Independent Films

Filmmaker Magazine

• Concrete, Bikini Kill and Bad Grandpas: 11 Films to Catch at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival January 22, 2026
  This year’s Sundance Film Festival promises a somewhat elegiac atmosphere. For starters, this is the last time the festival will take place in snowy Park City, Utah, its home since 1981. (Next year, Sundance will take up residence in similarly snowy Boulder, Colorado.) Adding to the mournful vibe is the still fresh loss of Robert […]
  Natalia Keogan
• What Powered Sinners‘ Record-Breaking Haul of Oscar Nominations January 22, 2026
  One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is that the awards shows start and end at reasonable hours. The trade-off is that the Oscar nominations are announced at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am Pacific Time (timed so that the east coast-based morning shows can carry the news), and I’m already thinking […]
  Tyler Coates
• Chicken & Egg Films Announces 2026 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantees and Relocation of Filmmaker Retreats to Canada January 21, 2026
  Chicken & Egg Films, the Brooklyn-based organization that champions women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers with funding, mentorship, and access, announces today the grantees of its 2026 (Egg)celerator Lab. Nine feature documentary film projects, all helmed or co-helmed by first- or second-time directors, will receive one year of professional mentorship and a $40,000 production grant. Coinciding […]
  Natalia Keogan
• “…As Long as You’re Telling the Truth”: Jordan Lage, Back To One, Episode 376 January 20, 2026
  Jordan Lage is an award-winning actor, writer, director and founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company, which celebrates its 41st anniversary this year. He studied acting at New York University under the tutelage of playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy and then taught acting and playwriting at the Atlantic Theater Acting School for […]
  Peter Rinaldi
• “We Just Love This Beautiful Outsider Art Form”: Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley on Home Haunts and “Room Temperature” January 16, 2026
  Making an appearance on DC’s, the blog of author Dennis Cooper, each October are haunted houses and their amateur offspring, “home haunts,” the Halloween home makeovers that with varying degrees of imagination turn suburban dwellings into highly personal expressions of horror . For Cooper, the acclaimed author of works such as Closer, Frisk, God, Jr., […]
  Scott Macaulay
• Why Hedda, Roofman, and F1 Could Still Crash the Oscar Party January 16, 2026
  Today is the last day of Oscar nominations voting, which brings an end to “phase one” of campaigning. With the noms being announced next Thursday, January 22—at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. PT—there will be barely enough time to relax before things kick into full gear once again. Now, I can’t imagine being an […]
  Tyler Coates
• Herzog and Jarecki Anchor the 2026 Big Sky Documentary Film Fest January 14, 2026
  The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announces the lineup for its 23rd annual incarnation today, and Filmmaker has an exclusive early look at the 46 features and 69 short and mini docs slated for inclusion. Montana’s largest annual cinematic event will roar back to life in Missoula from February 13 through 22, and this year’s […]
  Mike Hogan
• “Real True Empowerment Is Your Own Prep”: Carolyn Michelle, Back To One, Episode 375 January 13, 2026
  Carolyn Michelle is an actress, producer, educator, and entrepreneur. Her credits include: Brilliant Minds, And Just Like That, The Chi, Russian Doll, House of Cards, and the role of Vanessa, opposite Kathleen Chalfant’s Ruth, in Sarah Friedland’s celebrated indie film Familiar Touch. On this episode, she talks about her deep roots with that project, and […]
  Peter Rinaldi
• The Golden Globes Gave Three Serious Films a Big Oscar Boost January 12, 2026
  If awards season is useful for anything, it’s to provide a distraction. Bombarded as we are by bleak headlines, there’s something soothing about watching a lot of very famous people collect trophies and crack jokes for a few hours. At the 83rd Annual Golden Globes, host Nikki Glaser set the tone for a fun celebration. […]
  Tyler Coates
• Reflections on Independent Film and 33 Years of Filmmaker January 9, 2026
  In 2017, for the 25th anniversary of Filmmaker, we commissioned a radical redesign and also initiated a new upfront section: Reflections. For four issues we published pieces looking back at the history of the magazine as well as ones that meditated anew on its enduring concerns, such as struggles of early career filmmakers, the changing […]
  Scott Macaulay