News

Toni Collette is set to star alongside Odessa Young in The Prima Donna from writer/director Nathan Silver (Thirst Street, Uncertain Terms), a feature that is billed as a “delightfully twisted and darkly funny revenge thriller about dysfunctional family dynamics, the dangers of ambition, and the lengths we will go to make our mark on the world.”

The film will reunite Collette and Young who previously worked together on the HBO series The Staircase. Cornerstone is handling international sales and distribution and will commence sales at the European Film Market. CAA Media Finance and Anonymous Content are repping North America.

The Prima Donna sees Collette playing legendary opera diva Livia Angelli as she prepares to step into the role of a lifetime, just as her estranged daughter Mimi (Young) shows up at her doorstep, right out of rehab.

An aspiring opera singer herself, Mimi summons the courage to ask Livia...

Revenge thriller to be written and directed by Nathan Silver.

Toni Collette and Odessa Young are to star in Nathan Silver’s revenge thriller The Prima Donna, which Cornerstone Films will launch to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM).

The film will reunite Collette and Young, who previously worked together on the HBO series The Staircase, with shooting due to take place this summer in Rome.

The story, written by Silver with C. Mason Wells, centres on legendary opera diva Livia Angelli (Collette) who is preparing to step into the role of a lifetime just as her estranged...

Mafia Mamma and Knives Out star Toni Collette and Odessa Young have signed to co-star in writer and director Nathan Silver’s twisted revenge thriller The Prima Donna.

Collette and Young previously worked together on HBO’s award-winning series The Staircase.

The drama revolves around dysfunctional family dynamics, the dangers of ambition, and the lengths we will go to make our mark on the world.

Set in contemporary Rome, Collette will play a legendary opera diva who is about to step into the role of a lifetime just as her estranged daughter (Young) shows up at her doorstep, right out of rehab.

An aspiring opera singer herself, the daughter summons up the courage to ask to be her mother’s understudy. When her mother callously dismisses the suggestion, she snaps and starts mulling the ultimate revenge, igniting a cut-throat battle of wills.

Silver, whose previous credits include Thirst Street,...

Toni Collette and Odessa Young have joined writer and director Nathan Silver’s “The Prima Donna,” a twisted and darkly funny revenge thriller about two feuding opera singers and the lengths they’ll go for the limelight.

The film will reunite Collette and Young, who previously worked together on the acclaimed HBO series “The Staircase.” Cornerstone is handling international sales and distribution and will launch the project at this month’s European Film Market, which takes place alongside the Berlin Film Festival. CAA Media Finance and Anonymous Content are repping North America.

Set in Rome, the film is centered on legendary opera diva Livia Angelli (Collette), who prepares to step into the role of a lifetime, just as her estranged daughter Mimi (Young) shows up at her doorstep, right out of rehab.

An aspiring opera singer herself, Mimi summons the courage to ask Livia for the chance to be her understudy.

The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival has come and gone, but several of its highlights face an uncertain future. While the festival opened with an iTunes-ready documentary about Clive Davis and closed with back-to-back screenings of the first two “Godfather” films, many of the films in its competition sections arrived at the festival without distribution deals and ended it in the same state. Here’s at a few significant titles from this year’s edition that deserve to get picked up.

“Blame”

Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...

“It’s a job.” –Arthur Martinez I had two features as a cinematographer under my belt by late June of 2015, both close and comfortable collaborations with a single director: Joel Potrykus (Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook). It seems fitting that he made the phone call I received only a week and a half before Actor Martinez began principal photography. Joel eagerly informed me that two directors, Nathan Silver (Stinking Heaven, Uncertain Terms) and Mike Ott (Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock), had contacted him asking about my nearly immediate availability. I didn’t know them personally, but I certainly had been aware of their […]...

