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Summer’s over. Looks like it’s time to get back to work. And by work, we mean some serious movie watching. Luckily September doesn’t disappoint. We have everything from the highly-anticipated Megaopolis, the self-funded opus from Francis Ford Coppola, to the star-studded Netflix affair His Three Daughters, to the return of the king of tight, gnarly thrillers, Jeremy Saulnier, with his new one, Rebel Ridge. Oh, and a doc about psychics from a Fast-Track alum, with Lana Wilson’s Look Into My Eyes. Looks like the fall is shaping up to be quite the movie season. Now get out there and start watching!

A Different Man

When You Can Watch: September 20

Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)

Director: Aaron Schimberg

Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson

Why We’re Excited: Yet another selection in this month’s Film Independent Presents series, writer-director Schimberg’s latest offering is...

Zia Anger is haunted by a long-abandoned film project in her feature directorial debut “My First Film.” A filmmaker, performance artist, and celebrated director of music videos for the likes of Beach House, Angel Olsen, Mitski, and Zola Jesus, Anger fuses ideas from that unrealized project with echoes of a touring stage piece she started in 2018 for this Mubi release, out at the end of August. Odessa Young stands in for Anger as the young filmmaker Vita, who 15 years before started making a film about a young woman adrift after becoming pregnant. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the film below.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Vita (Odessa Young) revisits her first chaotic attempt at filmmaking — a semi-autobiographical feature made 15 years prior about a young woman who decides to leave home after becoming pregnant. Blending past with present, reality with fiction, Zia Anger’s ‘debut’ film navigates the tumultuous intersection...

A struggling young journalist returns to the hometown he abandoned long ago with hopes of digging up a story about the local psychiatric facility, what he finds instead is a past that refuses to rest in Matthew Fifer’s psychological thriller, Haze. Joe (Cole Doman) is a man adrift. Recently having left rehab and without a steady job, he does the only thing he can, he moves back in with his estranged father at the family home in Long Island. There is a problem though, his father isn’t there, he went off to work in Florida, leaving Joe at the house alone with his thoughts and little to occupy himself. When he pitches a story about the long-shuttered psyche facility to his editor he’s offered $300...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The Hudson Film Festival, now in its second year in the quaint upstate New York town, has revealed the lineup for its 2024 edition.

IndieWire exclusively announces Hudson’s program for its second year, running August 9-11, with all-access passes now on sale. Programming includes opening night feature “The Supremes At Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” (Searchlight Pictures on Hulu), Sundance award-winning documentary “Daughters” (Netflix), “My First Film” (Mubi) from Zia Anger, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary “A New Kind of Wilderness,” a 15th-anniversary free screening of Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and Cannes award-winner “The Taste of Things” as an international spotlight feature.

Based on the 2013 New York Times bestselling novel, writer/director Tina Mabry’s “The Supremes At Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” stars Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Emmy nominee Sanaa Lathan, and Emmy winner Uzo Aduba as three women whose friendship withstands the test of time through the decades dating back to the 1960s.

Shudder have announced that they will premiere their queer, psychological thriller, Haze, at New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival, NewFest. It marks another addition to the growing number of queer genre films that festivals like NewFest can add to their programming to draw in genre fans who are members of the LGBTQ community and we're here for it. A young man returns home after rehab and uncovers the secrets of his town's abandoned psychiatric center. Cole Doman, Brian J. Smith, David Pittu, and Annie Golden star in a film written and directed by Matthew Fifer. Shudder released the first look still today and will stream Haze this Fall. Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural announced today that Haze (formerly known...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

NewFest, a New York LGBTQ+ film and media organization, revealed the full lineup for their fourth annual NewFest Pride summer film series. NewFest’s five-day festival kicks off LGBTQ+ Pride Month from May 30 – June 3, 2024, in-person in New York and streaming throughout the United States, and will feature a mix of premieres and conversations, virtual screenings, and social events. The announcement came today from NewFest’s Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy.

“It’s no accident that this year’s NewFest Pride starts on May 30; it’s part of our not-so-secret mission to celebrate Pride 365 days a year,” said NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff. “We can’t wait to provide a space for the community to come together for bold new films and series, thought-provoking conversations, and joyful social gatherings. This moment calls for celebration and resistance, and we intend to offer opportunities for both in equal measure.

