The sudden end of Participant Media came as a shock to many in the entertainment industry, but it hit documentary filmmakers particularly hard, with some concerned that backers for serious-minded, issue-driven projects are becoming ever more scarce.
Since its founding in 2004, the company — which sought to bring stories that could spark change to a wide audience — has been a staunch supporter of documentaries focused on social and justice issues, funded by the largesse of a billionaire, ex-eBay president Jeff Skoll.
None of its other nonfiction titles quite achieved the heights of 2006’s An Inconvenient Truth, released just two years after the company was formed: The Davis Guggenheim-directed film about Al Gore’s climate change slideshow rocketed to become the third-highest-grossing doc ever at the time and focused mainstream attention on climate change, inspiring studies about its impact. “That’s why we exist,” Skoll told The Hollywood Reporter in 2006, as Truth became a sensation.
Since its founding in 2004, the company — which sought to bring stories that could spark change to a wide audience — has been a staunch supporter of documentaries focused on social and justice issues, funded by the largesse of a billionaire, ex-eBay president Jeff Skoll.
None of its other nonfiction titles quite achieved the heights of 2006’s An Inconvenient Truth, released just two years after the company was formed: The Davis Guggenheim-directed film about Al Gore’s climate change slideshow rocketed to become the third-highest-grossing doc ever at the time and focused mainstream attention on climate change, inspiring studies about its impact. “That’s why we exist,” Skoll told The Hollywood Reporter in 2006, as Truth became a sensation.
- 4/19/2024
- by Katie Kilkenny
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
U.S. content management, financing and sales banner Cinetic Media has secured world rights to the life affirming doc “Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other,” about legendary photographer Joel Meyerowitz and artist and author Maggie Barrett, his wife.
Rising filmmaking duo Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter of London-based Manon et Jacob are making their documentary debut, with Ouimet serving as producer alongside multi-Oscar nominated Danish producer Signe Byrge Sørensen of Final Cut Four Real.
“Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other” is having its world premiere March 16 in the Dox:award main competition at Copenhagen’s leading documentary festival Cph:dox, and also screen in the international competition section of Thessaloniki Documentary Festival on the same day.
Pedigree co-producing partners attached include Fremantle-owned doc label Undeniable, helmed by Mandy Chang, and long-time Final Cut for Real U.S. partners Louverture Films.
The character-driven documentary chronicles the loving yet...
Rising filmmaking duo Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter of London-based Manon et Jacob are making their documentary debut, with Ouimet serving as producer alongside multi-Oscar nominated Danish producer Signe Byrge Sørensen of Final Cut Four Real.
“Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other” is having its world premiere March 16 in the Dox:award main competition at Copenhagen’s leading documentary festival Cph:dox, and also screen in the international competition section of Thessaloniki Documentary Festival on the same day.
Pedigree co-producing partners attached include Fremantle-owned doc label Undeniable, helmed by Mandy Chang, and long-time Final Cut for Real U.S. partners Louverture Films.
The character-driven documentary chronicles the loving yet...
- 3/7/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Danish sales outfit Dr Sales, attached to the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning doc “A New Kind of Wilderness,” has boarded another high-quality Norwegian documentary – “Phantoms of the Sierra Madre” by the multi-awarded Håvard Bustnes.
The epic and self-reflective film, made in partnership with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, is due to world premiere in the main Dox:Award competition of Copenhagen’s Cph:dox festival, running March 13-24.
Bustnes, Christian Aune Falch and Torstein Parelius are producing for Norway’s Upnorth Film, in co-production with Finland’s Napa Films. Executive producers are Bird Runningwater, a high-profile figure from the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache tribes and former Sundance programmer, key film collaborator Pius Garcia, great-grandson of legendary Apache warrior Geronimo, as well as Upnorth’s Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch.
In the film, established Danish screenwriter Lars K. Andersen embarks on a quest to locate a disappeared Apache tribe in Mexico. His odyssey filmed...
The epic and self-reflective film, made in partnership with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, is due to world premiere in the main Dox:Award competition of Copenhagen’s Cph:dox festival, running March 13-24.
Bustnes, Christian Aune Falch and Torstein Parelius are producing for Norway’s Upnorth Film, in co-production with Finland’s Napa Films. Executive producers are Bird Runningwater, a high-profile figure from the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache tribes and former Sundance programmer, key film collaborator Pius Garcia, great-grandson of legendary Apache warrior Geronimo, as well as Upnorth’s Ingrid Galadriel Aune Falch.
In the film, established Danish screenwriter Lars K. Andersen embarks on a quest to locate a disappeared Apache tribe in Mexico. His odyssey filmed...
- 3/1/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Battered by disappointing markets at Toronto and AFM, both of which were held under the shadow of the actors strike, buyers and sellers are looking to Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), which runs Feb. 15-21, to re-energize the indie business. The outlook, coming out of Sundance, is good.
“The difference in Sundance from last year to this was extreme, there were a lot more deals being down, both by distributors and streamers,” says Janina Vislmaier, head of sales at Protagonist Pictures, which screened The Outrun with Saoirse Ronan and Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg in Park City, both of which will screen at the EFM. “Everyone is really excited ahead of Berlin, especially because all the buyers are back, including from Asia, which is a really good sign.”
The end of the SAG and WGA strikes hasn’t, yet, delivered the flood of new projects and packages many had predicted,...
“The difference in Sundance from last year to this was extreme, there were a lot more deals being down, both by distributors and streamers,” says Janina Vislmaier, head of sales at Protagonist Pictures, which screened The Outrun with Saoirse Ronan and Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg in Park City, both of which will screen at the EFM. “Everyone is really excited ahead of Berlin, especially because all the buyers are back, including from Asia, which is a really good sign.”
The end of the SAG and WGA strikes hasn’t, yet, delivered the flood of new projects and packages many had predicted,...
- 2/13/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Ahead of EFM 2024, XYZ Films has promoted James Emanuel Shapiro to President of Domestic Distribution, upping Alex Williams to Sr. Manager, Acquisitions and Development.
Shapiro, formerly the Executive Vice President of U.S. Distribution, reports to XYZ CEO Nick Spicer and Partner Nate Bolotin. The promotions come following XYZ’s recent hiring of Celine Lin for the role of Senior VP of International Sales.
XYZ launched its domestic distribution arm in 2021 and has since then released films from Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Something in the Dirt), Nic Cassavetes (God Is a Bullet) and Michelle Garza (Huesera: The Bone Woman).
Said the Partners at XYZ in a joint statement, “These are well deserved promotions and we couldn’t be happier for James and Alex. James has done a terrific job launching the division, with strong support from Alex, and we’re excited about our upcoming slate.”
Prior to his time at XYZ Films,...
Shapiro, formerly the Executive Vice President of U.S. Distribution, reports to XYZ CEO Nick Spicer and Partner Nate Bolotin. The promotions come following XYZ’s recent hiring of Celine Lin for the role of Senior VP of International Sales.
XYZ launched its domestic distribution arm in 2021 and has since then released films from Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Something in the Dirt), Nic Cassavetes (God Is a Bullet) and Michelle Garza (Huesera: The Bone Woman).
Said the Partners at XYZ in a joint statement, “These are well deserved promotions and we couldn’t be happier for James and Alex. James has done a terrific job launching the division, with strong support from Alex, and we’re excited about our upcoming slate.”
