It’s a sweep! The Critics Choice Association revealed the winners for its 8th annual documentary awards on Sunday, November 12, 2023, and one film claimed all five of the awards it was nominated for. Though it trailed “American Symphony” in bids going into the night, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” prevailed as the night’s biggest winner, taking home prizes in all five of its categories, including Best Documentary. The film’s other wins went to Davis Guggenheim in Best Director, Michael Harte in Best Editing, and in Best Narration and Best Biographical Documentary.
“American Symphony,” the nomination leader with six, took home two prizes: Jon Batiste won Best Score and the film was named Best Music Documentary. The other two-time winners were “20 Days in Mariupol,” Best First Documentary Feature and Best Political Documentary, and “The Deepest Breath,” Best Cinematography and Best Sports Documentary.
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“American Symphony,” the nomination leader with six, took home two prizes: Jon Batiste won Best Score and the film was named Best Music Documentary. The other two-time winners were “20 Days in Mariupol,” Best First Documentary Feature and Best Political Documentary, and “The Deepest Breath,” Best Cinematography and Best Sports Documentary.
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- 11/13/2023
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie was the top winner at the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were handed out Sunday night.
Among the other prizes the film collected was the best narration award for Michael J. Fox. It also won best biographical documentary, best direction for Davis Guggenheim and best editing for Michael Harte for a total of five awards overall.
Elsewhere, Jon Batiste won best score for American Symphony on the heels of his five Grammy noms, including album of the year. American Symphony also was named best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol won two awards, for best first documentary feature and best political doc.
The eighth annual edition of the awards show, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place at New York’s Edison Ballroom.
Winners were announced in 18 categories spanning theatrical film, TV and digital platforms. Also this year, the Critics Choice Association honored Ross McElwee with its Pennebaker Award,...
Among the other prizes the film collected was the best narration award for Michael J. Fox. It also won best biographical documentary, best direction for Davis Guggenheim and best editing for Michael Harte for a total of five awards overall.
Elsewhere, Jon Batiste won best score for American Symphony on the heels of his five Grammy noms, including album of the year. American Symphony also was named best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol won two awards, for best first documentary feature and best political doc.
The eighth annual edition of the awards show, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place at New York’s Edison Ballroom.
Winners were announced in 18 categories spanning theatrical film, TV and digital platforms. Also this year, the Critics Choice Association honored Ross McElwee with its Pennebaker Award,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Kimberly Nordyke
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Davis Guggenheim’s “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which chronicled the actor’s life, career and battle with Parkinson’s disease, was named the best nonfiction film of 2023 at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which took place on Sunday night in New York City.
The Apple TV+ film won five awards overall, also including best director for Guggenheim, best narration for Fox, best biographical documentary and best editing.
Journalist Mstyslav Chernov Chernov won the award for Best First Documentary for “20 Days in Mariupol.”
Other winners included “Being Mary Tyler Moore” (Best Archival Documentary), “The Deepest Breath” (Best Sports Documentary), “20 Days in Mariupol” (Best Political Documentary), “American Symphony” (Best Music Documentary), “Secrets of the Elephants” (Best Science/Nature Documentary) and “JFK: One Day in America” (Best Historical Documentary).
Jon Batiste won for the music in “American Symphony,” and Tim Cragg won for the cinematography of “The Deepest Breath.
The Apple TV+ film won five awards overall, also including best director for Guggenheim, best narration for Fox, best biographical documentary and best editing.
Journalist Mstyslav Chernov Chernov won the award for Best First Documentary for “20 Days in Mariupol.”
Other winners included “Being Mary Tyler Moore” (Best Archival Documentary), “The Deepest Breath” (Best Sports Documentary), “20 Days in Mariupol” (Best Political Documentary), “American Symphony” (Best Music Documentary), “Secrets of the Elephants” (Best Science/Nature Documentary) and “JFK: One Day in America” (Best Historical Documentary).
Jon Batiste won for the music in “American Symphony,” and Tim Cragg won for the cinematography of “The Deepest Breath.
- 11/13/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Steve McQueen earns directing nod for A24’s Occupied City.
Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony exploring a year in the life of musician Jon Batiste led the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations on Monday (October 16).
Heineman also gets a nod for best director, Tony Hardmon, Heineman, and Thorsten Thielow for best cinematography, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Heineman, and Fernando Villegas for best editing, Jon Batiste for best score, and best music documentary.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, D. Smth’s Kokomo City, and Davis Guggenheim’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each received five nominations...
Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony exploring a year in the life of musician Jon Batiste led the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations on Monday (October 16).
Heineman also gets a nod for best director, Tony Hardmon, Heineman, and Thorsten Thielow for best cinematography, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Heineman, and Fernando Villegas for best editing, Jon Batiste for best score, and best music documentary.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, D. Smth’s Kokomo City, and Davis Guggenheim’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each received five nominations...
- 10/16/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Jon Batiste in ‘American Symphony’
American Symphony earned six nominations, topping the list of 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda) nominees. American Symphony, which focuses on Jon Batiste and his wife, Suleika Jaouad, picked up nominations in categories including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director (Matthew Heineman), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score (Jon Batiste), and Best Music Documentary.
Three documentaries – 20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie – followed with five nominations each. Documentarian Ross McElwee has been chosen to receive The Pennebaker Award (the Ccda’s lifetime achievement honor).
Winners will be announced during the Eighth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards to be held at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan on Sunday, November 12, 2023. Actor and standup comedian Wyatt Cenac (Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas) will host the awards for the second consecutive year.
The Ccda will live-stream on Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter...
American Symphony earned six nominations, topping the list of 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda) nominees. American Symphony, which focuses on Jon Batiste and his wife, Suleika Jaouad, picked up nominations in categories including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director (Matthew Heineman), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score (Jon Batiste), and Best Music Documentary.
Three documentaries – 20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie – followed with five nominations each. Documentarian Ross McElwee has been chosen to receive The Pennebaker Award (the Ccda’s lifetime achievement honor).
Winners will be announced during the Eighth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards to be held at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan on Sunday, November 12, 2023. Actor and standup comedian Wyatt Cenac (Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas) will host the awards for the second consecutive year.
The Ccda will live-stream on Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter...
- 10/16/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Netflix’s “American Symphony,” which follows Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste as he prepares for his performance at Carnegie Hall, leads the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Award nominations with six, including best documentary feature and directing for Matthew Heineman. PBS’ “20 Days in Mariupol,” Magnolia Pictures’ “Kokomo City” and Apple Original Films’ “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” are tied for second with five nominations apiece. Each were also were nominated in the top category.
