Tag Archives: Michael K. Williams

K.D. Davila Wins Sundance Film Festival’s Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Dark Comedy Short “Emergency”

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K.D. Davila has a big reason to (sun)dance…

Sundance Film Festival organizers have revealed the award winners for its 2022 edition, with the Mexican-American screenwriter among the honorees.

K.D. Davila

Davila was awarded the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for penning the dark comedy short Emergency.

The 12-minute film centers on a group of college students who must weigh the pros and cons of calling the police when faced with an unusual emergency.

Selenis Leyva was among the winners of the Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast.

The 49-year-old Cuban and Dominican American actress and former Orange Is the New Black star won her award, alongside John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, Olivia Washington, London Covington and Michael K Williams for their work in 892, the real-life thriller drama film written and directed by Abi Damaris Corbin and co-written by Kwame Kwei-Armah.

There were several Latinx winners in the World Cinema Dramatic competition…

The Grand Jury Prize went to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s feature debut, the Bolivian film Utama.

Teresa Sánchez picked up the Special Jury Award: Acting for her work in the Mexican film Dos Estaciones. 

Zélia Duncan, Bruna Linzmeyer, Camila Rocha, Clarissa Ribeiro and Lorre Motta won the Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast for their work in Brazil’s A wild patience has taken me here from director-writer Érica Sarmet.

Due to the recent Omicron surge, the Sundance Film Festival revealed the award winners via Twitter, with honors spread around across the diverse lineup unlike last year.

Here’s the full list of winners:

FESTIVAL FAVORITE AWARD
Navalny
Director: Daniel Roher

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Audience Award
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Director-Writer: Cooper Raiff

Grand Jury Award
Nanny
Director-Writer: Nikyatu Jusu

Directing
Jamie Dack
Palm Trees and Power Lines

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
K.D. Dávila
Emergency

Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast
John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Connie Britton, Olivia Washington, London Covington and Michael K Williams
892

Special Jury Award: Uncompromising Artistic Vision
Bradley Rust Gray
blood

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Audience Award
Navalny
Director: Daniel Roher

Grand Jury Prize
The Exiles (U.S.)
Directors: Ben Klein, Violet Columbus

Directing
Reid Davenport
I Didn’t See You There

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput
Fire Of Love

Special Jury Award: Impact for Change
Aftershock
Directors: Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee

Special Jury Award: Creative Vision
Descendant
Director: Margaret Brown

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Audience Award
The Territory (Brazil/Denmark/U.S.)

Grand Jury Prize
All That Breathes (India/UK)
Director: Shaunak Sen

Directing
Simon Lereng Wilmont
A House Made Of Splinters (Denmark)

Special Jury Award: Documentary Craft
The Territory (Brazil/Denmark/U.S.)
Director: Alex Pritz

Special Jury Award: Excellence In Verité Filmmaking
Midwives (Myanmar)
Director: Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Audience Award
Girl Picture (Finland)
Director: Alli Haapasalo

Grand Jury Prize
Utama (Bolvia/Uruguay/France)
Director-Writer: Alejandro Loayza Grisi

Directing
Maryna Er Gorbach
Klondike (Ukraine/Turkey)

Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit
Leonor Will Never Die (Philippines)
Director-Writer: Martika Ramirez Escobar

Special Jury Award: Acting
Teresa Sánchez
Dos Estaciones (Mexico)

NEXT

Audience Award
Framing Agnes (Canada/U.S.)
Director: Chase Joynt

SHORT FILMS AWARDS

Grand Jury Prize
The Headhunter’s Daughter (Philippines)
Director-Writer: Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan

Jury Award: U.S. Fiction
If I Go Will They Miss Me (U.S.)
Director-writer: Walter Thompson-Hernández

Jury Award: International Fiction
Warsha (France/Lebanon)
Director-writer: Dania Bdeir

Jury Award: Nonfiction
Displaced (Kosovo)
Director-writer: Samir Karahoda

Jury Award: Animation
Night Bus (Taiwan)
Director-writer: Joe Hsieh

Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast
Zélia Duncan, Bruna Linzmeyer, Camila Rocha, Clarissa Ribeiro and Lorre Motta
A wild patience has taken me here (Brazil)
Director-writer: Érica Sarmet

Special Jury Award: Screenwriting
Sara Driver
Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver (U.S.)
Directors: Lewie Kloster, Noah Kloster; Writer: Sara Driver

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
After Yang

Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction
Su Kim, Free Chol Soo Lee (U.S. Documentary Competition)

Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction
Amanda Marshall, God’s Country (Premieres)

Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Nonfiction
Toby Shimin

Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Fiction
Dody Dorn

Sundance Institute | NHK Award
Hasan Hadi, The President’s Cake

Emilio Estevez’s “The Public” to Stream on Peacock in September

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Emilio Estevez is going public with his latest project…

Peacock has unveiled a slate of original films that will debut on NBC’s streaming service in September, including the 58-year-old part-Spanish American actor’s latest film The Public.