Exclusive: Apple TV+ has rounded out the cast for Jessica Chastain-led The Savant, its eight-episode limited series from writer/executive producer/showrunner Melissa James Gibson, Fifth Season and Anonymous Content.

Jordana Spiro (Ozark), Trinity Lee Shirley (Da Bottomz), newcomer Toussaint Francois Battiste (Waiting for Godot), Cole Doman (Mutt), Hannah Gross (The Adults), David Wilson Barnes (George & Tammy), Michael Mosley (The Sinner) and Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession) join previously announced Chastain, Nnamdi Asomugha and James Badge Dale, who recurs.

Chastain, who also executive produces, plays a top-secret investigator known as the Savant, who infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent men in the country. Asomugha plays her husband.

Inspired by a true story published by Cosmopolitan, the storyline and additional character details are being kept under wraps.

Chastain and Kelly Carmichael exec produce through her Freckle Films banner. James Gibson exec produces, with Matthew Heineman directing and exec producing.

Re-releases reliably dot the theatrical calendar and this week have a standout. Oldboy, the 2004 Cannes prize-winner, re-released by Neon on its 20th anniversary restored and remastered, grossed $235k on Wednesday and $150k Thursday — for a total cume $385k on 250 screens heading into the weekend.

San Francisco, NYC and LA, led by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, are the top-performing cities so far for Park Chan-wook’s classic film — the first screening in U.S. theaters since its original North American release in 2005.

Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, is released but must find his captor in five days. The critically acclaimed film is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and followed by Lady Vengeance (2005). Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $15 million worldwide, and saw...

“Don’t you want to be, like, a full man?” The ditzy, coke-addled Jenny (Sarah Hermann) isn’t being figurative when she asks that question to Feña (Lio Mehiel), a trans man, in Mutt, writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s feature debut. She wants to know whether or not Feña has a penis. “I don’t need a dick for that,” Feña answers.

The didactic cadence of that exchange is the order of the day throughout this film, in which ignorant dolts are prone to sticking their feet in their mouths, followed by Feña responding with an edifying retort. Lungulov-Klotz’s screenplay evinces an obvious sincerity, aiming to examine the difficulties of post-transition experience, but these admirable ambitions are significantly limited by the writing’s often literal-minded dramatizing of its central concerns.

Part of what’s peculiar about Mutt is how it unfolds as if trans discourse hasn’t become widespread in the past decade,...

Having earned Sundance’s first Best Actor award for a trans performer, Lío Mehiel, Mutt arrives with a bit of buzz more historic than critical. Following a festival run that also included Berlinale and New Directros/New Films, Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s feature debut will open next month from Strand Releasing, ahead of which is a first trailer briefly encapsulating the film’s view of trans experience.

While recognizing its necessary social impacts we were somewhat mixed on the film’s overall form. Writing out of Sundance, Dan Mecca said in his review, “This is the feature debut for Lungulov-Klotz, and in some moments a preciousness shows. The saying ‘kill your darlings’ might come to mind: confessional dialogue that’s telling us what’s already been shown, lingering close-ups that run out of steam before we cut away. Yet there is both an honesty and urgency to what’s onscreen that proves essential.

"Don't get caught up in these momentary feelings." Strand Releasing has unveiled an official trailer for an acclaimed indie drama titled Mutt, marking the feature directorial debut of the NYC-based filmmaker Vuk Lunglov-Koltz. This initially premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to many positive reviews, and it'll get a small theatrical release starting in August. Within the space of 24 hours, Feña is swept through the extremes of human emotion when people who seemed to disappear when he transitioned are suddenly back in his life. Starring Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, and Alejandro Goic. Vuk Lunglov-Koltz's directorial debut is "at once precise in its specificity and wholly relatable in its grand humanity. A "visceral performance by Mehiel embodies inbetweenness in many forms. Mutt earns its most difficult discussions through its tenderness towards each character's struggle with the complexity of trans life, Latinx life in America, and of human life at large.

Sundance breakout queer coming-of-age film “Mutt” is finally unleashed stateside. Writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s debut film stars Lío Mehiel as a young trans man named Feña, and the film won Mehiel a Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Strand releases the film in the U.S. this summer, beginning at New York’s Film Forum, and IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer premiere below.