Other nominees for documentary feature include Roadside Attraction’s “Beyond Utopia,” MTV Documentary Films’ “The Eternal Memory,” Amazon’s “Judy Blume Forever,” National Geographic’s “The Mission” and Netflix’s “The Deepest Breath” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
Now in its eighth year, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards have previously given the top prize to Oscar winners “O.J.: Made in America” (2016) and...
Other nominees for documentary feature include Roadside Attraction’s “Beyond Utopia,” MTV Documentary Films’ “The Eternal Memory,” Amazon’s “Judy Blume Forever,” National Geographic’s “The Mission” and Netflix’s “The Deepest Breath” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
Now in its eighth year, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards have previously given the top prize to Oscar winners “O.J.: Made in America” (2016) and...
- 10/16/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, a portrait of musician Jon Batiste as he experiences professional success amid the personal challenge of his wife Suleika Jaouad’s cancer battle, leads the nominations for the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards.
American Symphony is up for six awards including best documentary feature. The film is also nominated for best director (Heineman), cinematography (Heineman, Tony Hardmon and Thorsten Thielow), editing (Heineman, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession and Fernando Villegas), score (Batiste) and best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each scored five nods, with all three titles up for best doc feature and best editing.
20 Days in Mariupol is additionally nominated for best first doc, narration (Mstyslav Chernov) and political doc. Kokomo City is also up for best first doc, cinematography and score (D. Smith). Still is up for best director (Davis Guggenheim), narration (Fox) and biographical doc.
American Symphony is up for six awards including best documentary feature. The film is also nominated for best director (Heineman), cinematography (Heineman, Tony Hardmon and Thorsten Thielow), editing (Heineman, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession and Fernando Villegas), score (Batiste) and best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each scored five nods, with all three titles up for best doc feature and best editing.
20 Days in Mariupol is additionally nominated for best first doc, narration (Mstyslav Chernov) and political doc. Kokomo City is also up for best first doc, cinematography and score (D. Smith). Still is up for best director (Davis Guggenheim), narration (Fox) and biographical doc.
- 10/16/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The eighth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations are often an early bellwether for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar race, mainly because they signal to Oscar voters many of the key films they should not miss. Last year’s winner, “Good Night Oppy,” did not make it to the documentary Oscar shortlist, but the year before, “Summer of Soul” went on to win the Oscar.
This year’s nominations were led by fall festival favorite “American Symphony,” Matthew Heineman’s moving portrait of musician Jon Batiste as he juggles work demands and his wife’s recurring leukemia, with six nods. It was followed by Mstyslav Chernov’s Ukraine international Oscar submission “20 Days in Mariupol,” D. Smith’s black-and-white portrait of Black trans sex workers “Kokomo City,” and Davis Guggenheim’s editing feat “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” with five each.
The gala to honor the winners, hosted by comedian Wyatt Cenac,...
This year’s nominations were led by fall festival favorite “American Symphony,” Matthew Heineman’s moving portrait of musician Jon Batiste as he juggles work demands and his wife’s recurring leukemia, with six nods. It was followed by Mstyslav Chernov’s Ukraine international Oscar submission “20 Days in Mariupol,” D. Smith’s black-and-white portrait of Black trans sex workers “Kokomo City,” and Davis Guggenheim’s editing feat “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” with five each.
The gala to honor the winners, hosted by comedian Wyatt Cenac,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Matthew Heineman’s documentary profiling Grammy and Oscar winning musician Jon Batiste and the medical struggles for his wife that have marked trying times in their marriage leads the pack of nominees for the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six. The inspiring docu from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground was picked up by Netflix after premiering and winning acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival last month. Not far behind are a trio of docus each with 5 mentions including 20 Days In Mariupol, Kokomo City, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. And not to be ignored, this weekend’s boxoffice champ, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which landed a nomination as Best Music Documentary. The Ccda nod marks the first awards recognition for the film (however it is not eligible for a Documentary Oscar) which only just had its first premiere screening on Wednesday of last...
- 10/16/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams has much to celebrate this weekend. His first narrative/fiction film, Cassandro, opens theatrically today. And he has just been named the recipient of the Critics Choice Impact Award from the Critics Choice Association.
The Critics Choice group also announced documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee will receive the Pennebaker Award, recognizing lifetime achievement in the nonfiction film arena. The honors for McElwee and Williams will be presented as part of the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards gala in New York on Sunday, Nov. 12.
‘Stamped From the Beginning’
Williams is fresh from the world premiere at TIFF of his latest documentary, Stamped From the Beginning, which will premiere on Netflix later this year. In the film, “leading female scholars share a journey through history to understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated and enshrined in American society,” according to a release from the Critics Choice Association.
The Critics Choice group also announced documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee will receive the Pennebaker Award, recognizing lifetime achievement in the nonfiction film arena. The honors for McElwee and Williams will be presented as part of the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards gala in New York on Sunday, Nov. 12.
‘Stamped From the Beginning’
Williams is fresh from the world premiere at TIFF of his latest documentary, Stamped From the Beginning, which will premiere on Netflix later this year. In the film, “leading female scholars share a journey through history to understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated and enshrined in American society,” according to a release from the Critics Choice Association.
- 9/15/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Shockingly (as the films I adore usually fly under the radar) but deservedly, this year’s winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs, first-time feature director Christian Einshøj’s The Mountains, proved to be a prime example of my mantra that the smaller and more specific the story, the more universal the reach. Influenced by Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March (it thrills me just to type that), and also Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation, the doc is equal parts oddball charming and emotionally devastating. As the (very specific) logline puts it: “Armed with 30 years of home video, 75,000 family photos […]
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Shockingly (as the films I adore usually fly under the radar) but deservedly, this year’s winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs, first-time feature director Christian Einshøj’s The Mountains, proved to be a prime example of my mantra that the smaller and more specific the story, the more universal the reach. Influenced by Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March (it thrills me just to type that), and also Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation, the doc is equal parts oddball charming and emotionally devastating. As the (very specific) logline puts it: “Armed with 30 years of home video, 75,000 family photos […]
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Result of On-Camera Conversations Spanning 15 Years”: Christian Einshøj on The Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/14/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A fresh new voice in nonfiction filmmaking, Ahsen Nadeem never intended to make the doc that became “Crows Are White” as deeply, disarmingly personal as it turned out, but in re-centering the focus on himself, he arrived at a much more honest movie. Approaching the subject in the vulnerable, open-book tradition of cine-essayists Ross McElwee (“Sherman’s March”) or Caveh Zahedi (“I Am a Sex Addict”), Nadeem, who was raised Muslim in Saudi Arabia, works through why he found himself so conflicted about his religious upbringing, as well as how to break the news to his parents that he intended to marry a non-Muslim woman. The result is an introspective — and at times uncomfortably irreverent — journey for both him and the audience.
