2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards: ‘The Lost Daughter’ Takes the Top Prize (Complete Winners List)
The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
- 3/6/2022
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Arrebato (Iván Zulueta)
That Arrebato has waited more than 40 years to receive a bona fide U.S. theatrical run is wild; it lives up to the cult-classic status it’s held since 1979. (The marketing push highlights it being Pedro Almodóvar’s favorite horror film.
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Arrebato (Iván Zulueta)
That Arrebato has waited more than 40 years to receive a bona fide U.S. theatrical run is wild; it lives up to the cult-classic status it’s held since 1979. (The marketing push highlights it being Pedro Almodóvar’s favorite horror film.
- 12/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Distributor A24 and Zola led nominations as the Film Independent Spirit Awards revealed their 37th annual nods in a pre-taped presentation hosted by Beanie Feldstein, Regina Hall and Naomi Watts. The Spirit Awards are skedded for Sunday, March 6, 2022 — live and in-person this year back on the beach in Santa Monica, and broadcast on IFC.
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
- 12/14/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Writer, artist, and director Dash Shaw’s adult animated fantasy film Cryptozoo is a morality play masquerading as a dark reflection of Jurassic Park. In that film, dinosaurs were brought back to life through DNA and put on display. Cryptozoo does the same with cryptids, which are mythological creatures who have teased mankind’s imagination since the dawn of civilization.
Cryptozoo is set in 1967 San Francisco, a time of civil unrest, disobedience and oppression, and the cryptids are facing the same kind of suppression as hippies like Amber (Louisa Krause) and Matthew (Michael Cera), but on a far more mythic level. Military minds want to weaponize the cryptids, putting them in a prison camp, while they study what makes these things tick. Well-meaning and animal loving zookeeper Joan (Grace Zabriskie) and her assistant Lauren Gray (Lake Bell), prefer they are kept in what they see as a Garden of Eden.
Cryptozoo is set in 1967 San Francisco, a time of civil unrest, disobedience and oppression, and the cryptids are facing the same kind of suppression as hippies like Amber (Louisa Krause) and Matthew (Michael Cera), but on a far more mythic level. Military minds want to weaponize the cryptids, putting them in a prison camp, while they study what makes these things tick. Well-meaning and animal loving zookeeper Joan (Grace Zabriskie) and her assistant Lauren Gray (Lake Bell), prefer they are kept in what they see as a Garden of Eden.
- 12/11/2021
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
Comic book writer-turned-director Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”) has conjured the wildest, most surreal animated feature of the year with the 2D “Cryptozoo.” It’s about a group of cryptozookeepers in the late ’60s who create a utopia safe haven for rare, fantastic beasts to protect them from becoming weaponized by the U.S. military. However, the search for the most revered creature — the nightmare-sucking Baku — by cryptid hunter Lauren Grey (Lake Bell) reveals the harmful implications of such an idealistic pursuit.
Shaw, who collaborated with his animator wife Jane Samborski, described “Cryptozoo” as a counter-culture version of “Jurassic Park.”
“When the movie starts, your mind goes to ‘Jurassic Park’ and you’re thinking how it’s going to fail in ‘Cryptozoo,'” Shaw said. “But whereas ‘Jurassic Park’ has a cleaner, allegorical space that’s defined by Spielberg, ‘Cryptozoo’ makes more unusual associations and a collage of different tones.
Shaw, who collaborated with his animator wife Jane Samborski, described “Cryptozoo” as a counter-culture version of “Jurassic Park.”
“When the movie starts, your mind goes to ‘Jurassic Park’ and you’re thinking how it’s going to fail in ‘Cryptozoo,'” Shaw said. “But whereas ‘Jurassic Park’ has a cleaner, allegorical space that’s defined by Spielberg, ‘Cryptozoo’ makes more unusual associations and a collage of different tones.
