Shane Carruth

Shane Carruth to Self-Distribute Upstream Color</em>

The Los Angeles Times recently spoke with Shane Carruth, the writer-director behind Sundance's most buzzworthy film (and newly-announced ND/NF '13 entry) Upstream Color. In the interview, the acclaimed filmmaker talks about his plan to self-distribute the film. After stops at Sundance, Berlin, and ND/NF, Carruth will release the film in April in New York City and Los Angeles. “It's not necessarily about revenue or that I don't think it will sell,” says Carruth. “It's that I get to frame this thing exactly the way I think it needs to be framed.”

Film fanatics have even more reason to be excited. Beyond Upstream Color, which is arriving nine years after his Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film Primer, Carruth has plans to start production on another film this summer. “I will be making films and I'm going to keep working, no matter what I have to do,” says Carruth, “and I don't plan to ever ask for permission from anybody.”

First ND/NF '13 Films Revealed

Along with Upstream Color, six other films were revealed as the first official selections for this year's New Directors/New Film Festival. Other titles include Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell and Tobias Lindholm’s A Hijacking. Read more about these exciting new films here!


Francesca Gregorini's Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes

Potential Sundance Breakout Stars 

A year ago, Quvenzhané Wallis was just another young girl who'd acted in a small indie film. Now she's an Oscar-nominated actress with future credits including a role in Steve McQueen's upcoming film 12 Years a Slave, and it all can be traced back to the Sundance Film Festival, where Beasts of the Southern Wild premiered last January. In anticipation of this year's edition, which will open tomorrow, Indiewire has published a piece highlighting 10 actors that could have similar breakout success. Perhaps the most familiar name is Kaya Scodelario, whose name may ring a bell after her appearances in the British television show Skins and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights. She'll be seen at Sundance in Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, in which she stars alongside Jessica Biel and Alfred Molina.

First SXSW Titles Revealed

Just in case you can't get enough of film festival-related news, yesterday South by Southwest announced its first official film selections for its upcoming 20th edition this March. Opening the Austin, TX-based festival will be The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a truly magical comedy starring two Steves—Carrell and Buscemi, that is. Also having their world premieres down south are films such as Drinking Buddies, the latest from prolific mumblecore master Joe Swanberg, whose cast, unlike his previous efforts, consists of relatively well-known thespians including Oscar-nominee Anna Kendrick. 


Amy Seimetz's Sun Don't Shine

Factory 25 Picks Up Sun Don't Shine 

While we can't wait to see what the New Year brings in film, some of the very best films of last year are still making the festival rounds. Thankfully, Sun Don't Shine's yearlong film festival tour can finally come to a close now that indie distribution company Factory 25 has picked up Amy Seimetz's brilliant debut feature for theatrical release. A favorite at last year's SXSW, where it won a Special Jury Prize, this pulpy psychological thriller also screened in last summer's Rooftop Films series, last fall's La Di Da Festival, and recently appeared at the MoMA as part of the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You series. The film gathered several end-of-year accolades including one of Film Comment's Best Unreleased Films of the Year. The film will hit theaters on April 26.