Nadeem’s original intention was to investigate the “marathon monks” of Mount Hiei, Japan, who seek spiritual enlightenment by walking a repetitive course known as the kaihōgyō, equivalent to the circumference of the Earth,...
Nadeem’s original intention was to investigate the “marathon monks” of Mount Hiei, Japan, who seek spiritual enlightenment by walking a repetitive course known as the kaihōgyō, equivalent to the circumference of the Earth,...
- 5/6/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
When Toby Amies emails me the Vimeo press link to his SXSW-premiering documentary on the band King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, he appends a list of influences. There’s a documentarian (Ross McElwee), a pseudo-documentarian (Christopher Guest), a narrative filmmaker who is a real King Crimson fan (Vincent Gallo) and then a couple of directors whose impact remained a bit puzzling both before and after seeing the film: Ernst Lubitsch and Sam Peckinpah. But perhaps the cinephile (and King Crimson fan) in me was looking too closely, because after watching In the Court of the Crimson King […]
The post “King Crimson Being a Way of Doing Things as Opposed to a Set Organism”: Director Toby Amies on His SXSW Doc, In the Court of the Crimson King first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “King Crimson Being a Way of Doing Things as Opposed to a Set Organism”: Director Toby Amies on His SXSW Doc, In the Court of the Crimson King first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/16/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
When Toby Amies emails me the Vimeo press link to his SXSW-premiering documentary on the band King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, he appends a list of influences. There’s a documentarian (Ross McElwee), a pseudo-documentarian (Christopher Guest), a narrative filmmaker who is a real King Crimson fan (Vincent Gallo) and then a couple of directors whose impact remained a bit puzzling both before and after seeing the film: Ernst Lubitsch and Sam Peckinpah. But perhaps the cinephile (and King Crimson fan) in me was looking too closely, because after watching In the Court of the Crimson King […]
The post “King Crimson Being a Way of Doing Things as Opposed to a Set Organism”: Director Toby Amies on His SXSW Doc, In the Court of the Crimson King first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “King Crimson Being a Way of Doing Things as Opposed to a Set Organism”: Director Toby Amies on His SXSW Doc, In the Court of the Crimson King first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/16/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Seymour Wishman, a longtime producer, writer, legal expert and president of First Run Features, died on Jan. 29 at a family home in Bridgewater, Conn., his daughter Samantha confirmed to Variety. He was 79.
Over the past 38 years, Wishman had served as president of First Run Features. During his time at the N.Y.-based independent film distribution company, Wishman brought Michael Apted’s “28 Up” (and later the entire “Up” series) to the United States and helped Ross McElwee finish and release “Sherman’s March” — as well as McElwee’s other films, including “Bright Leaves” and “Six O’Clock News.” Wishman also released Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” (the director’s first feature film and his graduate school thesis), Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice” and many other independent pictures.
On the production side, Seymour co-directed and produced “Sex & Justice,” a documentary on...
Over the past 38 years, Wishman had served as president of First Run Features. During his time at the N.Y.-based independent film distribution company, Wishman brought Michael Apted’s “28 Up” (and later the entire “Up” series) to the United States and helped Ross McElwee finish and release “Sherman’s March” — as well as McElwee’s other films, including “Bright Leaves” and “Six O’Clock News.” Wishman also released Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” (the director’s first feature film and his graduate school thesis), Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice” and many other independent pictures.
On the production side, Seymour co-directed and produced “Sex & Justice,” a documentary on...
- 2/14/2022
- by Wyatte Grantham-Philips
- Variety Film + TV
The couple at the center of Daniel Hymanson’s documentary “So Late So Soon” often compare themselves to a mouse and an alligator. The characterization feels apt for Jackie and Don Seiden, two aging artists who’ve occupied a multicolored Victorian home in Chicago for decades. Jackie scurries around, dancing, dusting, and decorating their house with found objects from Furbies to vintage suitcases — all in pastel hues of pink, purple, blue, or yellow. Don, meanwhile, sits in his chair as he reads and sketches, like an alligator, he says, waiting “for things to pass me by.” He couldn’t be more out of place in Jackie’s candy-colored wonderland, and it’s this opposition that seems to fuel their fascination with one another, as well as their somewhat frequent feuds, as they navigate the ups and downs of aging, artistic creation, and long-term cohabitation.
Hymanson grew up with Jackie and Don,...
Hymanson grew up with Jackie and Don,...
- 11/19/2021
- by Susannah Gruder
- Indiewire
Documentarian Senain Kheshgi takes us through a few of her favorite documentaries.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
American Movie (1999)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary
Grey Gardens (1975)
Salesman (1969)
Real Life (1979)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Seven Up! (1964)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Primary (1960)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Reds (1981)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2020 best-of list
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
India Cabaret (1985)
The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
Bicycle Thieves (1949) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards column
Shoeshine (1946)
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Day For Night (1973) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary
Sherman’s March (1986)
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
The Mole Agent (2020)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Other Notable Items
Walter Hill
Walton Goggins
The Majority
Mark Borchardt
Mike Schank
The...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
American Movie (1999)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary
Grey Gardens (1975)
Salesman (1969)
Real Life (1979)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Seven Up! (1964)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Primary (1960)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Reds (1981)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2020 best-of list
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
India Cabaret (1985)
The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
Bicycle Thieves (1949) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards column
Shoeshine (1946)
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Day For Night (1973) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary
Sherman’s March (1986)
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
The Mole Agent (2020)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Other Notable Items
Walter Hill
Walton Goggins
The Majority
Mark Borchardt
Mike Schank
The...
- 7/27/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Always be wary of claims of “first” or “only.” Such is the case with brand-new streaming platform Documentary Plus+, which announced this summer that it would be “the first of its kind to focus exclusively on documentary films.” The venture comes from Xtr, the well-financed Los Angeles-based nonfiction film and television studio that Oscar-nominated documentary short producer Bryn Mooser (“Lifeboat”) launched last year.
Xtr, which took five co-financed films to Sundance 2020 — including well-received docs “Feels Good Man,” “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” — plans to roll out Documentary Plus+ this fall; a representative said they’re hoping for the end of September.