Prior to his time at XYZ Films,...
- 2/12/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Screen shines a light on 30 European titles that look set to grab the attention of festival directors in 2023, including new features by Tom Tykwer, Paz Vega, Paolo Sorrentino, Cecilia Verheyden and Baltasar Kormakur.
For our separate list of French festival hopefuls for 2024, click here.
Ariel (Sp-Por)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Patiño won the Encounters special jury prize at Berlin last year for Samsara and picked up the emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013 with Coast Of Death. His latest is a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, shot in Galicia and The Azores islands. Ariel stars Goya winner Irene Escolar...
For our separate list of French festival hopefuls for 2024, click here.
Ariel (Sp-Por)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Patiño won the Encounters special jury prize at Berlin last year for Samsara and picked up the emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013 with Coast Of Death. His latest is a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, shot in Galicia and The Azores islands. Ariel stars Goya winner Irene Escolar...
- 1/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
Documentary producer dedicated to using non-fiction storytelling to bring about change on many vital issues
Jess Search, who has died aged 54 of brain cancer, did much to shape and inspire the world of documentary film. With the colleagues who had joined her in creating the non-profit organisation Doc Society, she sought to harness the power of non-fiction storytelling to bring about change on such issues as the climate crisis and defending democracy.
The many dozens of films she funded, advised, mentored, distributed, produced or executive produced include Citizenfour (2014), about the whistleblower Edward Snowden; Virunga (2014), on protecting gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo; The Look of Silence (2014), recalling the murder of a million supposed communists in Indonesia in the mid-1960s; Knock Down the House (2019), following the campaign in which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to the House of Representatives; Cow (2021), a portrait of bovine life on the farm; and the...
Jess Search, who has died aged 54 of brain cancer, did much to shape and inspire the world of documentary film. With the colleagues who had joined her in creating the non-profit organisation Doc Society, she sought to harness the power of non-fiction storytelling to bring about change on such issues as the climate crisis and defending democracy.
The many dozens of films she funded, advised, mentored, distributed, produced or executive produced include Citizenfour (2014), about the whistleblower Edward Snowden; Virunga (2014), on protecting gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo; The Look of Silence (2014), recalling the murder of a million supposed communists in Indonesia in the mid-1960s; Knock Down the House (2019), following the campaign in which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to the House of Representatives; Cow (2021), a portrait of bovine life on the farm; and the...
- 8/7/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- The Guardian - Film News
Jess Search, the veteran documentary producer and co-founder of the nonprofit film foundation Doc Society in the U.K., has died. She was 54.
Search died Monday in London after a short battle with brain cancer that began with a diagnosis in June, Doc Society announced in an Aug. 1 letter.
“As a fierce supporter of independent artists and co-founder of Doc Society, Jess spent the weeks following her diagnosis focused on her passions laid out in her recent announcement, No Time Like The Present,” which first revealed her brain tumor discovery, Doc Society said.
“Her greatest wish was to continue to secure the Doc Society mission of unleashing the transformational power of documentary film to address the two critical and intertwined issues of climate change and democracies in crisis.”
Films the Doc Society has helped finance include the Oscar-nominated Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour, Virunga, Whose Streets, Hooligan Sparrow, The Square and The Look of Silence.
Search died Monday in London after a short battle with brain cancer that began with a diagnosis in June, Doc Society announced in an Aug. 1 letter.
“As a fierce supporter of independent artists and co-founder of Doc Society, Jess spent the weeks following her diagnosis focused on her passions laid out in her recent announcement, No Time Like The Present,” which first revealed her brain tumor discovery, Doc Society said.
“Her greatest wish was to continue to secure the Doc Society mission of unleashing the transformational power of documentary film to address the two critical and intertwined issues of climate change and democracies in crisis.”
Films the Doc Society has helped finance include the Oscar-nominated Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour, Virunga, Whose Streets, Hooligan Sparrow, The Square and The Look of Silence.
- 8/2/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rarely a film “reinvents the wheel” when it comes to cinematic language, and, on top of that, does it to maximize the emotional impact. The documentary “The Act of Killing” by Joshua Oppenheimer and associates is one of such films. Although, production-wise, it is not an Asian film, it is so rooted in the context of Indonesia it could serve as a recommendation for the Movie of the Week here.
Oppenheimer first came to Indonesia to film parts of his 2003 video-documentary “The Globalisation Tapes”, but there he found a haunting story from the country's history and spent the greatest part of the following ten years working on the project. During the 60s, the tensions mounted between the left-leaning government lead by Sukarno and the army that resulted in a series of massacres of suspected communists, progressive intellectuals, syndicalists and members of the Chinese minority. Massacres were conducted by the military and the paramilitary forces,...
Oppenheimer first came to Indonesia to film parts of his 2003 video-documentary “The Globalisation Tapes”, but there he found a haunting story from the country's history and spent the greatest part of the following ten years working on the project. During the 60s, the tensions mounted between the left-leaning government lead by Sukarno and the army that resulted in a series of massacres of suspected communists, progressive intellectuals, syndicalists and members of the Chinese minority. Massacres were conducted by the military and the paramilitary forces,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
“Seven Winters in Tehran,” about a 19-year-old Iranian woman sentenced to death for killing the man who tried to rape her, will open the 34th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival on May 31 in New York City.
The festival, co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the IFC Center, will feature 10 documentaries about humanitarian challenges around the world. This year’s edition spotlights themes and topics including the Ukraine conflict (“When Spring Came to Bucha”), climate gentrification and justice (“Razing Liberty Square”), women’s rights (“Draw Me Egypt”) transgender rights (“Into My Name”) freedom of the press (“The Etilaat Roz”) and access to health care in the United States (“Pay or Die”).
“From the war in Ukraine to women’s rights and bodily autonomy, to environmental gentrification and freedom of the press, these films span some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time,” says John Biaggi,...
The festival, co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the IFC Center, will feature 10 documentaries about humanitarian challenges around the world. This year’s edition spotlights themes and topics including the Ukraine conflict (“When Spring Came to Bucha”), climate gentrification and justice (“Razing Liberty Square”), women’s rights (“Draw Me Egypt”) transgender rights (“Into My Name”) freedom of the press (“The Etilaat Roz”) and access to health care in the United States (“Pay or Die”).
“From the war in Ukraine to women’s rights and bodily autonomy, to environmental gentrification and freedom of the press, these films span some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time,” says John Biaggi,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Neon has unveiled a raft of cast additions for Joshua Oppenheimer’s musical The End as principal photography begins in Ireland.
The freshly-unveiled cast includes Moses Ingram, Michael Shannon, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, and Lennie James. They join previously announced lead actors Tilda Swinton and George MacKay.
Neon is co-financing the international co-production. The long-gestated project revolves around the story of the last human family.
Principal photography has begun in Ireland and will continue through the spring in Italy and Germany.
“I am thrilled to be making The End in collaboration with this miraculous ensemble of artists. I am in awe of each of them. It has been a journey of six years to reach this point, and I could not be more humbled,” said Oppenheimer.
Final Cut for Real’s Signe Byrge Sørensen and Oppenheimer are producing with Wild Atlantic Pictures, The Match Factory, Dorje Film, Moonspun Films and Anagram co-producing.
