Your handy one-stop-shop for film news, interviews, articles, and videos from the week that was.
Sundance kicks off the 2021 festival circuit in less than three weeks, with Rotterdam – well, the first instalment of Rotterdam at least – following right on its heels. So, now would be the ideal time for film lovers to start educating themselves on what this year has in store. The Daily’s David Hudson ushered in the new year by posting his take on “The Most Anticipated Films of 2021”. The list includes titles postponed from 2020 such as Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, as well as yet-to-be-completed work like Petite maman, Céline Sciamma’s follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire. For good measure, there’s also an overview of high profile episodic projects, including Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad. Should you find yourself that this comprehensive list may’ve somehow left a stone or two concerned, Little White Lies has begun recapping the “100 films to look forward to in 2021”, with part one now available.
Back on the subject of film festivals (which we never stray to far from), Indiewire‘s Eric Kohn has just published a piece on how these venerable events remain vital as film culture forges ahead. Kohn asserts, “For decades, festivals have been a reliable platform for launching new films. That platform will feel the pandemic’s impact long after it ends, but there’s little risk that it would disappear. Until there’s an alternate process for curating the thousands of films that enter the world every year, the festival circuit will remain a crucial part of the industry in whatever form it takes.”
Anyone who has immersed themselves in Steve McQueen’s masterful Small Axe anthology will undoubtedly feel rewarded for listening to the Film at Lincoln Center Podcast’s interview with the director, who is joined by key cast and crew to discuss this ambitious undertaking.
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