With Springtime in New York City comes the Tribeca Film Festival. Today, the festival announced the majority of their programming for the 2017 edition, taking place April 19 - 30, with the full lineups for Narrative and Documentary Competitons -- both U.S. and International -- Midnight, Viewpoints and Spotlight for Narrative and Docs, which features titles with more established talent and buzz. All in all, we've got 82 films from 28 countries on the docket thus far. Among the selected titles is The Endless, from Sa faves Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, about two adult brothers who return to the cult of their youth. We then have Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven director Nathan Silver makng his Tribeca competition debut with the Euro-flavored psychotic romance...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“Actor Martinez” had its North American premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Now, the comedy from acclaimed indie directors Mike Ott (“Lake Los Angeles”) and Nathan Silver (“Uncertain Terms,” “Stinking Heaven”) is set to debut in theaters March 10.

Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver’s ‘Actor Martinez’ Is A Fascinating And Experimental Meta-Movie — Tribeca Review

“Actor Martinez” focuses on Arthur Martinez (played by the actor of the same name), a Denver-area performer who hires two indie filmmakers (Silver and Ott) to make a film with him as the lead. But instead, the filmmakers design a completely different project based on Arthur’s real-life persona, even casting him a girlfriend, actress Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,” “The Invitation”), to try to draw out any remaining emotions from Arthur about his ex-wife.

Inspired by Kiarostami’s distinctive style of combining conventional narrative with documentary filmmaking, Silver and Ott deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Always Shine (Sophia Takal)

With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of...

It was another emotionally charged week for the Bordelons as Charley found out that Nova took her money, Ralph Angel asked for custody of Blue and Hollywood’s past came face to face with Vi on Queen Sugar Season 1 Episode 7.

Below, TV Fanatics Jasmine, Lee, and Christine O. are here to debate Nova’s theft, who should have custody of Blue and whether or not Hollywood deserves a second chance...

Was Charley correct to consider what Nova did stealing?

Jasmine: Yes. Not only did Nova not consult either one of her siblings about taking the money, but she didn't even tell them about it after she took it. Usually borrowing something is contingent on them knowing you're borrowing it. It also sucks that Nova hasn't exactly been putting any work into the farm herself. At the very least, don't take away from it.

Lee: I mean, if ten grand disappeared from my bank account,...

Nathan Silver and Mike Ott are two of the most prolific indie filmmakers working today — and these guys are the real deal. They each have about five features each under their belts, and continue to make boundary-pushing cinema that exemplifies the independent spirit. We’re fans of each director’s work, particularly Ott's “Lake Los Angeles,” and Silver's “Uncertain Terms.” So it makes perfect sense that the two would eventually cross paths, and now, they’ve started collaborating too. The result is “Actor Martinez,” which looks to be a delightfully meta film, about Arthur Martinez, a Denver-based actor who hires two independent filmmakers to make a film starring him. Read More: The 25 Biggest Directors To Break Out Of Sundance We’ve had quite a week of mainstream indie fare bowing at Sundance, but today, the Rotterdam Film Festival starts up, where “Actor Martinez” is due to unveil tomorrow, preceded by one of Silver's short films,...

Just in time for a post-Christmas read, here’s a conversation with Charles Poekel, the writer/director of Christmas, Again, a wonderful little movie about a lonely Christmas tree salesman, played by Kentucker Audley.

Poekel’s been working in the industry for years, moving from documentary to narrative fiction in his directorial debut. We talk about that transition, owning a Christmas tree stand and making Christmas lights look like tiny Christmas trees. Check out the conversation below.

So you still have that tree stand where you filmed the movie?

Yeah, yeah. I think this is the last year I’m going to do it. I’m doing it still just kind of — well, I enjoy it. I kind of fell in love with it. But also for promotional tie-ins with the movie and that kind of stuff. So a lot of my customers are excited about the movie so that...

A Place on Earth: Silver’s Period Commune Channels Cinema-Verite

While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.

Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...

