Joana Vicente is stepping down as the CEO of the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit behind the annual Sundance Film Festival, after two and a half years.

Sci-fi epic “Dune” has won five prizes and dark Western “The Power of the Dog” has been named best film at the British Academy Film Awards.

After over a decade away from film, New Zealand's Jane Campion returns to the form with “The Power of the Dog,” a sweeping but intimate family drama set in the isolated hills of 1925 Montana and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.

Hope for the future of cinema was front of mind for many as the Venice International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday on the Lido.

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled a starry lineup of world premieres for September including Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Ridley Scott’s medieval drama “The Last Duel,” featuring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Adam Driver.

Actor John Cena has apologized to fans in China after he called Taiwan a country in a promotional interview for his upcoming film and became the latest celebrity to face the fury of Chinese nationalists.

Chloé Zhao’s history-making Oscars sweep, winning best director and best picture, is being met with a muted response in her country of birth, and even censorship.

Frances McDormand has two more Oscars.

Chloé Zhao has made history at the Academy Awards.

Anthony Hopkins has won his first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.

Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” won best picture Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards, where the China-born Zhao also became just the second woman — and the first woman of color — to win best director.

Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” continued its tour of dominance through awards season Saturday night, when Zhao took top honors at the 73rd annual Directors Guild Association Awards.

“Nomadland” has won four prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards.

People walk in front of "M+" visual culture museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, Monday, March 29, 2021. Hong Kong authorities have taken a tougher stance on opposition following Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on the city, arresting prominent pro-democracy activists and participants in anti-government protests in 2019. Earlier this month, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said authorities were on “full alert” to ensure that exhibitions in the city do not violate the national security law. Pro-Beijing lawmakers have said that some of M+’s artwork is politically sensitive and could be in breach of the legislation. Searches for “Nomadland” were blocked on the Chinese internet, which is heavily censored and filtered to scrub content deemed politically sensitive by the government.

Zhao, the first woman of color nominated for best director, is the most nominated woman in a single year in Oscar history. She was also tipped for the film’s adapted screenplay, editing and as a producer in the best picture category. “I just quietly gave thanks and felt some gratitude.”Davis, who won for her performance in 2016’s “Fences,” landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making her the most nominated Black actress ever. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year will be telecast April 25. “Collective,” the Romanian documentary about investigative journalism and government corruption, became just the second film nominated for both best documentary and best international film.

This image released by Altitude shows, from left, Kosar Ali, Ruby Stokes and Bukky Bakray in a scene from "Rocks." Much like previous Academy Awards controversies, last year's nominations by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts were denounced for their all-male directing nominees and all-white acting nominees, a backlash that spawned a #BaftasSoWhite hashtag. The British academy responded with a seven-month review. Also nominated are Lee Isaac Chung for the family drama “Minari” and Thomas Vinterberg for the Danish dark comedy “Another Round.”More films were nominated, too. ___AP's Hilary Fox contributed to this report from London___Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2018, file photo, Chloe Zhao poses for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Censors have removed some social media posts about the film, which has raised questions about whether it will still be released in China. At the heart of the controversy are two quotes from previous interviews done by Zhao. It was slated to be released on April 23, according to Chinese media. The China Film Administration did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Zhao accepted the award for best director for a motion picture for "Nomadland" at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, File)LOS ANGELES – Chloé Zhao became the second woman to win best director at the Golden Globes and the first female winner of Asian descent on a night in which her film “Nomadland” was crowned the top drama film. “This is what he said about compassion,” Zhao said. Zhao also was nominated for best motion picture screenplay and lost to Aaron Sorkin. McDormand received a nod for actress in a motion picture drama, but lost.

(Searchlight Pictures via AP)LOS ANGELES – The Latest on the Golden Globe ceremony (all times local):8:05 p.m.“Nomadland” has come in from the desert to take the Golden Globe for best picture in the drama category. Earlier, Chloe Zhao became the first woman of Asian descent to win the Golden Globe for best director for the film. It’s the first acting Golden Globe for the 36-year-old singer, songwriter and actress Day. Ad___7:40 p.m.Six months after his death at age 43, Chadwick Boseman has won a Golden Globe. ___5:10 p.m.Tina Fey and Amy Poehler began the pandemic-era Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, delivering a split-screen opening from separate coasts.