“Mutt” follows Feña across his romances, friendships, and family over the course of one hectic day in New York City, where three people from Feña’s past are thrust back into his life. Having lost touch since transitioning from female to male, he navigates the new dynamics of old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges of living life in between. Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, and Alejandro Goic also star.

“Mutt” details Lungulov-Klotz’s own personal experience growing up in New York City as...

Just two minutes into trans filmmaker Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s feature debut, Mutt, viewers bear witness to how exposed the main character Feña is to others’ projections about his identity. In the scene, Feña’s father refers to him by his birth name, Fernanda, when he calls and questions how he’ll be able to recognize him at the airport because of his recent transition; moments later, a passerby remarks “Nice Spanglish” after overhearing the call. Yet in situations where such othering has often led to stereotypical queer archetyping onscreen, Feña’s terse rebuttals immediately demonstrate he’s no downtrodden trans trope.

“On the page, Feña was written as a lot more caustic and prickly,” says transmasculine actor and artist Lío Mehiel, who portrays Feña in the film (out Aug. 18) about a hellish day in New York City where everything seems to go wrong. “I’m naturally a pretty soft and...

Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Sundance award-winning trans drama “Mutt” in the run up to its screening on closing night of New Directors/New Films in New York.

Penned and directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, “Mutt” world premiered at Sundance where it won a Special Jury Acting Award for Lio Mehiel. It went on to have its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Described as an emotional drama overlapping past, present and future, “Mutt” follows Feña, a young trans man bustling through life in New York City. Over the course of a single hectic day, Feña is swept through the extremes of human emotion, when people who seemed to have disappeared when he transitioned are suddenly back in his life. He unexpectedly reconnects with an estranged ex-boyfriend (Cole Doman), is suddenly saddled with his wayward little sister (MiMi Ryder), and nervously awaits their father (Alejandro Goic...

Taking place between March 29 and April 9 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center, the 52nd edition of New Directors/New Films will commence with Savanah Leaf’s superb debut (and Sundance stand-out) Earth Mama, close with Vuk Lungolov-Klotz’s Mutt (winner of Best Actor at Sundance), and in-between showcase films from 41 directors––27 features, 11 shorts, and (I just counted) most continents.

So says La Frances Hui, Curator at MoMA’s Department of Film and Nd/Nf’s Co-chair: “This geographically diverse lineup brings together new directors from all over the world presenting works that make bold and creative statements on everything from identity and family to political repression and postcolonial discourse. The power of cinema to inspire imagination and explore perspectives is evident in the wide range of styles, ideas, and voices in the selection.”

See the full lineup below, including links to our reviews where available,...

A compelling character-based drama that reveals the interior life of a young trans man over roughly 24 hours in New York City, “Mutt” follows Feña (Lío Mehiel) as he tries to navigate a series of events that would be stressful for anyone. Piling on setbacks that specifically challenge someone still working out how to reintroduce himself to old friends and family members, writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz — who is also trans — makes audiences acutely conscious of Feña’s emotional state at every turn. “Mutt,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, sees the first-time helmer creatively using the medium to illustrate how small incidents can chip away at a trans person’s self-confidence and the strength it takes to stay true to that identity.

Feña’s day starts simply enough, focused on trying to borrow a car to pick up his Chilean father (Alejandro Goic) from the airport. Before long,...

In the film Mutt, we follow Feña (Lio Mehiel), a young trans man, as he navigates high school and relationships in New York City. One such relationship is with his ex-boyfriend, John (Cole Doman).

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Doman revealed the scene that was most meaningful to shoot.

“There’s a scene where we are in a laundromat after our night and it’s pouring rain and we run into the laundromat and we’re soaking wet and Feña wants to change and I have a dry shirt in my bag and Feña is shy about showing me his top surgery,” he said. “And to me it’s like shocking cause I’ve seen this body for years and years and years and so there’s an almost grieving that John has over this body that he once loved but also the support and love for the body...

“Mutt,” the Sundance prize-winning feature debut of New York-based filmmaker Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, has been boarded by Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever.

“Mutt,” which just won the Special Jury Award for actor Lío Mehiel (“WeCrashed”) at Sundance, will next play at the Berlin Film Festival in the Generation 14+ strand. CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights, while Best Friend Forever represents the rest of the world.

Lungulov-Klotz is a Chilean-Serbian filmmaker who previously participated in the Sundance Institute Labs, the Tribeca Film Institute, and the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Program. His award winning trans-themed short film “Still Liam” played at several festivals and was championed by queer filmmakers Ira Sachs and Silas Howard, who have both become mentors.