Billed as a “highly curated documentary streaming service,” Documentary Plus+ aims to “provide audiences with the best in documentary film and further serve as a permanent home for the work of nonfiction filmmakers along with added distribution and amplification of their projects across all social channels.
Xtr, which took five co-financed films to Sundance 2020 — including well-received docs “Feels Good Man,” “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” — plans to roll out Documentary Plus+ this fall; a representative said they’re hoping for the end of September.
Billed as a “highly curated documentary streaming service,” Documentary Plus+ aims to “provide audiences with the best in documentary film and further serve as a permanent home for the work of nonfiction filmmakers along with added distribution and amplification of their projects across all social channels.
- 8/20/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Bumblebee (Travis Knight)
With Bumblebee, director Travis Knight and writer Christina Hodson weave together two different movies: 1) A sensitive, familiar riff on E.T. about a young girl who, struggling with the recent death of her father, regains her confidence through a clandestine friendship with an alien and 2) A less bombastic version of a Michael Bay-helmed Transformers movie, complete with Autobot vs. Decepticon lore, mechanical fight scenes with grinding metal sounds high in the mix, explosions, etc. To their credit, Knight and Hodson semi-seamlessly combine both movies without too much tonal clash. It’s just a shame that the end result never amounts to more than a “fine,...
Bumblebee (Travis Knight)
With Bumblebee, director Travis Knight and writer Christina Hodson weave together two different movies: 1) A sensitive, familiar riff on E.T. about a young girl who, struggling with the recent death of her father, regains her confidence through a clandestine friendship with an alien and 2) A less bombastic version of a Michael Bay-helmed Transformers movie, complete with Autobot vs. Decepticon lore, mechanical fight scenes with grinding metal sounds high in the mix, explosions, etc. To their credit, Knight and Hodson semi-seamlessly combine both movies without too much tonal clash. It’s just a shame that the end result never amounts to more than a “fine,...
- 3/22/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In today’s film news roundup, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” sets a studio record, Chris Meledandri and Glenn Close are honored, an art-house streaming service is unveiled, and “Cliffs of Freedom” gets a release.
Trailer Stats
The first “Spider-Man: Far From Home” trailer has set a record as the biggest digital launch in Sony Pictures history after 24 hours.
The teaser trailer was unveiled Jan. 15 and generated 130 million views, topping the 116 million views for the first “Spider-Man: Homecoming” trailer. Sony said Friday the trailer was shared at twice the frequency of the first trailer for “Homecoming” and social conversation volume was also the highest in the studio’s history, topping 1.1 million posts in the first day. The studio reported that audiences were particularly excited to see Tom Holland’s return as Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhaal’s debut as Mysterio.
The trailer began with Holland embarking on a European adventure that’s...
Trailer Stats
The first “Spider-Man: Far From Home” trailer has set a record as the biggest digital launch in Sony Pictures history after 24 hours.
The teaser trailer was unveiled Jan. 15 and generated 130 million views, topping the 116 million views for the first “Spider-Man: Homecoming” trailer. Sony said Friday the trailer was shared at twice the frequency of the first trailer for “Homecoming” and social conversation volume was also the highest in the studio’s history, topping 1.1 million posts in the first day. The studio reported that audiences were particularly excited to see Tom Holland’s return as Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhaal’s debut as Mysterio.
The trailer began with Holland embarking on a European adventure that’s...
- 1/19/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
With FilmStruck gone and Fandor recently sold to a new entity, cinephiles would appear to be running out of streaming services catered toward them. Here to fill that void is Ovid.TV, a new venture from six different independent film distributors — Bullfrog Films, Distrib Films Us, First Run Features, Grasshopper Film, Icarus Films, and KimStim — set to launch in March. In a statement announcing the new Svod platform, Ovid is is said to be “designed to provide North American viewers with access to thousands of mostly un-streamable documentaries, independent films, and notable works of international cinema.”
Jonathan Miller of Icarus Films, who will serve as director of Ovid, said, “the time for this kind of partnership is now, as the streaming giants focus on generating fast-turnaround new content, this coalition will offer new access to high-quality catalogs found nowhere else, featuring some of the most celebrated filmmakers and films in the canon.
Jonathan Miller of Icarus Films, who will serve as director of Ovid, said, “the time for this kind of partnership is now, as the streaming giants focus on generating fast-turnaround new content, this coalition will offer new access to high-quality catalogs found nowhere else, featuring some of the most celebrated filmmakers and films in the canon.
- 1/18/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
When David Schwartz started working as a curator at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, there was no Netflix or MoviePass: Cinema faced a different sort of change. It was 1985, and with the twin effects of home video and New York real estate prices, some of the best arthouses in town had gone out business. “It wasn’t as crowded a scene as it is now,” said Schwartz, who ended his tenure as the museum’s chief curator last month. “There was definitely a need for more alternative programming at the time we opened.”
Over the decades, Schwartz met that challenge with a cinephilic feast of repertory programming and daring avant-garde offerings that did much to cultivate audiences through the decades. Nevertheless, the specifics of Schwartz’s departure are murky: Some sources said he received a two-week notice after 33 years at the museum, while others said it was by mutual agreement.
Over the decades, Schwartz met that challenge with a cinephilic feast of repertory programming and daring avant-garde offerings that did much to cultivate audiences through the decades. Nevertheless, the specifics of Schwartz’s departure are murky: Some sources said he received a two-week notice after 33 years at the museum, while others said it was by mutual agreement.
- 1/7/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Much has been written about the New Hollywood of the 1970s and how it was formed by a group of bearded film-school grads who grew up on a diet of cinema and broke the hidebound rules of the studio system. But there’s no talking about American film in the Me Decade without discussing the impact of Burt Reynolds, the iconic star who encapsulated so much of the era’s freewheeling attitudes and post-modern sensibilities.
Unlikely the falsely humble stars of yore, Reynolds clearly reveled in being a movie star, whether he was yukking it up on Johnny Carson’s couch or mugging through silly all-star extravaganzas like “The Cannonball Run.” He had the cool of the Rat Pack, but in a way that seemed more attainable to a country mired in recession; Reynolds’ public vibe always leaned closer to a six-pack and a Trans Am than to martinis and limousines.
Unlikely the falsely humble stars of yore, Reynolds clearly reveled in being a movie star, whether he was yukking it up on Johnny Carson’s couch or mugging through silly all-star extravaganzas like “The Cannonball Run.” He had the cool of the Rat Pack, but in a way that seemed more attainable to a country mired in recession; Reynolds’ public vibe always leaned closer to a six-pack and a Trans Am than to martinis and limousines.