She’s only the second woman in the history of the Globes to win, and the first since Barbra Streisand won for “Yentl” in 1984. Its star, guerilla comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, also won best actor in a comedy. “The Queen's Gambit” won best limited series, and best actress in the category for Anya Taylor-Joy. “Schitt's Creek,” the Pop TV series that found a wider audience on Netflix, won best comedy series for its final season. Catherine O'Hara also took best actress in a comedy series.

In this image released by Netflix, Gary Oldman portrays Herman Mankiewicz in a scene from "Mank." On Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 the film was nominated for a Golden Globe for best motion picture drama. “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” co-writer Herman Mankiewicz, landed nominations for best film, drama; best actor for Gary Oldman; best director for Fincher, best supporting actress for Amanda Seyfried; best score; and best screenplay for Jack Fincher, the director’s father who penned the script before dying in 2003. Netflix, which topped all studios at the Globes last year, too, led with a commanding 42 nominations, with 22 coming in film categories and 20 in television. AdThe Globes are typically the first major show of Hollywood’s awards season, which ends with the crowning of the best picture winner at the Oscars.

Nominations for the 78th annual Golden Globes will be announced on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – Whether anyone will be attending the Golden Globes in person remains uncertain and improbable. On Tuesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the Globes — typically a bubbly dinner gathering with flowing drinks — will be held bi-coastally for the first time. digital channels and the Golden Globes' website. Last year's Golden Globes culminated in awards for “1917” and “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood."

The film won best feature at the Gotham Awards on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Opening the show, Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of the Gotham Film & Media Institute, predicted that there would be “glitches and gremlins” throughout the event. All of the films nominated for best feature were directed by women, including lead-nominee getter “First Cow,” by Kelly Reichardt. Zhao, whose “The Rider” won best feature at the Gothams two years ago, thanked the festivals that, like the Gothams, carried on despite the trying circumstances. Nicole Behaire won best actress for “Miss Juneteenth.” “Oh, my God,” she mouthed while still on mute.

The New York Film Critics Circle on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, voted Kelly Reichardts Western fable First Cow the best film of 2020. (Allyson Riggs/A24 via AP)NEW YORK – The New York Film Critics Circle on Friday voted Kelly Reichardt's Western fable “First Cow” the best film of 2020, while also giving special honors to Spike Lee and the art-house distributor Kino Lorber for their roles in a movie year deeply marred by the pandemic. The film critics, assembling virtually, gave its top award to “First Cow,” a delicate tale of friendship and capitalism in mid-1800s Oregon Territory. The critics pointedly said the honor was for a service “designed to help support movie theaters, not destroy them.”The New York Film Critics Circle Awards are usually part of a wave of critics group honors that can occasionally influence awards season. Other NYFCC picks include: “Time” for best non-fiction film; “Bacurau” for best foreign language film; “The Forty-Year-Old Version” for best first film; “Wolfwalkers" for best animated film; and the five-film anthology “Small Axe” for best cinematography.

This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Frances McDormand in a scene from the film "Nomadland" by Chloe Zhao. Here are our picks for the best movies of 2020:JAKE COYLE1. “David Byrne’s American Utopia”: Spike Lee’s fiction films make more noise but he’s quietly one of the best documentary filmmakers we have. He may have made the best film of the year in his short film “New York, New York,” a tribute to an undefeatable pandemic-stricken city. It's also, with a glorious rendering of Harlem, one of the best New York movies in years.

Hollywoods awards season has gone virtual. For Awards Daily founder Sasha Stone, who has been covering the Oscars since 2000, it’s like nothing she’s ever seen — an awards season without glamour, without red carpets, without anything that feels real. And awards season, such as it is, has gone virtual. The Oscar race will Zoomed. Not everyone is sorry that awards season — an increasingly bloated, overlong, high-priced slog from September to February — has been turned upside down.

This image released by A24 shows Orion Lee, left, and and John Magaro in a scene from "First Cow." Kelly Reichardt's film led all films in nominations for the 30th annual Gotham Awards with four nods, including best film, best screenplay, best actor for Magaro and breakthrough actor for Lee. The Gotham Awards, presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, put forward five films, all directed by women, for best feature film, and a posthumous acting nod for Chadwick Boseman. Kelly Reichardt's “First Cow” led all films in nominations for the 30th annual Gotham Awards with four nods, including best film, best screenplay, best actor for John Magaro and breakthrough actor for Orion Lee. Alongside Boseman and Magaro, the acting nominees are: Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Jude Law ("The Nest") and Jesse Plemons ("I'm Thinking of Ending Things").

