Boots Riley News

Today, the five nominees for this year's prestigious EE Rising Star Award were announced at BAFTA's headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London.

Roma took two top awards from the Toronto Film Critics Association, named the year's Best Picture winner with Alfonso Cuarón chosen Best Director.

Fifty-eight film and television writers have been named finalists for The 44 th Annual HUMANITAS Prize, it was announced today by HUMANITAS Executive Director Cathleen Young and President Ali LeRoi. The writers are nominated for their work in the 30-minute Comedy, 60-minute Drama, Children's Teleplay, Independent Feature Film, Drama Feature Film, Comedy Feature Film, Family Feature Film and Documentary categories. The HUMANITAS Prize was created to honor film and television writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.

The Gotham Awards ceremony was held last night, Monday, November 26th, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

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.

Three established Bay Area performance organizations are coming together to create a new immersive multidisciplinary experience, offering a future vision of catharsis, engagement, and optimism, so needed in this cultural moment. The powerful storytelling of Crowded Fire Theater and playwright Star Finch, the musical and poetic impetus of Ensemble Mik Nawooj, and the diverse and unique physical rhythms of AXIS Dance Company come together at the beautiful Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theatre. In this immersive study of aesthetics, the artists merge hip-hop, contemporary dance, and theater into a boundary-pushing work featuring a 12-person orchestra; a work which challenges the conventions of performing arts at large while creating a future vision that can be replicated in communities in need of healing throughout the country.

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation's premier member organization of independent storytellers, announced today the nominees for the 28th Annual IFP Gotham Awards. Ten competitive awards will be presented to independent features and series. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Tributes will be given to actors Rachel Weisz and Willem Dafoe, director Paul Greengrass, and the Gotham Industry Tribute to Jon Kamen.

Following a successful 4-city tour of Florida that included a well-received appearance at the Forward Motion Physically Integrated Dance Festival in Miami, the company brings its vaunted skill set back to the Bay Area with select performances that include a newly reconceived staging of Robert Dekkers' Flutter, along with AXIS Artistic Director Marc Brew's Quartet No.1 to the Berkeley Ballet Theater, that will then be followed by a collaboration with Crowded Fire Theater, Star Finch, and Ensemble Mik Nawooj at the Bay View Opera House in San Francisco entitled Death Become Life: Banish Darkness, all before segueing to its 2019-20 season that will include a special Oakland-based educational event for Dance Access Day in February, as well as the world premiere of Alice in Oakland-their ambitious and much anticipated collaboration with Arthur Pita-coming to and co-presented by Z Space in San Francisco, November 2019

Whiskey Bayou Records proudly releases Pain By Numbers, the new album by acclaimed guitarist-vocalist, Eric McFadden.

Indie Memphis Film Festival is pleased to announce the full slate of films for its 2018 incarnation, spanning from November 1st - 5th, 2018. This year's festival promises to be a very exciting and wildly varied one, featuring five World Premiere screenings and one U.S. Premiere screening, as well as Special Presentations such as CABIN BOY with Chris Elliott in attendance and Barbara Loden's feminist masterpiece WANDA presented by Amy Seimetz (Showtime's “The Girlfriend Experience”), as well as a retrospective of the recent films of filmmaker Hong Sangsoo.

As the first Asian-American solo rapper to perform at Lollapalooza and Coachella and to release a greatest hits record, LYRICS BORN has broken through countless cultural, racial and musical barriers to cement his illustrious career. Today he becomes the first Asian-American solo rapper to release a 10th album -- a record of funk and soul woven into classic, boom-bap Hip Hop called Quite A Life via Mobile Home Recordings. 

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presents SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, arriving on Digital and Movies Anywhere October 9 and on Blu-ray and DVD October 23.

The Indie Memphis Film Festival presented by Duncan Williams, Inc. announces select special events for the 21st edition (November 1st - 5th, 2018).

Hurtling into one of his funkiest explosions yet, LYRICS BORN is teaming up with FLOOD Magazine to release the video for 'When I Get My Check ($, $, $)' featuring Jurassic 5'sChali 2na, lyrical acrobat Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious), and Hip-Hop/Soul expert Joyo Velarde. The video, Directed by Mark Austin Heim and produced by Maximum Flavor Media, is shot vertically, framing the loud lights and infectious dance moves of Lyrics Born and all three features!  

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Mean Girls cast and creatives will celebrate the release of their cast album on vinyl with a signing today and Urban Outfitters, and more!

 Last night, TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation and performance series, hosted a pre-release screening of the feature-length film "Sorry to Bother You," followed by an intimate Q&A between director Boots Riley and star Lakeith Stanfield in conversation with New York Times contributor Logan Hill.

TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation and performance series, is pleased to announce HBO as presenting sponsor of the ScreenTimes series. Over the course of the year-long sponsorship, ScreenTimes will showcase 12 high profile pre-release screenings, coinciding with key studio release dates in late spring, summer, fall, and the year-end holiday awards season. Each screening will be followed by a conversation with the top creative talent from that film, moderated by veteran New York Times contributor Logan Hill.

TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation and performance series, is proud to host a conversation between 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton and author James Patterson, in conversation with The New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul on June 5.

Thirteen new independent feature projects from the U.S., Cuba, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, and Palestine have been selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs. At the Directors Lab (May 28-June 21), filmmakers will rehearse, shoot and edit key scenes from their scripts, working closely with industry advisors, actors, and production crews to help drive creative growth via an immersive and hands-on experience at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The Screenwriters Lab from June 23-28  fosters a similar environment of dynamic inspiration as participants focus on the art and craft of screenplay writing with one-on-one support from Institute advisors . Overseen by Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Labs Director Ilyse McKimmie, the Labs begin a year-round continuum of customized support for Fellows, which can include creative mentorship, granting, and guidance from industry professionals. 

Sundance Institute, in collaboration with Annapurna Pictures, invites fans and supporters of independent cinema to celebrate the irrepressible writer/director/producer/musician/activist Boots Riley. Boots, an alumni of both the Sundance Labs and Film Festival, will be honored with the Sundance Institute's annual Vanguard Award at its summer fundraiser on June 14, 2018 at The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, just before the Los Angeles debut of his new film, Sorry to Bother You and an afterparty for all ticketholders immediately following. Proceeds from the evening will help advance Sundance Institute's mission and programs that  discover, support and amplify risk-taking and exciting independent artists in film, theatre and new media.