Born in Tokyo in 1962, Hirokazu Kore-eda originally intended to be a novelist, but… — Hirokazu Kore-eda: “…the program at Waseda was pretty intense in terms of language requirements — two hours of English and four hours of Chinese. I thought, what do I need this for? So I stopped going to class.” * SydneysBuzz: Your first feature, Maborosi (1995) was based on a Teru…

Based upon a photograph in Cannes from 2010 when IndieWire was still under the leadership of Eugene Hernandez as it was beginning its Blog Network, I recently posted this question and received some interesting feedback. Has the trade press passed on indie and international film coverage?

One of the smaller subsets of a subset of society: sex workers who are black trans women with dicks and the men who love them. This documentary is a raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves. — The penultimate of the street hos, these women on camera are elegant and eloquent. Able to have made small nests that seem safe, though life for such beings is always precarious, these women are further marginalized by the wives of the men who frequent their beds. Rightfully proud of their achievements, having made a decent life from less than nothing and while still remaining underground, these women express themselves as queens of their domains which elevates us as we witness their beauty.

What exactly does Green Film Shooting mean? Recycling what has been used? Throwing paper, plastic, glass into their respective bins? Going beyond reusable coffee cups? Eating vegetarian? What does “sustainability” even mean? — Green Film Shooting magazine is always on the scene at the major film festivals and film markets to give insight into much more than our usual checklist of “green” meanings. In Cannes its founder and editor Birgit Heidsiek created and hosted a day of lectures and workshops.

Can U.S. companies be viewing international film festivals in a new light that foretells a new source of financing for the festivals which are facing the same cutbacks as all other cultural initiatives as post-Covid inflation and arming big wars take the lion’s share of capital? — Three important new players are eyeing ten emerging European film directors as they launch their careers in the film industry at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the 8th edition of Future Frames — Generation NEXT of European Cinema organized by the European Film Promotion and KVIFF. The selected…

The film financier out of Atlanta, Georgia, Jon Gosier of FilmHedge, was very visible this year in Cannes. Aside from the banner on the Croisette advertising his office, his company sponsored the Producer’s Club for the second year and it graced the cover of the Cannes Market Guide. Who is this newly visible player? A discussion with Gosier follows. — His company, FilmHedge, along with his company Southbox Entertainment, announced a $25M partnership with Riveting Entertainment in which Gosier will be both investor and strategic advisor. Production on their first feature-length film will begin in Georgia this year.

The films were OK but lacked some luster on the whole. The list of winners of the festival(s) follows. Women filmmakers swept most of the top awards from Competition to Un Certain Regard and Critics’ Week. The market was also OK, but not great. Rights sold before the festival and during the festival are listed with the winning titles. — The disrupters, the big streamers, were in the background and theatrical rights were being acquired by indie distributors. France’s theatrical exhibition has sprung back to its pre-COVID levels while others’ like Germany, Italy and the U.S. remain 30% below.

Los Angeles, my hometown, probably has different film festivals every day of the year. The most known of course is the AFI Fest, a part of the venerable industry institution the American Film Institute. A list of all of them is below. But worth mentioning is the upcoming SEEfest. — In highlighting it here, I know I will be asked by others (and I will not have the capacity) to cover them, but I will mention the one I am on the Advisory Board for before going on to SEEfest and the innumerable others.

This was the 8th edition! And I was so honored to be on the jury! —