- 8/23/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
“Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo
Cryptozoo, Dash Shaw’s beautifully animated follow-up to 2016’s My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, begins with a stark, colorless prologue in which a couple, Amber and Matthew (voiced by Luisa Krause and Michael Cera), scale a fence that seems to be randomly placed in the middle of the woods and find themselves staring at an honest-to-God unicorn. The ensuing scene is delicately handled, conveying both the beauty and fright of the encounter and, eventually, its tragicness unflinchingly, without sentimentality. It’s a wonderful introduction to the weird world of the film, where not only unicorns but also gorgons, griffins, […]
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/20/2021
- by Forrest Cardamenis
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo
Cryptozoo, Dash Shaw’s beautifully animated follow-up to 2016’s My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, begins with a stark, colorless prologue in which a couple, Amber and Matthew (voiced by Luisa Krause and Michael Cera), scale a fence that seems to be randomly placed in the middle of the woods and find themselves staring at an honest-to-God unicorn. The ensuing scene is delicately handled, conveying both the beauty and fright of the encounter and, eventually, its tragicness unflinchingly, without sentimentality. It’s a wonderful introduction to the weird world of the film, where not only unicorns but also gorgons, griffins, […]
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/20/2021
- by Forrest Cardamenis
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
United Artists Releasing opens Flag Day, directed and starring Sean Penn, in a uneven specialty market where the Delta Variant spike has theaters in key cities requiring proof of vaccination, theaters are hard to book, and hits have been rare since the industry reopened.
Eventually “We’ll crack the code, because good movie and good stories win out.” said Erik Lomis, President, Distribution at Uar. Older demos — the meat-and-potatoes of arthouse — “are less comfortable coming back than we all hoped. It’s a tough, tough market to crack… but there’s nothing like seeing it in a movie theater.”
The film from MGM Studios premiered at Cannes and debuts in 24 theaters in 10 markets. It expands next weekend to 24 markets and 50 theaters. “We’ll continue to roll out like that until we really step on the gas depending upon market conditions,...
Eventually “We’ll crack the code, because good movie and good stories win out.” said Erik Lomis, President, Distribution at Uar. Older demos — the meat-and-potatoes of arthouse — “are less comfortable coming back than we all hoped. It’s a tough, tough market to crack… but there’s nothing like seeing it in a movie theater.”
The film from MGM Studios premiered at Cannes and debuts in 24 theaters in 10 markets. It expands next weekend to 24 markets and 50 theaters. “We’ll continue to roll out like that until we really step on the gas depending upon market conditions,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This review of “Cryptozoo” was first published after the film’s premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
If you ever talk to an animator, they are likely to share two opinions very quickly: one, “Animation is not a genre.” And two, “Animation isn’t exclusively for children.” Dash Shaw is one of many contemporary artists expanding the idea of what animation can do, and who it can be for, and with his second feature, “Cryptozoo,” his well of imagination is matched only by his precision at executing his ideas.
“Cryptozoo” delivers on the promise of Shaw’s first feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” This time out, the writer-director (in collaboration with animation director Jane Samborski) is even more assured as both a storyteller and as a crafter of images, be they outrageous or gorgeous, haunting or hilarious.
Underneath it all, Shaw seems to revel in genre,...
If you ever talk to an animator, they are likely to share two opinions very quickly: one, “Animation is not a genre.” And two, “Animation isn’t exclusively for children.” Dash Shaw is one of many contemporary artists expanding the idea of what animation can do, and who it can be for, and with his second feature, “Cryptozoo,” his well of imagination is matched only by his precision at executing his ideas.
“Cryptozoo” delivers on the promise of Shaw’s first feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” This time out, the writer-director (in collaboration with animation director Jane Samborski) is even more assured as both a storyteller and as a crafter of images, be they outrageous or gorgeous, haunting or hilarious.
Underneath it all, Shaw seems to revel in genre,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
In the sea (one might say glut) of contemporary animation—a form that, by its very nature, is most often supported by the ever-watchful eye of major studios—breaths of fresh air are desperately needed. Directed by Dash Shaw, with animation direction from Jane Samborski, the sui generis Cryptozoo truly galvanized us at Sundance, our critic calling it “one of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.”
You’ll find that quote in the trailer Magnolia have released ahead of Cryptozoo‘s August 20 release. Having not seen the film myself, I’m rather jazzed by what’s here—ever shot offering something new to observe, a gorgeous score to boot. As Juan Barquin said, “With John Carroll Kirby’s haunting and seductive original music still playing in my head long after the credits have rolled, Cryptozoo has embedded itself into my mind. Every fascinating creature has been brought...