The freshly-unveiled cast includes Moses Ingram, Michael Shannon, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, and Lennie James. They join previously announced lead actors Tilda Swinton and George MacKay.
Neon is co-financing the international co-production. The long-gestated project revolves around the story of the last human family.
Principal photography has begun in Ireland and will continue through the spring in Italy and Germany.
“I am thrilled to be making The End in collaboration with this miraculous ensemble of artists. I am in awe of each of them. It has been a journey of six years to reach this point, and I could not be more humbled,” said Oppenheimer.
Final Cut for Real’s Signe Byrge Sørensen and Oppenheimer are producing with Wild Atlantic Pictures, The Match Factory, Dorje Film, Moonspun Films and Anagram co-producing.
- 3/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
First announced back in the fall of 2021, one of our most-anticipated films in development is The End, a narrative feature from The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence director Joshua Oppenheimer. Starring Tilda Swinton and George MacKay, it’s described as a “Golden Age musical about the last human family,” and now with production getting underway in Ireland, we have more new details about the project.
“I’m the mother in basically the richest family on the planet. The father has been at the forefront of engineering the destruction of the biosphere, and they’ve lived for the last 20-something years in a bunker underneath Middle America, which is like Versailles,” Swinton told W Magazine, while also revealing at her SXSW keynote last weekend she’s headed from Austin to Dublin to begin production.
Courtesy of the production company’s site, it’s also been revealed that cinematographer...
“I’m the mother in basically the richest family on the planet. The father has been at the forefront of engineering the destruction of the biosphere, and they’ve lived for the last 20-something years in a bunker underneath Middle America, which is like Versailles,” Swinton told W Magazine, while also revealing at her SXSW keynote last weekend she’s headed from Austin to Dublin to begin production.
Courtesy of the production company’s site, it’s also been revealed that cinematographer...
- 3/21/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film at Lincoln Center
As the 4K restoration of Keane opens (read our interview with Lodge Kerrigan here) and Three Colors: Blue continues alongside Three Colors: White, the series “Animating Funny Pages” shows the inspiration of Owen Kline’s new feature—work by Robert Downey Sr, Frank Tashlin, and more.
Film Forum
To mark the great Alain Resnias’ centennial, a massive retrospective continues with Marienbad, Hiroshima, Je t’aime, je t’aime, and some of his lesser-seen (but no less great) features—Mélo, Stavisky, Love Unto Death, and Life is a Bed of Roses.
Bam
“Intimate Epics” continues with Happy Hour, Barry Lyndon, Andrei Rublev, and Sátántangó.
Museum of the Moving Image
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Licorice Pizza, and Sleeping Beauty all play on 70mm this weekend, while one of cinema’s most unsung heroes—women in Australian cinema—get...
Film at Lincoln Center
As the 4K restoration of Keane opens (read our interview with Lodge Kerrigan here) and Three Colors: Blue continues alongside Three Colors: White, the series “Animating Funny Pages” shows the inspiration of Owen Kline’s new feature—work by Robert Downey Sr, Frank Tashlin, and more.
Film Forum
To mark the great Alain Resnias’ centennial, a massive retrospective continues with Marienbad, Hiroshima, Je t’aime, je t’aime, and some of his lesser-seen (but no less great) features—Mélo, Stavisky, Love Unto Death, and Life is a Bed of Roses.
Bam
“Intimate Epics” continues with Happy Hour, Barry Lyndon, Andrei Rublev, and Sátántangó.
Museum of the Moving Image
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Licorice Pizza, and Sleeping Beauty all play on 70mm this weekend, while one of cinema’s most unsung heroes—women in Australian cinema—get...
- 8/18/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The government of Zimbabwe has banned “President,” Danish filmmaker Camilla Nielsson’s Oscar-shortlisted documentary about the African nation’s corrupt 2018 presidential election, Variety can exclusively reveal.
In a letter dated June 16, the country’s censorship board slapped a ban on the Sundance prize-winning documentary, insisting that it “has the potential to incite violence” as Zimbabwe gears up for presidential elections in 2023.
The filmmakers are now challenging the ruling in Zimbabwe’s constitutional court, promising a long legal battle ahead.
“President” is the follow-up to Nielsson’s critically acclaimed “Democrats,” which chronicled the laborious construction of Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution. It captures Zimbabwe at a crossroads, as it prepares for its first election since the ouster of Robert Mugabe, who was forced from power after nearly four decades in the wake of a 2017 military coup.
The film follows opposition leader Nelson Chamisa as he challenges the dictator’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, while...
In a letter dated June 16, the country’s censorship board slapped a ban on the Sundance prize-winning documentary, insisting that it “has the potential to incite violence” as Zimbabwe gears up for presidential elections in 2023.
The filmmakers are now challenging the ruling in Zimbabwe’s constitutional court, promising a long legal battle ahead.
“President” is the follow-up to Nielsson’s critically acclaimed “Democrats,” which chronicled the laborious construction of Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution. It captures Zimbabwe at a crossroads, as it prepares for its first election since the ouster of Robert Mugabe, who was forced from power after nearly four decades in the wake of a 2017 military coup.
The film follows opposition leader Nelson Chamisa as he challenges the dictator’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, while...
- 8/8/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Over the course of a celebrated 40-year career, veteran Danish editor Niels Pagh Andersen has worked on critically acclaimed films including Pirjo Honkasalo’s “The 3 Rooms of Melancholia” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s Oscar-nominated “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence.”
One of the key takeaways from those collaborations, which he explores in his new book “Order in Chaos: Storytelling and Editing in Documentary Film,” is the importance of the creative synergy that forms between an editor and a filmmaker.
“The artistic vision is the director’s responsibility. But with the [editing] process, there I feel it’s also my responsibility that we get the best out of the two of us,” says Andersen, who gave a masterclass this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. “If you can have the creative dialogue, then you create something that is bigger than the individual.”
In “Order in Chaos,” Andersen offers readers a...
One of the key takeaways from those collaborations, which he explores in his new book “Order in Chaos: Storytelling and Editing in Documentary Film,” is the importance of the creative synergy that forms between an editor and a filmmaker.
“The artistic vision is the director’s responsibility. But with the [editing] process, there I feel it’s also my responsibility that we get the best out of the two of us,” says Andersen, who gave a masterclass this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. “If you can have the creative dialogue, then you create something that is bigger than the individual.”
In “Order in Chaos,” Andersen offers readers a...
- 3/16/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Danish animated documentary “Flee” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2021 at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards, which were streamed in a virtual ceremony on Friday night.
The film, in which director Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to disguise the identity of an Afghan refugee who fled to Russian and then Denmark, scored an unprecedented trifecta when it was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film categories.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won the IDA award in the Best Director category for “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut. The film also won in the Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories, making it the only film to win more than one award at the ceremony.
Other winners included Jimmy Goldblum’s “A Broken House” in the Best Short category, the series “Independent Lens” for Best Curated Series,...
The film, in which director Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to disguise the identity of an Afghan refugee who fled to Russian and then Denmark, scored an unprecedented trifecta when it was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film categories.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won the IDA award in the Best Director category for “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut. The film also won in the Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories, making it the only film to win more than one award at the ceremony.
Other winners included Jimmy Goldblum’s “A Broken House” in the Best Short category, the series “Independent Lens” for Best Curated Series,...