This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Frances McDormand in a scene from the film "Nomadland" by Chloe Zhao. (Searchlight Pictures via AP)After picking up Venice's Golden Lion award, Chloé Zhao’s “ Nomadland " has won another prestigious honor: The Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award. Zhao's film features Frances McDormand as a widowed wanderer of the modern American West. Set for a Dec. 4 release, “Nomadland” has already been hailed as a top Oscar contender, but winning the audience award at TIFF is promising for its Oscar chances. Other People's Choice winners include Michelle Latimer's documentary “Inconvenient Indian," about Indigenous peoples in North America, and Roseanne Liang's midnight madness selection “Shadow in the Cloud," with Chloë Grace Moretz.

NEW YORK – What’s it like to be an international film festival sensation without hardly leaving your home? At the Venice Film Festival, it won the top prize, the Golden Lion. At the Toronto International Film Festival, it was hailed by many critics as the best movie of the year and a leading Oscar contender. Next week, it will play the New York Film Festival. “Every year or so I feel the urge to hit the road,” Zhao says.

This year, three of the four major fall film festivals, including Venice, are going forward despite the pandemic. This year, three of the four major fall film festivals all but Telluride, which had to cancel are going forward despite the pandemic. For a season predicated on badge-wearing throngs and marquee movies, its meant rethinking what a film festival is. A situation like this forces you to assess what is fundamental, says Dennis Lim, director of programming for the New York Film Festival. Anyone in Canada will be able to buy tickets to TIFF screenings, and New York Film Festival films will be briefly available nationwide.

NEW YORK This year's New York Film Festival will be held largely virtually and in outdoor screenings, organizers said Thursday while unveiling a lineup featuring new films from Chloe Zhao, Steve McQueen and Azazel Jacobs. Many of the films selected by Film at Lincoln Center, which presents the New York Film Festival, will also play at the Venice and Toronto festivals. As previously announced, the 58th New York Film Festival will kick off with McQueen's Lovers Rock"; Chloe Zhao's Nomadland is the centerpiece; and Azazel Jacobs' French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges. Last year, Martin Scorsese's Irishman debuted opening night at the New York Film Festival. The 58th New York Film Festival will run a week earlier, from Sept. 17Oct.

This image released by the New York Film Festival shows a scene from Steve McQueens "Lovers Rock" which will premiere at the 58th New York Film Festival. (New York Film Festival via AP)Three original films by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen will debut at the New York Film Festival this year, organizers said Monday. Its an incredible honor and also very humbling to show three of my films at the New York Film Festival, McQueen said in a statement. Steve McQueen is one of the essential artists of our time, and he reaches a new level of mastery with the Small Axe films, said Dennis Lim, the festival's programming director. Dates haven't been set for the 58th edition of the New York Film Festival because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but organizers say that specifics will be announced in the coming weeks.

This combination photo shows actor-director Werner Herzog, left, and actress-director Regina King. The Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled a lineup featuring the directorial debut of Regina King and the latest documentary from Herzog. Toronto, which is set to run Sept. 10-19, has plotted a largely virtual 45th edition due to the pandemic. In normal years, TIFF is the largest film festival in North America. Some of the films will play first at the much smaller Venice Film Festival the week prior in September.

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 file photo, actress Cate Blanchett poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'A Star Is Born' at the 75th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The lineup for the Venice Film Festival will be announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, and will be the first major film event since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Barbera noted that almost half of the competition film selections this year are directed by women. The decision to hold the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival is experienced like a sign of confidence in dnd concrete support of the world of film and the audiovisual industry, Barbera said. Cannes and Telluride were cancelled and others like Venice and the Toronto International Film Festival have had to get creative and scale back where possible in order to proceed.

NEW YORK Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, will premiere across the major fall film festivals in an alliance forged by the Venice, Toronto, New York and Telluride festivals. Nomadland, Zhao's follow-up to her acclaimed 2018 film The Rider, is the first movie announced in the new partnership that has brought together the fall's biggest movie launch pads, which typically compete against each other for world premiere rights. Nomadland will debut across Venice, Toronto and at "Telluride from Los Angeles" on Sept. 11. New York, which named the film its centerpiece, will premiere Zhao's film on a later date. Im thankful to be able to make Nomadland and excited for audiences to join Fern on her adventure.Fox Searchlight is planning to release Nomadland theatrically in the fall.