Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

Haroula Rose is a filmmaker and performer from Chicago, now living in Los Angeles. In 2025, All Happy Families, her sophomore feature film as writer, director and producer, was released in theaters nationwide. The film was executive produced by Michael Shannon and stars Josh Radnor, Becky Ann Baker, Chandra Russell, Rob Huebel, John Ashton, David Pasquesi and Colleen Camp. Her debut feature as writer-director, Once Upon a River, an adaptation of the bestselling novel, won 19 awards at over 40 festivals worldwide. Haroula was selected to be part of Hello Sunshine’s short film series, for which she wrote and directed a romcom fable called Hound of Love. Other acclaimed short films and videos include As They Slept, Lost &amp; Found, Wedding Dress, No Love Song and Baby Crazy. Rose received her BA and MA from the University of Chicago, and attended USC&#8217;s MFA program. As a producer she has worked on Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, David Sington’s The Fear of Thirteen, Heaven Adores You, Permanent and Saint Frances. Rose has released three LPs as well as remixes, singles and EP’s with Thirty Tigers and Tone Tree Music. Her latest collaboration is a group of compositions with Oliver Hill, released on Ba Da Bing Records in early 2025.

Haroula Rose

Film

Short Film Premiere: Your Own Good

Paget Brewster can currently be seen in the psychosexual horror-comedy <a href="https://yellowveilpictures.com/touch-me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Touch Me</a>, which is currently out in New York City, will be in limited theaters from March 27, and on demand and on digital April 7. She recently reprised her long-running role as Special Agent Emily Prentiss in the Criminal Minds and appeared on seasons one and two of Hulu&#8217;s How I Met Your Father. Other recent work includes Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Hollywood and the CBS comedy Mom. Paget has also starred in the comedy shows Another Period, Grandfathered with John Stamos, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Huff and Community. Paget’s extensive voiceover work includes Family Guy, American Dad, Tuca &amp; Bertie, The Simpsons, and many more, and she was nominated for an Emmy in 2020 for her voice work in Ducktales. Among her feature film credits are Welcome to Happiness, My Big Fat Independent Movie, The Big Bad Swim, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Man of the House.

Paget Brewster

Three Great Things: Paget Brewster

Christian Petzold’s latest film,<a href="https://www.12special.com/miroirs-no-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Miroirs No. 3</a>, is out now in theaters through 1-2 Special. He was born in Hilden in 1960. After studying German and theater at the Free University of Berlin, he studied film at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB) from 1988 to 1994. He directed his first feature film in 1995. Made in 2000, his film The State I Am In won Gold at the German Film Awards; he was awarded the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Director for Barbara in 2012. His previous film, Afire, won the Berlinale Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in 2023. (Photo by Christian Schulz, courtesy of 1-2 Special.)

Christian Petzold

Three Great Things: Christian Petzold

Screenwriter and director Petra Volpe&rsquo;s latest feature, the acclaimed medical drama <a href="https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/late-shift/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Late Shift</a>, is in theaters from Music Box Pictures from March 20.&nbsp;Her feature film debut, Dreamland (2014), was nominated for four Swiss Film Awards. In 2017, Volpe gained worldwide attention with her film The Divine Order (Die g&ouml;ttliche Ordnung), which became a major box-office success in Switzerland. It was sold to over 30 countries and represented Switzerland in the Oscar race. Volpe also wrote the screenplay for the film Heidi, the successful SRF series Labyrinth of Peace and Golden Years (Die goldenen Jahre), which became the most successful Swiss feature film of 2022 in German-speaking Switzerland and was sold internationally, including in the USA. In addition to her Swiss projects, Volpe works as a screenwriter and director in the United States. Her fourth feature film, Frank &amp; Louis, her English-language debut which stars Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Petra Volpe lives and works in Berlin and New York. (Photo by Salvatore Vinci.)

Petra Volpe

Nonna

Steven Knight is a prolific writer for film and television whose latest movie, <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81319485" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man</a>, is out on Netflix on March 20. Before becoming a screenwriter, Knight worked in television and was one of the creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. His films as a screenwriter include Dirty Pretty Things (directed by Stephen Frears), Eastern Promises (directed by David Cronenberg), Allied (directed by Robert Zemeckis) and Spencer (directed by Pablo Larrain), and he directed his own screenplays for the films Locke starring Tom Hardy, Redemption with Jason Statham, and Serenity, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. On the small screen, he has created and written many TV shows, including Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes, A Thousand Blows and House of Guinness. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Netflix.)