- 3/5/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Imagining what “In the Mood for Love” might have been like had Apichatpong Weeraserhakul directed it will land you somewhere in the vicinity of “Before, Now & Then,” Kamila Andini’s beguiling drama set in 1960s Indonesia. Anyone familiar with that country’s history, even if only through Joshua Oppenheimer’s devastating companion documentaries “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence,” knows that there’s little happiness on the other side of this film’s end credits, but Andini’s literary adaptation is so transfixing that her characters never feel as doomed as we know them to be.
The “before” prologue finds Nana (Happy Salma) and her sister Ninsingh (Rieke Diah Pitaloka) fleeing for their lives, with our heroine convinced that both her husband and father are dead as the result of the country’s anticommunist purge — a fate that may await her should she refuse to marry an...
The “before” prologue finds Nana (Happy Salma) and her sister Ninsingh (Rieke Diah Pitaloka) fleeing for their lives, with our heroine convinced that both her husband and father are dead as the result of the country’s anticommunist purge — a fate that may await her should she refuse to marry an...
- 2/13/2022
- by Michael Nordine
- Variety Film + TV
Showtime Documentary Films has acquired “2nd Chance,” about the life and legacy of Richard Davis, from director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Ramin Bahrani.
The feature length-documentary centers on Davis, the charming and brash inventor of the modern-day bulletproof vest, who shot himself 192 times to prove his product worked.
“Richard Davis is a fascinating documentary subject whose character reveals a deeper metaphor for America today,” said Bahrani. “I am very thankful to the producers and entire filmmaking team for being part of such a thought provoking and timely film. We are thrilled to partner with Showtime and look forward to bringing ‘2nd Chance’ to audiences.”
Written, directed, and produced by Bahrani, “2nd Chance” is produced by Daniel Turcan & Johnny Galvin of Vespucci, Charles Dorfman and Jacob Grodnik. The film is executive produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, Myles Estey, Bahareh Azimi and Marlon Vogelgesang. Endeavor Content and Samuel Marshall Films produced and financed the film.
The feature length-documentary centers on Davis, the charming and brash inventor of the modern-day bulletproof vest, who shot himself 192 times to prove his product worked.
“Richard Davis is a fascinating documentary subject whose character reveals a deeper metaphor for America today,” said Bahrani. “I am very thankful to the producers and entire filmmaking team for being part of such a thought provoking and timely film. We are thrilled to partner with Showtime and look forward to bringing ‘2nd Chance’ to audiences.”
Written, directed, and produced by Bahrani, “2nd Chance” is produced by Daniel Turcan & Johnny Galvin of Vespucci, Charles Dorfman and Jacob Grodnik. The film is executive produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, Myles Estey, Bahareh Azimi and Marlon Vogelgesang. Endeavor Content and Samuel Marshall Films produced and financed the film.
- 1/29/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
On the Eastern border of Ukraine in the Donbas region is the city of Lysychansk, only 90 kilometers from Lugansk, where along the bank of the Donets lies the Lysychansk Center for the Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children.
This halfway house serves as a momentary intervention for neglected and at-risk children while the state decides where to place them. It is there that director Simon Lereng Wimont, who was shortlisted for an Oscar with his last film “The Distant Barking of Dogs,” filmed his new documentary “A House Made of Splinters” which will world premiere at Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Cinephil is handling world sales for the film.
Produced by Monica Hellström of Final Cut for Real – whose credits include “Flee,” currently challenging for documentary and international feature Oscars, as well as “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence” – and Sami Jahnukainen of Donkey Hotel,...
This halfway house serves as a momentary intervention for neglected and at-risk children while the state decides where to place them. It is there that director Simon Lereng Wimont, who was shortlisted for an Oscar with his last film “The Distant Barking of Dogs,” filmed his new documentary “A House Made of Splinters” which will world premiere at Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Cinephil is handling world sales for the film.
Produced by Monica Hellström of Final Cut for Real – whose credits include “Flee,” currently challenging for documentary and international feature Oscars, as well as “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence” – and Sami Jahnukainen of Donkey Hotel,...
- 1/24/2022
- by JD Linville
- Variety Film + TV
Firstly, it seems like something of a miracle that any film will be premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Like, in-person, in theaters, in Park City. After launching an ambitious — and quite popular — hybrid festival for its 2021 edition, the annual event is preparing for a slightly more traditional event in 2022. As announced earlier this year, online screenings will still take place in 2022, but Park City is readying to mount a larger in-person event as well.
And while we can’t wait for that, there’s a whole pack of other eager would-be Sundance attendees feeling a very different kind of anticipation these days: the filmmakers. While the end of November spells the start of holiday time for most, it also comes with a particular anxiety for those who have submitted their film to the fest. As we approach the inevitable lineup announcements, we’ve done our usual scouting around to...
And while we can’t wait for that, there’s a whole pack of other eager would-be Sundance attendees feeling a very different kind of anticipation these days: the filmmakers. While the end of November spells the start of holiday time for most, it also comes with a particular anxiety for those who have submitted their film to the fest. As we approach the inevitable lineup announcements, we’ve done our usual scouting around to...
- 11/22/2021
- by Kate Erbland and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Russian cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, renowned for his collaborations with Andrey Zvyagintsev on films like Oscar nominees “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” shared some of his secrets during the Imago masterclass at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, all the while engaging in a friendly dialogue with two-time Oscar nominee Ed Lachman. They both won Golden Frogs at the Polish festival, for “Leviathan” and “Carol” respectively.
Unable to be in Toruń in person, Krichman opened up about his upcoming project, Joshua Oppenheimer’s musical “The End,” starring Tilda Swinton.
“I haven’t done musicals before, with all these dance numbers. This is Joshua’s first fiction film and his approach is very interesting,” he said, admitting he was “amazed and frightened” by Oppenheimer’s documentaries “The Look of Silence” and “The Act of Killing.”
Music is also on Lachman’s mind, working on Todd Haynes’ film about singer Peggy Lee. “It’s a drama, but seen through music.
Unable to be in Toruń in person, Krichman opened up about his upcoming project, Joshua Oppenheimer’s musical “The End,” starring Tilda Swinton.
“I haven’t done musicals before, with all these dance numbers. This is Joshua’s first fiction film and his approach is very interesting,” he said, admitting he was “amazed and frightened” by Oppenheimer’s documentaries “The Look of Silence” and “The Act of Killing.”
Music is also on Lachman’s mind, working on Todd Haynes’ film about singer Peggy Lee. “It’s a drama, but seen through music.
- 11/20/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, but the late Diane Weyermann was the woman who gave it the financing and clout it deserved. From the Sundance Institute to Participant Media, she passionately supported documentaries that might not otherwise exist. She made them better, found their audiences, and elevated what was once considered a low-budget sideline. Her projects received 10 Oscar nominations and four wins.
However, to sum up her impact in the language of credits and awards would an injustice of its own. Weyermann was one of those people who had the privilege of being genuinely beloved. She was dedicated to her work as chief content officer at Participant Media, but the filmmakers she worked with knew her as a fiercely intelligent champion, guide, and most of all a friend.
After losing her long battle with cancer last week, Weyermann’s friends in the documentary community sent IndieWire a flood of tributes.
