Tribeca Film Festival to Add Video Games to Official Selections

Michael B. Jordan and Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi have unveiled the line-up for their virtual Social Justice Now Film Festival (SJNFF).The new initiative is set to launch with the Black Panther star and the activist as co-ambassadors and on Monday (October 12, 2020), organizers for the event announced the socially conscious productions they plan to screen.The documentaries 40 Years a Prisoner and Freedia Got a Gun will be featured while original films Us Kids, Reefa, and SNCC,

Dave McNary Film ReporterThe 43rd Denver Film Festival will open on Oct. 22 with a drive-in showing of Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, at the Red Rocks Park.The festival will be mostly virtual but will also hold drive-in showings of “Nine Days” as its Centerpiece title on Oct.

Angelique Jackson Michael B. Jordan’s award-winning films “Just Mercy,” and “Fruitvale Station” will serve as opening night screenings for the inaugural Social Justice Now Film Festival (SJNFF).Both films will play on Wednesday, Oct.

Sundance title in the mix, too.)For the 2021 Oscars, however, the enthusiasm is muted — COVID, election — and that 7/9 proportion will likely skew lower. After Sundance, the last carefree, business-as-usual festival, big titles a la “Joker” and “1917” have been in relatively short supply because studios want traditional theatrical releases after premieres.

Steve McQueen helped raise the curtain on the 2020 BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday night, with his feature Mangrove — one of his five films in the BBC/Amazon Small Axe anthology — getting its European premiere in London and simultaneously across select cinemas around the U.K.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentDavid Bowie origin story “Stardust,” starring Johnny Flynn as the musician, has secured distribution in Italy with a deal inked with I Wonder Pictures ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Rome Film Festival this month.Flynn and director Gabriel Range will be in Rome for the red carpet event on Oct.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorNewFest is hosting a reading of Ang Lee’s groundbreaking Brokeback Mountain at its New York LGBTQ Film Festival on October 18, employing an all-trans cast for the event that commemorates the film’s 15th anniversary.The cast features Leo Sheng (The L Word) as Ennis, Brian Michael Smith (911: Lone Star) as Jack, Jen Richards (Tales of the City) as Alma, Alexandra Grey (Empire) as Lurleen and Disclosure director Sam Feder as the narrator.The original film

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentThe Tokyo International Film Festival has unveiled a smaller, more compact selection for its 33rd edition (Oct. 31-Nov.

SAN SEBASTIÁN, Spain -- Georgian writer-director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s first feature film “Beginning” triumphed at Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival, scooping up four of its top prizes including best film and best director.The story about a community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in a isolated village in Georgia amid the aftermath of an extremist attack also won best screenplay and best actress for Ia Sukhitashvili in the awards ceremony Saturday night.“Beginning,” a Franco-Georgian

American audiences might not be very familiar with Ester Exposito, but she’s a huge international star thanks to her hit Netflix series Elite!

American audiences might not be very familiar with Ester Exposito, but she’s a huge international star thanks to her hit Netflix series Elite!

Joe Alwyn gets caught in the middle of a wind and rain storm while walking the red carpet at the closing ceremony of the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday (September 26) in San Sebastian, Spain.

Tribeca Film website.To help facilitate the selection process, the Tribeca Film Festival has pulled together a new gaming advisory board, consisting of several big names in the gaming industry.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorThe Tribeca Film Festival, which has set its 20th anniversary edition for next June, is adding video games as official selections for the first time.“For years, video games have been a one-of-a-kind medium for storytelling, art, and innovation,” organizers said in an announcement.The festival, which will happen next year from June 9 to 20 (a later slot than usual) has welcomed games for the past 10 years.

Also Read: New York Comic Con 2020 Schedule: Here Are All the Must-See 'Metaverse' Virtual PanelsGames were first partially included in the Tribeca awards roughly a decade years ago, the organization said, when Rockstar Games’ detective thriller “L.A. Noir” was the first video game to be an official selection in the festival.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTribeca Film Festival is expanding its focus on video games at next year’s planned fest in New York City: For the first time, Tribeca will open submissions for games to join the 2021 festival as official selections — and will bestow the inaugural Tribeca Games Award from the entries.The festival also announced a new advisory board for Tribeca Games comprising luminaries from the games and film worlds.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe San Sebastian Film Festival has withdrawn the accreditation of U.S.-born French filmmaker Eugène Green for refusing to wear a mask.According to the Spanish festival, Green refused five requests for him to don a mask at last night’s premiere of his film Atarrabi Et Mikelats and he was ultimately asked to leave the auditorium.

Dave McNary Film Reporter“Black Bear,” “Kokoloko,” “Night of the Kings,” “Rosa’s Wedding” and “Undine” have been selected as the competition titles for the Marimba Award at the upcoming Miami Film Festival Gems event.The seventh annual edition of Gems will be held virtually from Oct. 8-11.

Matt Dillon holds hand with Roberta Mastromichele while attending The Great Fellove premiere during the 2020 San Sebastian International Film Festival held at the Victoria Eugenia Theater on Tuesday evening (September 22) in Spain.