US Briefs: Cinema Eye announces Heterodox Award finallists

Cinema Eye has announced the five nominees for its annual Heterodox Award honouring a narrative fiction film that “imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production.”

The nominees are Arabian Nights: Volume One (The Restless One) by Miguel Gomes; God Bless The Child by Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck; Tangerine by Sean Baker; Taxi (pictured) by Jafar Panahi; and The Tribe by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. The prize will be presented on January 12, 2016 in New York.

• Josh Reinhold has joined Straight Outta Compton producer Matt Alvarez’s untitled production company as vice-president. In his new role, Reinhold will oversee development and production on behalf of the company, taking features from concept to delivery. 
  
  
• Jane Seymour, Annabelle Stephenson, Nicholas Gonzalez and Paul Rodriguez have been cast in the drama Praying For Rain for Forrest Lucas and Ali Afshar’s ESX Entertainment. The story follows a New York reporter who returns to her hometown after her father’s death and discovers a farming community stricken by drought and poverty.
  
  
• The 19th annual edition of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival has closed with Yosef Baraki’s Mina Walking (Canada-Afghanistan) winning the Menkes Audience Award. Click here for further details.