Kaufman’s Game is the award-winning, full-length drama by first time Writer/Directer Helier Bissell-Thomas. The film stars Jye Frasca as Stanley, an unemployed man with a passion for boxing, who becomes drawn into the violent operations of a powerful organization. The Independent’s editor caught up with Bissell-Thomas to discuss the film’s production and its influences.
The Independent’s editor speaks with Ricardo Bouyett, filmmaker, writer, and photographer of the new short No Love For Fuckboys. The film, which won “Best Experimental Short” at the Short To The Point International Film Festival, is an exploration—at once personal and more broadly social—of the intricacies of navigating dating, friendship, love, and desire after the trauma of sexual assault.
The Independent catches up with Yvonne Michelle Shirley, creator of the new documentary, Miasia: The Nature of Experience. The film, which featured at BlackStar Film Festival, chronicles the life of Brooklyn teenager Miasia Clark as she navigates her everyday world and prepares to present at the first ever Black Girl Movement National Conference. Miasia is joined in this effort by members of her activist group, Girls for Gender Equity.
Mike Sullivan reviews Liyana, a new documentary directed by Aaron and Amanda Kopp (former 10-to-watch series winners!) The film, which employs stunning animation, tells the story of five orphaned children living and dreaming in Swaziland. Liyana premiered at the LA Film Festival in June, where it won “Best Documentary.”
The Independent speaks with gough, a screen writer, director, and producer based in Australia. gough, who is legally blind, runs the successful company Beernuts Productions, which has produced a variety of documentaries, shorts, and other media content. Here gough reflects on how his disability informs his work and comedy.
Writer, Director, and Producer Harry Assouline talks with The Independent about his award-winning, sci-fi thriller New York 2150. The film stars Kalen J. Hall as intergalactic bounty hunter Jaydon Jaxon, who partners with Mac Cole (Marcus Brandon) to apprehend a psycho-killer. Together the two face a variety of haunts, surreal and actual, in the futuristic terror-world of New Manhattan.
Critic Evan Crean interviews Comedian Kumail Nanjiani on his new romantic comedy The Big Sick.
Justin Chon makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017 list with Gook, a black-and-white dramedy set during the 1992 L.A. Riots. Chon wrote, directed, and stars in the award-winning film.
Actor, writer, and musician Zoe Lister-Jones makes her directorial debut with the dramedy Band Aid. The Independent’s Evan Crean caught up with Lister-Jones about the film’s exploration of a long term relationship–its deep wounds and power dynamics–her decision to hire an all-female crew for Band Aid, and how Jewish identity enters into her art.