The little movies that could (and should) screen early and often

We know that practice is the way you get to Carnegie Hall, but when you’re a little movie trying to make some noise in the awards race the best approach is to screen, screen, screen. And studios are taking that lesson to heart. According to FYCit data shared with Gold Derby by the app’s creator, Ryland Aldrich, the number of FYC screenings for awards voters stands at 755 as of Nov. 6 — a 66 percent increase over last year’s count of 455 screenings in the same window.

But there are some qualifiers that come with that stat. For one thing, this year Aldrich’s app is now tallying screenings outside of the four big industry hubs — Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London — and the number of screenings within those voter-rich cities has actually fallen by 11 percent compared to last year. Also, the number of films currently being screened has shrunk from 41 titles to 30, which translates to a 25 percent decline.

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In Aldrich’s view, that downturn suggests that studios are being more selective in terms of which titles they prioritize on the screening circuit. As previously discussed here, Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein has certainly benefitted from Netflix’s choice to aggressively get that big, expensive movie in front of voters. And a constant cycle of screenings and events will be the determining factor in getting some of the smaller titles into serious contention as well.

For this week’s Inside Track, we look at which “little movies that could” are already screening heavily, and which should follow suit.

Ann of 77 days

Searchlight only officially acquired Mona Fastvold‘s Amanda Seyfried-starring Shaker musical The Testament of Ann Lee a little over a month ago, but the distributor hit the ground running as soon as the ink was dry on the contract. A source close to the film tells Gold Derby that the writer-director had to decide whether she was ready to leap back into the awards season fray so soon after the exhausting (but successful) campaign for The Brutalist, directed by her partner, Brady Corbet.

But Fastvold and her star have been all-in since the Searchlight deal, appearing at film festivals for post-screening discussions and introducing the film at multiple screenings on both coasts, with more to come. Both were in attendance at a dinner event in New York City this week where they had long conversations with members of the New York Film Critics Circle, who will cast their votes for the year’s best films in early December — one of several bellwether awards ceremonies where Ann Lee hopes to be recognized ahead of Oscar nominations dropping on Jan. 22. (The film is already on the awards board courtesy of the Gothams, where it received nods for Best Feature and Best Lead Performance.)

Seyfried squeezed the dinner in while juggling shoot dates with another film, which she expects to wrap in the next week and free up her time for the Testament campaign. Although previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Mank, that David Fincher film was part of the pandemic-impacted year, and she remembered that largely happening almost entirely over Zoom. Seyfried admitted to being both overwhelmed and galvanized by her first in-person campaign, and appreciative of the audience response to her bold performance.

Of course, Ann Lee‘s expansive scope belies the idea that it’s a “little movie.” But Fastvold has been open and honest about the challenges of making a period epic on a limited budget, especially one that involves complex musical sequences. During the dinner, she noted how she and her creative team made the decision to embrace their limitations instead of fighting them, an approach that gives the movie a handmade quality that complements its subject. That message seems likely to resonate with Hollywood’s craftspeople as they make the pilgrimage to one of the many screenings being held throughout November and December.

Keep on trainin’

In a Netflix awards slate dominated by star-powered projects like Jay Kelly, Wake Up Dead Man, and Frankenstein, the streamer’s Sundance pick-up, Train Dreams, has seemed like the odd movie out. But when audiences see the movie, they inevitably love it — like, really love it. The first inkling of the elegiac drama’s awards potential came at its Toronto premiere, the first time it had been seen by a large crowd since it played Park City back in January. Other screenings have followed, winning new believers each time.

One of those believers is none other than Harrison Ford, who walked the red carpet for the movie’s L.A. premiere this week alongside Train Dreams stars (and fellow Star Wars alums) Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones. The Pacific Northwest-themed decor reflected the movie’s backwoods setting, as well as its evocatively dramatized theme of how a certain way of life vanished with the advent of the modern world.

Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones and Harrison FordMichael Buckner/Variety

Gold Derby spotted cowriter-director Clint Bentley — who adapted the story from Denis Johnson‘s 2011 novella — surrounded by well-wishers from the various guilds all evening and overheard some of those members weighing its Best Picture prospects. “Poetic” and “stunning” were among the adjectives being slung around during those fly-on-the-wall conversations. (For the record, Train Dreams was a movie that kept coming up in conversation at the Testament of Ann Lee dinner as well.)

With impassioned reactions like that — not to mention the wave of rave reviews accompanying the movie’s limited theatrical run — it clearly behooves Netflix to fast track Train Dreams on the screening circuit alongside the oft-showing Frankenstein and Jay Kelly. With ten slots to fill, there’s definitely room in the Best Picture depot for this small-scale, but high-impact story.

‘Die’ another day

Here’s one reason why Die My Love should up its screening game — fully appreciating what Jennifer Lawrence and Lynne Ramsey are up to in this challenging collaboration likely requires more than one viewing. The Scottish director famously went back into the editing room following the movie’s mixed reception at Cannes earlier this year, and re-emerged with a new cut that demands a lot from both the actors onscreen and the viewers in the audience.

But if you’re able to lock into Lawrence’s big, bold choices — which, for this viewer at least, brought to mind another performer who was a force to be reckoned with onscreen — the film itself also locks into place. An Oscar winner for Silver Linings Playbook, the actress is also a critical darling, with several prominent critics — including Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times — calling Lawrence’s dynamic Die My Love performance one of the best of her career. (Not for nothing, but Wilkinson also made sure to note that she saw the film twice before reviewing it.)

Die My Love is notably being released by Mubi, which successfully steered Demi Moore to her first Best Actress nomination — also a first for the still-new distributor — in 2024. That achievement was possible thanks to Mubi going full pedal-to-the-metal on showing the movie, and keeping Moore in the public eye. Since Lawrence already draws attention wherever she goes, a Die My Love road tour could be the difference-maker between her finishing at No. 5 or No. 6 in the Best Actress race.

Oscars Nominations 2026

Best Picture Best Director Best Actress Best Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Adapted Screenplay Best Original Screenplay Best Casting Best Cinematography Best Costume Design Best Film Editing Best Makeup and Hairstyling Best Production Design Best Score Best Sound Best Visual Effects Best Animated Feature Best International Film