You’ll find that quote in the trailer Magnolia have released ahead of Cryptozoo‘s August 20 release. Having not seen the film myself, I’m rather jazzed by what’s here—ever shot offering something new to observe, a gorgeous score to boot. As Juan Barquin said, “With John Carroll Kirby’s haunting and seductive original music still playing in my head long after the credits have rolled, Cryptozoo has embedded itself into my mind. Every fascinating creature has been brought...
- 7/13/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Sundance Film Festival: London has revealed that “Zola” and “Coda” will be among the 2021 lineup, when the festival returns to Picturehouse Central next month.
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
- 6/2/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Dan Shaw’s animated feature debuted at Sundance and scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition.
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has swooped on key European territory rights for Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, which scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition this week.
In a deal with The Match Factory, Mubi has acquired all rights to the adult animation for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Turkey. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the Next Innovator Award, and played in the Generation 14plus competition of the Berlinale.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature...
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has swooped on key European territory rights for Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, which scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition this week.
In a deal with The Match Factory, Mubi has acquired all rights to the adult animation for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Turkey. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the Next Innovator Award, and played in the Generation 14plus competition of the Berlinale.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature...
- 3/5/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Dash Shaw’s animation won the Next Innovator award at Sundance.
The Match Factory has scored further deals on its Sundance hit Cryptozoo. The animated feature by Dash Shaw, which won the US festival’s Next Innovator Award, has gone to Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Films) and Cis (Russian Report), with deals pending in the UK, Australia and Germany.
Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights following its Sundance debut.
The film is Dash Shaw’s second feature after My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which debuted at the 2016 AFI Fest and made its international premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus section,...
The Match Factory has scored further deals on its Sundance hit Cryptozoo. The animated feature by Dash Shaw, which won the US festival’s Next Innovator Award, has gone to Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Films) and Cis (Russian Report), with deals pending in the UK, Australia and Germany.
Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights following its Sundance debut.
The film is Dash Shaw’s second feature after My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which debuted at the 2016 AFI Fest and made its international premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus section,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Matt Mueller
- ScreenDaily
With nearly every feature film at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival reviewed, it’s time to wrap up the first major cinema event of the year. We already got the official jury and audience winners here, and now it’s time to highlight our favorites.
One will find our picks (in alphabetical order) to keep on your radar, followed by the rest of our reviews. Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born...
One will find our picks (in alphabetical order) to keep on your radar, followed by the rest of our reviews. Check out everything below and stay tuned to our site, and specifically Twitter, for acquisition and release date news on the below films in the coming months.
Ailey (Jamila Wignot)
Has any choreographer mattered more to American dance than Alvin Ailey? The documentary Ailey, directed by Jamila Wignot, makes a good case that there has not. Comprised of amazing archival footage, peer interviews, and choreographer Rennie Harris prepping a modern-day performance in honor of the artist, Wignot paints a full picture of a complicated man. Born...
- 2/8/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
“Cryptozoo,” an animated film that premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was quickly acquired by Magnolia, took over four years to make, mainly due to the different animation techniques used to craft the film.
“I love an early animator named Winsor McCay… and I saw an unfinished short he did called ‘The Centaurs,’ that was elegantly drawn and sophisticated and the fact that he never made this movie felt like there was something there,” writer and director Dash Shaw told Beatrice Verhoeven during TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by Nfp and National Geographic.
At the same time, he said, his animation director and wife Jane Samborski “ran an all-women’s ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ group in Brooklyn and I had to leave the apartment every time these people came over — Jane painted most of the cryptids in the movie.”
Samborski explained the “collaged process” of the film, saying, “we went...
“I love an early animator named Winsor McCay… and I saw an unfinished short he did called ‘The Centaurs,’ that was elegantly drawn and sophisticated and the fact that he never made this movie felt like there was something there,” writer and director Dash Shaw told Beatrice Verhoeven during TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by Nfp and National Geographic.
At the same time, he said, his animation director and wife Jane Samborski “ran an all-women’s ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ group in Brooklyn and I had to leave the apartment every time these people came over — Jane painted most of the cryptids in the movie.”
Samborski explained the “collaged process” of the film, saying, “we went...
