This Closeness

Last updated
This Closeness
Directed by Kit Zauhar [1]
Screenplay byKit Zauhar
Produced byAni Schroeter
Starring
  • Zane Pais
  • Kit Zauhar
  • Jessie Pinnick
  • Ian Edlund
CinematographyKayla Wolf
Edited byBrian Kinnes
Production
companies
Release dates
  • 10 March 2023 (2023-03-10)(SXSW) [2]
  • 7 June 2024 (2024-06-07)(Theatrical) [3]
  • 3 July 2024 (2024-07-03)(MUBI) [3]
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States

This Closeness is a 2023 American comedy drama film written and directed by Kit Zauhar. The film stars Zauhar and Zane Pais as a young couple on vacation renting a room from a socially awkward host played by Ian Edlund. [1] [4]

Contents

Premise

Tessa, an ASMR content creator, joins her journalist boyfriend Ben in Philadelphia for his high school reunion. The couple rent a room from Adam, a shy young man who has opened his apartment for homestays to meet new people. The awkward introduction of Adam to the couple's dynamic is compounded with Ben and Tessa gain the sense that Adam is attracted to Tessa; the couple become convinced that Adam is especially attracted to Asian women like Tessa, who is biracial, when Adam brings home Kristen, who is also Asian. [1]

Cast

Production

The initial runtime of the film was projected at two hours and twenty minutes, but Zauhar and her editor Brian Kinnes chose to omit several scenes for a final runtime under ninety minutes. [5] [6]

Release

This Closeness debuted in the Narrative Spotlight section of the 2023 South by Southwest Film Festival. [7] The film was acquired for a limited theatrical run beginning June 7, 2024 by the distribution company Factory 25 and will be released on MUBI on July 3. [3]

Reception

Accolades

AwardCeremony dateCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
South by Southwest 19 March 2023Narrative SpotlightThis ClosenessNominated [7]
Seattle International Film Festival 21 May 2023New American Cinema Competition Special Jury PrizeWon [8]
Champs-Élysées Film Festival 27 June 2023American Independent Feature Films CompetitionNominated [9]
Valencia International Film Festival Cinema Jove1 July 2023Youth Jury Award for Best FilmWon [10]
Philadelphia Film Festival 29 October 2023Best Local FeatureNominated [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Zane</span> American actor (born 1966)

William George Zane Jr. is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film Dead Calm, a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor. He has since appeared in numerous films and television series, notably playing the main antagonist Caledon Hockley in the epic romance disaster film Titanic (1997), for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Stewart</span> American actress (born 1990)

Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Zimbalist</span> American filmmaker

Jeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker. He has been Academy Award shortlisted, has won a Peabody, a DuPont, 5 Emmy Awards with 17 Emmy nominations. He is the owner of film and television production company All Rise Films.

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both scope and size every year. In 2017, the conference lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine days. There was no in-person event in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin; in both years there was a smaller online event instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Steinbauer</span> American film director

Benjamin Jeffrey Steinbauer is an American director, showrunner, writer, and producer who directed the feature documentary Winnebago Man (2009). Steinbauer also directed the documentary Chop & Steele (2022), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was the showrunner and director of the episodic television show High Hopes for Jimmy Kimmel's Kimmelot. He directed the PBS show Stories of the Mind, and the CBS docuseries, Pink Collar Crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Wingard</span> American filmmaker (born 1982)

Adam Wingard is an American filmmaker. He has served as a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous American films.

<i>Sun Dont Shine</i> 2012 film by Amy Seimetz

Sun Don't Shine is a 2012 independent thriller film written and directed by Amy Seimetz and starring Kate Lyn Sheil and Kentucker Audley. It first premiered on March 10, 2012 at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on April 26, 2013, by Factory25.

<i>Show Pieces</i> 2014 British film

Show Pieces is a British short film anthology written by Alan Moore and directed by Mitch Jenkins. The series follows a man, James, who finds himself in a strange working men's club after his death.

<i>The Case Against 8</i> 2014 American film

The Case Against 8 is an American documentary film, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. Directed and produced by Ben Cotner and Ryan White, the film documents the legal battle to overturn California's Proposition 8, focusing in particular on behind-the-scenes footage of David Boies and Theodore Olson during the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.

<i>Saturday Night</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by James Franco

Saturday Night is a 2010 documentary film directed by James Franco. The film examines the production process of the NBC late-night live television sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. Shot over a period of six days from December 1–6, 2008, the film was originally a school assignment for Franco at New York University.

