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Utopia Acquires ‘Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.’ – Film News in Brief
Utopia has acquired the music documentary 'Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr." for a one-day theatrical event and digital release.

Utopia Acquires ‘Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.’ – Film News in Brief

Utopia has picked up North American rights to “Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.,” the feature docu that looks at the legacy of the influential 1990s band. A one-night only special theatrical release is set for May 31 ahead of a June 3 digital release.

A special New York premiere on May 28 will feature a Q&A and solo performance from the band’s J Mascis.

Directed by German filmmaker Philipp Reichenheim, who happens to be Mascis’ brother-in-law, the documentary features interviews with their contemporaries including Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and The Pixies, charting their story from the mid-80s to their 30th anniversary reunion concert.

Emma Thompson Hires a Sex Worker in ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Trailer

Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widow, who attempts to have proper sex for the first time in her life and hires a sex worker in the new trailer for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.”

The film, which played at Sundance earlier this year will stream on Hulu June 17. Directed by Sophie Hyde, it will also open this year’s Sundance London (June 9-12).

Thompson plays Nancy, a widow and former teacher who has stepped outside her comfort zone for the first time in her life and hired a sex worker, the titular Leo Grande, played by “Peaky Blinders” actor Daryl McCormack.

Watch the trailer below.

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Announces Audience and Jury Prize Recipients

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) has announced the winners of the audience and jury prizes for the 38th edition of the festival.

After nine days of screenings, the audience votes recognized Kauro Ishibashi and Justin Taylor Smith’s film “Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi” with the Audience Award for Documentary Feature. Tom Huang’s “Dealing With Dad” won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature.

Also winning at the festival was Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s “The Assault,” which won the Narrative Grand Jury Prize. The narrative feature jury, which included Thomas Lim, Melissa Bisangi, Valarie Castillo Martinez and Parvesh Cheena, also awarded the actors from Ham Tran’s “Maika” and “Leonor Will Never Die” director Martika Ramirez Escobar with special jury recognitions.

The documentary feature jury, which included Emory Chao Johnson, Dinesh Sabu and Clarissa de los Reyes, awarded David Siev’s “Bad Axe” with the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Special jury recognitions were also given to Dongnan Chen’s “Singing in the Wilderness,” Karl Malakunas’ “Delikado” and Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s “Free Chol Soo Lee.”

The Emerging Filmmaker Award went to Yasir Masood for his film “Istikhara, New York.”

The short film “Eureka” won the Golden Reel Award for Narrative Short Film, which automatically qualifies it for the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category at the Academy Awards.

American Cinematheque Adds David Zaslav to Board of Directors

The American Cinematheque has announced David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is the newest addition to the group’s board of directors.

Zaslav spearheaded the recent transaction between AT&T and Discovery, Inc. in April. The new standalone company that resulted from the massive transaction, Warner Bros. Discovery, combined the media assets of WarnerMedia and Discovery under Zaslav’s leadership.

“We are so pleased to have David join the Board of Directors,” American Cinematheque Chairman Rick Nicita said. “He brings a strategic perspective that will add to the growth of our film programming and especially with the AC’s expansion into educational initiatives and archive content development.”

Established in 1984, the American Cinematheque is a member-supported non-profit cultural arts organization dedicated to building an engaged film community through immersive film curation, conversation and presentation.

Zaslav will join Stephanie Allain, Mark Badagliacca, Peter Bart, Bill Block, Esther Chang, Sandy Climan, Peter Dekom, Charles Heaphy, Louis Kempinsky, Mary Anne Keshen, Ken Kleinberg, Sue Kroll, Franklin Leonard, Michael Mann, Mike Medavoy, Darren Moll, Rick Nicita, Eric Nebot, Mark Ordesky, James Robinson, Stan Rosenfield, Ted Sarandos, Paul Shurgot, Bud Swartz and Paula Wagner on the board.

CAA’s Seventh Annual Moebius Film Festival Gets Return Date and Lineup

The Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is set to bring back CAA Moebius, an annual two-day screening series showcasing perse graduate student filmmakers. The live event will return on May 18, the agency announced today.

Now in its seventh year, the 2022 line-up features live-action and animated short films by 13 emerging directors from USC, CalArts, Chapman University, the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory and, for the first time, the University of North Carolina. The featured filmmakers come from around the world, including Mongolia, Mexico, South Korea, the UK, the U.S. and Thailand.

The lineup for day one of the festival includes “Rated R” from USC’s Reid Antin; “Lux Noctis” from AFI’s Damiana Acuña; “Red Velvet” from Chapman University’s Danielle Gibson; “Insomnia” from CalArts’ Haerim Yang; “Carrion” from AFI’s Yvonne Zhang; and “Magdalena” from AFI’s Michael Lazovsky.

Day two will feature “Orbita” from Udval Altangerel of CalArts; “Sammy Without Strings” from Ralph Parker III of UNC; “Hopper’s Day” from Jingqi Zhang of CalArts; “You’re Now Beyond Hope, Arizona” from Nick Dugan of Chapman University; “OST.” from Abhichoke Chandrasen of USC; “Charlotte” from Zach Dorn of CalArts; and “Chorus” from Daniel J. Egbert of AFI.