John Cassavetes News

The French Institute Alliance Fran aise (FIAF), New York's premier French cultural and language center, today announced the 2019 Crossing the Line Festival, featuring 11 performances and a gallery exhibition from a geographically, generationally, and artistically diverse group of artists whose work transcends genres and boundaries. All performances are world, US, or New York premieres; they are united by their convention-breaking fearlessness as they confront topics from social injustice to personal demons. Many of the performances pay homage to legendary artists of our time and previous eras, while the theme of migration and its transformational effects on identity informs several others. The festival runs from September 12 to October 12. Ticket are available at crossingtheline.org.

Critically acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar,” from creator and executive producer Ava DuVernay (“When They See Us,” “13th,” “Selma”), has announced the addition of five female directors to the season line-up: Lacey Duke, C. Fitz, Pratibha Parmar, Deborah Kampmeier and Stacey Muhammad. This marks 32 female filmmakers the series has hired to make their U.S. scripted television directing debuts. In addition, guest stars Cree Summer and Bryan Terrell Clark join the cast on the upcoming fourth season returning Wednesday, June 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Young Vic Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah has announced the Programme for 2020.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today that Ava DuVernay, award-winning filmmaker and creative force behind the network's critically acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar,” is bringing her next series to OWN.

From Thursday, February 14 through Thursday, February 21, BAM presents Programmers' Notebook: On Love, the first in a new recurring series in which BAM's film programming team responds to a thought-provoking theme. This wide-ranging survey presents some of cinema's most perceptive portraits of this fundamental emotion in all of its disparate forms-romantic, familial, fraternal, self-love, love of nature, love as passion, love as pain, and everything in between.

This morning, Film Independent announced the nominations for the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent's year-round programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity in the industry. Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at the W Hotel in Hollywood, with actors Gemma Chan and Molly Shannon presenting the nominations. Nominees for Best Feature included Eighth Grade, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace and You Were Never Really Here.

The 49th Annual Nashville Film Festival continues its expansion of film screenings with an international roster of twenty-eight Special Presentations, Animated Feature, Spectrum and Spectrum Q films including the world premiere of BENCHED, produced by Robert Deaton and George Flanigen, ON CHESIL BEACH, starring Saoirse Ronan, fresh off her award winning role in Lady Bird, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS, starring Timothée Chalamet, whose role in Call Me By Your Name was critically acclaimed, BRAMPTON'S OWN, starring Rose McIver, Spencer Grammer and Jean Smart, as well as the 50th anniversary screening of ROSEMARY'S BABY, starring Mia Farrow, and a special screening of JURASSIC PARK, starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, BD Wong and Samuel L. Jackson. Other leading talent include Daveed Diggs, Alexander McQueen, John C. McGinley and many more.

Sundance Institute Announces Fellows for Two Focused Intensives

John Mulaney and Nick Kroll hosted the Independent Spirit Awards and they roasted Weinstein and more of the people who have been accused of misconduct during this past year.

The 33rd Film Independent Spirit Award ceremony aired live on IFC on Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 pm PT/5:00 pm ET. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney returned to host the event.

Uptown Ventures Group, the parent company of UPTOWN Magazine, is proud to announce its celebration of “Women Directors in Television and Film” at its annual, black-tie, invitation-only “Uptown Honors Hollywood” pre-Oscar gala on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 in Los Angeles. The magazine will be doling out accolades to Dee Rees for her Oscar nomination on Netflix's critically-acclaimed film “Mudbound.” Making history, she is the first African American woman to be nominated for writing an adapted screenplay. Rounding out the quartet of honorees are award-winning directors Gina Prince Bythewood (Fox's “Shots Fired” and “Beyond the Lights”), Stella Meghie (“Everything, Everything”) and actress/director Chandra Wilson (ABC's “Grey's Anatomy).” “Uptown Honors Hollywood” will be hosted by writer/producer Chris Spencer of BET's “Real Husbands of Hollywood.”

Sixteen emerging screenwriters will come together at Sundance Institute's 2018 Screenwriters Lab, an immersive five-day writers' workshop announced today and taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah, January 12-17, 2018. The Lab brings independent screenwriters together with accomplished writers, in an environment that encourages the art and craft of writing and creative risk-taking. Through one-on-one story sessions with Creative Advisors, Fellows work intensively on their feature film scripts and engage in an artistically rigorous process that offers them indispensable lessons in craft. The Lab is the first step in a year-round CONTINUUM of customized creative and tactical support for each project and team.

Sundance Now, AMC Networks' premium video streaming service announced today that its new original relationship dramedy, This Close will premiere on Valentine's Day Wednesday, February 14. The news comes on the heels of the series' acceptance into the 2018 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Fest's new Indie Episodic showcase. The upcoming scripted series, the streaming service's first ever straight-to-series order, is based on a series of shorts that was featured at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival's Short Form Episodic Showcase.

The 33rd Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations were announced live today by Tessa Thompson and Lily Collins. The ceremony will air live on IFC on March 3rd. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney will return to host the event.

This summer, the 2018 Perth Festival invites you to see art in a different light and revel in a feast of captivating experiences to suit every taste and budget.

The outstanding new CNN Films documentary The Reagan Show uses archival footage of President Ronald Reagan, much of it documented by U.S. Naval Photographic unit for the White House and maintained by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The documentary has inspired a week-long film series at Museum of the Moving Image. The series The Ronald Reagan Picture Show, which runs August 25 through 30, includes a special screening of The Reagan Show (on August 30) followed by a discussion with filmmakers Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez, CNN senior media correspondent and host of Reliable Sources Brian Stelter, and presidential historian Tim Naftali. During the weekend prior to this screening, the Museum will present rare screenings of some of Ronald Reagan's most memorable film roles, all presented in 35mm.  

Join Essential Theatre for a very special presentation of Independent, by John D. Babcock III, performing for two nights only, August 17 and 18, as part of the Essential Theatre Play Festival.

Join Essential Theatre for a very special presentation of Independent, by John D. Babcock III, performing for two nights only, August 17 and 18, as part of the Essential Theatre Play Festival.

Tickets are now on sale for the 19th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival, which kicks off in just a few weeks!

Atlantic Theater Company has announced that the New York premiere play Animal by Clare Lizzimore (Mint) and directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch (Harper Regan, Bluebird) has been extended an additional week through Sunday, July 2 in advance of officially opening next Tuesday, June 6.