- 9/6/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Avi Mograbi's Between Fences (2016) is showing on Mubi from March 17 - April 16, 2017 as a Special Discovery.Between FencesIn a bare room, two seated men pretend to offer a deal to a third. They will give the man 2,000 shekels and a passport if he agrees to leave Israel and go to back to Africa. “Your brothers don’t get it,” the boss says. “They’re stupid, but you look smart.” The man listening to the deal, a Sudanese refugee, insists that he must stay in Israel for his own safety. The two men, who are revealed through context to be border patrol agents, up the ante to 3,000 shekels. But the catch is, if the man stays in Israel he will go to Saharonim, a prison-like detention center for an unspecified period of time—“1, 2, 3 years in jail.” As the negotiation wears on, the border agents threaten him with one year, then two,...
- 3/17/2017
- MUBI
Costa Rica may not be known as a haven for filmmaking talent, but with the development of its film commission and the Costa Rica International Film Festival, that’s starting to change. The latest edition of the festival showcases a number of promising young directors from the region — some born there, others who came later — throughout the lineup. Here’s a look at a few of them in their own words.
Read More: Costa Rica’s Plans to Build Its Film Industry
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Age: 28
Latest Project: “Filip” (National Short Film Competition) is about a seven-year old boy who admires his older brother Sebastian most of all. One evening, Filip sees something unexpected happen between Sebastian and Sebastian’s best friend. He doesn’t know how to handle it. Filip questions his admiration for his older brother when he discovers that he is homosexual. But even living in a...
Read More: Costa Rica’s Plans to Build Its Film Industry
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Age: 28
Latest Project: “Filip” (National Short Film Competition) is about a seven-year old boy who admires his older brother Sebastian most of all. One evening, Filip sees something unexpected happen between Sebastian and Sebastian’s best friend. He doesn’t know how to handle it. Filip questions his admiration for his older brother when he discovers that he is homosexual. But even living in a...
- 12/9/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
A major talent of the New German Cinema finds his footing out on the open highway, in a trio of intensely creative pictures that capture the pace and feel of living off the beaten path. All three star Rüdiger Vogler, an actor who could be director Wim Wenders' alter ego. Wim Wenders' The Road Trilogy Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 813 1974-1976 / B&W and Color / 1:66 widescreen / 113, 104, 176 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 30, 2016 / 99.95 Starring Rüdiger Vogler, Lisa Kreuzer, Yetta Rottländer; Hannah Schygulla, Nasstasja Kinski, Hans Christian Blech, Ivan Desny; Robert Zischler. Cinematography Robby Müller, Martin Schäfer Film Editor Peter Przygodda, Barbara von Weltershausen Original Music Can, Jürgen Knieper, Axel Linstädt. Directed by Wim Wenders
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This morning I 'fessed up to never having seen David Lynch's Lost Highway. Now I get to say that until now I've never seen Wim Wenders'...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This morning I 'fessed up to never having seen David Lynch's Lost Highway. Now I get to say that until now I've never seen Wim Wenders'...
- 5/16/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"Return of the Secaucus Seven"
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Cinefamily, 611 N Fairfax, Los Angeles
*** For Immediate Release ***
The Cinefamily and Cinespia present
Underground USA: Indie Cinema Of The 80's
February 18-April 16
Opening Event February 18-20: Weekend tribute to indie film pioneer John Sayles
40+ film, two month retrospective celebrating iconic independent cinema
Guest filmmakers attending in person include:
John Sayles, Penelope Spheeris, Wayne Wang, Alex Cox, Allison Anders, Lizzie Borden, Ross McElwee, Robert Townsend, Richard Kern, John McNaughton
Numerous brand new restorations, including Paydirt, Born In Flames, and Last Night at The Alamo
Los Angeles, CA, February 15, 2016-Kicking off on February 18th with a rare in-person three-day tribute to independent film pioneer and legend John Sayles-including a master class on screenwriting co-presented by the WGA Foundation-and continuing through mid-April, The Cinefamily is proud to announce Underground USA: Indie Cinema Of The 80s-a guest-filled, two month,...
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Cinefamily, 611 N Fairfax, Los Angeles
*** For Immediate Release ***
The Cinefamily and Cinespia present
Underground USA: Indie Cinema Of The 80's
February 18-April 16
Opening Event February 18-20: Weekend tribute to indie film pioneer John Sayles
40+ film, two month retrospective celebrating iconic independent cinema
Guest filmmakers attending in person include:
John Sayles, Penelope Spheeris, Wayne Wang, Alex Cox, Allison Anders, Lizzie Borden, Ross McElwee, Robert Townsend, Richard Kern, John McNaughton
Numerous brand new restorations, including Paydirt, Born In Flames, and Last Night at The Alamo
Los Angeles, CA, February 15, 2016-Kicking off on February 18th with a rare in-person three-day tribute to independent film pioneer and legend John Sayles-including a master class on screenwriting co-presented by the WGA Foundation-and continuing through mid-April, The Cinefamily is proud to announce Underground USA: Indie Cinema Of The 80s-a guest-filled, two month,...
- 2/17/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Read More: Alex Gibney Criticizes Jon Stewart Over Tom Cruise Interview Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney is capping off his most acclaimed year yet (thanks to "Going Clear," "Sinatra" and "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine") by lending his love for cinema to the SundanceNow Doc Club. Gibney has curated an exclusive lineup of documentaries for the streaming service, including titles from Wim Wenders, Ross McElwee and Jonathan Demme. The curation comes on the heels of the Doc Club getting exclusive rights Gibney’s 2008 Academy Award-winning film "Taxi to the Dark Side," making it available digitally for the first time after many of its rights had been tied up for years in legal proceedings. The film explores the reckless abuse of power that influenced America's policy on torture and interrogation during the War in Afghanistan. The 12 films in Gibney's SundanceNow Doc Club collection are below. Head over to the SundanceNow website.
- 12/8/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Cinema Eye Honors have released the 25 nonfiction features that have been named to the 2016 edition of its annual The Influentials list. The titles represent films that have inspired the directors of the documentaries that are eligible for the 2016 awards. Read More: 'Citizenfour' Sweeps the 8th Annual Cinema Eye Honors Among the films on this year’s list are five that have been named Cinema Eye Legacy Award winners: "Sherman’s March," "Grey Gardens," "Titticut Follies," "Harlan County USA" and "Paris is Burning." Several films are making their first appearance on the list this year, including Ross McElwee’s "Six O’Clock News," Steve James’ "Stevie," Marlon Riggs’ "Tongues Tied" and Frederick Wiseman’s "Welfare." "Each year, we ask filmmakers to name the classic documentaries that were on their minds while they were working on their films," said Cinema Eye Lead Producer Will...
