After “Blknws: Orner & Orns” left the Sundance Film Festival lineup, at the behest of participating Media financiers, the indie film has a new backer — and it will light up Snowy Park City with its world premiere after all.
Rich soul James Chaney and BN Media acquired “Blknws”, buying out the participating media of all rights in the process, hoping to sell the film to a new distributor. Chaney is best known for rescuing “The Apprentice,” the controversial biography of Donald Trump, from the movement, which is backed by the billionaire former owner of Washington leaders, Dan Snyder.
Participant, the now-defunct social impact studio, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Director Kahlil Joseph and producer Onye Anyanwu thanked the participants for their “willingness to relinquish ownership of the film, a gesture that allows the audience to finally experience what we have spent time crafting alongside so many contributing artists. This moment has been a long time coming, and we are thrilled to finally share this with the world.” ”
“Blknws: Terms and Conditions” is set to premiere on the next program this year as an official selection. However, participating media outlets asked the festival to remove the film from its lineup after learning that director Joseph had submitted a new, secret cut to Sundance and other global know-how without the media company’s knowledge.
In a message obtained earlier this week diverseLawyers said the participant was “shocked” to learn that Joseph had handed over a batch of “blknws” that had not been shown.
“Given that Mr. Joseph delivered the film to Participant in November 2024, and Participant submitted this version to Sundance in reliance that it was the final cut of the film, it is completely unacceptable for Mr. Joseph to purport to make changes to a film,” the letter said.
Prior to purchasing Rich Spirit, the participant was the lead producer and owned the copyright to the film. Three years ago, A24 boarded the film as co-founder and distributor, but quietly left last August after Kahlil did not deliver the final product, according to the legal letter.
After the participant pulled the film, a spokesperson told Sundance diverse The festival was “deeply disappointed to have been informed this evening that they are withdrawing ‘blknws: terms and conditions'”.
Shawnette Renee Wilson (“Billions,” “Black Panther”) in the film, which has been described as “an ongoing artistic project that blurs the lines between art, journalism, entrepreneurship, and cultural criticism, and dedicates the Newsreel format as an opportunity to reimagine a contemporary cinematic experience.”
Read the full statement from Joseph and Awanwu:
This film would not have made it to Sundance without the early support and belief of A24 and the audience. Our belief in our vision from the beginning was instrumental in bringing this project to life.
We are extremely grateful for their willingness to relinquish ownership of the film, a gesture that allows the audience to finally experience what we have spent time crafting alongside many of the contributing artists. This moment has been a long time coming, and we’re happy to finally share this with the world.
We look forward to welcoming audiences to the film’s debut and are excited to begin this next chapter for Blknws.”