Read More: Project of the Day: 'Stinking Heaven' After emerging with films like "Uncertain Terms" and "Soft in the Head," Nathan Silver is back with his fifth feature, "Stinking Heaven," a darkly comic period piece of 1990's suburbia that stages the fragility of a sober commune. "Stinking Heaven" tells the story of a married couple, Jim and Lucy, who run a haven of sorts in their New Jersey home for seven recovering addicts who sing, bathe and work together. When Ann, the 20-year-old ex-girlfriend of one of the housemates, arrives at the home, the harmony of the commune is thrown into disarray. With Ann's presence, tensions threaten to boil over and a downward spiral eventually sees several members relapse and fall into paranoia. In the trailer above, the motley members of the commune sing "Love Never Ends," but a creeping sense of turbulence descends with the arrival of...

With the American Film Festival in Wrocław comes the Us in Progress co-production forum initiative. It also means that micro gems might trickle down from Europe in the unfinished form into Sundance and/or SXSW in early 2016. On the plate for October 22nd and 23rd, the six projects selected for the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław include:

Actor Martinez by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver

Up until now, the project that teams Littlerock, Pearblossom Hwy and Lake Los Angeles helmer with Exit Elena, Soft in the head, Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven had no title. This

stars Bobby Black, Connor Long and Lindsay Burdge.

Alaska is a Drag by Shaz Bennett

Based on her 2012 short, if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child – that would best describe our hero Leo — an aspiring superstar – if he can just get out of Alaska. Everyone who works in a fish cannery – slicing fish for...

Rebounds and Role-play: Silver’s Latest Returns to Uncomfortable Interactions

With his fourth feature film, Uncertain Terms, indie film director Nathan Silver advances the knack he has for exploring awkward and uncomfortable human interactions within the confines of people suffering through displaced, temporary scenarios. Perhaps more thematically aligned with his 2012 film, Exit Elena, Silver’s penchant for characters seemingly hell bent on making wrong decisions, (a la his aggravating protagonist in Soft in the Head) takes center stage here. Relationships and the nascent notion of responsibility are hardly finite fixtures, something playfully, agonizingly explored.

Robbie (David Dahlbom) has left Brooklyn to works as a handyman for his Aunt Carla (Cindy Silver) in the Hudson Valley. It’s not at first clear why, but he seems to be running away from something back home and without much of a plan. Carol runs a home for pregnant teen girls in the countryside,...

In this video, director Nathan Silver breaks down a dinner scene from his film Uncertain Terms (currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, as well as being available for streaming on Fandor) two ways. In the first part, he shows where each person in the conversation sits around the table, freeze-framing each shot as he cuts to another person; it’s an interesting lesson in seeing how editing for film space doesn’t necessarily bear much relationship to literal space. In the second part, we see the scene uninterrupted as Silver talks through his decisions.

In this video, director Nathan Silver breaks down a dinner scene from his film Uncertain Terms (currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, as well as being available for streaming on Fandor) two ways. In the first part, he shows where each person in the conversation sits around the table, freeze-framing each shot as he cuts to another person; it’s an interesting lesson in seeing how editing for film space doesn’t necessarily bear much relationship to literal space. In the second part, we see the scene uninterrupted as Silver talks through his decisions.

Which filmmakers today are good at filming groups? Independent films especially get hung with a bad rep for often fixating on a lonely or eccentric protagonist, or an oddly paired duo or romantic couple. Through the five features he's made in the past six years, New York-based filmmaker Nathan Silver has demonstrated a strong affinity for ensemble settings that explore the dynamics and tensions between an individual and a larger collective of people. The groups in Silver's films take different forms: a dysfunctional household in Exit Elena; a homeless shelter in Soft in the Head; a home for pregnant teens in Uncertain Terms; and a rehab commune in his latest, Stinking Heaven. But invariably they involve people on the margins of society forming unlikely bonds under one roof, with an outsider figure threatening to upset the equilibrium.>> - Kevin B. Lee...

