Latest news with #TheLoveThatRemains'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Own Your Audience, Shape Your Future: How Filmmakers Are Rewriting the Rules at Cannes
'When you own your audience, you own your future.' That line set the tone at 'Build Your Audience, Own Your Future,' a panel at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival hosted by the American Pavilion. The takeaway: If you're a filmmaker, your success doesn't depend on getting picked. You can start building your path now. More from IndieWire Tom Cruise to Be Celebrated at MoMI with 'Above and Beyond' Retrospective Festival Cannes 2025 Films Sold So Far: Janus Films Acquires Hlynur Pálmason's 'The Love That Remains' Filmmaker Richard Olla shared how her short film 'Cow Heavy and Floral,' a split-screen portrait of a postpartum writer, didn't follow the traditional festival route. 'You wait 12 to 18 months to see if the festivals say yes,' she said. 'But that was unacceptable to us.' Instead, she and her team built their own screenings, connected with parenting groups and policy advocates, and created a companion initiative called Meals About Motherhood to host conversations around the film. 'We're not trying to do it for the money,' Olla said. 'But we have to make it accessible. And it makes me feel like the joy of creating is back in my hands.' The result is a film that's now screened in 19 states and never had a festival premiere. Producer Leila Meadow O'Connor, co-founder of The Popcorn List, took a different approach to audience-building. Her platform, which has been called 'the Black List for undistributed films,' collects strong festival titles that haven't yet found distribution. 'Art houses needed new films,' she said. 'Great movies were out there. We created a signal boost.' The Popcorn List has already highlighted nearly 40 features, many from first-time directors. Next up: a national tour to bring these films to theaters in 10–15 cities. 'Filmmakers may not have money,' O'Connor said, 'but they have social capital. We're asking: How can we all lift each other up?' Few people understand the indie landscape like Ted Hope, who's produced dozens of films including 'American Splendor' and 'Martha Marcy May Marlene.' But even he's looking forward, not back. 'I don't need your films,' he said. 'I've already picked every movie I want to see before I die. The only reason I need your work is because it reflects today's world. That's your power.' Hope now runs Hope for Film, a Substack and filmmaker community focused on ownership, transparency, and sustainability. His big prediction? 'In five years, distribution will be a service,' he said. 'And the core of that shift will be your relationship with your audience.' He encourages filmmakers to think beyond one project. Post updates. Share lessons. Build a community. Just start. 'Success isn't measured by money,' he said. 'It's about sustaining your practice without needing permission.' The message was clear: You don't have to wait. Whether you're making a short, a doc, or your first microbudget feature, you have the tools to reach people now. But it starts with clarity. 'Ask yourself: What's your goal?' Olla said. 'Is it prestige? Impact? Community? That answer shapes everything else.' As the panel wrapped, Ted Hope handed out QR codes for his newsletter—and reminded filmmakers to give something of value, right there in the room. 'The cinema is no longer just your neighborhood,' he said. 'It's global. Everything you've felt has already been felt by someone else, somewhere else. And they're waiting to hear from you.' Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie The 55 Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bella Ramsey Wants ‘The Last of Us' Fans to Watch Upcoming Indie Films Like They're ‘Game of Thrones'
'The Last of Us' Season 2 went out with a bang, but star Bella Ramsey wants fans thinking about their upcoming indie film projects as much as the eventual return of HBO's zombie apocalypse. Ramsey spoke positively to IndieWire about seeing themselves grow up on screen at the prestige network, having broken out at 13 years old playing the steely Lyanna Mormont for 'Game of Thrones.' Now, age 21, Ramsey is a globally recognized superstar who is ready to use their clout in other corners of the industry. 'I really hope that people will stick with me throughout stuff with 'The Last of Us' and beyond with all the little indie films I'm going to be doing as well,' Ramsey said. 