However, to sum up her impact in the language of credits and awards would an injustice of its own. Weyermann was one of those people who had the privilege of being genuinely beloved. She was dedicated to her work as chief content officer at Participant Media, but the filmmakers she worked with knew her as a fiercely intelligent champion, guide, and most of all a friend.
After losing her long battle with cancer last week, Weyermann’s friends in the documentary community sent IndieWire a flood of tributes.
- 10/19/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, but the late Diane Weyermann was the woman who gave it the financing and clout it deserved. From the Sundance Institute to Participant Media, she passionately supported documentaries that might not otherwise exist. She made them better, found their audiences, and elevated what was once considered a low-budget sideline. Her projects received 10 Oscar nominations and four wins.
However, to sum up her impact in the language of credits and awards would an injustice of its own. Weyermann was one of those people who had the privilege of being genuinely beloved. She was dedicated to her work as chief content officer at Participant Media, but the filmmakers she worked with knew her as a fiercely intelligent champion, guide, and most of all a friend.
After losing her long battle with cancer last week, Weyermann’s friends in the documentary community sent IndieWire a flood of tributes.
However, to sum up her impact in the language of credits and awards would an injustice of its own. Weyermann was one of those people who had the privilege of being genuinely beloved. She was dedicated to her work as chief content officer at Participant Media, but the filmmakers she worked with knew her as a fiercely intelligent champion, guide, and most of all a friend.
After losing her long battle with cancer last week, Weyermann’s friends in the documentary community sent IndieWire a flood of tributes.
- 10/19/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The passing of documentary film champion and Participant Media executive Diane Weyermann has left a mark on the film community. The Participant chief content officer and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died on Thursday at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.
Weyermann played a formative role in the documentary space, executive-producing Oscar-winning documentaries such as Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s “American Factory.” While at Participant, she oversaw films including “Darfur Now” (2007), Robert Kenner’s “Food, Inc.” (2008), Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure” (2008), Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Look of Silence” (2014), Morgan Neville’s “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” (2015), and Marc Silver’s “3 1/2 Minutes” (2015).
“Diane and I met while I was directing ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and I immediately was struck by her creative brilliance,” said Davis Guggenheim in a statement.
Weyermann played a formative role in the documentary space, executive-producing Oscar-winning documentaries such as Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s “American Factory.” While at Participant, she oversaw films including “Darfur Now” (2007), Robert Kenner’s “Food, Inc.” (2008), Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure” (2008), Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Look of Silence” (2014), Morgan Neville’s “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” (2015), and Marc Silver’s “3 1/2 Minutes” (2015).
“Diane and I met while I was directing ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and I immediately was struck by her creative brilliance,” said Davis Guggenheim in a statement.
- 10/15/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Diane Weyermann, chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died Thursday of cancer in New York. She was 66.
For the last three decades, Weyermann played a seminal role in supporting the documentary community and shaping the nonfiction landscape during stints at Participant and the Sundance Institute. Oscar winning docus including Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006), Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour” (2014) and “American Factory” (2019) are among the many projects that Weyermann helped shepherd.
Weyermann joined Participant in 2005 – one year after Jeff Skoll founded the socially conscious production company. For 12 years, she was responsible for the production company’s documentary feature film and television slate. In 2017, Weyermann was promoted to president, and in 2019 named chief content officer of the L.A.-based media house, where she was responsible for Participant’s documentary, feature film and television slate.
During her tenure at Participant, Weyermann oversaw production of docus,...
For the last three decades, Weyermann played a seminal role in supporting the documentary community and shaping the nonfiction landscape during stints at Participant and the Sundance Institute. Oscar winning docus including Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006), Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour” (2014) and “American Factory” (2019) are among the many projects that Weyermann helped shepherd.
Weyermann joined Participant in 2005 – one year after Jeff Skoll founded the socially conscious production company. For 12 years, she was responsible for the production company’s documentary feature film and television slate. In 2017, Weyermann was promoted to president, and in 2019 named chief content officer of the L.A.-based media house, where she was responsible for Participant’s documentary, feature film and television slate.
During her tenure at Participant, Weyermann oversaw production of docus,...
- 10/15/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: HBO Documentary Films has acquired worldwide and streaming rights to Simple as Water, a new documentary from Oscar winner Megan Mylan, which will hit theaters in limited release later this year before debuting on HBO, subsequently becoming available for streaming on HBO Max.
Mylan’s film is a meditation on the elemental bonds between parent and child. It takes audiences into Syrian families’ quests for normalcy and through a whirlwind of obstacles—to building life anew—examining the impact of war, separation and displacement.
The project was filmed in Turkey, Greece, Germany, Syria and the U.S. over the course of five years. It came to fruition through the joint efforts of small crews scattered across the world; many of those involved behind the scenes are Syrian refugees, themselves.
“I think of Simple As Water as a family love story celebrating the elemental bonds between parent and child,...
Mylan’s film is a meditation on the elemental bonds between parent and child. It takes audiences into Syrian families’ quests for normalcy and through a whirlwind of obstacles—to building life anew—examining the impact of war, separation and displacement.
The project was filmed in Turkey, Greece, Germany, Syria and the U.S. over the course of five years. It came to fruition through the joint efforts of small crews scattered across the world; many of those involved behind the scenes are Syrian refugees, themselves.
“I think of Simple As Water as a family love story celebrating the elemental bonds between parent and child,...
- 10/7/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Joshua Oppenheimer is directing a musical. Yes, that Joshua Oppenheimer.
From the director of "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence," two intense, award-winning documentaries about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966, comes a musical about family. It only gets better from there, folks.
The Neon distributed film is titled "The End" and stars Academy-Award winner Tilda Swinton, "1917" star George McKay, and Stephen Graham from "Boardwalk Empire." Signe Byrge Sørensen from production company Final Cut for Real and Oppenheimer will produce with Wild Atlantic Pictures. So far, next to no details of the plot have been revealed...
The post Tilda Swinton to Star in Post-Apocalyptic 'Golden-Age' Musical From The Act of Killing Director appeared first on /Film.
From the director of "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence," two intense, award-winning documentaries about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966, comes a musical about family. It only gets better from there, folks.
The Neon distributed film is titled "The End" and stars Academy-Award winner Tilda Swinton, "1917" star George McKay, and Stephen Graham from "Boardwalk Empire." Signe Byrge Sørensen from production company Final Cut for Real and Oppenheimer will produce with Wild Atlantic Pictures. So far, next to no details of the plot have been revealed...
The post Tilda Swinton to Star in Post-Apocalyptic 'Golden-Age' Musical From The Act of Killing Director appeared first on /Film.
- 10/4/2021
- by Shania Russell
- Slash Film
Two internationally-acclaimed documentaries from the Nordic region – “Flee” and “Gunda” – are among the five films nominated for a Nordic Council Film Prize.
This is the most prestigious film award in the Nordic region, celebrating films with unique artistic visions that actively engage with Nordic culture. It’s the eighteenth year the Nordic Council Film Prize is awarded, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 2 in Copenhagen, taking home a prize of Dkk 300,000 to be shared equally among the screenwriter, director, and producer. Here are the five film nominations:
“Flee,” (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark)
Co-written by Amin (a pseudonym), and produced by leading Danish company Final Cut for Reel (nominated for an Oscar for both “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence”), the film has already had a hugely successful festival circuit run. At Sundance, it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section, while...
