Sundance cancels in-person film festival due to virus surge

As you know, the in person festival was canceled due to rising concerns of the omicron variant of Covid-19 and it has moved to an online screening format for press and attendees.

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival obviously has so much to offer. Big premieres from indie auteurs, world cinema, documentaries, films for kids, and movies that are receiving so much acclaim right now, you’ll be hearing more from them later in the year upon regular theatrical release.

Elton John has tested positive for COVID-19. The singer took to social media on Tuesday to share the news. "Hi everyone, wanted to send a message to let you know that I have contracted COVID and so have had to reschedule my shows in Dallas," the 74-year-old wrote on Instagram Story.

Showtime has opted not to renew American Rust for a second season, bringing Jeff Daniels’ short time as Chief of Police Del Harris to an end.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“American Rust” has been canceled after one season at Showtime, Variety has confirmed.The series was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Philipp Meyer. The series premiered on the premium cabler in September.“We can confirm that ‘American Rust’ will not be moving forward with a second season,” Showtime said in a statement.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Miami Film Festival has announced its opening and closing titles for its upcoming 39th edition.The festival, which showcases works from filmmaker’s in the Ibero-American diaspora, will premiere and end with two films listed on the Oscar shortlist for international feature film. “The Good Boss” (El Buen Patrón), a comedy written and directed by Spain’s Fernando León de Aranoa, will open the festival, which will close with “Plaza Catedral,” the sophomore narrative feature of Panamanian director Abner Benaim.“The Good Boss” stars Javier Bardem as Blanco, the owner of a family business up for consideration for a local award for business excellence. Determined to win the award, Blanco begins meddling in the lives of his employees, setting off a chain of events that leads to shocking repercussions.

$25 million Apple paid for “CODA,” the $15 million Netflix paid for “Passing” or documentary-record $15 million Searchlight/Hulu paid for “Summer of Soul.”  There’s still plenty of time for dealmaking, but not much time for new films to grab the spotlight: All of the festival’s movies were programmed to launch in the first five days, with Monday’s lineup – which included “Emily the Criminal,” “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” “Dos Estaciones,” “The Janes” and “Am I OK?” – scheduled as the last of this year’s premieres.

Lisa Kennedy Every now and again, a documentary filmmaker finds a bona fide star to pin the meaning of her film on, a figure so compelling she leaves a comet trail of thoughts and feelings after the movie’s end. Isabel Castro’s “Mija” boasts two: music manager Doris Muñoz and singer Jacks Haupt. Make that three, including the writer-director herself.

Addie Morfoot ContributorThis year at the Sundance Film Festival, three feature documentaries — Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” Reid Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” and Isabel Castro’s “Mija” — share in common a $10,000 grant provided by the Points North Institute and CNN Films’ American Stories Documentary Fund.Launched in 2020, the fund underwritten by CNN has dispensed a total of $100,000 in grants to emerging U.S. filmmakers working on 10 documentary projects that highlight pivotal moments in America. Eiselt and Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock,” and Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There” are two of nine films in the Sundance U.S.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the launch of the new interview series, “Seen.” Nick Barili, an Argentinean-American journalist, director, writer and producer, sits down for one-on-one conversations with some of the most influential artists and filmmakers with Latin-American and Spanish roots. The first season of the web series will include Academy members John Leguizamo, Eva Longoria and Oscar-nominee Edward James Olmos (“Stand and Deliver”), as they discuss their personal journeys, culture and breaking down barriers in filmmaking.Leguizamo will lead the first episode as he explores his beloved New York City and maneuvering through the industry over his long career, also covering the topics of colorism and tokenism.

It’s not all that often that Lee Daniels directs a film. Before the release of 2020’s “The United States vs.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticHe’s a cha cha real smooth talker. He’s 22, tall and handsome with a beard, but not a scruffy hipster beard — more like a post-millennial, post-ironic traditional beard, which sets off features that are finely chiseled in a Middle American corporate way. (When he grins, he looks like Donny Osmond.) He’s just out of college but has no idea what he wants to do.

American tourists spooked out by what they see on their visit to a European country will always be a valid premise for a film. The same goes for movies concerned with voyeurism, whether our protagonist is the one watching or the one being watched — though they usually are both, as is the case in Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher.” Playing in the U.S.

Early in Margaret Brown’s exquisite new documentary “Descendant,” Africatown, AL resident Joycelyn Davis calls out the possible narrative pitfalls of chronicling the recovery of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States in 1860 — 50 years after the international slave trade was abolished. Just after a town hall in which marine archeologist Dr.

“You can write about it, but Americans don’t read.” A firm non-believer in spoon-feeding, Academy Award-nominated documentary pioneer Christine Choy (“Who Killed Vincent Chin?”) may very well never set foot in her home country of China again. “How the f*ck can I explain to anyone where I’m from?” maintains Choy, born to a Korean father who abandoned the family shortly following her birth.

Adele has thanked her fans for their support following the last minute cancellation of her residency in Las Vegas.

“Let’s keep moving forward,” said Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson in the middle of the opening day’s virtual press conference for the near 40-year old event.