Filipina filmmaker and actress Isabel Sandoval has joined Black Dog Films for U.S./U.K. representation. In 2019, Sandoval became the first transgender woman of color to compete at the Venice Film Festival with her feature Lingua Franca. The film was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards and won the award for best narrative feature at the Bentonville Film Festival. For her performance, Sandoval was named Best Actress at the International Cinephile Society Awards, and at the Pacific Meridian International Film Festival.
Earlier this year Sandoval directed Shangri-La, a short film for the Prada Group’s acclaimed MIU MIU Women’s Tales series. Previous contributors have included Agnes Varda, Lucrecia Martel, Ava DuVernay, Miranda July and Lynne Ramsay. Referred to as “the Queen of sensual cinema,” Sandoval brings honesty, delicacy and intimacy to her projects.
The Museum of Modern Art described Sandoval as “a rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers” while Criterion has touted her as “one of the most exciting and multitalented filmmakers on the indie scene.”
“Isabel is an extraordinary filmmaker,” commented Martin Roker, head of Black Dog Films. “We’re delighted to welcome her to the team. At Black Dog we celebrate unique perspectives and voices and help match our directors with brands, artists and labels that complement the director’s talent. We’re looking forward to taking these next steps with Isabel.”
“What an incredible honor to be part of Black Dog Films and its roster of visionary, boundary-pushing artists,” said Sandoval who’s eager to bring her creative voice to new projects and campaigns.
Sandoval is currently based in New York where she is developing a drama for FX, and a feature film about the haunting of a Spanish conquistador in the 16th century Philippines. Her first two features, Señorita and Apparition, are currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More