Steven Knight

Three Great Things: Steven Knight

Cinqué Lee’s latest film as writer-director, the coming-of-age thriller <a href="https://www.quiverdistribution.com/copy-of-slate/last-ride" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Last Ride</a>, is now available on digital. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lee is a highly accomplished filmmaker and storyteller with over 35 years of experience in independent and narrative cinema. Renowned for a unique creative voice that explores complex human relationships and gritty urban narratives, Lee has defined his career through high-level artistic exchanges with a diverse roster of icons, including Joe Strummer, Iggy Pop, Paddy McAloon, Screamin&#8217; Jay Hawkins, Matthew Barney, Tim Pope, Todd Oldham, and Jim Jarmusch. A versatile artist with deep technical and creative expertise, Lee is a prolific writer of feature films and shorts focusing on authentic dialogue and expert narrative pacing.

Cinqué Lee

A Rare Alignment of Friendship: Notes on Last Ride

Amandine Thomas is a French-American director, writer and editor whose latest short film, Albatross, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. She is one half of THUMPER, a creative duo with Gerardo Coello Escalante. Their short film Viaje de Negocios premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and their follow-up, SUSANA, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. She recently released a documentary short called hello beautiful please follow back. Learm more at <a href="https://amandinethomas.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her website</a>.

Amandine Thomas

I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, Except for When I Do

Marcie Hume is the director of the new documentary <a href="https://www.coreyfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Corey Feldman Vs. the World</a>, which is now available worldwide on Apple, Google and YouTube. A documentary filmmaker and television executive, she began her career at the BBC in London and has since originated and executive produced series for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, Discovery, National Geographic, Lifetime, TLC and A&amp;E in the US. Her feature documentary Hood to Coast (SXSW 2008) is a portrait of endurance, friendship, and the quiet madness of a 200-mile relay. Her award-winning film Magicians: Life in the Impossible (Hot Docs 2016; acquired by Netflix via Gravitas Ventures) is an intimate look at obsession, wonder as labor, and the cost of impossible dreams. In recent years, her work has expanded from documenting wonder to engineering it, bringing the lens into the room through immersive, participant-driven magic. Her live projects range from immersive experiences in Francis Ford Coppola’s New Orleans attic through the Overlook Film Festival to site-specific encounters in unexpected corners on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Marcie Hume

Why I’m Not Suing Corey Feldman for Defamation

Beth Harrington’s latest documentary, <a href="https://schedule.sxsw.com/2026/films/2249932" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beyond the Duplex Planet</a>, a portrait of artist David Greenberger, premieres at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival on March 12. Beth is an Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated independent producer, director and writer, born in Boston and transplanted to the Pacific Northwest. Harrington’s documentary Welcome to the Club – The Women of Rockabilly, was honored with a 2003 Grammy nomination and her 2015 film The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music premiered at SXSW, later appearing in over 30 film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. As well as making music-centric films, Harrington has been a singer and sometimes guitarist, most noted for her years as a member of Jonathan Richman &amp; The Modern Lovers on Sire Records. Her 2025 documentary Our Mr. Matsura, about a Japanese photographer’s unconventional work documenting the people of Washington State in the early 1900s, is currently playing festivals.

Beth Harrington

The Art of Hanging Out

Alex Thompson grew up watching Humphrey Bogart films with his Popou and making movies, back when Coltneck Lane was still a cul de sac. He graduated from DePauw University and worked in casting before directing his first short, starring Olympia Dukakis and Rose Gregorio. He directed and produced Saint Frances, which won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2019. His second feature, Rounding, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 while Ghostlight, which he co-directed with Kelly O&rsquo;Sullivan, opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. He has been nominated for the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Prize at the Gotham Awards and the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. His latest feature, Mouse, which he co-directed with O&rsquo;Sullivan, premiered at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival.

Alex Thompson

“It’s Not in My Nature to Be Mysterious”: On the Easy Brilliance of Ocean’s Eleven and Twelve

Rod Blackhurst is a Nashville-based filmmaker whose latest film, the horror movie <a href="https://dolly.movie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dolly</a>, is out now in theaters through IFC and Shudder. His first fiction feature, Here Alone, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by Vertical Entertainment, and his thriller Blood for Dust, starring Scoot McNairy, Nora Zehetner, Ethan Suplee, Amber Rose Mason, Stephen Dorff, Josh Lucas and Kit Harington, came out theatrically in 2024. His first documentary feature, the Netflix Original Amanda Knox, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Rod Blackhurst

Don’t Build a New Ship, Improve the Old One

Alison McAlpine’s latest film, <a href="http://www.www.perfectlyastrangeness.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perfectly a strangeness</a>, is currently nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the Academy Awards. Alison began her career as a published poet, playwright and theatre director. Her previous films include the award-winning Second Sight (2008), which she reworked for the BBC as Ghostman of Skye (2009), and CIELO, Alison’s award-winning first feature, which premiered at the New York Film Festival in 2017 and was released in 2018. perfectly a strangeness, Alison’s first short film, premiered in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, had its North American premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, was “Best of Fest” at IDFA and has since travelled to over 80 international film festivals, playing in 27 countries and winning 20 awards. A 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, Alison is currently working on several new films. Find out more at her <a href="http://www.alisonmcalpine.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website</a>.