Which filmmakers today are good at filming groups? Independent films especially get hung with a bad rep for often fixating on a lonely or eccentric protagonist, or an oddly paired duo or romantic couple. Through the five features he's made in the past six years, New York-based filmmaker Nathan Silver has demonstrated a strong affinity for ensemble settings that explore the dynamics and tensions between an individual and a larger collective of people. The groups in Silver's films take different forms: a dysfunctional household in Exit Elena; a homeless shelter in Soft in the Head; a home for pregnant teens in Uncertain Terms; and a rehab commune in his latest, Stinking Heaven. But invariably they involve people on the margins of society forming unlikely bonds under one roof, with an outsider figure threatening to upset the equilibrium.>> - Kevin B. Lee...

Read More: Exclusive: Trailer and Poster for Nathan Silver's Acclaimed Relationship Drama 'Uncertain Terms'  Following its premiere at last year's Los Angeles Film Festival, Nathan Silver's "Uncertain Terms" was warmly received by critics, receiving immense praise for its nuanced depiction of uncomfortable situations. The film follows Robbie, a philandering husband who, after fleeing his failing marriage, takes up residence in his aunt's makeshift home for pregnant teenagers. His presence is welcome at first, but the situation starts to sour as he grows close with one of the young girls. The exclusive clip at the top of this page will give you a taste of how Silver masterfully orchestrates the tension Robbie stirs up in the house. Breaking Glass Pictures will release "Uncertain Terms" theatrically in New York on May 29 and Los Angeles on June 5, followed by a release on DVD and VOD come July. Read More:...

Director Nathan Silver is probably sick of getting confused on Google with the stat-crunching analyst Nate Silver. But both have the numbers going for them: The filmmaking Silver has directed five no-budget features since 2009, all of them promising-to-inspired, none of them the kind of calling-card indie flick that seems to exist only to help secure financing for the next project. That's a major-league average.

Silver slices life with a sharpness and acuity rare in filmmakers much older than him, and Uncertain Terms — his latest, although another, Stinking Heaven, is already making the festival rounds — is his strongest yet. Like Soft in the Head and Exit Elena, it concerns young people trying to keep their cool in confined ...

Read More: Laff Review: Nathan Silver's 'Uncertain Terms' Finds a Fresh Spin on Marital Problems Relationships today are increasingly difficult to define and label, no matter where you are in life, and "Uncertain Terms," the 2014 film from Nathan Silver ("Exit Elena," "Soft in the Head"), understands that issue. Rather than seeking to find closure, the film prefers to live in the turmoil, confusion and anxiety that relationship difficulties can cause. Silver writes and directs the film, which follows Robbie, a 30-year-old man in a disintegrating marriage who flees the city to spend some time at his aunt's country house, a safe haven for pregnant teenagers. Robbie's arrival and burgeoning friendship with the young Nina causes upheaval among the teens. "Uncertain Terms" was an official selection at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Starz Denver Film Festival. The film...

★★★★☆ Writer and director Nathan Silver again seeks to explore the dynamics of communal living just as he did in Exit Elena (2012) to Uncertain Terms (2014). In the latter film, pregnant teens take refuge in the home of Carla (Cindy Silver), who plays a maternal, educator role in their lives and aims to protect them from external anxiety. His fifth feature Stinking Heaven (2015), which received its world premiere at Iffr, focuses on the home of Jim (Keith Poulson) and his wife Lucy (Deragh Campbell) in 1990s suburban New Jersey, who have created a commune for sober living, welcoming any recovering addict to live with them peacefully.

Nathan Silver is unstoppable at the moment. The NYC-based indie auteur premiered “Uncertain Terms” last summer at La Film Fest (a film we called “wry, oddly funny, but poignant”), and his next project, his fifth feature, “Stinking Heaven,” is already done and bowing at the Rotterdam International Film Festival next week. The film’s log line reads “a black as tar comedy charting the dissolution of a commune for sober living in early 90's suburban New Jersey,” and seems to be at least a thematic continuation observing the ups and downs of group dynamics in extraordinary or odd circumstances. “Uncertain Terms” took place at group home for pregnant teens, though the tone and style of "Stinking Heaven" looks to be profoundly different. Today, we’ve got the exclusive premiere of a clip from the film, and the poster. The striking one-sheet was designed by Dana Davis, who also designed the...

