“Mafia Mamma” Director Catherine Hardwicke Creates a Comedy You Can’t Refuse
Oscar-nominated actor Toni Collette stars in the title role of Mafia Mamma, a new femme-forward comedy that offers a twist on the gangster film genre. The movie features women in roles both above and below the line, with director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, writer Amanda Sthers as producer, and Monica Bellucci and Sophia Nomvete as co-stars.
Filmed in some of the most beautiful locations in Italy,
“Tetris” Director Jon S. Baird on Putting the Pieces Together
The origin story of Tetris is even more exciting than the iconic game itself. The game’s creator, Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov), and its greatest champion, businessman Hank Rogers (Taron Egerton), fought to get the game out from under the thumb of Soviet Russia and out into the world. The true story is complicated, but in the hands of filmmaker Jon S. Baird, it’s gracefully told in his latest film, Tetris.
Baird is no stranger to true stories about dreamers.
Director Jon Erwin Shares a Message of Hope in True Story “Jesus Revolution”
Clashing ideals and collective soul-searching led many Americans to both destructive and hopeful paths in the 1970s. Among Christian churches, opinions were divided over who was permitted to preach the gospel – and who was worthy of listening. A surprising partnership between establishment pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) and hippie preacher Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie) created such a feverish following that the movement landed on TIME Magazine and was dubbed a Jesus Revolution.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” Director Chad Stahelski on Why Wick’s a Villain Trying to Do Right
Editor’s Note: Leading up to the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 on March 24, 2023, The Credits is publishing a “Wick Week” of content, weaving stories about the film’s fighting style, stunts, and cinematography, along with an interview with director Chad Stahelski. Some mild spoilers follow.
Chad Stahelski didn’t set out to make a blockbuster franchise,
“The Magician’s Elephant” Director Wendy Rogers on Her Charming Pixelated Pachyderm
Even in the time of Domee Shi, director of Pixar’s Oscar-nominated feature Turning Red, women as sole directors of animated features are a rare thing. This is partly what makes it so refreshing to see Netflix’s The Magician’s Elephant is helmed by veteran VFX supervisor Wendy Rogers in her feature directorial debut.
Adapted from Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning novel and animated by Animal Logic, the story follows Peter (Noah Jupe),
Director Haifaa Al-Mansour on Casting a Spell in “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches”
Though Haifaa Al-Mansour is known as the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia by virtue of her award-winning 2012 feature Wadjda, she has since become a go-to director inside and outside Hollywood through both features and projects on the small screen. The writer/director’s releases Mary Shelley and The Perfect Candidate were lauded by critics and audiences, and her artistic contributions to shows like The Good Lord Bird,
Documentarian Sam Pollard on Courting an Icon in “Bill Russell: Legend”
This week, LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record, but one superstar stat seems unlikely to be eclipsed any time soon: the late Bill Russell’s collection of 11 NBA Championship rings. One of the league’s first Black players, Russell led the Boston Celtics from 1957 through the sixties. The team’s reign culminated in 1969 after Russell became the league’s first Black player-coach and led the Celtics to a come-from-behind victory over arch-rivals the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Alice, Darling” Director Mary Nighy on Her Chilling, Emotionally Resonant Feature Debut
Alice, Darling, Mary Nighy’s feature film directorial debut explores an insidious form of emotional and psychological abuse: coercive control. In its stirring portrait of Alice, a young woman in denial about her partner’s manipulative and oppressive behavior — played with dazzling depth by Anna Kendrick — the film takes an honest look at the unsettling impact of such abuse. When Alice spends a few days away with her two best friends, she is forced to face her reality and make a life-altering choice.
Sundance 2023: Filmmaker Razelle Benally on Her Showtime Doc Series “Murder in Big Horn”
The Sundance staff and execs have always believed it essential to honor Indigenous people as part of their film festival and institute, as exampled by their Native Lab and Indigenous Program. This year, there is an even greater focus on Native cultures, both inside and outside the cinemas, with 11 Indigenous films as part of the program. 2023 also marked the inaugural year for The Indigenous House, which provided a gathering space for community members and allies,
Writer/Director Elegance Bratton on His Breakout Film “The Inspection”
Writer/director Elegance Bratton’s autobiographical The Inspection is one of the year’s breakout films. Bratton stuck with the project for years because it most reflected who he is: a gay Black man who was homeless as a teenager, a Marine Corps veteran, and a Columbia University and NYU-educated filmmaker.
