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In Episode 3 of Justin Simien’s film history docuseries “Hollywood Black,” the director looked back at the 1990s. It’s a decade in which Hollywood’s eyes were opened to the financial possibilities of Black creatives telling Black stories by the incredible box office and critical success of John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood” (1991). The film created such a cultural moment it would serve as a turning point, giving birth to a whole slate of movies, like “Juice” and “Menace II Society,” that told dramatic coming-of-age stories of young Black men wrestling with violence in American inner cities.

While the Black creators and historians Simien interviewed for the docuseries pay tribute to the artistic achievement of these individual films, “Hollywood Black” also explores how, collectively, this explosion of Black mainstream films was a double-edged sword for filmmakers. It’s a topic Simien discussed in further detail when he was...

Let’s start with this obvious point: few cities need another repertory outlet less than New York City, which provides enough decent-to-outstanding options every week (or day) to fully occupy any caring customer. And so when a new theater, Metrograph, was announced this past August, the largely enthusiastic response — people taking note of a good location, a dedication to celluloid presentations and new independent releases, its strong selection of programmers, and other services (e.g. a restaurant and “cinema-dedicated bookshop”) — went hand-in-hand with some people’s skepticism, or at least a certain raising of the eyebrows. The question of necessity was premature, but such is the influx of available material that it should inevitably come up.

It’s safe to say their first selections silenced those skeptics. Metrograph’s slate is strong in a way that’s uncommon; one could say it’s exactly the sort that a cinephile with...

It’s hard to believe something like 1991’s The Fisher King was a studio backed effort. An anomaly both as a mainstream cinematic event and within Gilliam’s own idiosyncratic filmography, the film received as much panning as praise upon its theatrical release (shortly after a premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it was part of a three way tie with Zhang Yimou and Philippe Garrel for the Silver Lion). In the decades since, the film has garnered something of a cult following, as have many of Gilliam’s earlier works of note, filled with an often unbridled zaniness necessitating time to marinate for full appreciation. Stuffed to the point of emotional, narrative, and logical imbalance, there are as many moments of beauty as inelegance. But Gilliam’s ambitious odd-couple outfit, based on a script from Richard Lagravenese, revels in its own unique flavoring.

Radio shock jock Jack (Jeff Bridges...

Beautifully restored and available for the first time on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber’s distribution deal with Carlotta Us, the Cannes premiered 1989 directorial debut of American director Charles Lane, Sidewalk Stories, arrives for recapitulation into the cinematic zeitgeist. A black and white silent film that’s an homage, and somewhat mutated modernization of Chaplin’s classic film, The Kid (though it’s sound design would be more akin to Chaplin’s Modern Times), Lane’s heartfelt and endearing film plays like a time capsule love letter to the eternal city. At the same time, it represents a chapter in the enduring evolution of the representation of the homeless, a changing landscape often unnoticed, a detail written off as an unavoidable constant.

A homeless street artist (Charles Lane) lives off the meager sum he receives while drawing portraits, though he faces stiff competition from neighboring peers. One evening, he witness...

Gabriel Hammond and Daniel Hammond’s ambitious company continues to build its distribution pipeline and has announced the second major acquisition of a Toronto title within a week.

Broad Green plans to release Samba theatrically in the second half of 2015. The film received its world premiere in Toronto and marks Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s follow-up to their 2012 smash The Intouchables.

Earlier this week it emerged that the company had taken Us rights to Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes.

Samba stars Omar Sy, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tahar Rahiin in the tale of a Senegalese worker who battles to stay in France with the help of an immigration worker.

Broad Green brokered the deal with CAA and Gaumont International.

Broad Green’s production slate include recent Toronto world premiere Learning To Drive, as well as 10.000 Km and Green Room.

Paramount announced it will distribute Chris Rock’s comedy Top Five in limited release on December 5 in the Us...

Charles Lane's wonderful and poignant 1989 silent comedy film "Sidewalk Stories," will finally get its long-awaited blu-ray DVD release through Kino Video, on October 7th. The film - about a poor struggling artist who comes upon a lost little girl whose father has just been murdered, and while trying to take care of her, meets a young rich woman who immediately falls in love with this awkward couple - has been rediscovered in the past year as an overlooked gem of a movie. Read our recent coverage of its re-release here and here. The DVD will include a new 2K restoration, an audio commentary by Charles Lane and composer Marc Marder, who wrote the soundtrack for the...

Charles Lane’s "Sidewalk Stories" was released in November, 1989 by Island Pictures to wide acclaim. It’s filmmaker, Charles Lane, was courted by Hollywood, where he made one film ("True Identity") and co-starred in another ("Posse") then disappeared. "Sidewalk Stories" aired once on PBS, but was never re-released or distributed on VHS or DVD. It is considered a “lost” classic. Until now. Reelblack, Philly's #1 promoter of African-American Film, closes its 11th Season with a special 25th Anniversary screening of the indie classic "Sidewalk Stories." Recently restored from the original negative,...

You know what wouldn't be much fun? Life as a lovable tramp, dodging railroad dicks, getting caught up in antic chases, and never being able to eat that pie you've filched from the widow's windowsill because it's got to be smashed into the face of that cop who's harassed you since the first reel. In his warm, surprisingly sharp-elbowed, not-really-for-kids Sidewalk Stories, just barely released back in 1989, writer-director-star Charles Lane honors the traditions of silent-film comedy, especially of the wistful Chaplin sort rather than the firetrucks-a-go-go Mack Sennett school. He also honors the reality of actual on-the-streets homelessness in the hard years of the Reagan–Bush–Koch era.

