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All of us, regardless of age, country of origin, or any number of other characteristics, have had at least one moment in our lives when the simplest expression sang, and in accompaniment with some combination of piano, guitar, bass, or another instrument, landed like an emotional atom bomb, splitting our heart in two. Music, just like cinema, and probably even more so, has the ability to transcend cultures and the borders of nations.

Jesse Eisenberg, best known for his leading role in The Social Network (2010) as Mark Zuckerberg, is turning into a budding film director. His debut When You Finish Saving the World came out of a natural progression from his playwriting: “On stage, you have a couch, four spoons and one dressing room,” he said jokingly in a live virtual Q&A at Sundance Film Festival, where the film premiered.

At a time when the Supreme Court is launching an assault on women with recent and, it is feared upcoming rulings about abortion, the Sundance festival world-premiered not one but two films (three, when you include Happening, the story of a woman getting an abortion in France in the 1960s) about the fight for these rights a whopping 50 years ago. There is another Chicago 7.

Midwives, shot by first-time feature documentary director Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, centers on two midwives, Nyo Nyo and Hla. The women live in a remote region of Myanmar – an overwhelmingly Buddhist country that’s being accused of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority community.

The pandemic is hitting the Italian market hard. In the current epidemiological situation, which sees millions of citizens in quarantine, the box office is suffering.

Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley made a big ‘horrifically thrilling’ jump into ninth place of the top ten in Germany. Why is this worth mentioning? Because del Toro’s film is considered arthouse fare.

Multi-award-winning actor Nicolas Cage was featured as one of the speakers at Film Independent, where he discussed his career and acting philosophy. Interestingly, despite his impressive litany of films, which includes Leaving Las Vegas, for which he earned an Oscar as well as a Golden Globe award for Best Actor, he still sees himself as a journeyman actor with a lot to learn.

In baseball terms, Lena Dunham is batting 1,000. The Oberlin graduate has directed two feature films and now, with the screening of Sharp Stick at Sundance 2022, the multi-hyphenate filmmaker has seen both her films showcase at the Park City-based independent film festival.

It is not often that lightning strikes twice at Sundance for the same film but for Carey Williams, that is exactly what happened for the opening night unspooling of EMERGENCY at Sundance 2022. This marks the Pensacola, Florida native’s second showcase of that title, the first being his presentation in the shorts section back in 2018.

While Hollywood loves shooting in Eastern European countries like Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, or Romania, Turkey has struggled to attract major international projects due to the lack of a rebate program. Finally, last year Turkey has launched an up to 30% cash rebate for international feature films, documentaries, and TV series.