- 2/3/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
CodaU.S. – DRAMATICGrand Jury PrizeCoda (Siân Heder)Directing PrizeSiân Heder (Coda) Audience Award Coda (Siân Heder) Special Jury Award for Ensemble CastCoda (Siân Heder) Special Jury Award for Best ActorClifton Collins Jr. (Jockey)Waldo Salt Screenwriting AwardAri Katcher and Ryan Welch (On the Count of Three)Summer Of SoulU.S. – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury Prize Summer Of Soul (Questlove) Directing Prize Natalia Almada (Users) Audience Award Summer Of Soul (Questlove)Special Jury Award for EditingKristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno (Homeroom)Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction ExperimentationTheo AnthonySpecial Jury Award for Emerging FilmmakerParker Hill, Isabel Bethencourt (Cusp)HiveWORLD Cinema – DRAMATICGrand Jury Prize Hive (Blerta Basholli) Directing Prize Blerta Basholli (Hive) Audience Award Hive (Blerta Basholli)Special Jury Award for ActingJesmark Scicluna (Luzzu)Special Jury Award for Creative VisionBaz Poonpiriya (One for the Road)Writing With FireWORLD Cinema – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury Prize Writing With Fire (Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh)Directing Prize Hogir Hiror...
- 2/3/2021
- MUBI
Match Factory handles international sales.
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to Sundance animation Cryptozoo by Dash Shaw
Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia are among the voice cast.
Cryptozoo takes place in the 1960s and frames a war between the authorities who want to capture and weaponise a mythical creature, and those who seek to protect the fantastic beast and other cryptids in the titular establishment.
Shaw’s (My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea) wife and collaborator Jane Samborski directed the animation.
Magnolia plans a 2021 release.
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to Sundance animation Cryptozoo by Dash Shaw
Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia are among the voice cast.
Cryptozoo takes place in the 1960s and frames a war between the authorities who want to capture and weaponise a mythical creature, and those who seek to protect the fantastic beast and other cryptids in the titular establishment.
Shaw’s (My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea) wife and collaborator Jane Samborski directed the animation.
Magnolia plans a 2021 release.
- 2/2/2021
- ScreenDaily
Dash Shaw’s animated fantasy film “Cryptozoo” has sold to Magnolia out of the Sundance Film Festival, with the distributor acquiring the film’s North American rights.
The film, which played in the Next section of Sundance, follows Cryptozookeepers who try to capture Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and debate whether they should display these creatures or keep them hidden from the world.
Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia all voice animated characters in the film. And Magnolia is planning to release “Cryptozoo” later this year.
“Cryptozoo” was written and directed by Shaw, who is also known for his film “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” Jane Samborski directed the film’s hallucinatory animation, which critics have referred to as a blend of “Yellow Submarine” and “Jurassic Park.”
“‘Cryptozoo’ is a rare creature indeed...
The film, which played in the Next section of Sundance, follows Cryptozookeepers who try to capture Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and debate whether they should display these creatures or keep them hidden from the world.
Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia all voice animated characters in the film. And Magnolia is planning to release “Cryptozoo” later this year.
“Cryptozoo” was written and directed by Shaw, who is also known for his film “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” Jane Samborski directed the film’s hallucinatory animation, which critics have referred to as a blend of “Yellow Submarine” and “Jurassic Park.”
“‘Cryptozoo’ is a rare creature indeed...
- 2/2/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven and Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Magnolia Pictures has acquired the Sundance Film Festival entry “Cryptozoo,” multiple Individuals familiar with the sale told Variety.
The animated fantasy was written and directed by Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”) and boasts a voice cast featuring Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia and Zoe Kazan.
Debuting in the Next section at the 2021 virtual festival, “Cryptozoo” follows a couple romping in the woods, seeking intimacy and a good high. They inadvertently stumble on a park of fantasy creatures — dragons, griffins, winged horses and unicorns abound.
The two lovers discover a refuge for “endangered and misunderstood mythical creatures — hailing from the folklores and legends of a hundred different cultures — that the wider world either does not believe in, fears or wants to exploit,” wrote Variety critic Jessica Kiang in her review.
UTA Independent Film Group represented the filmmakers in the sale.
Jane Samborski was animation director on the project.
The animated fantasy was written and directed by Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”) and boasts a voice cast featuring Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia and Zoe Kazan.