Emilio Estevez The Public

The film, written, executive produced and directed by Estevez, centers around an act of civil disobedience that turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold.

The film stars Alec Baldwin, Estevez, Jena Malone, Taylor Schilling, Christian Slater, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jacob Vargas, Michael K. Williams, and Jeffrey Wright.

The Public will premiere on Peacock on Thursday, September 15.

The film had its world premiere on September 9, 2018, at the Toronto Film Festival. It was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, 2019, by Greenwich Entertainment.

Ramses Jimenez to Star in the John Leguizamo-Directed Film “Critical Thinking”

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Things are getting critical for Ramses Jimenez…

The 35-year-old Dominican actor has been cast in the John Leguizamo-directed film, Critical Thinking, which Leguizamo is also starring in along with Jorge Lendeborg Jr. and Michael K. Williams.

Ramses Jimenez

Set in 1998, the film is based on a true story of how a group of disparate kids from a working-class barriowest of downtown Miami are brought together by their inspirational chess coach, Mario Martinez (Leguizamo), at Miami Jackson High School to become the first inner city school to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.

Jimenez will play Andre, a powerful local drug kingpin who is very quick to pull the trigger when something bothers him on his streets.

His previous credits include television appearance in Fear The Walking Dead and Starz’s Latinx series Vida.

John Leguizamo to Star in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix Limited Drama Series “Central Park Five”

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John Leguizamo is Central Park bound…

The 53-year-old Colombian actor/comedian is set to star in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix limited series Central Park Five.

John Leguizamo

Leguizamo joins a cast for the four-part dramathat includes Michael K. Williams and Vera Farmiga.

The limited series sprawls from 1989 when five Harlem teens were incorrectly convicted first in the media and then twice in the courts for the brutal rape of a jogger in the NYC park to 2014 when Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise saw their names finally cleared.

Having been vilified by the likes of Donald Trump back in the late 80s and forced to spend years in jail each, the five sued New York City and settled for just over $40 million about four years ago. Before you take another breath, take into account that sum that works out to around $1 million for every year they collectively spent tossed behind bars for a terrible crime they never committed

Emmy winner, recent Special Tony Award winner and Bloodline star Leguizamo has signed on as Raymond Santana Sr., father of another one of the falsely accused boys of color.

Currently in pre-production in NYC and with principal photography starting in early August, Central Park Five also reunites its creator DuVernay for the fifth time with Selma cinematographer Bradford Young, who recently shot Solo: A Star Wars Story.Working with writers Robin Swicord, Attica Locke and Michael Starrbury, DuVernay co-penned each episode of the series.

The Queen Sugar EP and ARRAY founder is directing every episode of the timely drama.

Trailer Released for Sanchez’s Horror Thriller “The Purge: Anarchy”

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Kiele Sanchez is feeling the urge to Purge…

The 37-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress, best known for her starring role in the A&E drama series The Glades, is starring in the sequel to the hit horror thriller The Purge.

Kiele Sanchez

Blumhouse Productions has now released the first trailer for the sequel, now entitled The Purge: Anarchy.

James DeMonaco returns as writer-director-producer as does the premise: what happens in a dystopian future on the one night of the year when crime is legal.

Frank Grillo, Zach Gilford, Michael K. Williams, Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul  also star in the film.

The Purge: Anarchy will be released on June 20.

Sanchez to Star in “The Purge” Sequel

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Kiele Sanchez is feeling the urge to purge…

The 37-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress has landed a role in the sequel to Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions‘ The Purge.

Kiele Sanchez

Sanchez, who rose to acclaim on A&E’s drama The Glades, joins a cast that includes Boardwalk Empire actor Michael K. Williams, Sparkle star Carmen Ejogo and Friday Night Lights.

The sequel, which will hit theaters on Friday, June 20, 2014, will see the return of writer-director James DeMonaco. It was recently announced that Frank Grillo will star.

The sequel should reside in a similar setting to the original, where, once a year, there’s a 12-hour period when all crime is allowed and condoned.

When The Purge, made on a budget of $3 million, opened in theaters in June, it earned a stunning $34 million in its debut, setting a new record for original R-rated horror (that record was later broken by The Conjuring). The Ethan Hawke-starrer went on to earn $89.3 million worldwide.

Sanchez’s other film credits include A Perfect Getaway and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and she’s appeared on television in Samantha Who? and Lost.