Film News Roundup: Amazon Buys Ella Balinska Supernatural Film ‘Run Sweetheart Run’

In today’s film news roundup, the Sundance supernatural film “Run Sweetheart Run” finds a home, Sundance programmer David Courier retires and “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” gets a week of free screenings.

ACQUISITION

Amazon Studios has bought Shana Feste’s supernatural film, “Run Sweetheart Run,” starring Ella Balinska, from Blumhouse Productions and Automatik. It will launch worldwide exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

The thriller premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and was set to be shown at SXSW before it was cancelled. Written and directed by Feste, “Run Sweetheart Run” also stars Pilou Asbæk, Aml Ameen, Dayo Okeniyi, Betsy Brandt, Clark Gregg and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Balinska plays a single mother who goes on a blind date that turns violent and has to get home on foot through Los Angeles as she’s pursued by her date.

“As crazy as audiences may find the film protagonist’s experience, I wrote and directed a film that is based on a very personal story for me and I’m thrilled that a global audience will have the chance to see it soon on Amazon Prime,” said Feste. “I’m also grateful to my friends at Universal and Blumhouse for their unending support of the film.

“Run Sweetheart Run” is a separate acquisition that’s not covered under the previously announced Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Television slate of eight titles. The news was first reported by Deadline.

SUNDANCE RETIREMENT 

The Sundance Institute has announced that veteran programmer David Courier is retiring after two decades as of June 30.

Courier has been the lead programmer of Sundance Film Festival: London, a post he’s held since its inception in 2012. He has also been the writer, director and producer of the Sundance Awards Show for the past 13 years. He oversaw public programming for all Institute programs since 2010.

During his tenure at the institute, Courier has represented Sundance internationally by serving on juries, speaking on panels and working to cultivate relationships with film commissions, industry, and artists around the world. He was set to serve as a member of the L’Oreille d’or Documentary Jury at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival this May, but looks forward to Cannes 2021. He is the former co-director of programming at Outfest.

FREE SHOWINGS

BrightFocus Foundation will hold a free-to-the-public virtual presentation of the documentary “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of my Voice” on June 4-10.

The showings will feature an introduction from producer James Keach, and interviews with key scientists discussing their current research.

“I believe in the power and promise of science to end disease and save lives, and this is why I am glad to showcase both the transcendent beauty of Linda’s voice in this film as well as the bold, groundbreaking research of BrightFocus,” Keach said.

Constructed from interviews over 50 years, Ronstadt narrates the film that documents her career from her early days in Tucson, Ariz., through her premature 2011 retirement due to Parkinson’s disease.