In the sweet, brisk film, which is mostly silent in the sense that w...

Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, recently announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections. According to Tribeca’s website, “The Spotlight section features 33 films — 21 narratives and 12 documentaries — that blur the lines of independent and mainstream filmmaking. Twenty-three films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival, a record number for the section.” See below for the official press release of this year’s lineup in all four categories.

2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Selections

For Spotlight, Midnight And New Storyscapes Sections, And Special Screenings

First-ever Storyscapes Section Showcases Innovative New Media Projects with Cross-platform Approaches to Storytelling

The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.

The Spotlight...

The Tribeca Film Festival announces the films playing in their Spotlight, Midnight and Special Screenings programs, as well as the lineup for their new Storyscapes transmedia section. Spotlight includes 33 films (among them 23 world premieres), including Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight," Phil Morrison's "Almost Christmas," Neil Jordan's "Byzantium," Craig Zisk's "The English Teacher," Daniel Algrant's "Greetings from Tim Buckley," David Gordon Green's "Prince Avalanche," and Whoopi Goldberg's "I Got Somethin' to Tell You." Midnight Screenings include "V/H/S/2," "Fresh Meat" and "Raze," while Special screenings include Eric Rochant's "Möbius," Charles Lane's "Sidewalk Stories," and Bill Siegel's "The Trials of Muhammad Ali." Among the Storyscapes projects are "Star Wars Uncut," "Robots in Residence" and "This Exquisite Forest." Here's the complete lineup of newly announced titles. Tribeca runs April 17-28. Our interview with Geoff Gilmore and the programmers is here along with...

The Tribeca Film Festival announced the second half of its movie slate today with a lineup that includes Emma Roberts in Adult World, Zac Efron in racing-cum-farming drama At Any Price, and Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight. The releases are in the following categories, which make up the second half of the festival’s feature list: Spotlight, Midnight, Special Screenings, and Storyscapes, a new category this year to recognize work in transmedia — films the incorporate web-based and cross-platform elements.

The Spotlight selection — 33 films: 21 narratives and 12 documentaries — stands out for its range of titles, including premieres from indie darlings (Junebug director Phil Morrison,...

The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express, today announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City. The Spotlight section features 33 films — 21 narratives and 12 documentaries — that blur the lines of independent and mainstream filmmaking. Twenty-three films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival, a record number for the section. The Midnight section ? formerly known as Cinemania ? will open with Dark Touch and offers an international menagerie of seven raucous and rousing new horror titles. Special screenings this year include the reintroduction of the Restored/Rediscovered program with Charles Lane?s Sidewalk Stories and a special screening of Alberi by Michaelangelo Frammartino at Vw Dome at MoMA PS1 Performance Dome, among other selections. ?The documentary films in...

The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, is pleased to announce the selections for our Special Screenings section. This year includes, among others, the reintroduction of the Restored/Rediscovered program with Charles Lane's Sidewalk Stories and a special screening of Alberi by Michaelangelo Frammartino at Vw Dome at MoMA PS1 Performance Dome. Alberi Directed by Michaelangelo Frammartino (Italy) - World Premiere, Cinematic Installation Wrapping the audience in waves of sound, Alberi takes us on a circular journey through the Italian countryside. The marvelous natural music at the tops of the eponymous trees makes way for the rhythmic cadence of civilization - men baring axes and the natural clatter of daily life - before their unforgettable return home from the forest. The singular artistry of director Michelangelo Frammartino (Le quatro volte) is beautifully displayed in this mesmerizing homage to nature. Alberi will run as an installation in the...

Toronto’s Images Festival celebrates it’s 25th anniversary on April 12-21 at theaters, galleries and other venues all over the city. They are celebrating with a massive event with films and videos, live performances, installations, artist talks and other events.

Below is the lineup for Images’ specific film screening events and some live performances. The fest’s Opening Night film is John Akomfrah’s The Nine Muses, which takes a poetic look at the immigrant experience, particularly through using images of Caribbean and African migrants in the 1950s and ’60s.

The fest will close with a live score by alt-rock band Yo La Tengo accompanying the avant-garde scientific underwater films by French documentary filmmaker Jean Painlevé. Yo La Tengo has been performing “Sounds of Science” since they were commissioned for the project by the San Francisco Film Festival in 2001.

In between these two events is a lineup of feature-length experimental works,...

The San Francisco International Film Festival unveiled the lineup and program for its 55th edition yesterday, 174 films in all, from 45 countries. Sfiff's not a festival that places much emphasis on premieres, but one that it is touting is The Fourth Dimension, a collection of three shorts by Harmony Korine, Alexsei Fedorchenko (Silent Souls) and Jan Kwiecinski, screening April 20 and four days later at the Tribeca Film Festival (Sfiff runs from April 19 through May 3, Tribeca from April 18 through 29).

The Hollywood Reporter debuted the trailer on Monday; and, for Sfiff, Cheryl Eddy fills us in: "Created under a 'manifesto' whose directives would make Lars von Trier shudder, this three-part film might look on paper like an exercise in forced hipness…. Working under orders tall, whimsical (according to the manifesto, a stuffed animal must make an appearance no matter what) and surreal, Korine's Lotus Community Workshop drops Val Kilmer in an alternate-universe existence...