Independent Films

Filmmaker Magazine

• With The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal Clumsily Exhumes 200 Years of Zombie Girls March 18, 2026
  Whether Doctor Frankenstein likes it or not, the zombie story has always belonged to women. Ever since teenaged political radical Mary Shelley (daughter of feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft) poured her maternal anguish into the party game ghost story that eventually became Frankenstein, this cultural lodestar has come heavy with feminine, not to mention feminist, valences. […]
  Payton McCarty-Simas
• “We’re Becoming More and More Disconnected as a Society”: Alex Prager on DreamQuil March 17, 2026
  These are overwhelming times, and disappointment is everywhere. Wouldn’t it be nice to just get away from it all with a nifty procedure and an automated assistant to take care of things? Tempting as the fantasy sounds, Alex Prager’s sci-fi drama DreamQuil offers a counterpoint: how much humanity will we stand to lose in the […]
  Monica Castillo
• One Battle After Another Wins Big, Sinners Makes History at the 2026 Oscars March 16, 2026
  It only took 10 movies, but Paul Thomas Anderson is now, finally, an Oscar winner—a three-time winner in one night no less, with One Battle After Another picking up a total of six Academy Awards including best picture, director, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, editing, and casting.  Anderson accepted the top prize with producer Sara Murphy. […]
  Tyler Coates
• “Fungi Dictated the Structure of the Movie”: Otilia Portillo Padua on Daughters of the Forest March 13, 2026
  For generations, Indigenous women in Mexico have understood the vast power of mushrooms—medicinal, culinary, spiritual, toxic. Their knowledge has been calibrated and passed down matrilineal channels, not unlike the mycelial network that connects individual mushrooms to one another underneath rich soil.  In Daughters of the Forest, Mexican filmmaker Otilia Portillo Padua documents two specific women, […]
  Natalia Keogan
• “Billy Could Have Been My Own Brother”: Rachel Mason on Her SXSW Doc My Brother’s Killer March 13, 2026
  Rachel Mason’s gripping true crime doc My Brother’s Killer is, first and foremost, a love letter. My Brother’s Killer emerged, in part, from Rachel Mason’s previous documentary Circus of Books, named after her parents’ West Hollywood gay porn bookstore, where she grew up enamored by the men who frequented it. Her latest film is also […]
  Ritesh Mehta
• A Guide to SXSW 2026, From Penis Enlargements to Pagan Mall Employees March 12, 2026
  Filmmaker is heading to the 40th edition of SXSW, where myself and several talented contributors will be on the ground filing interviews and dispatches from various corners of Austin’s city limits. This year’s lineup is massive—with 119 feature films alone—and we happily assume the daunting role of covering buzzy world premieres and hidden gems alike.  […]
  Natalia Keogan
• Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Monster Mash March 9, 2026
  In the opening beats of The Bride!, the second feature written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the ghost of Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) mutters to herself from some dark corner of the subconscious ether. She rasps about the sequel to her most iconic work, Frankenstein, that she never got to write before she died in […]
  Greta Rainbow
• ESG, Ross McElwee, and Other Exciting Artists Take Over True/False 2026 March 5, 2026
  The Columbia, Missouri-based True/False Film Festival kicks off its 23rd edition, one that boasts a particularly exciting lineup of non-fiction films, musical performances, and coinciding art installations.  Running from March 5–8, the theme for the 2026 program is “You Are Here,” chosen by visiting artistic director Yance Ford. The director of acclaimed docs Strong Island […]
  Natalia Keogan
• “A Trippy, Psychedelic Musical Odyssey”: Josef Gatti on Phenomena March 5, 2026
  “I found a way to look into the universe,” says non-fiction Australian filmmaker Josef Gatti in his feature debut Phenomena. Paradoxically, it turns out that the wonders of the universe are perceptible right here on Earth—so long as one has a laissez-faire approach to homemade (and often dangerous) science experiments and access to high-tech camera […]
  Natalia Keogan
• How The Secret Agent Became Brazil’s Reluctant Political Rorschach Test March 4, 2026
  Thursday, March 5 marks the voting deadline for Oscar voters. For The Secret Agent, it’s the end of a long road. The Brazilian Oscar contender is a contender in four major categories, including Best Picture, a stunning outcome for the unique period drama set in the days of Brazil’s military dictatorship.  Meanwhile, another voting deadline […]
  Eric Kohn