'I hope that those will get as much love as amazing shows and franchises like 'The Last of Us' and 'Game of Thrones.' I feel very grateful for the support that I've had.' All in various stages of production, Ramsey has announced four upcoming film projects. More from IndieWire Tom Cruise to Be Celebrated at MoMI with 'Above and Beyond' Retrospective Festival Cannes 2025 Films Sold So Far: Janus Films Acquires Hlynur Pálmason's 'The Love That Remains' Currently, Ramsey is in Scotland shooting the coming-of-age comedy, 'Sunny Dancer' with Jessica Gunning, James Norton, and Neil Patrick Harris. Writer/director George Jacques' sophomore effort (following 2023's 'Black Dog') takes place at a summer camp for children impacted by cancer. It casts Ramsey as Ivy, an unwilling participant in remission, alongside a younger cast with Ruby Stokes, Quinn-Toye, Earl Cave, Conrad Khan, and Jasmine Elcock. Meanwhile, Carrie Coon and Lily James have joined Ramsey and co-star Odessa Young on the upcoming thriller, 'Harmonia.' Directed by Guy Nattiv, the production from Bleecker Street is expected to release in U.S. theaters sometimes in 2026. Set in the 1980s, the script was co-written by Nattiv and Noa Berman-Herzberg. The story follows sisters Ella (Ramsey) and Jo (Young) as they attempt to rescue their mother (Coon) from a mesmeric cult leader (James). This time last year, Ramsey was attached to star as the real Samantha Lewthwaite in 'The White Widow' from writer/director Bruce Goodison. Lewthwaite is the widow of the terrorist behind the 2005 London bombings, believed to be responsible for hundreds of deaths. BFI backed the film's development. In 2023, another fiction based in fact found Ramsey when filmmaker Romola Garai ('Atonement') tapped them to play Barbara Field in 'Monstrous Beauty.' The 17th-century period piece follows a playwright in the court of King Charles II, whose rare medical conditions leaves her covered in hair. Dominic West, Ruth Negga, and Fiona Shaw were also announced. Ramsey has repeatedly voiced their desire to be 'challenged' by new roles and is expected to return for 'The Last of Us' Season 3. 'The Last of Us' is now streaming Season 1 and 2 on HBO. Best of IndieWire Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear' Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 65 Films the Director Wants You to See The 19 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jafar Panahi Returns to Cheers in Tehran as Palme d'Or Victory Prompts Diplomatic Spat Between France and Iran
Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has returned to Tehran cheered by supporters after scooping the Cannes Palme d'Or for his new film 'It Was Just an Accident' which is sparking a diplomatic spat between Iran and France. Panahi arrived at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Monday morning greeted by applause, as he hugged friends and fans who presented him with flowers when the revered auteur descended the escalator from passport control, as seen on social media posts. More from Variety 'The Love That Remains' Review: Hlynur Pálmason's Exquisitely Tender, Increasingly Haywire Portrait of a Family in Limbo Inside TikTok's Cannes Film Festival Takeover, From One-on-One Time With Tom Cruise to Reece Feldman's Short Film Premiere Jafar Panahi's Cannes Palme d'Or Is a 'Powerful Blow to the Machinery of Repression in the Islamic Republic,' Says 'Seed of the Sacred Fig' Director Mohammad Rasoulov (EXCLUSIVE) Meanwhile, also on social media, a spat has erupted after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called Panahi's victory 'a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression' in a post on X. This in turn prompted an irked reaction from Tehran. 'I am not an art expert, but we believe that artistic events and art in general should not be exploited to pursue political objectives,' said Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. Panahi was able to travel to Cannes to promote his surreptitiously shot film after being incarcerated twice for 'propaganda against the state' and banned from making films, speaking to the press, and leaving Iran for more than 14 years. 'It Was Just an Accident' is about a group of former political prisoners who kidnap a man whom they believe to be their former interrogator and torturer. The film, which the director in an interview with Variety said was inspired by his experiences in an Iranian prison, has now given Panahi, who is 64, the rare distinction of having won the top prize at all three major European film festivals, after taking Berlin's Golden Bear for 'Taxi' in 2015 and the Golden Lion at Venice for 'The Circle' in 2000. Panahi was not able to attend those festivals due to his ban which was lifted in April 2023. Iranian media have largely ignoring Jafar Panahi's momentous Cannes Palme d'Or victory. Though Iran's state news agency IRNA trumpeted Panahi's award with a picture of him and the headline 'The world's largest film festival made history for Iranian cinema,' news that Panahi scooped the Palme did not appear on the websites of the nation's top English-language news outlets, Tehran Times and Iran Daily on Sunday. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