The seventh edition of Unknown Pleasures, Berlin's festival of American independent film, will open on January 1 with Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens's Land Ho! and run through January 16. Along with a special program devoted to the work of Alfred Guzzetti, highlights include Gregg Araki's White Bird in a Blizzard, Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York, Robert Greene's Actress, Jessica Oreck's The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, Mike Ott's Lake Los Angeles, Nathan Silver's Uncertain Terms, Tim Sutton's Memphis, Joe Swanberg's Happy Christmas, Gina Telaroli's Here's to the Future! and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky's Ellie Lumme. » - David Hudson...

The seventh edition of Unknown Pleasures, Berlin's festival of American independent film, will open on January 1 with Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens's Land Ho! and run through January 16. Along with a special program devoted to the work of Alfred Guzzetti, highlights include Gregg Araki's White Bird in a Blizzard, Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York, Robert Greene's Actress, Jessica Oreck's The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, Mike Ott's Lake Los Angeles, Nathan Silver's Uncertain Terms, Tim Sutton's Memphis, Joe Swanberg's Happy Christmas, Gina Telaroli's Here's to the Future! and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky's Ellie Lumme. » - David Hudson...

Ifp, Filmmaker and the Museum of Modern Art are pleased to present this year’s slate for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, the annual series that spotlights films currently without theatrical distribution. Screening at MoMA from December 12 – 15, this year’s five films are Approaching the Elephant, Evaporating Borders, The Mend, L for Leisure, and Uncertain Terms. Past selections include It Felt Like Love, Frownland, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and Sun Don’t Shine, all of which eventually secured distribution. Read below for a full description of each of this year’s titles. Approaching the Elephant 2014. USA. Directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Little Falls, NJ, 2007: the new Teddy […]...

Ifp, Filmmaker and the Museum of Modern Art are pleased to present this year’s slate for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, the annual series that spotlights films currently without theatrical distribution. Screening at MoMA from December 12 – 15, this year’s five films are Approaching the Elephant, Evaporating Borders, The Mend, L for Leisure, and Uncertain Terms. Past selections include It Felt Like Love, Frownland, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and Sun Don’t Shine, all of which eventually secured distribution. Read below for a full description of each of this year’s titles. Approaching the Elephant 2014. USA. Directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Little Falls, NJ, 2007: the new Teddy […]...

Whether you are a filmmaker, or one of the Sundance programmers whose task it is to identify the films that make up a line-up, it is indeed the most wonderful, panic-filled and nerve racking time of the year. The 31st edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 22nd with Park City and Salt Lake City playing host to some of the more innovative, thought-provoking narrative and non-fiction films of 2015. Last year, a Jenga tall order of 4,057 features and 8,161 shorts were submitted. Now let’s think about those numbers for a second.

Twenty years ago, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb claimed the Grand Jury Prize Documentary award, Living in Oblivion‘s Tom Dicillo was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Edward Burns’ micro-budgeted The Brothers McMullen (there is a read-worthy, lively, eleventh hour account on how it was submitted to the fest in Ted Hope’s “Hope...

On a picture perfect fall day two days before the 2014 Woodstock Film Festival awards ceremony, I sat down with Meira Blaustein, co-founder and Executive Director of the Festival.

Meira Blaustein: “It’s very easy to meet people here at the Festival; it’s casual, and friendly, yet high quality. One can have conversations with those who can potentially buy your film, buy your next film, challenge your creativity and elevate your creativity and push the envelope. The goal of the Festival is to bring together outstanding, thought-provoking, and passionate films. This year we have twenty-two world premieres. We have filmmakers from all over the world. I’m proud we have a spotlight on women in film; eight narratives directed by women is unique -- unfortunately it is unique but it is. These women are smart, talented and strong, and their films are powerful. We have a lineup that dares to ask questions, and dares to be bold. It’s important to put together a tapestry that is reflective of the current state of filmmaking and a reflection of the current state of what is happening in film.”

