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Talkhouse

Tomás Gómez Bustillo’s debut feature, <a href="https://www.hoperunshighfilms.com/chronicles-of-a-wandering-saint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chronicles of a Wandering Saint</a>, which was nominated for Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, and Best Cinematography at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, is out now in theaters. Born in Buenos Aires, he was brought up across Argentina, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the U.S. After studying Political Science in Buenos Aires, he relocated to L.A., where he earned his MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory. After graduating, he co-founded indie production company Plenty Good. Breaking away from cliches in mainstream depictions of South America, Tomás tells stories that use religion, magic, folklore and myth to conjure up and celebrate the real human absurdity that lies underneath.

Tomás Gómez Bustillo

Film

A Language Beyond Words

Sareen Hairabedian is a documentary film director based between New York, Armenia and Jordan who uses observational intimate cinematic approach to tell stories about people and places that often go unnoticed and unheard of. Her debut feature, <a href="https://www.mysweetlandfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My Sweet Land</a>, a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus Mountains, had its world premiere at the Sheffield DocFest in June 2024 and is now playing on the festival circuit. She is the founder of <a href="http://hai-creative.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HAI Creative</a>, a production company that collaborates with artists and humanitarian organizations across continents, capturing the untold stories of underrepresented communities. Hairabedian’s directorial debut, We Are Not Done Yet, a 40-minute HBO documentary about U.S. veterans grappling with PTSD who use art and poetry to heal, was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the International Documentary Association 2018 Awards.

Sareen Hairabedian

A Letter to My Sweet Boy

Katherine Propper is a writer-director born and raised in Los Angeles. Her feature directorial debut, <a href="https://kinolorber.com/film/lost-soulz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lost Soulz</a>, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2023 and is now in theaters through Kino Lorber. Her 2022 short film Birds won the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest, a Special Jury Award for Vision at SXSW, and a Special Jury Prize in the International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand in France. Her 2019 short film Street Flame screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. She enjoys merging both fictional and non-fictional worlds in her filmmaking, and drawing upon experiences including working on director Terrence Malick&#8217;s editing team. Her short films can be streamed on The New Yorker, Short of the Week and Omeleto. Katherine received her MFA in Film Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Art History from Georgetown University.

Katherine Propper

Lost Soulz Longing for a Home

Thomas Haden Church is currently starring in the feelgood movie <a href="https://roadsideattractions.com/filmography/accidentaltexan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accidental Texan</a>, opposite Rudy Pankow, Carrie-Ann Moss and Bruce Dern, which will be in theaters from March 8. He was recently seen in Peacock’s series Twisted Metal, also starring Anthony Mackie, and in the independent break-out hit Peanut Butter Falcon, with Shia LeBeouf, Dakota Johnson and Bruce Dern. He starred opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in all three seasons of HBO’s Divorce, and had standout movie roles in William Friedkin’s critically acclaimed crime thriller Killer Joe, opposite Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsh, Juno Temple and Gina Gershon; the hit teen comedy Easy A, co-starring opposite Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci, Penn Badgley and Patrica Clarkson; and Spider-Man 3, in which he played the villain Sandman, aka Flint Marko. In 2004, Church gave a career-defining performance opposite Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne’s critically acclaimed Sideways, earning an Academy Award nomination, plus an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. Church co-wrote and directed the film Rolling Kansas, which premiered as an official selection to the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. Church resides on his ranch in Texas. (Photo by Jalisco Wayne, courtesy Roadside Attractions.)

Thomas Haden Church

Three Great Things: Thomas Haden Church

Tehran-born, Australia-raised filmmaker Noora Niasari’s debut feature film, <a href="https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/shayda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shayda</a>, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, and is in theaters from March 1 through Sony Pictures Classics. The film, which stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Cannes Best Actress Winner for Holy Spider) and was executive produced by Cate Blanchett, is a drama about an Iranian mother living with her six-year-old daughter in an Australian women’s shelter, trying to start a new life away from her estranged husband. Shayda is Australia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards. (Photo by Keiran Watson-Bonnice.)

