Category: My Films

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EXCLUSIVE: Jake Lacy (Apples Never Fall) and Nazanin Boniadi (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) have wrapped production on A Mosquito in the Ear, a new film marking the feature debut of BAFTA Newcomer Nicola Rinciari.

An adaptation of the Italian graphic novel Una Zanzara nell’Orecchio from Andrea Ferraris, which tells the true story of his adoption journey, the film follows Andrew and Daniela, an American couple eager to form a family, as they travel to India to bring home their newly adopted child. The girl, however, is unaware and unwilling to leave the orphanage where she lives in India to become their daughter.

Also starring Ruhi Pal, the film was shot in partnership with Lasutra Pictures, a division of YOYOGOA Communications PVT LTD helmed by Laurens Postma (Exitz, The Interview: Night of 26/11) and Sunitha Ram (The Archies, After the Wedding), as well as 3DMC, Ratan Films, Whiskey Stream, Greenmachine Films, 5x Media, Foothill Productions, Steak & Rosè, and Wooden Trailer Productions. Producers on the project include Emily Dillard, Darren Dean (The Florida Project, Tangerine), Ali K. Rizvi (Skin, Human Capital), Frank Hall Green (Gonzo Girl, Wildlike) and Stephen Stanley (What Lies Below, They Live in the Grey). Boniadi and Lacy served as executive producers.

“A MOSQUITO IN THE EAR captures the evolving relationship between a couple and their adopted child,” Rinciari told Deadline. “In this case, the parents know little about the world of their newly adopted daughter and can’t speak her language. It leads to a question that I’ve asked myself since I moved to the U.S. as a teenager: how much do you need to understand someone to form a relationship with them?”

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Lacy is represented by Beth Rosner Management, UTA, and Schreck Rose Dapello; Boniadi by Jordan Lee Talent, CAA, The Artists Partnership, and Glaser Weil Fink; Ferraris by AM-Book; and Dean by 5x Media.

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On Nov. 9, Cinema Savannah will host a screening of “Ganymede,” a 97 minute film that blends a traditional LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story with a creature feature. Stephen Stanley, the film’s producer, first spoke with Connect Savannah back in 2005 to discuss his SCAD thesis project, a music video called “Push It Real Good.” Now, 18 years later, we discuss his newest film, “Ganymede,” and the impact he hopes the local screening will have on the community he calls home.     

So this film “Ganymede,” can you tell me a little bit about what it’s about?

Stephen Stanley: “Ganymede,” is a mash up. It’s a southern gothic thriller, mashed up with a LGBTQ coming-of-age story, which may sound a little crazy. The director is Colby Holt and Sam Probst. They really wanted to explore the terror that comes along with being in the closet in rural areas in red state America. So they’re from Indiana and Kentucky. I grew up in Appalachia, in a small town in east Tennessee. So we all experienced that while there’s this really vibrant, queer community in these rural areas now, there’s also a lot of fear. There’s a lot of fear no matter where you are, particularly recently, as this legislation has come about in many states is further marginalizing LGBTQ youth. So they wrote this story, really thinking about coming out of the closet as a creature feature.

This young man is attracted to a boy in his class. He’s from a very conservative, very politically powerful dynasty in this small town, and the more he’s attracted to another young man in his high school, the more this creature begins stalking him. So we made a practical creature. We kind of play with a lot of horror conventions. I wouldn’t describe it as horror, I would describe it more as a southern gothic thriller. But we play with a lot of horror conventions, to explore that terror that comes with having shame and having a secret. It could be any number of secrets, really, we hope it can resonate with a broader audience who might understand that weight that carrying shame brings to us. So throughout the film, Lee, who is the main character, is dealing with this attraction. His family puts him into conversion therapy and electroconvulsive therapy with their pastor and so Lee has to eventually make a choice: Does he carry this this generational shame from his family or does he break free and try to be his true self?

Stephen Stanley: We premiered in Chicago about three weeks ago. That was our first screening anywhere. This is our second screening. In Chicago, we had a sold out theater, a really diverse crowd, people loved it. You never know as a filmmaker what people are going to think of a film and both the directors and I were optimistic but you know, there’s always a little bit of, you know, worry there too. We won the Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature at the film festival, which is the Reeling Film Festival. It’s one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ film festivals in the country. Then, we decided we wanted to play it here. We have a lot of Savannahians that were part of this movie. Particularly with SCAD, we had faculty, staff, alumni, students as cast, crew, advisors and helpers. It was also important for us to play in Savannah, just because it’s my home and it’s a city in Georgia where these sort of discussions are all happening. We’ve gotten so far great response, so I’m very encouraged and then we plan to keep rolling it out in screenings at festivals and special screenings, and then eventual national distribution.

The film screens on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center at 7pm. For updates and more information, visit their Instagram handle @ganymede_movie.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/09/20/reeling-programmer-picks-3-dont-miss-selections-from-the-lgbtq-film-fest/

Horror has long been the realm of queerness, whether overt or covert — using the monstrous and devilish to explore everything from socially taboo desires to hidden identities. While Reeling has a robust slate of queer-themed horror (scrappy Australian trans horror film “T Blockers” is a particular standout), it also sports the world premiere of Southern Gothic shocker “Ganymede,” courtesy of Chicago-based filmmakers Colby Holt and Sam Probst. 

