Modern Whore, which world-premiered at TIFF, is the latest sex-work-destigmatizing project in an unusual multiyear collaboration between director Nicole Bazuin and the hybrid doc’s co-writer and star Andrea Werhun (who also served as a consultant on EP Sean Baker’s Anora). […]

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There has been no shortage of artistically strong films in 2025, which is why the critics at Hammer to Nail offer up such a great variety of titles in their respective Top 10 lists of the year. Our choices run […]

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The Cannes Film Festival has just unveiled the 2025 Critics’ Week lineup, featuring about a dozen films from breakout talents showcasing either their first or second features. The 78th edition of the festival will run May 14-22. This year’s jury […]

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(Photo credit Mike Coppola/Getty Images) After truly independent filmmaker Sean Baker won the freeking Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, he was fast-tracked to Oscar nominations galore! Amazing! Tonight, Baker won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Editing and Directing […]

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The 2025 Academy Awards nominations were announced last week. We thought you’d like to know which ones have received coverage from us over the past year. Below you will find the complete list of nominees, and any titles that are […]

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There’s so much uncertainty in the world and strangely, as it always somehow seems to, the Sundance Film Festival reflects that. On a surface level, there’s the fact that no one knows where the 2026 Sundance Film Festival will be […]

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A year after captivating critics and audiences at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival (where it won Best Cinematography), writer-director Hannah Peterson’s poignant, yet warm feature debut The Graduates will finally open in theaters on November 1 beginning at NYC’s Metrograph. […]

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Few American filmmakers have shown as consistent a dedication to portraying marginalized communities with dignity and complexity as Sean Baker. From his early collaboration with Shih-Ching Tsou on 2004’s Take Out which intimately captured the day-in-the-life of an undocumented Chinese […]

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As the awards season approaches, studios are coordinating their efforts regarding the films they intend to promote for the 97th Academy Awards, and it appears that the best picture category is poised to be a sausage fest. While many features […]

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After being mentored by modern-day indie icons Chloe Zhao and Sean Baker, first-time filmmaker Hannah Peterson is ready to make her mark with her emotional and compassionate drama, The Graduates, which shows life in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy. […]

The post THE GRADUATES Trailer: Award-Winning Slice-of-Life Drama Examines Healing After Tragedy appeared first on Hammer to Nail.