Bratton’s struggles began practically at birth with that unusual, magnificent name. “My mother named me Elegance but had a problem with me being gay,” Bratton said over the phone from his home in Baltimore.
Best of 2022: “The Woman King” Director Gina Prince-Bythewood on Her Singular, Sweeping Historical Epic
It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.
When director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s most recent film, The Old Guard, premiered on Netflix in July of 2020, the critically acclaimed action drama became one of the top 10 original launches in the platform’s history. Prince-Bythewood is following that with one of the most anticipated films of 2022,
Best of 2022: “Succession” Director Mark Mylod on Season 3 & TV’s Most Irresistibly Twisted Family
It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.
Succession director Mark Mylod knows his way around family drama. Mylod’s been with the series since the first season, directing the second episode (the pilot was helmed by co-creator Adam McKay), and is now the most tenured Succession director of them all, with 12 episodes to his credit.
Best of 2022: Bill Hader on Bringing Up “Barry”
It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.
For eight seasons, Bill Hader gained a legion of fans with the hilarious characters he brought to life on Saturday Night Live. Since then, his popularity has only grown with his Emmy-winning portrayal of the manic hitman/aspiring actor in the HBO series Barry. But to hear Hader tell it,
Best of 2022: “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Writer/Director Rian Johnson Unpeels His Whodunit
It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.
When released in 2019, Rian Johnson’s star-studded, deliciously delightful who-done-it Knives Out was met with universal acclaim and became a smash hit. In it, star Daniel Craig shed all remnants of his Bond persona to play the quirky Southern genius detective Benoit Blanc in a performance so winning and a film so enjoyable even a character’s sweater became a sensation.
Best of 2022: MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director Nikyatu Jusu on her Stunning Debut Feature “Nanny”
It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.
Deploying West African folklore to interrogate the myth of the American dream, writer/director Nikyatu Jusu‘s debut feature Nanny is a remarkably assured genre-melding experience. Nanny also gives viewers something that’s sadly still quite rare—it evocatively places us inside the head, heart, and aching soul of Aisha (Anna Diop),
“Devotion” Director J.D. Dillard on Leading Jonathan Majors in His Emotional War Epic
The new historic war epic Devotion is based on the bestselling book by Adam Makos of the same name. The true story centers on the first Black aviator in Navy history, Jesse Brown (played by Jonathan Majors), and his fellow fighter pilot Tom Hudner (Glen Powell, who also acts as producer on the film), and their heroic actions during the Korean War.
Director J.D. Dillard, who helms this exciting and emotional film,
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Writer/Director Rian Johnson Unpeels His Whodunit
When released in 2019, Rian Johnson’s star-studded, deliciously delightful who-done-it Knives Out was met with universal acclaim and became a smash hit. In it, star Daniel Craig shed all remnants of his Bond persona to play the quirky Southern genius detective Benoit Blanc in a performance so winning and a film so enjoyable even a character’s sweater became a sensation. (Granted, that character, the spoiled viper Ranson Drysdale,
“Raymond & Ray” Writer/Director Rodrigo Garcia Digs Deep With Ewan McGregor & Ethan Hawke
Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia‘s initial idea for Raymond & Ray was simple—a trumpet player is digging his father’s grave—but something wasn’t quite working. “I can’t even remember if the digging of the grave was his idea or the father’s requirement,” Garcia admits, reflecting on the first draft of what would become his surprisingly funny, raw look at father/son relationships in his new Apple TV film. “The reverend was there, and a woman showed up with a child,
Sinéad O’Shea on her Unflinching & Award-Winning Documentary “Pray For Our Sinners”
Dublin-based filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea wasn’t sure what she’d find when she returned to her small hometown of Navan, north of Dublin, last year to interview Mary Randles, who’d been a local doctor alongside her late husband Patrick. O’Shea did not expect to discover that, in addition to the Randles, other residents in Navan years ago stood up to injustices inflicted by the Catholic Church, which then controlled all aspects of life in their tiny town.
Filmmaker & TV Creator Mann Robinson on Getting it Done in Georgia
Mann Robinson gets it done. The former rapped-turned-filmmaker and television creator can do it all—write, direct, produce, edit—with a tirelessness that would seem inhuman if he wasn’t so even-keeled about how he approaches his work.
“What’s allowing me to have so many things coming up?” he says when we spoke toward the end of summer, as he took a rare break to chat about his career. “First thing I do in the morning is write whatever project I may be on at the time,
