Rising star Sean Wang has written and directed a very real, very raw account of boyhood through the eyes of Chris “Wang-Wang,” captured by an equally believable and joyous young actor Izaac Wang. Didi refreshes the coming-of-age-genre on multiple levels. It’s specific in time, place and culture, yet remains universal. It’s painfully honest, and therefore more fully human. It shares details that we don’t often see.

Filmmaker Edson Oda lights up when he’s talking Magic. Not the Magical Realism of his award-winning first feature, Nine Days. Not the sleight-of-hand in a twelve-year-old’s parlor tricks. Instead, he’s discussing the addictively competitive trading card game, Magic: The Gathering.

In collaboration with lead actors Mia Maestro and Leonor Varela, Chilean writer/director Francisca Alegria paints a visually rich, emotionally layered fable about motherhood—where two troubled humans symbolize Mother Earth and the threats posed by our species. In UK and Irish theaters March 24th.

You may already know RJ Cyler from the 2015 Sundance double-award winner Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, Netflix’s recent all-black western hit The Harder They Fall, or Showtime’s Scream: Resurrection. Surprise is this actor’s M.O: besides zeal for his craft, skateboarding and video games, he holds more in reserve. In his collaborations with Carey Williams—both 2022’s award-winning Emergency and R#J, a Gen-Z reimagination of Romeo and Juliet—he merrily paints himself one way, then sneaks up with emotional heft. Undeniably funny and self-aware, he often steals the screen—including in our interview, linked below.

Back in 2008, YouTubers Dave McCary and Kyle Mooney caught the attention of Steven Spielberg. After his daughter showed him one of their videos—a parody of Spielberg’s own Hook—he sent them an encouraging note that Mooney kept in his wallet for years. They also sent a response to the filmmaker: “Steven, seems like you’re on the right track too. Keep making videos.” He took their advice.