The Woodstock Film Festival Award Winners

The Maverick Award for Best Feature Narrative: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon

The Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary: "Red Lines," directed by Andrea Kalin and Oliver Lukacs.

The Maverick Award for Best Animation: "My Kingdom," directed by Debra Solomon

The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Narrative: "Sunday," directed by Iva Gocheva

The Diane Seligman Award for Best Student Short Film: "So You've Grown Attached,"directed by Kate Tsang

The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Documentary: "Our Course" (Nasza Klatwa), directed by Tomasz Sliwinski

The Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon with cinematography by Michael Lavelle

James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Narrative:

"Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon and edited by Emer Reynolds

James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Documentary:

"Killswitch," directed by Ali Akbarzadeh and edited by Prichard Smith

Ultra Indie Award "Uncertain Terms," directed by Nathan Silver

Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award For Best Female Feature Director: Caryn Waechter, director of "The Sisterhood of Night"

For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival:

http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/

Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...

In the films of Nathan Silver, characters are constantly hurtling headlong into the unknown. Each of the thirty-year-old American director’s films have thus far featured protagonists suspended in a state of limbo, stuck between stations yet hell-bent on moving forward—though in most cases by taking a few steps back first. Even the titles of his projects—Exit Elena (2012), Soft in the Head (2013) and Uncertain Terms (2014) among them—suggest a kind of transitory or unsettled sense of existence; his latest, Stinking Heaven (currently in post production), projecting something even more intangible, an unexpected kind of purgatory perhaps. >> - Jordan Cronk...

In the films of Nathan Silver, characters are constantly hurtling headlong into the unknown. Each of the thirty-year-old American director’s films have thus far featured protagonists suspended in a state of limbo, stuck between stations yet hell-bent on moving forward—though in most cases by taking a few steps back first. Even the titles of his projects—Exit Elena (2012), Soft in the Head (2013) and Uncertain Terms (2014) among them—suggest a kind of transitory or unsettled sense of existence; his latest, Stinking Heaven (currently in post production), projecting something even more intangible, an unexpected kind of purgatory perhaps. >> - Jordan Cronk...

The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.

The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.

The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.

Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.

He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.

Brazil

The festival will focus this year on Brazil...

The Deauville Film Festival heads have unveiled the make-up of the 40th edition of the fest, and naturally this coming September, we’ve got a Sundance-infused edition being readied for the North West coastal town. Celebrating several new American indie auteurs, noteworthy filmmakers from Park City include Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), A.J. Edwards (The Better Angels), Mark Jackson (War Story) and Damien Chazelle’s much acclaimed Whiplash. Also found in the 14 In Comp slate we find Nathan Silver’s Uncertain Terms — which our Nicholas Bell called “uneasy, uncomfortable, and certainly uncertain”. Also on tap: the French premieres of Before I Go to Sleep and director Chris Messina’s Alex of Venice. Here is the full selection and you can make a detour here to see who is being celebrated at the fest.

In Competition:

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Ana Lily Amirpour

I Origins,...

Uncertain Terms

Written by Chloe Domont, Nathan Silver and Cody Stokes

Directed by Nathan Silver

USA, 2014

Director Nathan Silver is a rare talent in American indie cinema, capable of drawing great depth from seemingly innocuous situations. His films focus on displacement and youthful uncertainty, tapping as authentically as anyone else into some of his generations most immediate concerns. Though there’s noticeably more at stake than in his breakthrough gem Exit Elena, Silver’s fourth feature is a similarly quiet, intimate portrayal of everyday life.

Uncertain Terms is set in a home for pregnant teenagers, designed to protect them from the judgement and overwhelming pressure of society and family. Run by Carla (Cindy Silver), who went through a difficult time when she fell pregnant at a young age, the home is a frank, liberal environment focused on commonality and support. The girls are from varied backgrounds and have contrasting personalities...