- 10/14/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Read More: Interview: Errol Morris Talks His Criterion Releases, Why 'The Unknown Known' Is "Superior" To 'Fog Of War' & More The 2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) is partnering with documentary pioneer Errol Morris for this year's Top 10 and retrospective programs. The filmmaker behind "The Thin Blue Line" has selected 10 documentaries by prominent directors with a reputation for innovation within the documentary genre. The selection includes work by the likes of Chris Marker, Dziga Vertov, Frederick Wiseman and Kazuo Hara. On Friday, 20 November, Morris will elaborate on the choices in his Top 10 at a masterclass chaired by American film theoretician Bill Nichols. Morris' Top 10 program includes: "Bright Leaves" (USA, 2002) by Ross McElwee"Fata Morgana" (Germany, 1971) by Werner Herzog"It Felt Like a Kiss" (UK, 2009) by Adam Curtis"Land Without Bread" (Spain, 1932) by...
- 9/29/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Read More: 20th Stony Brook Film Festival Welcomes 'Best of Enemies,' 'Wildlike' and More Brooklyn's BAMcinématek revealed plans for a six-week-long retrospective screening series that is scheduled to begin in mid-July. Focused exclusively on independent American cinema from the 1980s, the program will feature over sixty films, along with special guests such as directors Ross McElwee and Rob Nilsson. Robert Townsend's "Hollywood Shuffle" (1987), a comedy about an African American actor (Townsend) struggling with the limitations of racial representation in Hollywood, will open "Indie 80s" on July 17. The series will conclude on August 27 with a screening of "Chameleon Street" (1989), which follows actor-director Wendall B. Harris, Jr. as he camouflages himself at hospitals, newspapers and court, faking as an expert in a wide range of professions in order to escape his tedious life. Other notable titles include Rob Reiner's classic...
- 6/12/2015
- by Sara Itkis
- Indiewire
Brett Morgen has been called the Mad Scientist of the documentary world with his latest film, the long-awaited Kurt Cobain biography “Montage of Heck.” Morgen certainly lives up to that billing, creating an explosive and totally unique visual and cinematic experiences out of the fallen rock god’s various creations. I have known Brett since we were both 14 years old, having gone to high school and then college together, where we were in roommates. Since the first days of our acquaintance, I have never known anyone with such a firm sense of who he was and what he wanted to do, and that has only strengthened over the years. However, what astonished me seeing “Montage” for the first time was how much his creative skills have grown as a director, so that wild, unstoppable sense of Brettism is now married to awe-inspiring technical superpowers, that have enabled him to produce what in my very-biased mind,...
- 5/1/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
Like Los Angeles Plays Itself by way of Ross McElwee, Jenni Olson‘s The Royal Road surveys the landscape of Southern California as a way of exploring her past relationship troubles. That may sound like the sort of arty navel-gazing that many viewers are allergic to, but this is an utterly transfixing piece of work. The 16mm cinematography of Los Angeles and San Francisco is gorgeous and hypnotic, and it’s more than just pretty pictures. Olson’s narration works in concert with the architecture and geography, sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly. She purposefully establishes herself as a “shadow” — her voice is heard but she is unseen, and in fact, the whole film is bereft of human presence. She is, in a way, becoming the film, holding a conversation with the audience. Olson talks not just about her often tempestuous romantic misadventures but about Vertigo, the Spanish conquest and subsequent American annexation of the American Southwest, nostalgia...
- 1/26/2015
- by Nonfics.com
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
After narrowing the Oscar documentary feature shortlist to five at the 87th Academy Award nominations Jan. 15, a number of notable exclusions were featured, particularly Al Hicks‘ Keep on Keepin’ On, which documents the mentorship and friendship of a jazz legend and a blind piano prodigy, and Steve James‘ Life Itself, about the life and career of famed film critic Roger Ebert. (James is no stranger to snubs and the exclusion of his 1994 film Hoop Dreams led to rule reform within the documentary category.) Both films hold 97 percent positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
Some films surprised when they didn’t even land a spot on the shortlist, such as Red Army, which examines the rise and fall of the Soviet Union’s hockey team from the perspective of its coach. That film holds a 100 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In light of these best documentary feature snubs,...
Managing Editor
After narrowing the Oscar documentary feature shortlist to five at the 87th Academy Award nominations Jan. 15, a number of notable exclusions were featured, particularly Al Hicks‘ Keep on Keepin’ On, which documents the mentorship and friendship of a jazz legend and a blind piano prodigy, and Steve James‘ Life Itself, about the life and career of famed film critic Roger Ebert. (James is no stranger to snubs and the exclusion of his 1994 film Hoop Dreams led to rule reform within the documentary category.) Both films hold 97 percent positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
Some films surprised when they didn’t even land a spot on the shortlist, such as Red Army, which examines the rise and fall of the Soviet Union’s hockey team from the perspective of its coach. That film holds a 100 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In light of these best documentary feature snubs,...
- 1/23/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Sundance Institute announced Thursday that the 2015 Sundance Film Festival will take an unprecedented look at the art and craft of filmmaking with its new ‘Art of Film Weekend’ series of offscreen programming.
This year’s festival runs from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1 in Utah, and the Art of Film Weekend (Jan. 29-31) will highlight the unique roles of writers, directors, producers, actors, cinematographers, editors, production designers, art directors, costume designers, casting directors, sound designers, composers and the countless others who bring stories to life on screen.
Also Read: James Franco, Jennifer Lopez, Kurt Cobain Movies Highlight Sundance Premieres
The series will...
This year’s festival runs from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1 in Utah, and the Art of Film Weekend (Jan. 29-31) will highlight the unique roles of writers, directors, producers, actors, cinematographers, editors, production designers, art directors, costume designers, casting directors, sound designers, composers and the countless others who bring stories to life on screen.
Also Read: James Franco, Jennifer Lopez, Kurt Cobain Movies Highlight Sundance Premieres
The series will...
- 1/9/2015
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
The Sundance Film Festival announced today that it will hold a series of panels titled the "Art of Film Weekend" which will take place Jan. 29-31. This new initiative should create more buzz worthy moments during a period when the Festival is traditionally winding down. The slate will kick off with a conversation between Festival founder Robert Redford and George Lucas that will be streamed online at Sundance.org. In a release, Festival Director John Cooper noted, "Exploring cinema, body and soul, Art of Film Weekend will take aspiring filmmakers and film-loving audiences behind the scenes to see the creative, collaborative spirit of artists at every stage of the independent filmmaking process that is so core to our Festival." A full rundown of the panels are as follows: Power of Story: Visions of Independence — Kicking off Art of Film Weekend, join Robert Redford and George Lucas—two iconic filmmakers who...
