AC Independent Lands ‘My Octopus Teacher’ Director’s Next Film About Pangolins and Sócrates Documentary (EXCLUSIVE)

Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out live Saturday night. Continuing a long-standing tradition, the 38th annual ceremony, which honors and celebrates independent filmmakers, took place at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. This year’s most-nominated films were , which garnered eight total nods and competed in the Best Feature category against , which had seven nods. Other top movies included , and .,, and, meanwhile, led the TV nominations with three each, while the latter three faced off in the Best New Scripted Series category.

The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by Hasan Minhaj, took place on Saturday, live from the beach in Santa Monica, California. The annual awards ceremony was live-streamed on IMDb’s YouTube page, plus additional social platforms, including Film Independent’s YouTube channel.

Best Supporting Performance in Film nominees Gabrielle Union and Theo Rossi posed on the blue carpet with their plus-ones when they arrived at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday evening (March 4).

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are underway on the beach in Santa Monica , with Saturday’s ceremony one of the last major awards stops ahead of March 12’s Academy Awards, whose voters still have ballots in hand.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards are dominated by the Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which leads all films this year with eight nominations. Close behind are Todd Field’s “Tár” with seven noms and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” with five. All three movies picked up Oscar nominations this year, with “Everything Everywhere” also leading the Academy Awards pack with a total of 11 nominations. While last year’s Spirit Award winner for best feature, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” did not go on to land an Oscar nomination in the same category, the 2021 winner, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” repeated at the Oscars and took home the best picture prize.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sony Pictures Classics has bought “The Teachers’ Lounge,” Ilker Çatak’s drama which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, for North America, Latin America and Eastern Europe (excluding Hungary). “The Teachers’ Lounge” marks the fourth feature from Çatak, who co-wrote the screenplay with Johannes Duncker. The movie played in the Panorama section and won the Europa Cinemas Label award for Best European film, as well as the CICAE Arthouse Cinema Award. Produced by Ingo Fliess and shot by award-winning cinematographer Judith Kaufmann (“Corsage”), “The Teachers’ Lounge” stars Leonine Benesch (“The Crown”), Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak, and Eva Löbau.

Zuzana Točíková Vojteková Guest Contributor Slovak director, screenwriter and cinematographer Juraj Jakubisko, who won more than 80 international film awards, has died at the age of 84 in Prague, according to Film New Europe. Jakubisko, who was given the nickname “the Fellini of the East“ due to his visual originality and magical realism, was born on April 20, 1938 in the eastern Slovak village of Kojšov. He studied photography at a secondary school for applied arts in Bratislava, and graduated in film directing from Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague. He began winning international acclaim with his experimental short films even before his directorial feature debut with “Crucial Years” (Kristove roky) (1967). The films “The Deserter and the Nomads” (Zbehovia a pútnici) (1968), which won the Little Lion award for young artist at the Venice Film Festival, “Birds, Orphans and Fools” (Vtáčkovia, siroty a blázni) (1969), and the tragicomedy “See You in Hell, Friends” (Dovidenia v pekle, priatelia) (1970, completed in 1990) were banned in the 1970s, so for years Jakubisko could only devote himself to documentary work.

“Fatal Attraction,” Paramount+‘s latest series, is a remake of the 1987 film of the same name directed by Adrian Lyne, which in turn was based on James Dearden‘s 1980 short film titled “Diversion.” The Michael Douglas and Glenn Close venture was highly successful. It received six nominations at the 60th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Glenn Close’s iconic performance of Alex Forrest, who becomes obsessed with Douglas’ Dan Gallagher after the two have a short affair.

that spot-on! Listen to Fallon in the clip at the top and decide for yourself.DeBose had the internet in a craze days after her performance of the girl-power rap at the BAFTAs on Feb. 19 that was a combination of a tweaked “Sister Are Doing It for Themselves” and “We Are Family.”A sampling: ” Dame Emma, I’m so fond.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Ruben Östlund has no trouble being “harsh” to his audience. The Swedish filmmaker behind wonderfully discomforting movies like “Force Majuere” and “The Square” is also making crowds squirm with his latest film, “Triangle of Sadness.” Set on a luxury yacht where the 1% enjoy their privilege — until a shipwreck finds the rich relying on a toilet maid named Abigail (played by BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon), —“Triangle of Sadness” won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, repeating the honor Östlund received for “The Square” in 2017. And now the film is nominated for three Academy Awards, including picture, director and original screenplay.

is not only the third in a trilogy of movies from director Peyton Reed but it also officially kicks off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang formally introduces Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror and the film franchise's new big bad after he first made a surprise appearance in the season 1 finale of . Kang's presence is expected to be a major presence in the remaining projects of both Phase Five and Phase Six, with presumably being one of the final chapters in that saga.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein, one of the most famous – and bankable — faces of French cinema, known for her Cesar-winning performance in “I’ve Loved You For So Long,” is preparing to emerge as a major film producer. Having recently set up banners in France and the U.S., Zylberstein is actively developing a raft of films and series, working with the likes of Oscar-winning Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad (“The Cave”), Ted Braun (Darfur Now”) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (“The Father”), among others. These include “Kingdom of Hope,” a movie about Elise Boghossian, a French acupuncturist and humanitarian worker in a war zone who has healed children victims of ISIS . The movie will be directed by Fayyad, who is based in Berlin, and is being penned by Braun, based on Boghossian’s autobiographical book “Au royaume de l’espoir, il n’y a pas d’hiver.”