Following a young gay teen (Jordan Doww), the son of a local politician, who’s developed a crush on a fellow classmate, “Ganymede” turns the screws on a gay person’s first brushes with queer desire. As the boy’s feelings grow, he soon finds himself stalked by a faceless monster that invades his mind and puts him in physical danger as well. Fox described this one as “What would happen if ‘Love, Simon’ and ‘The Babadook’ had a film child?”

“Ganymede” plays 9 p.m. Saturday at Landmark Century Centre Cinema. Get tickets here. 

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19. They Live in the Grey

A social worker who can see ghosts is forced to face her own traumatic past in the chilling and emotional supernatural horror movie They Live in the Grey. Michelle Krusiec stars as Claire, a worker for Child Protective Services assigned to investigate a report of child abuse. She quickly learns that an otherworldly presence in the house may be the cause of the abuse, and Claire must decide if she can mentally handle this new case while dealing with her own shattered life and the constant fear she lives with. They Live in the Grey has some very effective scares in the tradition of movies like The Eye (2002) and The Sixth Sense (1999), and it has a wonderfully moving story brought to life by Michelle Krusiec.

From GEN.IE – See Full Article Here

With an impressive year of cinema coming to a close, you may wonder what sort of queer films 2023 has in store. We’re here to give you a preview, outlining some of the LGBTQ+ films that have been announced to date, and why you should be excited about their release!

Ganymede

This coming-of-age film is directed by husbands Colby Holt and Sam Probst with filming having finished in August 2022. In the film, we see a high school senior by the name of Lee Fletcher IV develop a crush on his openly gay classmate, but the story is not all it seems. Lee suddenly finds himself stalked by a faceless creature that endlessly occupies his thoughts and threatens to physically harm him.

Describing itself as a horror thriller the film, it was shot in Holt’s hometown of Paducah, Kentucky and the director has shared his decision for the location: “We wanted to explore the queer experience in the modern South, and the terror one can be made to feel with the realization they are gay or queer-identified.” The film is currently aiming for a festival debut in 2023 and hopefully, we will know more about its release in the new year!

EXCLUSIVE: Jordan Doww (Reach) and Pablo Castelblanco (Alaska Daily) will topline the LGBTQ+ horror-thriller Ganymede from directors Colby Holt and Sam Probst (Pig Hag), which has wrapped production. Additional cast set for the indie includes David Koechner (Anchorman), Robyn Lively (9-1-1: Lone Star), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things) and Marissa Reyes (Spirit Halloween).

Ganymede tells the story of Lee Fletcher IV, a high school senior and third generation heir to a local political dynasty in a small town in the South. When he develops a crush on his openly gay classmate, Lee finds himself stalked by a grotesque, faceless creature that increasingly inhabits his thoughts and threatens physical harm. The film is being produced by Stephen Stanley (What Lies Below), Kevin Greene and Mark Goldberg, in association with Iris Indie International. Geneva Wasserman of dentsu’s The Story Lab (Spiderhead), J Craig Gordon, Kevin Stansberry and Sean Fernald are serving as EPs. The filmmakers are looking at a 2023 festival debut, with the title currently up for sales in all territories.

Doww is represented by CAA, Scale Management and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Castelblanco by Stewart Talent, Creative Talent Company and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

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Click through to read a fantastic interview with director Braden R. Duemmler on WHAT LIES BELOW in Entertainment Weekly

WHAT LIES BELOW has had a monster run on Netflix including 3 days as their #1 film in North America! We always knew this movie had a strong core audience but to see the way they’ve embraced the film over the past few weeks has been incredible.

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EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has picked up North American rights to mystery-thriller Viscous, starring Mena Suvari (American Beauty). XYZ is selling the completed movie at the Cannes virtual market.

Producers are Abel Vang, Stephen Stanley (p.g.a.), and Kristina Esposito. Executive producer is Linus Hume and co-producer is Panda Lord.

Debut writer-director Braden R. Duemmler’s film follows a socially awkward teenager who is blindsided when her mother introduces her to her new fiancée. At first, his charm, intelligence, and beauty seem too good to be true, and after a series of strange occurrences the teenage daughter realizes that this new member of their family is not exactly who he seems.

Also starring are Trey Tucker (The Space Between Us) and newcomer Ema Horvath who is set to star in the upcoming Amazon Lord Of The Rings series. Vertical plans to release the film in U.S. theaters and on VOD in December this year.

The North American deal was negotiated by Peter Jarowey and Josh Spector from Vertical Entertainment with Paradigm on behalf of the filmmakers.

Director Braden Duemmler said: “When we are young, our curiosity propels us. Viscous exploits that drive to reconnect us with the anxiety, uncertainty, and fears of adolescence – we indulge the curiosity, until it’s too late. This is my first feature film and I’m incredibly excited to work with Vertical and XYZ on its release.”