- 1/8/2015
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
Sundance's Art of Film Weekend (January 29-31) will highlight writers, directors, producers and actors, along with cinematographers, editors and many more below-the-line cinematic craftsmen, and will kick off with a career-spanning discussion with fest founder Robert Redford and George Lucas. Additional panels on topics including artistry in film music, virtual reality, visual design, editing and documentary will follow. Highlights include talks with "Her" production designer K.K. Barrett, editing maestro Sarah Flack ("Lost in Translation") and doc filmmakers Ross McElwee ("Bright Leaves") and Sam Green ("The Weather Underground"). Full Art of Film Weekend lineup below. Sundance 2015 runs January 22 through February 1 in Park City, Utah. (Read our interview with the fest programmers here.) Power of Story: Visions of Independence — Kicking off Art of Film Weekend, join Robert Redford and George Lucas—two...
- 1/8/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Whether you want to immerse yourself in the world of birds, bees, baseball or backup singers, Netflix has a documentary for you. Missed "Man on Wire"? It's on there.
Here are films that changed the world, righted wrongs, pinpointed a moment in history, or simply shone a light on a previously unknown subset of society. (Availability subject to change. Films are unrated, except as noted.)
1. "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013) PG-13
This Oscar-winning doc shines a spotlight on the relatively unknown backup singers behind such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder.
2. "The Act of Killing" (2012)
The director invited killers -- men who took part in the horrific purge that left more than 500,000 dead in Indonesia in the 1960s -- to reenact their crimes on film, resulting in a bizarre look inside the mind of men capable of mass murder.
3. "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" (2014)
Two filmmakers pay homage to their grandfather,...
Here are films that changed the world, righted wrongs, pinpointed a moment in history, or simply shone a light on a previously unknown subset of society. (Availability subject to change. Films are unrated, except as noted.)
1. "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013) PG-13
This Oscar-winning doc shines a spotlight on the relatively unknown backup singers behind such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder.
2. "The Act of Killing" (2012)
The director invited killers -- men who took part in the horrific purge that left more than 500,000 dead in Indonesia in the 1960s -- to reenact their crimes on film, resulting in a bizarre look inside the mind of men capable of mass murder.
3. "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" (2014)
Two filmmakers pay homage to their grandfather,...
- 12/12/2014
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
With year end lists already flooding the interwebs a full month before the actual year’s end, its hard to ignore the fact that awards season is now in full swing. Tons of documentary awards have already been handed out, whether its for Ida (not Pawel Pawlikowski’s gorgeous new film) or for Cinema Eye Honors, there are plenty of worthy films getting their due recognition. Plus, several international festivals have handed out major awards this month, including Idfa, which hosted their awards ceremony just minutes ago. The full roundup is just below:
Dok Leipzig – Germany – October 27th – November 2nd
At the close of the 57th edition of the German documentary festival the Golden Dove Award, the festival’s highest honor, was given to Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s Rules of the Game, while the Leipziger Ring Film Prize went to Laura Poitras’s Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour, the...
Dok Leipzig – Germany – October 27th – November 2nd
At the close of the 57th edition of the German documentary festival the Golden Dove Award, the festival’s highest honor, was given to Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s Rules of the Game, while the Leipziger Ring Film Prize went to Laura Poitras’s Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour, the...
- 11/29/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Not all docu films that make the cut into the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Labs are fortunate enough to then land a coveted spot at the festival (recent examples include Roger Ross Williams’ God Loves Uganda and Tracy Draz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo’s Rich Hill) but some fresh air and supportive pounding from the Institute’s Advisors surely contributes to the realization of passion projects that are buckets filled in blood, sweat and tears. Among the press release mentions below, we’ll surely be discussing them in Park City setting in a January to too far off from now. Here are the selection of 20 Fellows representing eight documentary film projects to participate in the 2014 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, June 20-28 and July 4-12 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.
Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:
A Flickering...
Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:
A Flickering...
- 6/19/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Institute has unveiled the 20 fellows, and their eight documentary film projects, who will participate in this Summer's 2014 Documentary Edit and Story Labs. The labs run June 20-28, and July 4-12, at Sundance Resort in Utah. Based on Sundance's immersive Lab model launched by Robert Redford in 1981, each session of Documentary Edit and Story unites directors and editors with world-class doc filmmakers. Creative advisors in June include editors Jonathan Oppenheim ("The Oath") and Mary Lampson ("Harlan County USA"), and directors Jesse Moss (this year's breakout "The Overnighters") and Jon Else ("Sing Faster!"). In July, editors Kate Amen ("The Case Against 8") and Joe Bini ("We Need to Talk About Kevin"), and directors Ross McElwee ("Photographic Memory") and Rob Epstein ("Howl") are among those onboard as creative advisors. Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab: "A Flickering Truth" Director: Pietra Brettkelly Editor: Jacob...
- 6/19/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
While it’s sold as a comedic Western, A Million Ways to Die in the West is not a very good Western at all. Oh, it may take place in the 19th century American frontier and feature pistol duels, saloon brawls and farming, but its story is completely 21st century romance. The movie is your standard “nice guy loses girl, tries to win her back and discovers a much better girl in the process” affair. The setting is nothing but window dressing. It isn’t even exploited for very many jokes, good or otherwise – and most of the jokes are bad. But there’s one upside to this misaimed move on the part of writer/director/star Seth MacFarlane. He’s put himself in similar thematic territory with an already existing film. And that film does relationships and humor much, much better. Sherman’s March is a supremely strange piece of work. Originally...
- 5/30/2014
- by Nonfics.com
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Tonislav Hristov’s Love & Engineering is to open the 20th edition of the Visions du Réel documentary film festival.
The film about a Bulgarian computer engineer searching for a formula to create irresistible seductive power for four desperate digital geeks searching for analogue love will open this year’s festival in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow (April 24). The festival runs from April 25 to May 3.
The German-Finnish-Bulgarian co-production won the Audience Award at DocPoint Helsinki and is set to be screened at Hot Docs Toronto and the Tribeca Film Festival this month.
Nyon’s 2014 edition will see the festival celebrating two anniversaries: in 1969, the Festival international de cinéma Nyon was founded by the later Berlinale director Moritz de Hadeln, and the name change to Visions du Réel was taken by present artistic director Luciano Barisone’s predecessor Jean Perret in 1995
19 feature-length documentaries from 17 countries in the festival’s main competition will be judged by an International Jury comprising UK producer...
