News

Behind the glitz and glamour of film production, there are an increasing number of eco warriors in the industry who are tirelessly working behind the scenes to ensure not only that productions become more environmentally sustainable long term, but are also engaged in educating the sector and promoting climate storytelling on screen.

Emmy-winning and Oscar nominated producer Lydia Dean Pilcher, who founded New York-based production company Cine Mosaic, was one of the earliest advocates for sustainability in the entertainment sector. After becoming a mother, and inspired by Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, the producer-writer-director — whose credits include The Darjeeling Limited, Queen of Katwe and Radium Girls (a climate narrative that she co-directed) — immediately felt compelled to be an ambassador for greener solutions in the industry.

Lydia Dean Pilcher

She trained at Gore’s The Climate Reality Project before co-founding the Producers Guild of America’s PGA Green and GreenProductionGuide.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – Picture: Paramount Pictures

The holiday season is in full-swing and if you fancy settling down onto Netflix for a new movie to watch – you should probably be prioritising these excellent nine movies that will all be departing as we head into the New Year.

For a full list of what’s leaving Netflix throughout January 2024, check our guide of removals for the month which is the most comprehensive on the net!

Captain Phillips (2013)

Leaving Netflix: January 1st

Paul Greengrass’s superb biopic about the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama continues to stir much controversy. The controversy stems from the scrutiny of Richard Phillips, portrayed by Tom Hanks, and his decisions that led to the event. Regardless of these opinions, one cannot deny that this is a fantastically made movie.

As with most Sony Pictures movies on Netflix, you’ll a premium tier...

“The Pod Generation” has garnered the first award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Sophie Barthes directed the sci-fi film, which stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor as parents whose child is being grown in a pod. The dark comedy took home the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative top cash prize of 20,000. The prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character. The 2023 jury for Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize included Dr. Heather Berlin, Jim Gaffigan, Dr. Mandë Holford, Shalini Kantayya, and Lydia Dean Pilcher.

The jury shared that it selected “Sophie Barthes’ futuristic romantic comedy, ‘The Pod Generation,’ for its bold, visually-arresting depiction of a brave new parenthood in which AI and artificial wombs provide technological benefits...

The Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named Sophie Barthes’ The Pod Generation as this year’s Feature Film Prize winner.

In addition three artists grants went to recipients for three projects in development. The prizes were handed out at a reception following the Appetite for Construction panel at Filmmaker Lodge. The four filmmakers received a total of 70,000 in funding through the Prize and three artist grants for projects: Benjy Steinberg for The Professor and the Spy received the Sloan Episodic Fellowship, Cynthia Lowen for Light Mass Energy received the Sloan Development Fellowship, and John Lopez for Incompleteness received the Sloan Commissioning Grant.

Related Story How Emilia Clarke & Chiwetel Ejiofor Movie ‘Pod Generation’ Sprouted – Sundance Studio Related Story 'You Hurt My Feelings' Sundance Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Shines Again In Nicole Holofcener's Witty And Honest Comedy Related Story WME Signs Rashad Frett; Agency Will Help Writer-Director's...

After 2 years of in-person viewing, the red carpet has made its return to the Sundance Film Festival 2023.

The film industry, actors, and lovers of all things cinemas braved the snowy Park City, Salt Lake City, to view the 130 films, docs, and short films that are now available to view on demand for online viewers.

Audiences came together in-person over the weekend in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Sundance Resort with talent that included Anne Hathaway, Mia Goth, Alia Shawkat, Skye P. Marshall, Jonathan Majors, Jason Momoa, Michael J. Fox, Daisy Ridley, Alexander Skarsgård, Gael Garcia Bernal, Randall Park, Brooke Shields, and more who walked press lines and red carpets for their world premieres.

Related: Deadline Studio at Sundance Film Festival 2023 – Day 3 – Jennifer Connelly, Ben Whishaw, Alia Shawkat, Cynthia Erivo & More

The 2023 program available online includes all dramatic competition films featuring the buzzed-about movies and docs that include Sometimes I think About Dying...

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival has set its jury, and among its members are “Coda” star and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton and Jim Gaffigan.

Additionally, Jeremy O. Harris, Ramona S. Diaz and Petra Costa are among the filmmakers who have been appointed to this year’s competition juries for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, it was announced Wednesday.

After two years of virtual presentations, this year’s festival will return to in-person screenings and awards galas — with a concurrent online component for select films running Jan. 24–Jan. 29.