Described as an emotional drama overlapping past, present and future, “Mutt” follows Feña, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City. Over the course of a single hectic day,...

An eventful New York City day in the life of Feña, a recently transitioned trans man (Lio Mehiel, an artist and filmmaker), is depicted with honesty, tenderness and wit in this Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition entrant, a feature debut for Vuk Lungulov-Klotz.

Drawing on his own background as a child of Chilean and Serbian parents and his own experience of transition, Lungulov-Klotz adeptly distills a lot of complex thematic material around gender identity, queer lifestyles and ethnic intersectionality into one crisply folded package. The end result feels both authentic and accessible, and — thanks in part to the ensemble’s compelling performances, especially that of Mehiel — has potential to cross over from the arthouse/festival circuit and reach viewers further afield, especially through a streaming service.

In his mid-20s, Feña, whose birth name is Fernanda, has recently started using testosterone and had top surgery. So with his square jaw...

Although trans rights are now the subject of a simmering culture war in America and the U.K., that conflict is largely predicated on the increasing visibility of trans women at a time where self-id is controversially becoming the norm. Stories of trans men, however, tend to go under the radar, and this remarkable New York-set debut from Chilean-Serbian director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz goes some way to redressing that imbalance. Featuring a pitch-perfect performance from Puerto Rican/Greek actor Lío Mehiel, so far mostly known for the Apple show WeCrashed and a number of shorts, U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Mutt feels like an important but — for reasons about to be explained — perhaps interstitial film in the history of LGBTQ+ cinema, being fully cognizant of the fact that it is set and was made in a between-time that reflects the lead character’s existential sense of limbo.

Its strength is that...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Strand Releasing releases the film in select theaters on Friday, August 18.

Though queer and trans visibility does have its limits, there’s no denying that trans men and transmasculine people have traditionally been sidelined in the fight for trans representation. Through no fault of queer and trans storytellers, mainstream media and the culture at large only had so much space for trans stories it found understandable and digestible. Now, coming up on almost ten years after what Time Magazine dubbed “The Transgender Tipping Point,” film and television is finally starting to tell trans stories that trans viewers and queer community can recognize as their own. Though it started long ago, it’s getting a healthy boost from this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Debuting in U.S. Dramatic Competition, “Mutt” follows a day in the life of...

There is an energy to the opening minutes of Mutt, written and directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, that fades away and never really recovers. Early on we meet Feña (Lio Mehiel), a young trans man just learning that his ex John (Cole Doman) is back in New York City. To make matters worse, Feña is expected to retrieve his estranged father (Alejandro Goic) from the airport later in the day. To make matters even worse, Feña’s younger sister (MiMi Ryder) has run away from home and needs a place to crash. Unfortunately, the available tension in this driving plot is undercut by a languid pace and some inert sequences. So much happens in one day, yet there seems to be so much downtime anyway.

New York City is captured in a special way. We are shown corners of the metropolis that are quickly evaporating. The film’s aesthetic feels handmade and earnestly lovely.

Chronicling three encounters over the course of 24 hours, “Mutt” follows Feña, a transgender man finally comfortable in his own skin but still grappling with how his choice to live authentically recalibrated, for better or worse, his closest relationships.

Chilean-Serbian writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, who himself is trans, introduces Feña (the gender-neutral name he’s chosen) during a night out at a club where he spots John, his straight ex-boyfriend from before he transitioned. The two haven’t seen each other in over year. Once the initial awkwardness dissipates, the embers of their past romance are rekindled under the effects of alcohol and pent-up desire.

Presented in a boxy aspect ratio, the compositions that cinematographer Matthew Pothier dons on “Mutt” sway between those that convey a living-in-the-moment exuberance to get lost in (such as a brief slow-motion sequence in the rain) and other static, peculiarly angled shots that hold the conversations Feña...

The Sundance Institute has released its lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The annual festival will take place January 19-29 in Park City, Utah and will feature the “upcoming year’s most impactful independent stories.”

To kick off the event, IMDb will present “Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance” to raise funds for the organization, in addition to “Day One Features” which will show 11 features and a short film program. Over the course of the festival, the Institute will show 101 feature films which were selected from over 15,000 submissions, both from the U.S. and internationally. The films fall into a number of categories.

Tickets for the festival can be purchased here.

Here is the lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, as announced by The Sundance Institute:

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Presenting 12 world premieres of fiction feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers audiences a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival’s lineup of 101 feature films includes contributions from 23 countries. The Sundance Institute notes 28 of the festival’s slate comes from first-time feature filmmakers, and 94 of the films will be making their world premieres at the 2023 festival.

More than 4,0000 feature films were submitted for consideration.

“Maintaining an essential place for artists to express themselves, take risks, and for visionary stories to endure and entertain is distinctly Sundance,” said Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President. “The Festival continues to foster these values and connections through independent storytelling. We are honored to share the compelling selection of work at this year’s Festival from distinct perspectives and unique voices.”

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19-29th. 2022’s festival was canceled due to a surge in Covid-19, but barring any setbacks, the 2023 event will once again return to in-person screenings. Some films will also be available online...

Setting the stage for the year in cinema, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19-29, both in person in Utah as well as virtual viewings kicking off five days into the festival. Ahead of next month’s festivities, the festival has now unveiled its features lineup, which features 99 films.

Initial highlights of the lineup include Ira Sachs’ Passages, starring Franz Rogowski, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Ben Whishaw, William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth follow-up Eileen, Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, produced by Barry Jenkins, Bad Behaviour, the directorial debut of Jane Campion’s daughter Alice Englert, Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, Nicole Holofcener’s’ You Hurt My Feelings starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and more.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The 12 films in this section are all world premieres. All 12 will be available to stream online.

The Accidental Getaway Driver (Director and Screenwriter: Sing J. Lee,...

Exclusive: Mubi has recently wrapped production on Zia Anger’s feature film debut, My First Film, starring Odessa Young and Devon Ross.

The film is an adaptation of Anger’s critically acclaimed live cinema performance piece of the same name.

Related Story Park Chan-wook On How A Language Barrier Became "Central Element" Of His Film – Contenders L.A. Related Story Mubi Founder Efe Çakarel Talks Strategy Behind 'Decision To Leave' Acquisition – Toronto Industry Talk Related Story Canadian Director Patricia Rozema's Early Films Enjoy Revival As Kino Lorber, Mubi Take Rights To 4K Restorations

The movie is a deeply personal examination of cinema, body, truth and storytelling, centering on a young filmmaker (Odessa Young) as she recounts the story of struggling to make her first feature. Fact bleeds into fiction, and the past, present, and future converge to create a modern myth that redefines and expands the very act of creation.

Antonio Marziale's Starfuckers is now showing exclusively on Mubi in most countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, India, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada—starting November 10, 2022, in the series Brief Encounters.A “me-too” revenge story that’s also a musical soundscape drag performance. It was a pitch that triggered frowns. We knew Starfuckers was a risk, both terrifying and exciting, and there is no better place to create from.I learned in the early stages that in addition to writing the script, recording the lip-sync audio was an essential part of conveying the film’s tone and playfulness (and darkness). I found a sound mixer in LA named Dusty Moon, and recorded the voices for the lip-sync under the influence of a large iced coffee. With zero context of the script, Dusty handed me a mic as I yelled “You, You Didn’T Answer My Phone Calls” and “Are You Saying There’S Pedophiles,...

Exclusive: Andy Palmer has signed on to direct When They Come For Me as his next film, after wrapping production on the comedy The Re-Education of Molly Singer, starring Britt Robertson, Nico Santos, Jaime Pressley and Holland Roden.

The thriller from Citizen Skull Productions tells the story of six trapped locals during a lightning storm at Stonehenge that creates an electrical dome, where survival means fighting off ancient souls trying to take over their bodies.

German actors Werner Daehn and Adrienne McQueen are attached to star in the pic, which will shoot next year in Europe. Patricia Beauchamp, Alix Reeves and Adrienne McQueen wrote the script, with Liz Fuller, Matt Prater, Michael Roesch and Mark Myers set to produce for Citizen Skull.

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Exclusive: Writer-director Matthew Fifer (Strand Releasing’s Cicada) has wrapped production on Treatment, a new LGBT-themed psychological horror film produced for Shudder,...