The film about a Bulgarian computer engineer searching for a formula to create irresistible seductive power for four desperate digital geeks searching for analogue love will open this year’s festival in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow (April 24). The festival runs from April 25 to May 3.
The German-Finnish-Bulgarian co-production won the Audience Award at DocPoint Helsinki and is set to be screened at Hot Docs Toronto and the Tribeca Film Festival this month.
Nyon’s 2014 edition will see the festival celebrating two anniversaries: in 1969, the Festival international de cinéma Nyon was founded by the later Berlinale director Moritz de Hadeln, and the name change to Visions du Réel was taken by present artistic director Luciano Barisone’s predecessor Jean Perret in 1995
19 feature-length documentaries from 17 countries in the festival’s main competition will be judged by an International Jury comprising UK producer...
- 4/23/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Michael Moore at First Time Fest Stand Alone: "And the other film I saw at that time was a film made with Barbie Dolls. It's called Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michael Moore in a seated Stand Alone with Director of Programming David Schwartz discussed how he got into filmmaking through his immersion in the cinema of Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini and sneaking in to see Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.
David Schwartz to Michael Moore: "And Kubrick? You said Clockwork Orange was a favorite." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
This year's First Time Fest First Exposure series includes Julie Taymor's Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming - Salesman directed by Charlotte Zwerin, Albert and David Maysles - James Toback's Fingers starring Harvey Keitel - David Lynch's Eraserhead with Dp Frederick Elmes in person - Kelly Reichardt's River Of Grass...
Michael Moore in a seated Stand Alone with Director of Programming David Schwartz discussed how he got into filmmaking through his immersion in the cinema of Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini and sneaking in to see Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.
David Schwartz to Michael Moore: "And Kubrick? You said Clockwork Orange was a favorite." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
This year's First Time Fest First Exposure series includes Julie Taymor's Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming - Salesman directed by Charlotte Zwerin, Albert and David Maysles - James Toback's Fingers starring Harvey Keitel - David Lynch's Eraserhead with Dp Frederick Elmes in person - Kelly Reichardt's River Of Grass...
- 4/7/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Barbara Kopple's groundbreaking documentary "Harlan County, USA" which chronicles a historic Kentucky coal miner strike, will receive the fifth annual Legacy Award from Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking. Kopple will accept the award on behalf of the film at the 7th annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony on January 8, 2014, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. The Legacy Award is intended to honor classic films that inspire a new generation of filmmakers and embody the Cinema Eye mission: excellence in creative and artistic achievements in nonfiction films, according to Cinema Eye. "Barbara has long been leading the way for all of us, not only in the quality, generosity and wisdom of her work but as a path breaking woman in what used to be largely a man's field," Cinema Eye Board Chair Andrea Meditch said in a statement.Kopple presented the first Legacy award to...
- 12/17/2013
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
Shawney Cohen is a filmmaker, but he also works at the family business, which wouldn't be so unusual if the business wasn't a small town strip club in Canada. Following in the footsteps of other personal documentarians like Ross McElwee and Doug Block, Cohen delves into the story of his dysfunctional family in his debut feature "The Manor," which opened the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in April and makes its N.Y. premiere at Doc NYC on Friday night. Cohen spent three years shooting the film and 15 months editing down the more than 200 hours of footage. Of course, he was concerned about the critical response, but more important than the reviews was his family's response. While Cohen's film depicts his family with love and respect, it doesn't gloss over difficult elements, including his father's struggle with obesity, his mother's anorexia and their strained relationship. Here Cohen provides tips...
- 11/12/2013
- by Shawney Cohen
- Indiewire
Rocky Braat is the ideal documentary “good guy,” a young American in India caring for orphaned children with HIV and AIDS. Not as a part of any Ngo or the Peace Corps or official cause, it seems. He just fell in love with the kids while passing through Chennai as a tourist. Of course there’s a film about him. He’s the kind of guy who wins audience awards for docs — and maybe some jury prizes, too — in spite of the fact that the honors are intended for filmmaking rather than the heroic and heartwarming subjects on screen. People bring their checkbooks to screenings specifically for this sort of thing. But the film he stars in, Blood Brother, does not have one of those common credits at the end of issue films indicating how we can help. Maybe that’s because the documentary is not about Braat so much as it’s about Steve Hoover, the...
- 10/20/2013
- by Nonfics.com
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Every month, the online movie streaming service SundanceNow features a program of documentaries curated by Thom Powers (doc programmer for Tiff and other film fests). Typically the program is based around a theme (i.e. food docs, art docs, docs with nudity, etc.), but throughout August this “Doc Club” is spotlighting filmmaker Ross McElwee, a pioneer of first-person nonfiction cinema best known for the classic Sherman’s March. That film is among the selections, along with five other features, including his latest, Photographic Memory, and two shorter early works. It’s a perfect introduction to one of my favorite filmmakers, and it’s also a special treat for those who are already McElwee fans as some of these docs haven’t been too easily seen. And both the subscription and single month deals are pretty great. McElwee is the main character of most his own films, which take viewers through autobiographical tales involving romance, death...
- 8/2/2013
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Sundance Selects’ digital label has agreed terms with First Run Features to bring select titles from the latter’s documentary library to SundanceNOW’s subscription VoD service Doc Club.
SundanceNOW has licensed 39 documentaries for the Doc Club programme curated by documentary programmer Thom Powers around monthly themes.
The collaboration kicks off in July with Culinary Cinema including A Table In Heaven, A Matter Of Taste and Kings Of Pastry.
August brings a Ross McElwee retrospective including Charleen, Bright Leaves and Photographic Memory.
“First Run Features has been our highly esteemed colleague in distribution for many years, and we are thrilled to bring their films to our ever-growing online community of documentary and independent film aficionados,” said Sundance Selects president Jonathan Sehring [pictured].
SundanceNOW has licensed 39 documentaries for the Doc Club programme curated by documentary programmer Thom Powers around monthly themes.
The collaboration kicks off in July with Culinary Cinema including A Table In Heaven, A Matter Of Taste and Kings Of Pastry.
August brings a Ross McElwee retrospective including Charleen, Bright Leaves and Photographic Memory.
“First Run Features has been our highly esteemed colleague in distribution for many years, and we are thrilled to bring their films to our ever-growing online community of documentary and independent film aficionados,” said Sundance Selects president Jonathan Sehring [pictured].
- 6/12/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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