“The jury plays a crucial role in the Festival by amplifying breakthrough works and providing the audience with further opportunities for discovery,” Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said in a statement. “We thank them for their dedication to artistic excellence and their thoughtful lens on cinematic expression and all that independent film offers.

Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin have been named the jurors of the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Harris was at Sundance in 2020 with Zola, the same years Hittman screened her film Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Matlin starred in 2021 Sundance winner Coda.

W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez are the jurors for the U.S. Documentary Competition; Shozo Ichiyama, Annemarie Jacir, and Funa Maduka for World Cinema Dramatic Competition; and Karim Amer, Petra Costa, and Alexander Nanau for World Cinema Documentary Competition. Madeleine Olnek is the juror for the Next competition section, Destin Daniel Cretton, Marie-Louise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman will judge the Short Film Program Competition.

The jury for Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize is Dr. Heather Berlin, Jim Gaffigan, Dr. Mandë Holford, Shalini Kantayya, and Lydia Dean Pilcher, and have already awarded the prize to Sophie Barthes’ The Pod Generation.

Sundance has announced the 16 jurors granting awards at this year’s film festival, ranging from playwright Jeremy O. Harris to Oscar winner Marlee Matlin.

This year’s Sundance Film Festival will take place from Jan. 19-29 in Utah, marking its first return to Park City since the pandemic. The awards ceremony will take place on Jan. 27, with grants bestowed for feature and short films.

Jurors are Harris, Matlin and Eliza Hittman for U.S. dramatic competition; W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz and Carla Gutierrez for U.S. documentary competition; Shozo Ichiyama, Annemarie Jacir and Funa Maduka for world cinema dramatic competition; Karim Amer, Petra Costa and Alexander Nanau for world cinema documentary competition; Madeleine Olnek for the Next competition section; and Destin Daniel Cretton, Marie-Louise Khondji and Deborah Stratman for the short film program competition.

“The jury plays a crucial role in the festival by amplifying breakthrough works and providing...

The Sundance Institute has today named the jurors who will preside over awards for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The 16-person lineup features everyone from Coda star Marlee Matlin to We Need To Talk About Cosby‘s W. Kamau Bell, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton and actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan.

Matlin will assess the awards potential amongst titles in U.S. Documentary Competition with Slave Play creator Jeremy O. Harris and Never Rarely Sometimes Always filmmaker Eliza Hittman. Bell, meanwhile, will oversee U.S. Documentary Competition, being joined in that arena by filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz (A Thousand Cuts) and editor Carla Gutiérrez (Julia).

While Wild Nights with Emily filmmaker Madeleine Olnek will preside alone over the Next section, Cretton has been assigned to the Short Film Program Competition, being joined there by artist-filmmaker Deborah Stratman and Marie-Louise Khondji, who founded the free streaming platform,...

Non-profit arts organization Film Independent, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has announced that the Sloan Film Summit is officially returning this year after a pandemic-imposed delay. IndieWire exclusively shares the news here.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports films and filmmakers with a science focus. Kogonada’s “After Yang” was awarded the Sloan prize 50,000 distribution grant at Sundance 2022. Past supported filmmakers include Damien Chazelle and Aneesh Chaganty.

This year’s Summit will take place April 8–10 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and will feature screenings, workshops, and panels for artists, featuring filmmakers and scientists as they discuss the way art and science interact and can benefit each other. A special keynote address will be delivered by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Andrea Ghez.

The seventh triennial Summit will celebrate the thriving nationwide Sloan Film Program, bringing together over 150 screenwriters, directors, and producers, as well as working...

Exclusive: Award-winning filmmaker Lydia Dean Pilcher has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment for management—also announcing today that she has acquired the rights to Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, a bestselling memoir from Dawn Prince-Hughes that she plans to adapt into a feature, as both director and producer.

In the true story, published by Random House in 2004, Dawn Prince is on the brink of survival as a homeless gay teenager from the wilderness of Montana, searching for connection on the streets of 1980s Seattle. When she escapes to the zoo for the oxygen of nature, she unexpectedly makes a primal connection with the Silverback gorilla, Congo.

Dawn gets a job at the zoo and begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns from Congo how to love, how to see herself in the gorillas, and ultimately in other human people.

The Sundance Institute announced the jury members of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, taking place in hybrid format from Jan. 20 to 30.

Comprising six juries awarding prizes for artistic and cinematic achievement, the jurors include Marielle Heller (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Andrew Haigh (“Looking”), Payman Maadi (“A Separation”) and more.

Chelsea Barnard, a producer on “C’mon C’mon” and “Booksmart,” serves alongside Heller and Maadi on the jury for U.S. dramatic competition. U.S. documentary competition jurors include Garrett Bradley (“Time”), Peter Nicks (“The Force”) and veteran documentary cinematographer Joan Churchill.

Haigh joins Mohamed Hefzy (“The Walls of the Moon”) and film curator La Frances Hui on the world cinema dramatic competition jury, while Cannes artistic adviser Emilie Bujès, former U.S. ambassador Patrick Gaspard and Dawn Porter (“The Way I See It”) will judge the world cinema documentary competition.

Joey Soloway, the creator, writer, director and executive producer of “Transparent,...

Now that Sundance has answered the question looming over the 2022 festival by going all-virtual for the second year in a row, it’s full-steam ahead. And today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the members of its six juries, including Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”), Joey Soloway (“Transparent”), and Payman Maadi (“A Separation”). The 16 jurors will bestow awards upon the festival’s winners January 28, with award-winning movies available for extended online viewing during the festival’s closing weekend.

“These exceptional individuals will come together to offer a collaborative lens on our program,” said Sundance’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani in an official statement. “Their diverse personal perspectives can elevate work above the sum of its parts.” As previously announced, the jury for Alfred P. Sloan jury deliberated in advance of the festival and awarded the prize to “After Yang,” directed by Kogonada.

And audiences will...

The Gotham Awards were handed out on November 29 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. So who won at these annual indie film kudos from The Gotham Film and Media Institute, which streamed on YouTube and Facebook? Scroll down for the complete list of winners in all categories.

Netflix’s “The Lost Daughter” and “Passing” went in as the two most nominated films with five apiece, but that didn’t automatically mean they were the front-runners. Categories at these awards are judged by panels of just a handful of industry insiders, often leading to unexpected, under-the-radar winners. You can’t count anyone out at an event where unique juries review all the nominated material.

Seersvp now for November 30: Film producers panel with ‘Being the Ricardos,’ ‘Belfast,’ ‘The Power of the Dog,’ ‘tick, tick… Boom!’

That means these awards can be quite idiosyncratic — they’re independent thinkers, and not...

Exclusive: Newcomer Ainsley Seiger has been cast as a series regular opposite Christopher Meloni, Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor and Danielle Moné Truitt, in Law & Order: Organized Crime, and Charlotte Sullivan (Rookie Blue), Nick Creegan (David Makes Man), Ben Chase (The Last Thing He Wanted) and Jaylin Fletcher (Snowpiercer) are set to recur in NBC’s Svu spinoff series.

The drama, now filming in New York after a brief pause earlier this month due to a positive Covid test, will premiere April 1 at 10 Pm as part of a crossover with Law & Order: Svu at 9 Pm that same night.

In Law & Order: Organized Crime, Elliot Stabler (Meloni) returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. Stabler will aim to rebuild his life as part of a new elite task force that is taking apart the city’s most powerful criminal syndicates one by one.

“Harriet” star Cynthia Erivo and “Daughters of the Dust” director Julie Dash are among the 22 names selected to oversee the competition juries at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Erivo and Dash will lead the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury this year alongside Hanya Yanagihara, editor of the New York Times Style Magazine and author of the novels “The People in the Trees” and “A Little Life.”

Leading the U.S. Documentary jury are Ashley Clark, a curatorial director at Criterion Collection and formerly the director of film programming at Bam, “The Act of Killing” director Joshua Oppenheimer and Lana Wilson, whose Taylor Swift documentary “Miss Americana” premiered at Sundance last year.

“Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films,” Kim Yutani, Sundance’s director of programming, said in a statement. “We’re pleased to bring this accomplished,...

The Sundance Film Festival announced 22 jurors that will bestow this year’s awards at the digital ceremony taking place Feb. 2. The judges include actor Cynthia Erivo, Chilean actor Daniela Vega and sibling designer-filmmakers Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

The awards, which recognize standout artistic and cinematic prowess, are decided on by six section juries. As in previous years, festival viewers will have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, which are open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and Next categories.

The U.S. Dramatic Jury is comprised of filmmaker Julie Dash, Tony-, Emmy-, and Grammy-winning Erivo and author Hanya Yanagihara.

Curatorial director at the Criterion Collection Ashley Clark, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer and Emmy-winning director Lana Wilson will make up the U.S. Documentary Jury.

The World Cinema Dramatic Jury will feature Istanbul-based producer Zeynep Atakan, filmmaker Isaac Julien and Vega. British documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto, executive...

With diversity, equity, and inclusion in the media being more important than ever now, cultural production firm Src Partners has announced a collection of vital industry panels it will produce for the Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit, a free virtual event being held later this month from January 26th to 29th. Over 150 incredible speakers will gather for this event for 48 panels with Src Partners managing eight of them which include acclaimed creators from Ms. Marvel, Insecure, 30 Rock, and Ramy who will speak about their experiences and provide insight into developing a more inclusive industry.

Src Partners is proud to present several of the Summit’s panels. Deniese Davis and Meera Menon headline the panel “Women of Color: Top Producers Flipping the Script” while “Cultural Confidence: Teaching Young People To Be Proud of Their Heritage” will bring together speakers including Maulik Pancholy and Leela Ladnier. The panel “Casting Calls: How to Create...

A Call to Spy movie review is here. The 2019 American historical drama film written and produced by Sarah Megan Thomas and directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher is inspired by the true stories of three women who worked as spies in Churchill's Secret Army. A Call to Spy stars Sarah Megan Thomas, Radhika Apte and Stana Katic. A Call to Spy was released in the United States on October 2, 2020, in theaters and on video on demand.

A Call to Spy will be streaming on Prime Video from December 11, 2020.

A Call to Spy review

Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas) an American with a wooden leg, Vera Atkins (Stana Katic) a refugee settled in England and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Apte) an Indian-Russian princess and an expert wireless operator. Meet these ordinary women of star, writer and producer Sarah Megan Thomas in Lydia Dean Pilcher helmed A Call to Spy – a song of...

Lydia Dean Pilcher’s big moment had arrived.

After producing movies for Wes Anderson and Mira Nair, Pilcher was finally sliding behind the camera herself. “Radium Girls,” her feature directing debut, was set to open in New York City in April when the coronavirus struck, grinding the cultural life of Gotham to a standstill and imperiling the business and art form she loves.

Instead of despairing, Pilcher got creative. Juno Films, the movie’s distributor, pushed the debut back to the fall and set about fashioning a Covid-compliant release strategy for the indie drama. When it finally opened in October, it screened at drive-in theaters and had special virtual showings. To raise awareness, the distributor and filmmakers of “Radium Girls” — which documents the true story of female factory employees who contracted radiation poisoning due to poor working conditions — partnered with environmental groups like the Sierra Club and gave them a...

Photo: 'Radium Girls'/Juno Films Radium Girls, a new film from directors Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler, first screened at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Distribution delays and Covid-19 caused the film’s wide release to be delayed, but there’s something quite opportune about seeing the film in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. Against great odds, the radium girls rallied together to challenge U.S. Radium, a corrupt and monolithic corporation that prioritized its own interests over the livelihoods of its employees and its customers. Despite deliberate misinformation paid for by U.S. Radium to discredit their righteous cause and attempt to turn public opinion against them, the girls strive to ally themselves with activists, scientists, lawyers, and members of the Consumers League to create real change. There’s a lot of historical contexts to process with a film like this, and engaging with that context here reveals...

AMC Networks-backed streamer Acorn TV has snapped up North American rights to Mira Nair’s acclaimed period drama “A Suitable Boy.”

The eagerly anticipated deal, which was brokered with producer Lookout Point and distributor BBC Studios, will see Acorn TV premiere the series to audiences in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 7.

The six-part drama recently closed the Toronto International Film Festival — the first television title to do so — and also screened as part of AFI Fest’s ‘Special Presentations’ program. An adaptation of the eponymous Vikram Seth novel, which weighs in at around 1,349 pages, “A Suitable Boy” was adapted by “War and Peace” scribe Andrew Davies. Seth also served as an executive producer on the show.

Set in post-Partition North India in 1951, “A Suitable Boy” tells the story of spirited 19-year-old university student Lata Mehra (rising star Tanya Maniktala) as she comes of age at the same...

Producer Lydia Dean Pilcher, after decades of collaborating with filmmakers like Katheryn Bigelow, Wes Anderson and Gina Prince Bythewood, is stepping behind the camera for the first time as a feature director. Her directorial debut, the historical drama “Radium Girls,” is opening in theaters and on demand on Friday.

The movie, set in New Jersey in the late ’20s, follows two teenage sisters (portrayed by Joey King and Abby Quinn) employed at a nearby American Radium plant. Those working on the assembly line to paint dials were instructed to lick the tip of their paintbrushes to increase their precision, ingesting lethal amounts of radium (an element they were told wasn’t harmful) in the process. But after the self-luminous paint began to poison factory workers the young activists attempt to expose the corporate scandal. The lasting precedent that the case, based on true events, set for workplace safety is what...

The half-life of radium-226, the toxic isotope touted as a miracle cure-all in the early 20th century and used in phosphorescent paint, is around 1,600 years. That of “Radium Girls,” the David-and Goliath story of a handful of young women taking Big Radium to court in the 1920s, is presumably much shorter.

In the two-and-a-half years since it premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, co-directors Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s dramatization seems to have lost quite a bit of whatever luster it might have once had. Scrupulously sincere in its approach and well-meaning to a fault in intention, the film aims for inspirational true story, but is sadly uninspired, and its relationship to real history is obscured by the schematic way it is fictionalized.

Playing characters who are an amalgam of the real heroines of the radium scandal, the film stars Joey King and Abby Quinn as sisters Bessie and Josephine Cavallo,...

In the early part of the 20th century, “miracle cures” were all the rage, though no substance captivated Americans quite so much as radium, a mined element that was used in everything from luminescent paints to what was essentially marketed as an early version of an energy drink (one that supposedly cured impotence!). Radium was everywhere, with not just little regard for its inherent radioactive properties and the attendant danger, but even knowledge of how deadly the seemingly wondrous “elixir” really was. Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s “Radium Girls” smartly opens with such information on quick display: archival footage and publications tout radium’s properties, while familiar character actor Adam LeFevre appears as a carnival barker selling “the most beneficial of elements” to an eager crowd.

But while consumers might have been hyped up on radium’s alleged wonders, it was another class altogether that paid mightily for...

Exploring the cultural sexism meted out to women during the second world war, this drama based on real people avoids cliche

‘Make sure they’re pretty,” a bespectacled Special Operations Executive wonk tells Vera Atkins, the Romanian born “spymistress” (played by Stana Katic) charged with building a network of French-speaking female undercover operatives in the early days of the second world war. Written by Sarah Megan Thomas and directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher, this is a righteously conceived drama designed to highlight the smothering sexism that greeted women’s contributions to the war effort, in particular anything that smacked of ambition above lowly clerical grades.

A Call to Spy zeroes in on two of Atkins’ real-life recruits, and takes its time spelling out their individual stories. Virginia Hall (played by writer Thomas) is an American embassy worker with a prosthetic foot seething at being denied a career as a diplomat,...

You can feel the urgency fueling Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s historical drama about a little-known, shameful episode in our country’s past. Despite taking place in the 1920s, Radium Girls feels particularly relevant in these times when the current administration has devoted itself with a passion to rolling back protections for workers. Although its low-budget cinematic execution feels a bit lacking at times, the film fulfills a vital function with its dramatization of an important chapter in America’s history of labor reform.

The story, which features both real-life figures and composite characters, begins in 1925, when sisters ...

You can feel the urgency fueling Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s historical drama about a little-known, shameful episode in our country’s past. Despite taking place in the 1920s, Radium Girls feels particularly relevant in these times when the current administration has devoted itself with a passion to rolling back protections for workers. Although its low-budget cinematic execution feels a bit lacking at times, the film fulfills a vital function with its dramatization of an important chapter in America’s history of labor reform.

The story, which features both real-life figures and composite characters, begins in 1925, when sisters ...

A Call to Spy Review — A Call to Spy (2019) Film Review, a movie directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher and starring Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apte, Linus Roache, Rossif Sutherland, Samuel Roukin, Andrew Richardson, Laila Robins, and Marc Rissmann. I found A [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: A Call To Spy (2019): Sarah Megan Thomas’s Passion Project is Crudely Put Together...

Radium Girls Cine Mosaic Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Ginny Mohler, Lydia Dean Pilcher Writer: Ginny Mohler, Brittany Shaw Cast: Joey King, Abby Quinn, Cara Seymour, Scott Shepherd, Susan Heyward, Neal Huff, Collin Kelly-Sordelet Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/28/20 Opens: October 23, 2020 Pity executives in […]

The post Radium Girls Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Neon’s Possessor Uncut brought the sci-fi thrills this weekend to select theaters around the country as the specialty box office continues to find signs of life during the pandemic. Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the pic starring Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott played on 320 screens in its debut and earned an estimated $227,500, with Saturday netting the most coin with $110,000. The film delivered a per-screen average of $711.

Also opening this weekend was the IFC Films World War II dramatic thriller A Call To Spy directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher and written by Sarah Megan Thomas. The film hit 75 theaters this weekend earning an estimated $40,000, with a per-theater-average of $533. The pic was also released on digital and cracked the top 5 on the iTunes chart this weekend. IFC Films is set to add additional theaters in the upcoming weeks.

Bleecker Street’s Save Yourselves! also made its debut this weekend in 388 theaters,...

Chicago – When a prominent and influential producer made the transition into solo directing, she sought stories that matched her intuitive and natural passions. Lydia Dean Pilcher chose “A Call to Spy,” a World War II-era drama that focuses on three women who defied their obstacles and became early war heroes.

Ms. Pilcher is an activist for the environment, as well as diversity issues and women’s equality through her work as a producer and filmmaker. The script for “A Call to Spy” was written by the eventual lead actress in the film, Sarah Megan Thomas. Ms. Pilcher was drawn to it because of the themes of the women’s contributions to Britain’s World War II efforts, and their courage despite the skepticism of a system run by men.

’A Call to Spy,’ directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher (inset)

Photo credit: IFC Films

The film is based on real events...

What does a spy look like? The most famous image we're familiar with is that of James Bond, and for most of film history, 90% of the spies we saw onscreen were male. In reality, espionage agencies prefer to recruit people the enemy won't suspect. - yet curiously, it wasn't until the advent of World War Two that Britain considered training women for the job, a move attributed to Winston Churchill. Written by star Sarah Megan Thomas and directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher, this film is based on the real stories of some of the women among those first recruits.

Thomas plays Virginia Hall, an American who tried in vain for many years to get a job as a diplomat, frequently facing discrimination because of her wooden leg. Stana Katic is Vera Atkins, a Romanian Jew who wants the chance to fight back against the enemies of her people and secure.

“A Call to Spy,” which tracks the true-life story of how British spies navigated France during World War II, may be set 80 years ago, but its themes of racism, sexism and misogyny feel undeniably, infuriatingly urgent.

Read More: ‘A Call To Spy’ Trailer: New WWII Film Focuses On Churchill’s Female-Led Spy Agency

Director Lydia Dean Pilcher keeps the action moving apace even when the familiar, often formulaic narrative threatens to fold.

Continue reading ‘A Call to Spy’ Is A Timely Female-Led War Film That Could Have Been Better As A TV Show [Review] at The Playlist.

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on October 1st, 2020, reviewing the new films On the Rocks” (In select theaters October 2nd and on AppleTV+ starting October 23rd.) and “A Call to Spy” (In theaters & Video-On-Demand).

Rating: 4.0/5.0

On the Rocks Sofia Coppola writes and directs this simple tale of a late-thirty-something writer named Laura (Rashida Jones) who is also a stay at home Mom. Her hard-charging husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) is spending more time at the office, and Laura begins to suspect he’s having an affair with a co-worker. Her doting but similarly hard-charging father Felix (Bill Murray) is going to help her find out if the affair is true. This is a relationship and character comedy, with Laura and her Dad finding out more about their approaches to life than anything having to do with the marriage. 4/5 stars.

Rating:...

During World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill put a network of spies behind enemy lines to aid the Resistance in Nazi-occupied countries. The Soe (Special Operations Executive) was set up to train women for the role. A Call to Spy, an IFC release opening in theaters and on demand October 2, follows three women who played crucial roles for the Soe in France. A Call to Spy is the first solo feature credit for director Lydia Dean Pilcher, after co-directing Radium Girls with Ginny Mohler. A veteran producer, Pilcher has worked in a wide variety of genres for the […]...

During World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill put a network of spies behind enemy lines to aid the Resistance in Nazi-occupied countries. The Soe (Special Operations Executive) was set up to train women for the role. A Call to Spy, an IFC release opening in theaters and on demand October 2, follows three women who played crucial roles for the Soe in France. A Call to Spy is the first solo feature credit for director Lydia Dean Pilcher, after co-directing Radium Girls with Ginny Mohler. A veteran producer, Pilcher has worked in a wide variety of genres for the […]...

As Nazi forces pushed ever closer to England in the summer of 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a wild idea: a new spy agency, the Special Operations Executive (known as the Soe), to gather intel, and spark sabotage, in and around France. That scheme might sound obvious on paper, but the Soe went decidedly outside the box when it came to not only its methodology, but also the people tasked with carrying it out: They included more than three dozen women. Lydia Dean Pilcher’s “A Call to Spy” follows three of those women, and while the shape of

Pilcher, best known for her producing work (including an Oscar nod for the documentary “Cutie and the Boxer”), appears intent on carving a niche in directing overlooked historical tales about fierce, real-life women. Later this year, her directorial debut “Radium Girls,” about a group of ’20s-era factory workers who advocated for safer conditions,...

“A Call to Spy” braids the stories of three decorated WWII spies to reveal — and to revel in — their pivotal roles in British spy craft and history. The title may fall flat but the movie, a sturdy directorial debut for producer Lydia Dean Pilcher, gets to the heart of the matter. Even as they faced various forms of discrimination, Vera Atkins, Virginia Hall and Noor Inayat Khan responded boldly to the tug of duty. They served Britain, and

A scene of torture begins the film. The year is 1941, and Germany has invaded France. The person being interrogated is a woman. Soaked, gasping, she will not crumble. Turns out, she doesn’t have to. The woman is Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), and to our relief, she’s undergoing the final test in her training. Three months earlier, the Special Operations Executive branch of the British government began recruiting “lady spies.” Winston Churchill...

As September comes to a close and October brings in autumnal vibes, the country (and the world for that matter) is focusing on two things: the forthcoming November election and the end of the world. Luckily, in this early edition of this week’s specialty preview, we have something that is relevant to both!

After making its world premiere at Sundance, Julie Taymor’s The Glorias is ready to disrupt the system. Ld Entertainment and Roadside Attractions will debut the civic-minded and socially aware film on Amazon Prime Video starting today — and it couldn’t be a more perfect time.

Ahead of the November election, The Glorias is based on feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s book Life on the Road. Co-written by Taymor and Sarah Ruhl the nontraditional biopic paints a portrait of one of the inspirational figures of modern history. Steinem became a prominent figure that defined era and a generation.

"We need you as our first female field agent." IFC Films has released an official trailer for A Call to Spy, an indie spy drama from producer-turned-filmmaker Lydia Dean Pilcher. This is her second feature after directing Radium Girls, which is also about badass women from the past. In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency – the Special Operations Executive (aka Soe) – to recruit and train women as spies. Their mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance, to help collect information about Nazis in France. Soe's "spymistress," Vera Atkins – who was the inspiration for Bond's Moneypenny – recruits two unusual candidates to be spies: Virginia Hall, an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake. Starring Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apte,...

Women rule the upcoming IFC Films release “A Call to Spy,” a World War II espionage thriller from Oscar-nominated director Lydia Dean Pilcher. Not only is the narrative centered on Winston Churchill’s female recruits thrust into a bold mission, but the production team is also dominated by women throughout. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the film, which hits theaters and VOD on October 2, below.

Here’s the synopsis: “In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency — Soe — to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance. Soe’s ‘spymistress’ Vera Atkins (Stana Katic of ‘Castle’), recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas of ‘Equity’), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Apte of ‘Sacred Games’), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France,...

BBC One’s adaptation of Vikram Seth’s best-selling novel A Suitable Boy is heading to Netflix outside of the U.S., Canada and China, distributor BBC Studios has announced.

The streamer has also clinched the Lookout Point drama for subscribers in UK and Ireland after its 12-month iPlayer window has expired following its broadcast on BBC One. Lookout Point-owner BBC Studios is currently in talks with a U.S. partner, though no deal has yet been signed.

A Suitable Boy is adapted by Les Misérables and War & Peace writer Andrew Davies and the director is Mira Nair, the Golden Globe-nominated Monsoon Wedding helmer. It stars Bollywood leading man Ishaan Khatter, Indian screen star Tabu and rising actress Tanya Maniktala in the central role of Lata.

The six-part series tells the story of spirited university student, Lata, coming of age in North India in 1951 at the same time as...

Global streaming giant Netflix has come on board “A Suitable Boy,” the BBC Studios and Lookout Point adaptation of Vikram Seth’s bestselling novel. The series begins airing later this month in the U.K. on BBC One.

Netflix will be the exclusive home of “A Suitable Boy” for all global territories, except Canada, the U.S. and China. In the U.K. and Ireland, the Mira Nair-directed series will be available on Netflix 12 months after its release on BBC One. The series was one of the highlights of 17 new Indian films and series announced by Netflix on Thursday.

The cast of the six-part drama, shot entirely on location in India, is led by Bollywood leading man Ishaan Khatter and Indian screen legend Tabu alongside rising star Tanya Maniktala in the central role of Lata.

“A Suitable Boy” tells the story of spirited university student, played by Tanya Maniktala,...

Exclusive: UK indie film distributor Signature Entertainment and Australian releaser Rialto Distribution have acquired UK and Australian rights respectively to war drama A Call To Spy.

The pic is directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher, who was Oscar nominated in 2014 for documentary Cutie & The Boxer and is also a two-time Emmy winner. It tells the true story of two female spies – recruited under Churchill’s orders – who were sent undercover to undermine the Nazi regime in France during WWII. It stars Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, and Radhika Apte.