Naman Ramachandran Portuguese auteur João Canijo (San Sebastián winner “Blood of My Blood”) has a brace of films at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023. “Bad Living” is in competition while its companion piece “Living Bad” is in the Encounters strand. “Bad Living” follows five conflicted women who are operating an old family-run hotel, trying to save it from going under. The unexpected arrival of a granddaughter to this oppressive space stirs trouble, reviving latent hatred and piled-up resentments. “Living Bad,” which plays out like the reverse shot of “Bad Living,” follows the stories of three groups of guests in the same hotel with glimpses of what transpires in the first film.

BreAnna Bell Lake Bell is expanding her production chops, joining the production shingle London Alley as a director. An actor known for series like “Childrens Hospital” and “Harley Quinn,” Bell has also branched out into production — most recently as the co-creator, executive producer, director and star of the comedy “Bless This Mess.” At London Alley, Bell will join with collaborator Luke Anderson, who has signed on as a partner and executive producer. “I’m excited to be continuing my relationship with London Alley and officially joining the team as a director,” said Bell in a statement. “It’s an exciting opportunity to have a lane to create a new genre of work in ads and creative, and I can’t think of a better collective to join.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Emily Atef, who is presenting her latest film, “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything,” in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, just moved to Paris to direct “La Maison,” a series depicting a fictional family-owned French luxury fashion empire. While discussing “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything” ahead of its world premiere, Atef told Variety that “La Maison” will be filled with a lot of drama and tragicomedy. “It’s very Shakespearean. There’s so much beauty and luxury with old mansions in Brittany, Parisian ‘hotel particuliers,’ and then behind all that there’s so much human poverty, and you see them ripping each other appart for power,” said Atef, who will direct the pilot and three more episodes.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent LevelK has unveiled the trailer for “Dancing Queen,” Aurora Gossé’s coming-of-age film world premiering in the Generation section at the Berlin Film Festival. Penned by Silje Holtet, the dance-filled movie is produced by Thomas Robsahm, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated Norwegian romantic comedy “The Worst Person in the World.” Newcomer Liv Elvira Kippersund Larsson stars as Mina, a slightly overweight underdog who falls head over heels in love and sets off to become at hip hop dancer to win his heart. The movie also stars Anders Baasmo (“In Order of Disappearance”) and Andrea Bræin Hovig (“An Affair), among others.

Believe it or not, M. Night Shyamalan had his seventh #1 opening weekend at the box office with “Knock At The Cabin” earlier this month.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Emily Atef, the outspoken French-German filmmaker, may have stepped into a minefield with her latest movie, “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything,” which looks to be one of the Berlinale’s most divisive movies in competition. With such a cute title, one might expect a flowery romance drama, but the movie goes far to break deep-entrenched taboos about female sexuality. Based on Danielle Krein’s novel, the film is set in the summer of 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, in the countryside of former East Germany. Marlene Burow plays Maria, who is about to turn 19, lives with her boyfriend at his parents’ farm. She engages into a passionate and lustful affair with Henner (Felix Kramer), a reclusive neighbor who is twice her age.

Angelique Jackson M. Night Shyamalan has inked a new multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker switching his allegiance from Universal. The announcement was made Thursday by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. News of the pact comes as the director celebrates his latest release “Knock at the Cabin,” which marks his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office — he has a No. 1 film in each of the last four decades — and further contributes to his more than $3 billion haul at the global box office, beginning with his breakout hit, “The Sixth Sense.” “Where I write and direct is my home,” Shyamalan said in a statement announcing the new deal. “Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros. has a storied history of cinema. Through its recent experiences, the company has rediscovered its love and appreciation for filmmakers, and the impact of the theatrical experience. We all win when movies succeed in theaters. I believe David Zaslav, Michael De Luca, and Pam Abdy have dedicated themselves to unique filmmakers, and to filling theaters all around the world for years to come.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Charades has secured a flurry of deals on Charlotte Regan’s British dramedy “Scrapper,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Starring Harris Dickinson (“Triangle of Sadness”) as a downbeat dad, “Scrapper” has been sold to Spain (Caramel), Australia (Madman), Poland (Against Gravity), Baltics and CIS (Arthouse), Greece (Cinobo) and Airlines (Aardwolf). “Scrapper” has already sold to the U.K. (Pictures House). Charades is currently negotiating deals for Japan, Israel, USA, Scandinavia and South Korea. The film follows Georgie, a dreamy 12-year-old girl who lives happily alone in her London flat, filling it with magic. Suddenly, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality.