Let’s fest!
Apr. 27 — Happy Friday! If you had the pleasure of attending the Atlanta Film Festival’s opening movie last night, I hope you enjoyed David Fortune’s wonderful film “Color Book.” I published an interview with David this week, and he was an absolute gem to speak with – more on that down below. In other festival news, if you’re having trouble deciding what to see during the fest, I’ve got some recommendations to share. Keep on scrolling to check those out.
Without further ado … Action!
📉 A new report from The Ringer found that while diversity in front of the camera has increased in the years since the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, diversity among film crews has not made the same strides.
🇪🇺 The European Film Festival of Atlanta has announced the dates for its fourth iteration. It will run at the Tara and Plaza Theatres from May 7-10.
✊ In celebration of Malcolm X’s birthday, Soul Cinema Sundays will be screening Spike Lee’s film “Malcolm X” at the Plaza Theatre on May 18.
🗳️ At long last, Academy members will now be required to watch Oscar-nominated films before they are allowed to vote. Seems self-explanatory, I know, but apparently, it’s not.
🇫🇷 The Cannes Film Festival has announced additional films for its 2025 lineup, including Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love” and Kristen Stewart’s feature directorial debut “The Chronology of Water.”
This week’s newsletter is an Atlanta Film Festival extravaganza, with movie reviews and interviews alike. Plus, a review of the Korean film “A Normal Family,” a new episode of my podcast Crash Zoom, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
🐾 The Midtown Mutt Gala returns Sun., May 4! Inspired by the Met Gala, enjoy food, music, vendors, and costumed dogs on the red carpet. Free to watch; small fee to enter your pup (register by May 1). Details here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Check out these seven movies at the Atlanta Film Festival
🇲🇽 The Atlanta Film Festival is officially in full swing. With more than 130 films to choose from, everyone’s got some difficult decisions to make. Let me try to make the task a little easier.
Full disclosure: I have not been able to catch all of the films playing at this year’s festival ahead of time (a Herculean task I couldn’t have achieved even if I had the free time), but I was able to watch a good number of screeners for some great films. I’ll be attending the festival and movie-hopping all this weekend into next week to catch up on what I’ve missed, and when the end of the festival rolls around I’ll be back with my favorite selections.
👶 Until then, here are seven movies to check out at this year’s festival.
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Filmmaker David Fortune talks bringing ‘Color Book’ home to Atlanta
⚾ How hard can it be to get to a baseball game? In David Fortune’s “Color Book,” the answer is: very.
“Color Book” tells the story of Lucky (Will Catlett), a single father dealing with the recent death of his wife and trying to raise his son, Mason (Jeremiah Daniels), who has Down syndrome. When Lucky decides to take Mason to his first Atlanta Braves game, their simple trip to the ballpark turns into an expansive trek across the city, hoping to make it to the game on time.
As exciting as that premise may sound, “Color Book” is far more intimate than epic. The film had its first screening at the Atlanta Film Festival yesterday, but will play again on May 4. I recently spoke with Fortune about the making of the film and how it feels to bring it home.
🚇 Check out that conversation here.
“At See” offers a new way to experience the world
😎 “In film school, they always tell you, show don’t tell,” said filmmaker Serena Dykman. But with her last few projects, Dykman has been rethinking that entire concept.
Her new short film “At See” follows a group of blind travelers aboard a cruise accompanied by their guide dogs. The film will play at this year’s Atlanta Film Festival on April 27.
While Dykman describes her filmography as eclectic, her recent work has had a single theme in common: guide dogs. She lives with a medical alert dog herself, so she knows the basic ins and outs of owning a service animal. But diving into the world of guide dogs took Dykman on a brand new journey.
🦮 Read my interview with Dykman here.
‘A Normal Family’ and a brotherly war for righteousness
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🏎️ In “A Normal Family,” it’s easy to read that title as sarcasm. After all, what happens to the family – made up of two smaller families led by brothers Jae-wan (Sul Kyung-gu) and Jae-gyu (Jang Dong-gun) – at the center of Hur Jin-ho’s sharp, darkly funny new drama (based on the 2009 novel “The Dinner”) is anything but ordinary.
But, the petty grievances that dictate their actions? The lightly sneering high-mindedness with which certain members view themselves? That’s all too familiar.
Who holds the moral high ground is the central tension at the heart of “A Normal Family.” But when the two brothers’ children find themselves wrapped up in a horrible, violent crime, both families learn that everyone has a line they will or won’t cross, and “A Normal Family” becomes an upper middle class parable about how thin the veneer of respectability and morality truly is.
👪 Click here to read my full review.
Crash Zoom: ‘Sinners’ success and Zaslav’s media mogul aspirations
🧛 Welcome to Crash Zoom, a podcast where we take a deep dive into film and entertainment industry news!
Each week, join me and my cohost, indie filmmaker Aaron Strand, as we explore how things happening at the highest level trickle down and affect the independent artist. This week, we talk about why “Sinners” is freaking out every industry executive, discuss Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav’s media mogul aspirations, and more.
📽️ Check out the latest episode here!
🐾 The Midtown Mutt Gala returns Sun., May 4! Inspired by the Met Gala, enjoy food, music, vendors, and costumed dogs on the red carpet. Free to watch; small fee to enter your pup (register by May 1). Details here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Lights, Camera, Action!
🍄 If you aren’t caught up on season two of “The Last of Us,” you might want to give this one a skip until you are – HUGE spoilers ahead! But if you’re caught up (or you don’t watch and don’t care), this Katie Heaney profile of Kaitlyn Dever is a real tearjerker. The profile chronicles Dever’s time playing Abby Anderson, the grief-stricken villain of season two, while also dealing with her mother’s recent death in real life. Take a read here.
⛪ “Conclave” might have come out last year, but with Pope Francis’ death, it feels more relevant than ever. If you want to give the film a rewatch to refresh yourself on what’s coming soon over at the Vatican, you might also want to read this NPR article that details just how accurate the movie was about the papal election process.
🎬 This season of the podcast You Must Remember This has finally come to an end with a two-part series on the later works of director John Huston. If you’re a longtime reader of this newsletter, you know I’m obsessed with Karina Longworth and her work. These episodes are a wonderful finale to a great season. Take a listen to part one here, and part two here.