This is the most prestigious film award in the Nordic region, celebrating films with unique artistic visions that actively engage with Nordic culture. It’s the eighteenth year the Nordic Council Film Prize is awarded, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 2 in Copenhagen, taking home a prize of Dkk 300,000 to be shared equally among the screenwriter, director, and producer. Here are the five film nominations:
“Flee,” (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark)
Co-written by Amin (a pseudonym), and produced by leading Danish company Final Cut for Reel (nominated for an Oscar for both “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence”), the film has already had a hugely successful festival circuit run. At Sundance, it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section, while...
- 8/24/2021
- by Alexander Durie
- Variety Film + TV
Rather than using the excuse of a pandemic to slow down, the indefatigable and hugely prolific director Mark Cousins has instead speeded up his output. This is the first of two films he has screening in Cannes, while two more finished films are in the pipeline. It was fitting that his latest venture, a follow-up to The Story of Film: An Odyssey, was the first screening of the Cannes Film Festival for it is a celebration of this millennium’s cinema and is a sweeping, vast and loving look at the recent past and potential future of film.
Cousins has taken a slightly different approach with this instalment: gone are the interviews with filmmakers. In their stead, we have a slew of film clips – from 97 films! – that speak for themselves. While Cannes critics and film buffs will recognise a host of winners from previous festivals – Shoplifters and Parasite making notable...
Cousins has taken a slightly different approach with this instalment: gone are the interviews with filmmakers. In their stead, we have a slew of film clips – from 97 films! – that speak for themselves. While Cannes critics and film buffs will recognise a host of winners from previous festivals – Shoplifters and Parasite making notable...
- 7/7/2021
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
British-Zimbabwean actor and activist Thandiwe Newton, who was named to the Queen’s New Year’s Honors List, receiving an OBE for services to film and charity, has joined documentary “President” as executive producer. The film won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival this year and will screen at AFI Docs on Thursday.
The film captures Zimbabwe at a crossroads. In the first election since the removal of Robert Mugabe, the new leader of the opposition Nelson Chamisa is challenging the dictator’s corrupt legacy, and his successor Emmerson “the crocodile” Mnangagwa. The election will be the ultimate test for both sides. How they interpret the principles of democracy, if they can inspire trust among the citizenry, not succumb to violence, and foster faith in institutions, will set the course for the future for the country.
Newton said: “Zimbabwe needs this film like a body needs oxygen. It...
The film captures Zimbabwe at a crossroads. In the first election since the removal of Robert Mugabe, the new leader of the opposition Nelson Chamisa is challenging the dictator’s corrupt legacy, and his successor Emmerson “the crocodile” Mnangagwa. The election will be the ultimate test for both sides. How they interpret the principles of democracy, if they can inspire trust among the citizenry, not succumb to violence, and foster faith in institutions, will set the course for the future for the country.
Newton said: “Zimbabwe needs this film like a body needs oxygen. It...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Film4 and Match Factory execs also selected for Nfts scheme from 11 territories.
Amazon Studios and Paramount Pictures executives are among those selected for the 2021 Inside Pictures training and leadership initiative, run by the UK’s National Film and Television School (Nfts).
The annual scheme has chosen 20 participants, representing 11 territories, from sectors including acquisitions, development, production, sales, distribution, finance, marketing, publicity, exhibition, legal and business affairs.
Scroll down for full list of participants
This year’s industry mentor is Fiona Lamptey, director of UK features for Netflix, who will provide support and expertise to the producers and executives throughout the programme,...
Amazon Studios and Paramount Pictures executives are among those selected for the 2021 Inside Pictures training and leadership initiative, run by the UK’s National Film and Television School (Nfts).
The annual scheme has chosen 20 participants, representing 11 territories, from sectors including acquisitions, development, production, sales, distribution, finance, marketing, publicity, exhibition, legal and business affairs.
Scroll down for full list of participants
This year’s industry mentor is Fiona Lamptey, director of UK features for Netflix, who will provide support and expertise to the producers and executives throughout the programme,...
- 5/4/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Top prizes go to an African documentary and the next project from Radu Ciorniciuc.
Ousmane Samassekou’s The Last Shelter has won the top prize at Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (Cph:Dox), which announced its competition and industry winners in an online ceremony on Friday evening (April 30).
The African documentary, which centres on a refuge for travellers on the edge of Mali’s Sahel desert, was awarded the top Dox:Award at the festival, which has run virtually from April 21 but is set to physically screen films when cinemas reopen in Denmark on May 6.
Full list of winners below
Directed by Malian filmmaker Samassekou,...
Ousmane Samassekou’s The Last Shelter has won the top prize at Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (Cph:Dox), which announced its competition and industry winners in an online ceremony on Friday evening (April 30).
The African documentary, which centres on a refuge for travellers on the edge of Mali’s Sahel desert, was awarded the top Dox:Award at the festival, which has run virtually from April 21 but is set to physically screen films when cinemas reopen in Denmark on May 6.
Full list of winners below
Directed by Malian filmmaker Samassekou,...
- 4/30/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Copenhagen-based Final Cut for Real CEO Signe Byrge Sørensen might be unassuming and soft-spoken, but her vision, will power and fire for urgent stories have made her a world-class producer. Her documentary credits boast countless festival hits and accolades, including two Oscar-nominated films, “The Act of Killing” (2014) and “The Look of Silence” (2016), to the 2020 Cph:dox top winner “Songs of Repression,” and recent Sundance Grand Jury Winner “Flee.”
Her company Final Cut for Real is delivering five competition entries at this year’s Cph:dox, including Sørensen’s own-produced “President,” a Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, and new pic “Our Memory Belongs to Us,” both running for the main Dox:Award.
Helmed by Syrian-born Rami Farah, with Sørensen serving as co-director, “Our Memory Belongs to Us” is a unique window into the Syrian conflict through the lens and memories of those who took part. Brought together by Farah to mark the 10 years of the Syrian uprising,...
Her company Final Cut for Real is delivering five competition entries at this year’s Cph:dox, including Sørensen’s own-produced “President,” a Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, and new pic “Our Memory Belongs to Us,” both running for the main Dox:Award.
Helmed by Syrian-born Rami Farah, with Sørensen serving as co-director, “Our Memory Belongs to Us” is a unique window into the Syrian conflict through the lens and memories of those who took part. Brought together by Farah to mark the 10 years of the Syrian uprising,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
“The Vanishing” is, as its name would suggest, a documentary film about a disappearance. Not just anyone’s disappearance, this project pitched at Visions du Réel (VdR)’s Industry platform is about the disappearance of the filmmaker’s own mother.
Senegalese director Rama Thiaw won the Fipresci Critics Prize at the 2016 Berlinale for her documentary “The Revolution Won’t Be Televised,” earning her a name for producing politically-conscious documentaries. Now, Thiaw is embarking on her most personal project yet.
Over August 10-15 2012, Thiaw’s mother Mariama flew from Paris to Dakar. She then allegedly traveled to a farm she owned, and then possibly went to Guinea. Nobody knows for certain. Mariama had disappeared, and no-one has heard of her since.
In Oct. 2012, when many of her family members thought that Mariama was just traveling or resting somewhere, Rama Thiaw had a dream, a dream that her mother was gone and...
