Year after year, film festivals present us with the best movies. Whether we get to experience the latest project from one of the masters, or discover an emerging voice, the cream rises to the top at one fest or another.
Yes, Spielberg is back in the conversation after winning the Audience Award in Toronto with The Fabelmans. Todd Field returns with Tar. And Sam Mendes delivers another gorgeous gem with Empire of Light. But it’s more fulfilling to highlight some lesser-known projects of 2022, complemented by some fun facts.
Cha Cha Real Smooth
An aimless college grad who becomes a Bar Mitzvah hypeman and develops a relationship with a middle school mom.
The 2022 season got off to a great start at Sundance this year, with Cha Cha Real Smooth winning the Audience Award and earning the biggest acquisition deal.
Cha Cha was acquired by Apple TV+ for a whopping $15M. The film then went on to play both SXSW and Tribeca before its release in theaters and eventually became available on the Apple streaming platform.
Emergency
After a wild night of partying, three college students come home to find an unconscious woman in their apartment. Worried the police will suspect them, they fumble through the night trying not to draw suspicion.
Back in 2018, the short film called Emergency from Carey Williams and K. D. Dávila won jury prizes at both Sundance and SXSW.
Now presented as an Amazon Original, four years later, the feature version returned to both festivals. It’s currently available on Amazon Prime.
All that Breathes
As legions of birds fall from New Delhi’s darkening skies, and the city smolders with social unrest, two brothers race to save a casualty of the turbulent times: the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to their city's ecosystem.
This inspiring doc was the first to ever win Best Documentary prizes at both Sundance and Cannes. Combining a touching character study with cinema verite and spectacular cinematography, this film is likely to be in the Oscar race.
All That Breathes is still enjoying its limited theatrical release, continuing to rock a 100% RT score, as of this writing.
Aftersun
Years after their last vacation, Sophie reflects on the rare time spent with her loving, idealistic father, attempting to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.
After winning multiple awards on the Festival circuit, this is another film landing on many year-end top 10 lists. Amazingly, this is the first feature for Charlotte Wells.
Aftersun is still in limited theatrical release, available for preorder on AppleTV and Vudu before expanding to other platforms.
Decision to Leave
A detective investigates a man's death and evenually falls for the dead man's mysterious wife over the course of his sleuthing.
This smart, sexy and uniquely structured fest darling should benefit from awards consideration. The movie is South Korea’s International Feature submission to the Academy. Film aficionados will appreciate the work of Park Chan-wook, who took home the Best Director award at Cannes earlier this year.
The streaming platform Mubi acquired North American rights and the film is still doing a limited theatrical run before it enters the streaming universe.
This is just a sampling, a handful, with more to come throughout December. Hope you get a chance to see these gems, and feel free to share your thoughts.
The Mine was created by the iGEMS team. To subscribe to our iGEMSpro Weekly Report with industry updates and resources, click here. To receive our Weekly iGEMStv Guide, with newly curated picks to stream, click here.