’ experiences to funny and heartbreaking looks at American high schools to experimental films about technology’s effects on our lives. The worl...

10 Sundance films that tackled the pandemic (Even if they didn’t mean to) by Angie Han (Even if they didn’t mean to) by Angie Han On the same day that the Sundance Film Festival kicked off last year, Wuhan, China, went into lockdown — not that many festival goers seemed to take much note of it at the time. A year later, however, its become impossible to miss. The coronavirus seemed to be everywhere I looked during Sundance 2021, starting with the experience itself — virtual,...

Homeroom Review: Doc Embeds Itself in Bay Area High School During Exceptional Year Homeroom Review: Doc Embeds Itself in Bay Area High School During Exceptional Year Peter Nicks doc schools audiences on the vision and vitality of its young protagonists, seniors at Oakland High School during a turbulent year. Lisa Kennedy, provided by FacebookTwitterEmail “Homeroom” begins with a somewhat inchoate energy. In this regard, Peter Nicks’ engaging documentary about Oakland High School’s seni...

Even in a world turned upside-down and an all-virtual Sundance, the movies survive Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post Feb. 5, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail 5 1of5Teenage girls in Texas are at the center of "Cusp."Parker Hill, Isabel BethencourtShow MoreShow Less 2of5Students Celine Lu, Jimmy Qiu, Alvan Cai in "Try Harder!"TRY HARDER! filmShow MoreShow Less 3of5 4of5Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson in "Summer of Soul," a festival standout and directorial debut of Ahmir "Questlove" Thomp...

Kathy Huang/Sundance Institute What’s it like to be a teenager in 2021? Teens have always been great movie subjects, perhaps especially for documentaries. Watching a nonfiction movie set in a high school, adults can sigh with both nostalgia and relief. High schools are microcosms of society as well as a peek into the future, and the arc of a school year makes for a natural story progression. For decades, documentarians have often trained their cameras on teenagers. But being a teenager in 20...

The Walt Disney Co. has announced an exclusive deal with writer-director-producer Ryan Coogler and his company, Proximity Media

Top row: CODA, Courtesy of Sundance Institute; Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), photo by Mass Distraction Media; Flee, courtesy of Sundance Institute. Bottom row: Hive, photo by Alexander Bloom; Writing With Fire, courtesy of Sundance Institute; Ma Belle, My Beauty, courtesy of Sundance Institute. *Park City, UT — After six days and 73 feature films, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s Awards Ceremony took place tonight, hosted by actor and comedian Patton ...

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) secured the coveted U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards, held last night (Feb. 2). The festival’s awards ceremony was hosted by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt. Jurors presented 24 prizes for feature filmmaking and seven for short films. Thompson’s Summer Of Soul (pictured), produced by David Dinerstein, Ro...