Brooklyn Castle (2012) is a documentary film about Intermediate School 318, an inner-city public school in Brooklyn, New York. Where an after-school chess program, having both dedicated educators and a supportive community, has triumphed over deep budget cuts to build the most winning junior high school chess team in the country, [1] and the first middle school team to win the United States Chess Federation's national high school championship. The film follows five of the school's chess team members for one year, from April 2009 to June 2010, and documents their challenges and triumphs both on and off the chessboard.
Remake rights have been acquired by Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin. [2] Rudin's other works include co-producing the acclaimed film Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993).
Brooklyn Castle premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival on March 11, 2012. Over the next several months it was shown during at least eleven other film festivals winning a total of three festival awards to date. [3] The film was released to a limited number of U.S. theaters on October 19, 2012. [4] Brooklyn Castle was aired on the PBS series POV on October 7, 2013.
Currently, the film has a rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 45 reviews and an average score of 7.6/10. [5]
Alfre Woodard is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century". She is a board member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Fleck and Anna Boden. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. It was scored by Canadian band Broken Social Scene. 26-year-old Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, becoming the seventh-youngest nominee in the category at the time.
Scott Rudin is an American film, television and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award-winning Best Picture No Country for Old Men, as well as Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, School of Rock, Zoolander, The Truman Show, Clueless, The Addams Family, and eight Wes Anderson films. On Broadway, he has won 17 Tony Awards for shows such as The Book of Mormon, Hello, Dolly!, The Humans, A View from the Bridge, Fences and Passion.
Amy Pascal is an American film producer and business executive. She served as the Chairperson of the Motion Pictures Group of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Co-Chairperson of SPE, including Sony Pictures Television, from 2006 until 2015. She has overseen the production and distribution of many films and television programs, and was co-chairperson during the 2014 Sony Pictures hack. The leak uncovered multiple emails from Pascal which were deemed racist including racial jokes aimed at then-President Barack Obama. She left Sony and Pascal later admitted that she was fired from the company.
Steven C. Miller is an American screenwriter, editor, and director. His feature film debut, Automaton Transfusion, became an instant cult classic and catapulted his career into Hollywood. He directed the remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night in 2012 and then shifted from horror to action. He has directed films starring notable actors such as Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Aaron Eckhart, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dave Bautista.
Jonathan A. Levine is an American film director and screenwriter.
Marshall Curry is an American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).
Detention is a 2011 American slasher black comedy film directed by Joseph Kahn, and co-written with Mark Palermo. The film premiered in March 2011 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Detention stars Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, and Dane Cook.
The Raid is a 2011 Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Gareth Evans and produced by Ario Sagantoro. The film stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy and Yayan Ruhian. The film follows an Indonesian National Police tactical squad that is deployed to raid a ruthless drug lord's apartment block in the slums of Jakarta, only to be encircled by the criminals, forcing them to fight their way through the complex.
Azazel Jacobs is an American film director and screenwriter. He is the son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs. His short films include Kirk and Kerry (1997) and Message Machine (2002), and his features include well reviewed The GoodTimesKid (2005), Momma's Man (2008), Terri (2011), The Lovers (2017), French Exit (2020), and His Three Daughters (2023).
GKIDS is an American film and television distributor based in New York City. GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by independent filmmakers. The name is said to be an acronym for "Guerrilla Kids International Distribution Syndicate".
Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation is a 1989 American fan film, made as a shot-for-shot remake of the 1981 Indiana Jones adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Using the original film's screenplay and score, it principally starred and was filmed, directed, and produced over a seven-year period by three Mississippi teenagers.
Venus in Fur is a 2013 French-language erotic drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play of the same name by American playwright David Ives, which itself was inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel Venus in Furs. It stars Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric, the only actors in the film.
Red Army is a 2014 American-Russian documentary film directed, produced, and written by Gabe Polsky, executive produced by Jerry Weintraub and Werner Herzog. It premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and was released in limited theaters by Sony Pictures Classics on January 23, 2015. The film tells the story of the Soviet Union national ice hockey team through the eyes of team captain Slava Fetisov, in particular the famed 1990s five-man unit known as The Russian Five.
Adam Leon is an American film director and writer working in New York City. His first feature film, Gimme the Loot, won the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest and premiered internationally at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Leon’s second feature, Tramps, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016, where Netflix acquired worldwide rights. His newest film, Italian Studies, stars Vanessa Kirby. Leon's films have received critical acclaim.
Lady Bird is a 2017 American coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her solo directorial debut, starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith. Set in Sacramento, California from fall 2002 to fall 2003, it focuses on a high school senior who shares a turbulent relationship with her mother.
The Burnt Orange Heresy is a 2019 crime thriller film directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and with a screenplay by Scott Smith. The film is based on the book of the same name by Charles Willeford and stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, and Donald Sutherland.
The Humans is a 2021 American psychological drama film written and directed by Stephen Karam in his feature directorial debut, and based on his 2015 one-act play. It stars Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, and June Squibb. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021. The film was released by A24 on November 24, 2021, both in theaters and on Showtime.
Julia is a 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. The documentary chronicles the life of Julia Child. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard serve as executive producers.
Five Days at Memorial is an American disaster medical drama miniseries based on the 2013 book of the same name by Sheri Fink. It was developed, written and directed by John Ridley and Carlton Cuse.