Ira Sachs has been around since his 1997 debut “The Delta,” but last decade he had an artistic breakthrough when he released the trifecta of 2012’s “Keep the Lights On,” 2014’s “Love is Strange” and 2016’s “Little Men.”
His follow-up was 2019’s much-maligned “Frankie,” and then he premiered this past January, at Sundance, the critically-acclaimed “Passages. The film is set to his theaters on Friday in New York and L.A.
“Passages” is a return to form for the American indie filmmaker, the plot, set in Europe, concerns three Parisian adults caught up in a sultry love triangle. Weirdly enough, “Passages” was rejected by both Cannes and Venice last year only to show up at Sundance/Berlin this past winter.
It currently has an 81 on Metacritic and is at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film makes for some fine counter programming to all of the big and booming blockbusters we’ve been seeing so far this summer.
What’s next for Sachs? He spoke to Anne Thompson (via IndieWire) about an upcoming shoot in November for a film titled “Peter Hujar’s Day” …
“I’m making a film in November with Ben Whishaw called “Peter Hujar’s Day” about the photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda in December of 1974 in New York City. This is a film about what it is to be an artist among artists in a city where no one was making any money.”
So, there you have it. Sachs will be going to back to the U.S. for his next feature. Maybe he can return to Cannes with this one, strike permitted.