Sparking joy during a pandemic: filmmakers Kaitlyn Schwalje and Alex Wolf Lewis speak about their Sundance short “Snowy”

And the responses we’ve been getting from people have been overwhelming to us. Kind of in the same way that you’re saying, that this film is something we need, or something that the world needs. We are very grateful. I do think that we did try to do that with a thought provoking, unpretentious and intimate story, everything from start to finish. We wanted the film to feel like a cookie that your Grandma baked for you. 

Indigenous Filmmaker Erica Tremblay charts her road to making “Little Chief” and future projects

If there’s anything that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, it’s the sovereignty of joy. And how for so long our stories have been relegated to a time period and to a certain traumatic response baseline. I think it’s just time for us to realize that we can live in trailer parks and be happy. We can have successful jobs and still be indigenous. Joy is just so important. I’m so excited to see so many indigenous artists out there starting to explore what it means to be a modern happy indigenous person.

“I’m Thinking Of Ending Things”and the complexities of onscreen female characters written by men

Join us Wednesday, January 13th at 7:30 PM CST as we talk about Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” and the complexities of onscreen female characters written by men.

Synopsis: Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents’ secluded farm. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is now streaming on Netflix. Starring Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis.

The 50 best films of 2020: Part 1

Because of the pandemic, and the closing of theaters, this was a year for great cinema, especially for those underrepresented onscreen. Blockbuster films took a backseat to indie gems. My kind of movie year. Of course, nothing beats the theatrical communal experience. I loved my experience at Sundance this year, which was such a special gift since we probably won’t have that kind of festival experience for awhile. But virtual festival runs gave the opportunity for independent films to reach a wider audience, which means I was able to see more this year then I have ever before.

“Stand and Deliver”, “Thirteen”, “Down in the Delta” editor Nancy Richardson shares her stories from the cutting room

Feature film editor Nancy Richardson has been a professor and head of post-production at UCLA TFT [Theater, Film, and Television] for 19 years. She began her career with the 1988 film “Stand and Deliver”, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture and received a Best Actor nomination for Edward James Olmos. Her credits include “Thirteen”,”’Lords of Dogtown” and “Twilight”, directed by Catherine Hardwicke; “To Sleep With Anger”, “Selma, Lord, Selma” and “Annihilation of Fish”, directed by Charles Burnett; and “Mi Familia”, “Selena” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”, directed by Gregory Nava. She also edited Maya Angelou’s directorial debut, “Down in the Delta”.