Chloé Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ wins TIFF People’s Choice Award

After picking up Venice’s Golden Lion award, Chloé Zhao’s “ Nomadland ” has won another prestigious honor: The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award. No film has ever won both. TIFF programmers announced the winners Sunday. Zhao’s film features Frances McDormand as a widowed wanderer of the modern American West. Set for a Dec. 4 release, “Nomadland” has […]

Q&A: David Byrne on his festival hit ‘American Utopia’

In a film festival season that’s been turned largely virtual, Spike Lee’s “American Utopia,” a documentary of David Byrne’s concert musical and the opening-night film of the Toronto International Film Festival, has nevertheless supplied the giddy rush of live performance in a packed house. The film was shot during the late 2019-early 2020 run of Byrne’s acclaimed Broadway show […]

With quiet humanity, Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ makes noise

What’s it like to be an international film festival sensation without hardly leaving your home? Like most things during the pandemic, it’s surreal. Except for trips to the editing room, director Chloe Zhao has mostly stayed at the Ojai, California, home she shares with three chickens and two dogs, even as her film, “Nomadland,” has […]

Ann Hui wins lifetime achievement award at Venice festival

VENICE, Italy — Hong Kong director Ann Hui paid tribute to her home city as she received a lifetime achievement award from the Venice International Film Festival. The acclaimed director said she wanted to “revert this honor back to Hong Kong,” the city where she grew up. “It has given me an education and a […]

Digital and drive-in, film festivals try to salvage a season

NEW YORK (AP) — This is normally the time of year when flashy premieres march down red carpets and proclamations of Oscar buzz circle the globe. An avalanche of new films topples onto screens. The movie houses of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York shake with applause. The movies, more than ever, feel alive. This […]