Independent Films

Filmmaker Magazine

• 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
• For Once, the Oscars Are Unpredictable March 3, 2026
  As we come to the end of a long awards season—the Oscars are, miraculously, less than two weeks away, and final voting closes this Thursday—it’s remarkable that the race feels as up-in-the-air as it did many months ago, before the contenders began screening for pundits and voters. The sure-things have now become the maybes; there’s […]
  Tyler Coates
• The Sommelier’s Amulet: Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman on The Napa Boys February 27, 2026
  “The Napa Boys—you’ve always known them, and they’re back.” It’s the kind of premise you could imagine only a very tired person nodding along with, but the way The Napa Boys—the new comedy from comedians Nick Corirossi and Armen Weitzman, the former directing and both serving as co-writers—went from this vague concept to a wide […]
  Dylan Adamson
• “I’m a Reactor”: Stellan Skarsgård, Back To One, Episode 382 February 26, 2026
  Stellan Skarsgård is a celebrated Swedish actor whose career spans more than five decades across European and Hollywood cinema. He first gained attention in Scandinavia before becoming an international screen presence in films such as Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting. He went on to deliver acclaimed performances in movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dune, Dune Part […]
  Peter Rinaldi
• “I Wanted the Film to Have the Vignetted Existence of a Fable”: Sarmad Sultan Khoosat on his Genre-bending Berlinale Premiere Lali February 25, 2026
  A bullet grazes the shin of matriarch Sohni Ammi (Farazeh Syed) at her beloved son’s wedding. It was a celebratory bullet; shooting guns into the air replaces fireworks in this part of provincial Pakistan. Even though Sohni Ammi just needed stitches, the groom’s family blamed the freak mishap on the ongoing curse of Zeba, the […]
  Ritesh Mehta
• How a Controversial BAFTA Broadcast Scrambled the Oscar Race February 24, 2026
  The Academy Awards are still three weeks away, but this is a vital week for the contenders. We’re approaching the end of campaigning, with the final Oscar voting opening on Feb. 26 and closing March 5. In between those dates are two key precursors: the Producer’s Guild Awards on Feb. 28 and the Actor Awards […]
  Tyler Coates
• Scandalous Forms, Political Candor: Highlights from Berlinale’s 2026 Forum Documentaries February 24, 2026
  Before the Berlinale announced its official selection, it presented a remarkable retrospective entitled Lost in the 90s. Spanning wide geographies, with particular emphasis on narratives surrounding the Soviet collapse and the fall of the Berlin Wall, it brought together an eclectic cohort of documentaries and fiction—from Farocki and Godard to an underscreened Belarusian doc Orange […]
  Sonya Vseliubska
• The Passion of Amir Naderi February 23, 2026
  Amir Naderi is on the move. I connected with the Iranian filmmaker over WhatsApp on a chilly February morning, or at least morning where I am. He’s calling me from Rome, which is the second stop on his tour through Europe teaching classes on filmmaking. In every country he visits, he tells me, he shapes […]
  Nick Kouhi