Debuting in the Next section at the 2021 virtual festival, “Cryptozoo” follows a couple romping in the woods, seeking intimacy and a good high. They inadvertently stumble on a park of fantasy creatures — dragons, griffins, winged horses and unicorns abound.
The two lovers discover a refuge for “endangered and misunderstood mythical creatures — hailing from the folklores and legends of a hundred different cultures — that the wider world either does not believe in, fears or wants to exploit,” wrote Variety critic Jessica Kiang in her review.
UTA Independent Film Group represented the filmmakers in the sale.
Jane Samborski was animation director on the project.
- 2/2/2021
- by Matt Donnelly and Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Photo: ‘Cryptozoo’/Cinereach ‘Cryptozoo’ ‘Cryptozoo’, a new animated film by writer-director Dash Shaw and animation director Jane Samborski, is a story of cryptids and cryptid-enthusiasts. What are cryptids, you may ask? A cryptid is a creature whose existence has not been substantiated by science--think Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or the chupacabra. The fact that the existence of these creatures has not been proven but can also not be definitively disproved is essential to their appeal. For some, the idea of mythological beasts roaming the world among us in secret generates feelings of wonder; for others, feelings of fear. In ‘Cryptozoo’, the existence of cryptids has certainly been substantiated, to the extent that there’s a zoo full of them. The film has one of the most diverse menageries outside of the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ series, bringing in mythological creatures from cultures all around the world. There are familiar creatures like the unicorn and the kraken,...
- 2/2/2021
- by Trent Kinnucan
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
When director Dash Shaw and animation director Jane Samborski sat down years ago to start mapping out what would become the new film “Cryptozoo” they knew almost immediately their process needed to change. After working together on “My Entire High School Is Sinking Into the Sea” using sheets of paper to organize the acclaimed animated feature, the married couple found the same tactics untenable for their expansive new project.
“It was catastrophic,” Samborski tells Gold Derby. “There were Post-Its everywhere. So we stopped production and took a step back and built out a spreadsheet. Most of our creative interaction happened mediated by this wonderful spreadsheet.”
As Shaw explains, that allowed him to pass along notes to Samborski without having to “directly complain” to his partner.
“I think we should move into this for all areas,” he jokes.
“It’s a marriage lifehack,” Samborski says.
See Our full coverage of Sundance 2021
Set in the 1960s,...
“It was catastrophic,” Samborski tells Gold Derby. “There were Post-Its everywhere. So we stopped production and took a step back and built out a spreadsheet. Most of our creative interaction happened mediated by this wonderful spreadsheet.”
As Shaw explains, that allowed him to pass along notes to Samborski without having to “directly complain” to his partner.
“I think we should move into this for all areas,” he jokes.
“It’s a marriage lifehack,” Samborski says.
See Our full coverage of Sundance 2021
Set in the 1960s,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
The current state of American animated cinema is more than a little disappointing; Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, and more regurgitate the same formula and offer nothing new but a juxtaposition of cartoon designs and hyper-realistic imagery; animation for adults is all too rare. When something like Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski’s Cryptozoo comes along, it’s easy to recognize as one of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.
There is a willingness to experiment with animation and layers that is present from the very first frames of Cryptozoo that makes it immediately captivating. One simply watches two hippies roaming through the forest, engaging in their erotic and philosophical musings, without the realization that something so small and dark and intimate will explode into a psychedelic adventure that asks an important question: can humans and cryptids ever truly co-exist in peace?
As amusing as the notion of potentially...
There is a willingness to experiment with animation and layers that is present from the very first frames of Cryptozoo that makes it immediately captivating. One simply watches two hippies roaming through the forest, engaging in their erotic and philosophical musings, without the realization that something so small and dark and intimate will explode into a psychedelic adventure that asks an important question: can humans and cryptids ever truly co-exist in peace?
As amusing as the notion of potentially...
- 1/29/2021
- by Juan Barquin
- The Film Stage
It is the 1960s and a loved-up, blazed-up hippie couple, sketched in itchy black lines, have snuck into the monochrome nighttime woods to swap bodily fluids and woozy observations on life. Naked and stoned and mumbling about revolutions, they happen on a tall fence and climb it, entering, unbeknownst to them, the “Cryptozoo” of animators Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski’s combined imagination: a place in which griffins and winged horses keep company with will o’ the wisps, dragons and a startled unicorn.
