A struggling novelist throws a dinner party to announce his acceptance into a prestigious writer's program, but his plans are soon overshadowed by a more pressing matter. Joe Stankus directs “Good News,” an elegantly constructed exploration of a relationship between two men dealing with varying levels of accomplishment, and intimate power dynamic shifts. Evan is lying in bed struggling to work on his novel when a new email pops up that he’s been accepted to a writers workshop in New Hampshire. He quickly throws together a dinner party to announce the good news to his partner, Dan, but his night of celebration hits a snag with an unforeseen turn of events. Stankus finds a delicate tonal balance, serious in its depiction of the fragile human psyche but also darkly funny. The film sets up expectations, goes in another direction, and then lingers in the aftermath, an engrossing scenario that burrows deep into the heads of its characters. -KA. Director: Joe Stankus. Cast: Ben Fisher, Robert Spence, Mariola Figueroa, Logan Cunningham. DP: Rikki Porter. Editor: Jasmine Thimothe. Producer: Richard Levin. Production Designer: Kelsey Hannah Walsh.
When Nina fails to meet her goal in the final week of weight loss camp, she considers drastic alternatives. “Bye Bye Body,” directed by Charlotte Benbeniste, is a tender snapshot about body image and self-esteem delivered with wonderfully natural performances and lovely 35mm images. At a weigh-in...
A young woman decides to carry on the family tradition of attending the county fair, this time with her dead parents. Kate Jean Hollowell directs and stars in “Are They Smiling?” a comedy about an unusual grieving process: spending the day alone at a fair carrying the ashes of your dearly departe...