The film premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival last year. IFC Films is releasing in North America.

Signature is lining up the UK bow for October, with Rialto to follow soon after. The deals were negotiated by Signature’s Director of Acquisitions and Development Elizabeth Williams, Rialto’s CEO Kelly Rogers and A Call to Spy’s writer, producer and actress Sarah...

Exclusive: IFC Films has acquired North American rights to A Call to Spy, the feature directorial debut of Oscar nominated documentary producer Lydia Dean Pilcher about the unsung female heroes of WWII. IFC plans a fall release, Deadline has learned.

Produced, written by and starring Sarah Megan Thomas (Equity), who plays real-life American spy Virginia Hall, pic takes place at the onset of WWII when Winston Churchill ordered a new spy agency, the Special Operations Executive, to recruit and trains female spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance. Soe’s “spymistress,” Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), recruits two unusual candidates: Hall, an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Atpe), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake. Atkins, later became the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise.

Exclusive: Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s feature Radium Girls has been snapped up by Juno Films, which is taking all North American rights and English-speaking territories. The pic, which made its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, will open April 3 at the Quad Cinema in New York followed by a national rollout.

Starring Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Joey King and Little Women‘s Abby Quinn, Radium Girls follows teen sisters who dream of Hollywood and Egyptian pyramids as they paint luminous watch dials at the American Radium factory in New Jersey. When Jo (Quinn) loses a tooth, Bessie’s (King) world is turned upside down as a mystery slowly unravels. She discovers a corporate cover-up and, in a radical coming-of-age story, Bessie and the Radium Girls decide to take on American Radium. The national sensation following the case of the Radium Girls ultimately led to significant...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has wrapped for 2020, concluding a slate that featured more than 120 world and American premieres, panels, tributes, and education programs. The festival has announced its award winners for the 35th edition, including the Audience Award, which went to Richard Hobert’s “The Birdcatcher’s Son.”

The films were chosen by jury members Jason Baffa, Max Barbakow, Lisa Black, Alex Carter, Geoff Green, Paul Kurta, Perry Lang, Artie Schmidt, Rita Taggart, Diego Tinoco, John Williams, and Anthony and Arnette Zerbe.

Among those who received tributes and honors in their respective categories were Renée Zellweger (American Riviera Award), Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver (Outstanding Performers of the Year Award), Laura Dern (Cinema Vanguard Award), Brad Pitt (Maltin Modern Master Award), along with the winners of the Virtuosos Award: Awkwafina, Taron Egerton, Cynthia Erivo, Beanie Feldstein, Aldis Hodge, George MacKay, Florence Pugh, and Taylor Russell.

Other notable events included...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Sbiff) announced on Saturday the winners of the 35th edition of the festival, which featured 47 world premieres and 71 U.S. premieres from 50 countries.

The festival’s top award, the audience choice award, went to Richard Hobert’s “The Birdcatcher’s Son.”

The winners were chosen by a jury consisting of Jason Baffa, Max Barbakow, Lisa Black, Alex Carter, Geoff Green, Paul Kurta, Perry Lang, Artie Schmidt, Rita Taggart, Diego Tinoco, John Williams, and Anthony & Arnette Zerbe.

“It’s been a wonderful 35 years celebrating international cinema as well as our local roots. We are grateful for all of the staff, volunteers, audiences and filmmakers that were able to join us at Sbiff to come together as a community to celebrate over 200 films – forge a sense of community and love that defies boundary,” Sbiff Executive Director Roger Durling.

In addition to the winners of the 35th festival,...

WFF19 attracted a total of 12,339 attendees across our programming including 6,450 film-screening attendees and 2,180 special event attendees. On the Industry side, the Content Summit welcomed 2,655 attendees, 116 talent program attendees and 938 delegates.

The Whistler Film Festival’s Audience Award sponsored by Fisherman’s Friend went to the North American premiere of LIBERTÉ: A Call To Spy, an exciting true story about female spies during WWII. The film is an American title shot partly in Budapest and was produced, written by and stars Sarah Megan Thomas and was directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher. The Wff Audience Award runner-up was The Cuban directed by Sergio Navarretta, which had its world premiere at the festival. The Wff Audience Award for Most Popular Canadian Film went to Antigone, Canada’s official submission in this year’s international film Oscars category. Directed by Sophie Deraspe, the film won four of the five Borsos Competition Awards including Best Canadian Feature.