★★★★☆Nathan Silver has been gradually nurturing a reputation as a director with a deft eye for detail and an astonishing ability for documenting the seemingly insignificant anxieties of modern life. Edinburgh Film Festival select Uncertain Terms (2014) is his most compelling and accomplished film to date, a small but deceptively complex character-driven drama set in a halfway house for pregnant teens that's both charmingly facetious and emotionally compelling. Robbie (David Dahlbom) is fleeing his life in New York to spend some time working at his aunt's retreat for unmarried pregnant teenagers. He's hoping that a few weeks away will help take his mind of his disintegrating marriage.

You think running a set in general is hard? Try doing it with your mother. In an IndieWire article where filmmakers were asked what they wish someone had told them before they started shooting, Uncertain Terms writer/director Nathan Silver answered: "Don't cast your mother in one of the leading roles, have her host your cast and crew, and expect her to be happy." Silver's motivation for doing so though lies in a very obvious respect and admiration of his mother. "She's the master of confusion," he says. "Her stories go every which way, but she manages to bring life to everything she says. She knows that life is confusion. I cast her in my movies because the confusion of life is what I'm after."Cindy Silver admits that she...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Every Friday, Indiewire's Springboard column profiles an up-and-comer in the indie world who made a mark that deserves your attention. Nathan Silver has already completed four features, but chances are, unless you're a film festival junkie, you're not familiar with his name. That's bound to change soon. A filmmaker who favors an improvised approach to storytelling over a heavily scripted one, Silver is known in filmmaker circles for his naturalistic character dramas "Soft in the Head" and "Exit Elena." His latest, "Uncertain Terms" just world premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival to rave reviews, and finds the 31-year-old filmmaker applying his muted signature style to a heartrending tale centered on a Brooklynite who flees a troubled marriage to spend time in the Hudson Valley at the home of his aunt (Cindy Silver, the filmmaker’s mother and regular collaborator), where she runs a program for pregnant teens. "'Uncertain Terms...

In April, when Exit Elena (2010) and Soft in the Head (2013) were playing in New York, we posted an all-round entry on Nathan Silver. He was hard at work on Stinking Heaven (on May 9, the Kickstarter campaign achieved its goal), but Uncertain Terms was already in the can. Now Silver's fourth feature has seen its world premiere in Los Angeles and its international premiere in Edinburgh. Last week, Sarah Salovaara interviewed Silver for Filmmaker, noting that he "may be a premature embodiment of Fassbinder’s creed that 'Every decent director has only one subject and finally only makes the same film over and over again,' but Uncertain Terms feels more patient in execution than its predecessors, mirroring the bucolic enclave which houses a bevy of relatively serene pregnant teens." A roundup of reviews and a clip. » - David Hudson...

Writer-director Nathan Silver is far from the first filmmaker to rely on a loose, improvised approach to storytelling, but he’s quickly becoming one of the best of his generation. Following on the heels of the prolific Joe Swanberg, but more contained in his approach, the 30-year-old Silver has completed four distinctive features in five years, two of which hit theaters earlier this year, and already has a fifth in the works. But despite this degree of productivity, Silver’s movies don’t feel like rush jobs; instead, his alternately funny and brooding character studies invigorate routine plots with authentic behavior. His latest, “Uncertain Terms,” epitomizes this tendency. With features like "Soft in the Head" and "Exit Elena,” Silver has explored lively, intelligent personalities with a mixture of naturalism, humor and often staggering insight into conflicted mindsets. "Uncertain Terms" continues that focus with a tender portrait of thirtysomething Brooklynite Robbie (David.