If the sex and politics (complete with doubtless accidental but nonetheless yoinks-worthy reference to “storming the Capitol”) make this gorgeously psychedelic illustrated adventure appear more adult than the filmmakers’ 2016 debut, “My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea,” it’s slightly misleading. The drawing style is more mature — the lines slenderer, the transitions more inventive, the watercolored hues richer and more strange, featuring mottled mossy greens, dusky pinks and cloudy blues.
If the sex and politics (complete with doubtless accidental but nonetheless yoinks-worthy reference to “storming the Capitol”) make this gorgeously psychedelic illustrated adventure appear more adult than the filmmakers’ 2016 debut, “My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea,” it’s slightly misleading. The drawing style is more mature — the lines slenderer, the transitions more inventive, the watercolored hues richer and more strange, featuring mottled mossy greens, dusky pinks and cloudy blues.
- 1/29/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Voice cast includes Lake Bell and Michael Cera.
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has acquired international rights to Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, a feature animation set to receive its world premiere at Sundance this week.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature of US comic-book artist and writer Shaw, whose distinctive debut My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea premiered at Toronto in 2016 and went on to screen at the Berlinale.
His follow-up is a fantastical, psychedelic feature set amid the counterculture of the 1960s, with a voice cast led by Lake Bell and Michael Cera. It...
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has acquired international rights to Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, a feature animation set to receive its world premiere at Sundance this week.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature of US comic-book artist and writer Shaw, whose distinctive debut My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea premiered at Toronto in 2016 and went on to screen at the Berlinale.
His follow-up is a fantastical, psychedelic feature set amid the counterculture of the 1960s, with a voice cast led by Lake Bell and Michael Cera. It...
- 1/26/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
While this year's Sundance Film Festival will be experienced differently in the era of Covid-19 (with virtual screenings taking place online and in-person screenings taking place with safety precautions in select theaters across the country), the cinema celebration will continue to highlight vital, impactful, and innovative creators behind and in front of the camera, with more than 70 feature films included in the festival's full lineup.
We've highlighted some of the genre films horror fans can look forward to from the official press release below. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival (taking place January 28th–February 3rd), and visit Sundance's website for more details.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet / Argentina — Sebastian, a man in his thirties, works a series of temporary jobs and he embraces love at every opportunity. He transforms, through a series of short encounters, as the world flirts with possible apocalypse.
We've highlighted some of the genre films horror fans can look forward to from the official press release below. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival (taking place January 28th–February 3rd), and visit Sundance's website for more details.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet / Argentina — Sebastian, a man in his thirties, works a series of temporary jobs and he embraces love at every opportunity. He transforms, through a series of short encounters, as the world flirts with possible apocalypse.
- 12/16/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
There’s no denying that “13 Reasons Why” is a divisive show, especially with its second season, as showrunner Brian Yorkey extended the narrative beyond the story of teenage Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), following her death by suicide.
Digging further into the aftermath of Hannah’s death, especially its impact on her friends, family, and school community, the season doesn’t pull its punches on examining past tragedies and inflicting new ones on its characters. Sometimes, the show made good choices in this regard. Sometimes, things went awry. Below, we dig into what worked best and what didn’t in the show’s return.
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “13 Reasons Why” Season 2.]
The Good
Jessica (Alisha Boe) copes with her sexual assault: Anchored by an impressive performance by Boe, a major lynchpin of Season 2 is Jessica’s journey to recovery, one that the show treats with great sensitivity. Watching Jessica go to therapy and attempt...
Digging further into the aftermath of Hannah’s death, especially its impact on her friends, family, and school community, the season doesn’t pull its punches on examining past tragedies and inflicting new ones on its characters. Sometimes, the show made good choices in this regard. Sometimes, things went awry. Below, we dig into what worked best and what didn’t in the show’s return.
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “13 Reasons Why” Season 2.]
The Good
Jessica (Alisha Boe) copes with her sexual assault: Anchored by an impressive performance by Boe, a major lynchpin of Season 2 is Jessica’s journey to recovery, one that the show treats with great sensitivity. Watching Jessica go to therapy and attempt...
- 5/20/2018
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
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