From Lady Bird to Mid90s, A24 has consistently been producing intricate, aesthetically-charged films which connect with its audiences on multiple levels.
The magic of its filmmaking is arguably the balance between imagery and plot; A24 is known for vibrant cinematography that encapsulates the feeling of a story, allowing its films to shift the focus from dialogue to representation.
When Moonlight shone at the Academy Awards in 2017, winning Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor, it became apparent that an extensive budget wasn’t necessary to create striking art.
Audiences were captivated by the nuanced story of a young Black man coming to terms with love and his identity. Moonlight managed to be relevant and provocative without making that the focus of its art; it didn’t push an agenda but played on universal truths.
After this milestone in the film industry, A24 has made its way into mainstream media—but still maintains the vibe and aesthetic of its first films. Though each movie varies in plot, genre, structure, and even style, there’s a clear emphasis on evocative images and maintaining the independent, ‘art house’ feel to its work.
The stereotype surrounding independent films is often one of struggling artists making pretentious movies, and most small production companies fizzling out before getting the chance to compete with industry regulars. A24 disrupts this pattern and flips the notion on its head—it stays true to its roots, carving out a place in Hollywood by making its own rules.
Its filmmakers gravitate toward stories that are original and deeply honest, often without regard for mainstream trends. This is what makes them so enticing: A24’s dedication to producing personal, strange, introspective films sets trends rather than adhering to them.
This is a sentiment shared not only by fans, but also by the actors, directors, and screenwriters who have collaborated with A24. “A24 has the unique ability to find and champion authentic narratives that cut to the core in a raw and honest way,” Brie Larson said in an interview with GQ. James Franco added to this: “This is one of the things they’re great at: taking something small and delicate and giving it the kind of support that other people can’t.”
My infatuation with the production company is related to its commitment to diversity and representation—not only in terms of ethnicity, but also in terms of thought, socio-economic background, identity, and sexuality.
When I watched Waves, the deep emotional journey of an African-American family in the aftermath of loss, I felt my heart shatter and be glued back together to the lyrics of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed.” When I watched Boys State, a film following a week-long mock government exercise in Texas, I was drawn by the humour and authentic portrayal of politics and masculinity in America.
I’m looking forward to A24’s upcoming projects like Minari and The Green Knight with high hopes, but the beauty of A24 films is expecting brilliance while having no idea how it’s going to achieve it.
I, along with many others, can’t get enough of A24’s projects. Whether you like horror, romance, action, or artsy reflective films that make you dissociate from reality, this production company does it all, and does it well.
As A24 becomes more mainstream and critically acclaimed, the company will undoubtedly feature more prominent film leaders. However, I’m confident it will maintain the originality and vibe that makes them so captivating—regardless of the exposure it continues to receive.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
