L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson. The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel, the third book in his L.A. Quartet series. The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush.
The Killer is a 1989 Hong Kong action film directed and written by John Woo and produced by Tsui Hark. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. Chow plays Ah Jong, a professional assassin for the Triads who wants to retire, but accidentally damages the eyes of singer Jennie (Yeh) during a shootout and sets out to perform one last hit to pay for her treatment.
Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker. He is known for making light comedies set in New York City and his works are inspired by filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. His frequent collaborators include Wes Anderson, Adam Driver, and his wife, Greta Gerwig.
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add information which otherwise would not be disclosed to audience members.
Close-Up is a 1990 Iranian docufiction written, directed and edited by Abbas Kiarostami. The film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves. A film about human identity, it helped to increase recognition of Kiarostami internationally.
A Touch of Zen is a 1971 wuxia film written, co-edited and directed by King Hu. Its screenplay is based on a classic Chinese story "Xianü" in the book Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. The film is set in the Ming dynasty under the dominance of eunuchs and explores a variety of themes including the transcendence of dichotomies, Zen Buddhism, feminism, conservative female roles, and the ghost story.
Cinephilia is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words cinema and philia, one of the four ancient Greek words for love. A person with a passionate interest in cinema is called a cinephile, cinemaphile, filmophile, or, informally, a film buff. To a cinephile, a film is often not just a source of entertainment as they see films from a more critical point of view.
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents and shows their psychological reactions to the stress of combat. Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to write the screenplay.
Christina Jean "Chris" Innis is an American film editor and filmmaker. She was awarded the 2010 Academy Award, BAFTA, and ACE awards for "Best Film Editing" on the film The Hurt Locker shared with co-editor, Bob Murawski. She is an elected member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE) and has served as an associate director on the board.
Satyajit Ray was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Ray is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992).[a]
Team Picture is a 2007 mumblecore drama film written and directed by filmmaker Kentucker Audley. The film is a character study of a young man and his relationship with an ambitious girlfriend, his dealings with the familial and societal pressures to go to college, and his considerations of a future as a musician.
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival takes place every January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at the Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, Midnight, Sundance Kids, From the Collection, Premieres, and Documentary Premieres. Many films premiering at Sundance have gone on to be nominated and win Oscars such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Great Directors is a 2009 documentary film which was written and directed by Angela Ismailos. In the film, Ismailos interviews directors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, Liliana Cavani, Stephen Frears, Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, Ken Loach, David Lynch, John Sayles, and Agnès Varda.
Cookies & Cream is a 2008 American independent drama film written and directed by Princeton Holt, as his first feature length narrative film.
ACEFEST is a film festival first held in 2007 in New York City. The festival focuses purely on showcasing domestic films "in an effort to strengthen and promote pride in American independent cinema".
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.
OzLand is a 2014 American science fantasy drama independent film starring Zack Ratkovich and Glenn Payne. It was written and directed by Michael Williams in his feature directorial debut.
Icarus is a 2017 American documentary film by Bryan Fogel. Initially an attempt by Fogel to expose the inadequacy of existing policies and procedures to catch athletes who use banned performance-enhancing substances, the project shifted focus after pressures related to the World Anti-Doping Agency's investigation of doping in Russia led Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory and one of Fogel's primary advisors, to flee Russia and become a whistleblower.
Meissa Hampton is an American independent film actress, writer, director and activist. She has published a book of poetry is a contributing writer for the Guardian, and received a Ford Scholarship. She is currently a Resident Artist at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her film projects have screened internationally in festivals and on television. She has received 12 Best Actress awards from domestic and international independent film festivals. She formed One Pair of Shoes Productions to direct and produce A Social Cure, a feature-length documentary about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. In 2015 she authored a petition the Screen Actors Guild to address the gender inequities that were fueling sexual harassment and assault in the Entertainment industry. She founded the Actors Alliance for Gender Equity in Media and the website $#!% People say to actresses which provides an anonymous forum for performers to share their stories of harassment and assault in the industry. She has been cited and interviewed about her activism by The Guardian and The Independent. In 2017, after Harvey Weinstein was indicted for sexual assault and rape, she wrote an article for the Guardian.
2050 is a 2018 American independent science fiction drama film directed by Princeton Holt and starring Dean Cain, Stormi Maya, and Stefanie Bloom. It premiered on November 16, 2018 at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival and was released theatrically on March 1, 2019. It was distributed by ANERKE.