One of the people who’s made long-form television drama arguably more interesting as a whole than its mainstream big-screen equivalent in recent years, Alan Ball has underlined his superior comfort with that format in the few theatrical features he’s made to date. His screenplay for “American Beauty,” which Sam Mendes directed, was brilliant but glib; as writer-director of 2007’s “Towelhead,” he couldn’t quite make the complicated agenda of Alicia Erian’s novel gel in two-hour form.

His first such enterprise since, the somewhat autobiographically inspired “Uncle Frank,” hits a more successful balance between ensemble seriocomedy, Big Issues and a somewhat pressure-cooked plot. Set in the early ’70s, it casts the reliably deft Paul Bettany as a gay man forced to confront the Southern family to whom he’s stayed closeted — though they’ve managed to communicate tacit disapproval of his being “different” anyhow. Well-cast and gracefully handled,...

2016 may not have been a great year for a multitude of reasons, but if you spent a substantial portion of it inside a theater — more precisely, an arthouse one — there was no shortage of marvelous cinematic experiences to be had. Out of the 200+ plus releases from this year I watched, I’m at least positive on over half, and, as such, it was near-impossible to narrow it down to a top ten, plus five honorable mentions.

Missing the cut are a number of great dramas (Moonlight, The Handmaiden, Elle, Things to Come, My Golden Days, Embrace of the Serpent, Mountains May Depart, Wiener-Dog) and documentaries (I Am Not Your Negro, Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience, Kate Plays Christine, O.J.: Made in America, One More Time with Feeling) that could’ve made the list in any other year.

When all is said and done, here are the 15 films that most resonated with me this year.

After discussing the year’s breakthrough directors, it’s time to traverse to the other side of the camera. Whether it’s their very first performances or a talent who’s been seen in a variety of features, yet, for whatever reason, hadn’t been allowed to command the screen, this year’s breakthrough actors are an eclectic group. Ranging from Hollywood offerings to minuscule independent dramas, check out our rundown.

Michael Barbieri and Theo Taplitz (Little Men)

Taking the concept of “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and conveying it through the economic realities of gentrification, Ira Sachs‘ Little Men is an affecting look at what happens when a friendship can fracture due to external pressures. Playing the two friends at the center, Michael Barbieri and Theo Taplitz honestly communicate the experience of an innocent relationship as they both explore what they want out of their teenage life. Barbieri, in particular,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Anthropoid (Sean Ellis)

Throw a dart at a map, and you can make a World War II movie set in whatever place you hit. Of course, pretty much any film about the Good War that doesn’t focus on the American (sometimes British) point of view of the conflict will probably seem “random” to the mainstream; one odd side-effect of Hollywood’s Oscar-baity love of the era. But there...

Read More: Exclusive: Wolfe Releasing Acquires Gay Coming-Of-Age Drama 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party' Indiewire's Springboard column profiles up-and-comers in the film industry worthy of your attention. For his first feature film role, Cole Doman took a big risk, signing on for Stephen Cone's audacious and honest "Henry Gamble's Birthday Party," a coming-of-age tale that doesn't back down from the trickier parts of growing up. As the eponymous Henry, Doman is tasked with portraying a young man on the verge who must come to terms with the impact his true self (and his true desires) has on everyone in his life (especially his evangelical preacher dad) during the course of a single day. Even more complicated? That single day also plays home to a wild and splashy pool party for birthday boy Henry. Talk about literally coming of age. Made over the course of just 18 days, the film...

Read More: Exclusive: Trailer For 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party' Screening At BAMcinemaFest And Maryland Film Festival Wolfe Releasing has acquired worldwide rights to writer-director Stephen Cone's "Henry Gamble's Birthday Party," starring Cole Doman, Pat Healy, Elizabeth Laidlaw, Nina Ganet, Francis Guinan and Kelly O’Sullivan. The film is set over 24 hours at a pool party in which the 17-year-old son of an evangelical preacher comes to terms with his own spiritual doubts and his adolescent sexuality. The deal was negotiated by Jim Stephens, President of Wolfe Releasing, and filmmaker Stephen Cone. "Nurturing the careers of talented filmmakers like Stephen Cone is one of our proudest achievements here at Wolfe Releasing," said Wolfe president Jim Stephens. "Having distributed his acclaimed debut feature, 'The Wise Kids,' in 2011, it is an enormous pleasure to bring Stephen's latest brilliant ensemble drama to a global audience. 'Henry...