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Filmmaker Nathan Silver has delivered four feature films in about as many years, and the latest, “Uncertain Terms,” continues in the style of naturalistic, bittersweet tales. It’s a family affair for Silver, as he often casts his mother, Cindy Silver, and in “Uncertain Terms” he even takes inspiration from her own life story. Silver the matriarch plays Carla, the proprietress of a home for pregnant teenagers, much like the one where she spent some time as a teenager herself, and Silver the director/co-writer makes an appearance as her layabout son Lenny, whose cousin Robbie (David Dahlbom) shows up at a moment’s notice when his life gets turned upside down. The resulting film is a wry, oddly funny, but poignant work that showcases Silver’s laid-back but effective cinematic storytelling style, and talent for shaping performances from non-traditional actors. Robbie shows up on Carla’s doorstep to cool...

Writer and director Nathan Silver is known for “The Blind” (2008), “Exit Elena” (2012) and “Soft In The Head” (2013). At this year's Los Angeles Film Festival he will premiere his new film “Uncertain Terms.”[Editor's Note: Indiewire reached out to filmmakers with films playing at the 20th La Film Festival (June 11-19) to ask them about how they shot their indie, and what advice they had for other filmmakers. We'll be posting their responses throughout the run of the festival. Go Here for the master list.] What was the most difficult shoot on your movie and how did you pull it off? The Dp, Cody Stokes, and camera crew sweated their way through long handheld takes. They're the ones who pulled off the shots, and seeing as the average for most takes was ten minutes, I don't know that there were any easy shots, per se. What's the one thing you wish someone had told you Before you started your movie? Don't cast your mother in one of the leading roles, have her host your...

The 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival (the 20th anniversary of the fest) kicked off this week, with the North American premiere of "Snowpiercer" on Wednesday. Plenty of other notable premieres are continuing to roll out this weekend, including Nathan Silver's latest, "Uncertain Terms," and we've got the exclusive poster debut. Silver's films "Exit Elena" and "Soft in the Head" have brought him notice in the indie world — our own Chris Bell called "Exit Elena" "a layered and hilarious look at the dynamics of family, relationships, and need," and "one of the few microbudgeted films which should be required viewing for undergrads" — and "Uncertain Terms" marks the 30 year old's fourth feature, with his fifth already in the works. "Uncertain Terms" takes place at a home for pregnant teens, and stars India Menuez (seen in Olivier Assayas' "Something in the Air"), whose performance has been tipped as having breakout potential, as well as her co-lead,...

Nathan Silver first courted audiences in 2012 with Exit Elena, his charming, claustrophobic take on arrested development through the eyes of a live-in aide. His follow-up, Soft in the Head, also captured an outsider’s rambunctious navigation of new environs, so it should be no surprise that Uncertain Terms, premiering this Saturday at the Los Angeles Film Festival, treads the familiar territory of interloper interrupted. Silver may be a premature embodiment of Fassbinder’s creed that “Every decent director has only one subject and finally only makes the same film over and over again,” but Uncertain Terms feels more patient in execution than its predecessors, mirroring the bucolic enclave which houses a bevy of […]...

Nathan Silver first courted audiences in 2012 with Exit Elena, his charming, claustrophobic take on arrested development through the eyes of a live-in aide. His follow-up, Soft in the Head, also captured an outsider’s rambunctious navigation of new environs, so it should be no surprise that Uncertain Terms, premiering this Saturday at the Los Angeles Film Festival, treads the familiar territory of interloper interrupted. Silver may be a premature embodiment of Fassbinder’s creed that “Every decent director has only one subject and finally only makes the same film over and over again,” but Uncertain Terms feels more patient in execution than its predecessors, mirroring the bucolic enclave which houses a bevy of […]...

Highlights include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Abel Ferrara’s controversial Dsk feature Welcome To New York.

The full line-up of the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been revealed this morning by artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.

This year’s festival, which runs from June 18-29, will comprise 156 features from 47 countries, including 11 world premieres, eight international premieres, seven European premieres and 95 UK premieres.

New titles announced today include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances that was first shown at Sundance in January.

Straight from its lively premiere in Cannes is Abel Ferrara’s controversial title Welcome To New York, inspired by the case of former Imf managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, starring Gérard Depardieu, which will receive its UK premiere at Eiff.

Other new titles added to the line-up include [link=nm...