<i>The Overnight</i> 2015 film by Patrick Brice

The Overnight is a 2015 American sex comedy film written and directed by Patrick Brice, and starring Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, and Judith Godrèche. The film was produced by Naomi Scott and executive produced by Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, and Adam Scott.

Craig William Macneill is an American film director, writer, and editor. His feature film Lizzie, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, premiered in the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film was acquired by Roadside Attractions and Saban Films and released theatrically in the fall of 2018. Macneill's first feature film, The Boy, premiered in the narrative competition at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and which was also based on a previous short film he co-wrote, directed, and edited titled Henley, which screened in competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the grand jury prize for "Best Short Film" at the Gen Art Film Festival and Clint Eastwood’s Carmel Film and Arts Film Festival. In 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Greenbaum</span> American film director

Josh Greenbaum is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has won an MTV Movie Award, CINE Golden Eagle and Emmy Award. He directed the feature documentary The Short Game, winner of the SXSW Audience Award, which was acquired by Netflix to launch their Originals film division. He also directed Becoming Bond, a documentary about George Lazenby, which won SXSW's Audience Award in the Visions category, as well as the critically acclaimed Too Funny to Fail, a documentary about The Dana Carvey Show. He is also the creator, director and executive producer of Behind the Mask, which earned Hulu its first ever Emmy nomination. He made his narrative feature debut with Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

<i>Unlovable</i> 2018 American film

Unlovable is a 2018 American comedy-drama musical film directed by Suzi Yoonessi, and written by and starring Charlene deGuzman. The film tells the story of Joy, a Filipino-American woman, her struggle with sex and love addiction, and her recovery through music and platonic friendship. The film also stars John Hawkes and Melissa Leo, and is co-written by Sarah Adina Smith and Mark Duplass. The film was produced by Duplass Brothers Productions and distributed by Orion Classics. The film premiered at SXSW and received special jury recognition for the LUNA Gamechanger Award.

<i>After We Collided</i> 2020 film directed by Roger Kumble

After We Collided is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Roger Kumble from a screenplay by Anna Todd and Mario Celaya, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Todd. It is the sequel to After (2019) and the second installment in the After film series. The film stars Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin reprising their roles as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott, respectively, with Dylan Sprouse, Shane Paul McGhie, Candice King, Khadijha Red Thunder, Inanna Sarkis, Samuel Larsen, and Selma Blair in supporting roles.

<i>Love Lies Bleeding</i> (2024 film) 2024 film by Rose Glass

Love Lies Bleeding is a 2024 romantic thriller film directed by Rose Glass from a screenplay she co-wrote with Weronika Tofilska, and starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris. It is an international co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States. Set in 1989, the film's plot follows the lesbian relationship between a reclusive gym manager, who is part of a crime family, and an ambitious bodybuilder who gets wrapped up in organized crime.

All the Crows in the World is a 2021 Hong Kong short drama film, directed and written by Tang Yi. The film stars Xuanyu Chen, Baohe Xue, ShuJun Huang, Zengyi Liu, and Ge Wu. The 14-minute film was screened at the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival, the Winterthur International Short Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, the Mulan International Film Festival, and the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival. The film won Best Screenplay and Best Director at the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival, as well as Best Film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. The story follows an 18-year-old school girl named Shengnan as she adventures into the night of the adults' world.

Kit Zauhar is an Asian American filmmaker best known for the feature films Actual People and This Closeness.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Felperin, Leslie. "'This Closeness' Review: A Couple and Their Airbnb Host Get Acquainted in an Astute Dramedy of Awkwardness". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  2. "Kit Zauhar". SXSW Schedule. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Ntim, Zac. "Kit Zauhar Lands North American Distribution For SXSW Competition Title 'This Closeness' Via Factory 25, IFC Center To Launch Theatrical Run". Deadline. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  4. Minsoo Kim, Joshua. "Film Show 039: Kit Zauhar". Tone Glow. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  5. ""If you are a woman of color you are always going to be thinking about your race in intimate relationships"". Cinema Jove. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  6. Risker, Paul. "A little poison". Eye for Film. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 "This Closeness". SXSW Schedule. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  8. "20,000 Species of Bees, Dancing Queen, Next Sohee, The Fishbowl, Mutt, Against The Tide, and 26.2 to Life win top awards at 49th Annual Seattle International Film Festival". Seattle International Film Festival. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  9. "This Closeness". Champs-Élysées Film Festival. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  10. "List of Winners 38th Edition". Cinema Jove. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  11. Maag-Tanchak, Annemarie. "32nd Philadelphia Film Festival Full Lineup". Philadelphia Film Society. Retrieved 30 May 2024.