Noora Niasari

Sundance and Pistachio Soup

Jaime King is currently starring in the thriller Lights Out, opposite Frank Grillo, Mekhi Fifer, Dermot Mulroney and Scott Adkins. She made her debut in Daniel Waters&#8217; Happy Campers, then starred opposite Johnny Depp in Ted Demme&#8217;s Blow, opposite Ben Affleck in Michael Bay&#8217;s Pearl Harbor and was part of an all-star cast featuring Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and more in Robert Rodriguez&#8217;s Sin City. Her other major films include DJ Caruso&#8217;s Two for the Money, starring opposite Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey, Frank Millers&#8217; The Spirit with Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, appearing opposite Joseph Gordon Levitt and Josh Brolin. On TV, she was a series regular on the CW show Hart of Dixie and recently starred in the critically acclaimed hit Netflix series series Black Summer.

Jaime King

Three Great Things: Jaime King

Virginia Madsen can currently be seen in Nicola Peltz Beckham’s Lola, which is out now in theaters. She was most recently be seen in the Lionsgate horror film entitled Prey for the Devil, the psychological thriller The Portrait and the independent feature entitled One Day as a Lion, opposite J.K. Simmons and Frank Grillo. Virginia received an Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance in Alexander Payne&#8217;s Sideways. She recently starred as series regular Maria Sutherland on the CW streaming service series Swamp Thing. Virginia can also be seen in the independent films Her Smell, directed by Alex Ross Perry and starring Elisabeth Moss and Cara Delevingne, and 1985, directed by Yen Tan, which premiered at acclaimed film festivals SXSW and Outfest. She also appeared opposite Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper in the 2015 feature Joy, directed by David O. Russell. Virginia’s other notable film credits include Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker with Matt Damon, the horror classic Candyman with Kasi Lemmons, The Hot Spot directed by Dennis Hopper, HBO’s first feature Long Gone and David Lynch’s cult classic Dune.

Virginia Madsen

Three Great Things: Virginia Madsen

Nate Kinsella is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and engineer based in Brooklyn with Midwest roots in Minneapolis and Chicago. He writes and records music as Birthmark and is a member of the band American Football. The latest Birthmark record, Birth of Omni, is out now on Polyvinyl.
(Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez)

Nate Kinsella

Music

Rad Like Dad

Chase Joliet is an actor and filmmaker from Dallas, Texas, whose debut feature as writer-director, Grapefruit, in which he stars opposite Rosanna Arquette and Steph Barkley, is now on the festival circuit. He worked with legendary director Terrence Malick for a number of years on To the Wonder, Voyage of Time and Song to Song, after which he produced his first independent feature film, Krisha, which won SXSW Grand Jury award and audience award before playing at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Chase won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2016 Indie Spirit awards and went on to help develop Trey Edward Shults’ second feature, It Comes at Night. Chase’s short film directorial debut, the comedic short Everything Mattress, won multiple audience awards and is currently being sold in European Territories.

Chase Joliet

Finding Compassion, or Why My Mom is My Tripwire

Cedric Cheung-Lau’s debut feature, the Nepal-set drama <a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/the-mountains-are-a-dream-that-call-to-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mountains are a Dream That Call to Me</a>, is now streaming exclusively on the Criterion Channel. He is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and lighting director based in occupied Lenapehoking (New York City, USA). He spent nearly a decade developing The Mountains are a Dream that Call to Me, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2020. Prior to that, he directed a short, Topography of a Hotel, that premiered at the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival. His cinematography can be seen in the work of directors Wen Shipei, the brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri, Maggie Briggs and Federico Spiazzi whose works have shown at Cannes, Berlin, Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs, AFI Film Fest, and many others.

Cedric Cheung-Lau

A Memory of Home

Rob Schneider’s latest movie, Daddy Daughter Trip, which he directed and stars in with his real-life family, is out now on DVD and digital. After starting out a stand-up comedian, Schneider rose to prominence as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live, from 1988 to 1994. Following his departure from SNL, he went on to a career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) and its 2005 sequel, The Animal (2001), The Hot Chick (2002), The Benchwarmers (2006) and Big Stan (2007). Between 2015 and 2017, he starred in three season’s of the autobiographical sitcom Real Rob and in 2019 launched the podcast See What Happens.

Rob Schneider

Three Great Things: Rob Schneider

Paris Zarcilla is a British Filipino BIFA-nominated film and television director-writer who aims to create meaningful, profound and genre-bending stories. His debut feature, Raging Grace, won the Narrative Feature Jury Award and Thunderbird Rising Award for Best Debut at SXSW 2023. His award-winning short film Pommel has screened all over the world at leading festivals. In 2020, Paris wrote and directed the primetime TV drama The Century Egg (Starhub) produced by the Emmy-nominated studio Refinery Media. Zarcilla currently resides in London.

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