Senegalese director Rama Thiaw won the Fipresci Critics Prize at the 2016 Berlinale for her documentary “The Revolution Won’t Be Televised,” earning her a name for producing politically-conscious documentaries. Now, Thiaw is embarking on her most personal project yet.
Over August 10-15 2012, Thiaw’s mother Mariama flew from Paris to Dakar. She then allegedly traveled to a farm she owned, and then possibly went to Guinea. Nobody knows for certain. Mariama had disappeared, and no-one has heard of her since.
In Oct. 2012, when many of her family members thought that Mariama was just traveling or resting somewhere, Rama Thiaw had a dream, a dream that her mother was gone and...
- 4/16/2021
- by Alexander Durie
- Variety Film + TV
Participant’s Laura Kim has been promoted to executive vice president of marketing.
The seven-year-veteran of the company had previously served as a senior vice president in film marketing. She will continue to report to the company’s worldwide marketing president Christina Kounelias.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together. Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films,” said Kounelias. “Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
In her new role, Kim assumes expanded duties in independent and international film and series projects at the studio, founded with a mission to...
The seven-year-veteran of the company had previously served as a senior vice president in film marketing. She will continue to report to the company’s worldwide marketing president Christina Kounelias.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together. Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films,” said Kounelias. “Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
In her new role, Kim assumes expanded duties in independent and international film and series projects at the studio, founded with a mission to...
- 4/7/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Participant has promoted veteran executive Laura Kim to executive vice president of marketing, the company announced on Tuesday.
Kim, who first joined Participant in 2014, will focus on independent and international films and series, reporting to Christina Kounelias, Participant’s president of worldwide marketing.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together,” Kounelias said in a statement. “Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films. Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
“I am excited to be working on films and series that move me and that challenge us to try harder and do better,...
Kim, who first joined Participant in 2014, will focus on independent and international films and series, reporting to Christina Kounelias, Participant’s president of worldwide marketing.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together,” Kounelias said in a statement. “Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films. Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
“I am excited to be working on films and series that move me and that challenge us to try harder and do better,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim has been elevated to EVP of Marketing at Participant.
In her new position, Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities, with a focus on independent and foreign films and series.
Kim first joined Participant as SVP of Film Marketing in 2014. During her tenure, she’s been key in working on the company’s specialty features, including such Oscar-winning films as American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, and Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, and the Oscar-nominated films The Look of Silence and Rbg, the latter of which went on to become a documentary box office hit in 2018 with over $14M. Recent marketing efforts include two-time Oscar-nominated Collective, and the upcoming Final Account and My Name Is Pauli Murray, which had its world premiere this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to joining Participant, Kim was principal and founder of Inside Job, a motion picture marketing,...
In her new position, Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities, with a focus on independent and foreign films and series.
Kim first joined Participant as SVP of Film Marketing in 2014. During her tenure, she’s been key in working on the company’s specialty features, including such Oscar-winning films as American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, and Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, and the Oscar-nominated films The Look of Silence and Rbg, the latter of which went on to become a documentary box office hit in 2018 with over $14M. Recent marketing efforts include two-time Oscar-nominated Collective, and the upcoming Final Account and My Name Is Pauli Murray, which had its world premiere this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to joining Participant, Kim was principal and founder of Inside Job, a motion picture marketing,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Executive joined in 2014.
Participant has promoted marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim to EVP of marketing, effective immediately.
Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities with a focus on independent and international films and series combining with impact work. She continues to report to Participant’s president of worldwide marketing Christina Kounelias.
She joined Participant as SVP of film marketing in 2014 and has played an instrumental role on most of the company’s specialty features, including American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, The Look Of Silence, and Rbg.
Most recently she has led marketing...
Participant has promoted marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim to EVP of marketing, effective immediately.
Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities with a focus on independent and international films and series combining with impact work. She continues to report to Participant’s president of worldwide marketing Christina Kounelias.
She joined Participant as SVP of film marketing in 2014 and has played an instrumental role on most of the company’s specialty features, including American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, The Look Of Silence, and Rbg.
Most recently she has led marketing...
- 4/6/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Award-winning filmmakers and a documentary from ‘The Act Of Killing’ producer Signe Byrge Sørensen among those selected.
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2021, set to run April 21 to May 2.
The programme includes films that focus on the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements, decolonization and climate change among other topics.
The competition programmes consist of 64 titles with 47 world premieres, nine international premieres and six European premieres. In total, 58% of the titles (37 films) are directed by one or more women. This increases to 66% when including films co-directed by male and female directors.
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2021, set to run April 21 to May 2.
The programme includes films that focus on the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements, decolonization and climate change among other topics.
The competition programmes consist of 64 titles with 47 world premieres, nine international premieres and six European premieres. In total, 58% of the titles (37 films) are directed by one or more women. This increases to 66% when including films co-directed by male and female directors.
- 3/18/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Neon has made the first acquisition out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, taking North American rights to Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee for an undisclosed seven-figure sum after an overnight bidding war.
The film, executive produced by Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, was an official selection for Cannes 2020 and made its debut on opening night of Sundance in the World Documentary Competition. Rasmussen directed and co-wrote the movie with Amin Nawabi.
Playing in the world premiere section, Flee follows Nawabi, who arrives as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his longtime boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. Recounted mostly through animation to Rasmussen — his close friend and high school classmate, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.
The film, executive produced by Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, was an official selection for Cannes 2020 and made its debut on opening night of Sundance in the World Documentary Competition. Rasmussen directed and co-wrote the movie with Amin Nawabi.
Playing in the world premiere section, Flee follows Nawabi, who arrives as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his longtime boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. Recounted mostly through animation to Rasmussen — his close friend and high school classmate, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.
- 1/29/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Park City, Ut — 22 celebrated voices across film, art and culture will bestow this year’s awards on feature-length and short films at the Sundance Film Festival, at a digital ceremony taking place February 2nd. This year’s Festival is fully available online at Festival.Sundance.org; Awards Night will be live-streamed. Award-winning films will be available for special extended-run viewing the day after the ceremony.
The awards, which recognize standout artistic and cinematic achievement, are decided on by 6 section juries. As in years past, Festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and Next categories.
“Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields, and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films,” said Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming. “We’re pleased to bring this accomplished,...
The awards, which recognize standout artistic and cinematic achievement, are decided on by 6 section juries. As in years past, Festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and Next categories.
“Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields, and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films,” said Kim Yutani, the Festival’s Director of Programming. “We’re pleased to bring this accomplished,...
- 1/24/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
With less than two months to go before Genius: Aretha finally hits the small screen, the Oscar nominee who is portraying the Queen of Soul is hitting this year’s Sundance Film Festival as one of the shindigs’ jurors.
Cynthia Ervio will be joining the likes of Sff alum Raúl Castillo as one of the 22 jurors at this year’s semi-virtual cinema gathering (see the full list of jurors below)
Watching films and conferring from home via the likes of Zoom, the jurors’ decisions in the six selection categories will be unveiled on February 2 at a now digital ceremony. Well, except for
the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize which has already been awarded to Son of Monarchs.
“Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields, and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films,” Festival’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani said Friday.
Cynthia Ervio will be joining the likes of Sff alum Raúl Castillo as one of the 22 jurors at this year’s semi-virtual cinema gathering (see the full list of jurors below)
Watching films and conferring from home via the likes of Zoom, the jurors’ decisions in the six selection categories will be unveiled on February 2 at a now digital ceremony. Well, except for
the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize which has already been awarded to Son of Monarchs.
“Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields, and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films,” Festival’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani said Friday.
- 1/22/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
The 22 jury members for this year’s virtually unfolding Sundance Film Festival have been revealed. Jurors include actors Cynthia Erivo and Daniela Vega, filmmakers Julie Dash and Joshua Oppenheimer, author Hanya Yanagahira (“A Little Life”), and many more. They will bestow awards on features and short films at the festival’s digital closing ceremony on February 2. The event will be live-streamed, and winning films will be available for special extended-run viewing the next day.
The awards, which recognize standout artistic and cinematic achievement, are decided upon by six section juries. As in years past, festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition, and Next categories.
As previously announced, the juried Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize was awarded to “Son of Monarchs.” Below are all this year’s jury members, with bios courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival.
The awards, which recognize standout artistic and cinematic achievement, are decided upon by six section juries. As in years past, festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition, and Next categories.
As previously announced, the juried Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize was awarded to “Son of Monarchs.” Below are all this year’s jury members, with bios courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival.
- 1/22/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Riz Ahmed, a leading awards contender this year with “Sound of Metal,” and “Game of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau have joined the Danish animated documentary “Flee,” which plays at Sundance, as executive producers. Ahmed and Coster-Waldau will also voice the lead roles in an English-language version of the film, which will debut later this year.
Originally selected for Cannes Film Festival 2020, “Flee” will have its world premiere in world documentary competition at Sundance Film Festival on Thursday. International sales will be handled by Cinephil, while 30West will handle North American sales.
“Flee” tells the story of Amin Nawabi (a pseudonym), a child refugee fleeing his home in Afghanistan to safety in Denmark. Recounted mostly through animation to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen — his close friend and high-school classmate — Amin tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey. Ahmed will play Amin, while Coster-Waldau voices Rasmussen.
“I was floored...
Originally selected for Cannes Film Festival 2020, “Flee” will have its world premiere in world documentary competition at Sundance Film Festival on Thursday. International sales will be handled by Cinephil, while 30West will handle North American sales.
“Flee” tells the story of Amin Nawabi (a pseudonym), a child refugee fleeing his home in Afghanistan to safety in Denmark. Recounted mostly through animation to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen — his close friend and high-school classmate — Amin tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey. Ahmed will play Amin, while Coster-Waldau voices Rasmussen.
“I was floored...
- 1/22/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Drafthouse Films is stepping back into the world of distribution after a five-year hiatus with the North American co-release of India’s Oscar entry, “Jallikattu.”
The company — which is the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema — is partnering with XYZ Films, which picked up the phantasmagorical “Jallikattu” for North America back in December. The title, which is Drafthouse Films’ first new acquisition since 2016, marks a new directive by the distributor to support emerging filmmakers.
“[‘Jallikattu’] blew us away because it felt like it was beamed in from another dimension and left a permanent imprint on our brain,” said Drafthouse Films in a statement shared with Variety.
XYZ and Drafthouse are planning a spring release that will include theatrical support, as well as all digital platforms along with a Blu-Ray edition of the film. Drafthouse parent company Alamo Drafthouse launched curated VOD platform Alamo on Demand in May.
Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery,...
The company — which is the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema — is partnering with XYZ Films, which picked up the phantasmagorical “Jallikattu” for North America back in December. The title, which is Drafthouse Films’ first new acquisition since 2016, marks a new directive by the distributor to support emerging filmmakers.
“[‘Jallikattu’] blew us away because it felt like it was beamed in from another dimension and left a permanent imprint on our brain,” said Drafthouse Films in a statement shared with Variety.
XYZ and Drafthouse are planning a spring release that will include theatrical support, as well as all digital platforms along with a Blu-Ray edition of the film. Drafthouse parent company Alamo Drafthouse launched curated VOD platform Alamo on Demand in May.
Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery,...
- 1/19/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Alamo Drafthouse has partnered with ScreenPlus and Vista Cinema to serve another helping of cinematic goodness with their own VOD platform Alamo On Demand. The new “video store” is curated by Drafthouse programmers, with studio partners that include Lionsgate, Magnolia Pictures, Neon, among others.
Launching today, Alamo On Demand will include a library of entertainment for rental or purchase that is suitable for the discerning Drafthouse audience.
“I’ll describe the scenario that sold me on the ScreenPlus platform,” said Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman. “Alamo Drafthouse had been promoting Portrait of a Lady on Fire to our guests for months. We love people to see films in the cinema first and foremost, but the reality is not everyone can always make the time for every movie they want to see. This platform allows us to give folks who missed Portrait of a Lady on Fire in...
Launching today, Alamo On Demand will include a library of entertainment for rental or purchase that is suitable for the discerning Drafthouse audience.
“I’ll describe the scenario that sold me on the ScreenPlus platform,” said Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman. “Alamo Drafthouse had been promoting Portrait of a Lady on Fire to our guests for months. We love people to see films in the cinema first and foremost, but the reality is not everyone can always make the time for every movie they want to see. This platform allows us to give folks who missed Portrait of a Lady on Fire in...
- 5/7/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
ICM Partners has named six more agents Partners across several departments. The new Partners are Courtny Catzel in Non-Scripted, Di Glazer in Theater, Shade Grant in Non-Scripted, Andrea Johnson in Concerts, Craig Shapiro in Talent and Howie Tanenbaum in TV. The promotions are effective immediately.
Catzel was elevated to Co-Head of New York Non-Scripted Programming, alongside Grant, after joining the agency in 2012. Catzel represents non-fiction and documentary creators, as well as unscripted, news and sports talent. Her roster includes Bungalow Media + Entertainment (Lifetime’s Surviving Jeffrey Epstein), Large Eyes (Quibi’s Skrrt with Offset), Invent TV (Bravo’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City), Nigel Lythgoe Productions (Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance), Spring Films (Oscar & Emmy nominated The Look of Silence), Story Syndicate (HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark), and filmmaker Rudy Valdez (HBO’s Emmy winning The Sentence). She also works with Karamo Brown...
Catzel was elevated to Co-Head of New York Non-Scripted Programming, alongside Grant, after joining the agency in 2012. Catzel represents non-fiction and documentary creators, as well as unscripted, news and sports talent. Her roster includes Bungalow Media + Entertainment (Lifetime’s Surviving Jeffrey Epstein), Large Eyes (Quibi’s Skrrt with Offset), Invent TV (Bravo’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City), Nigel Lythgoe Productions (Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance), Spring Films (Oscar & Emmy nominated The Look of Silence), Story Syndicate (HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark), and filmmaker Rudy Valdez (HBO’s Emmy winning The Sentence). She also works with Karamo Brown...
- 1/27/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
In a two-story building down a chronically flooded street, a dozen Filipino women brace for an encroaching departure. They are the domestic workers at the center of Sung-a Yoon’s singular hybrid Overseas, a piercing portrait of young maids waiting to be shipped abroad, and training to withstand the pain the journey and separation from home will stir. Echoing Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma–of which it shares the same humanism, and with which it would make for a terrific double bill–Overseas is a harrowing story of resilience, an elegy of people pushed to the margins, whom Yoon restitutes as dignified and strong-willed fighters, in a work that dances between reality and fiction to an engrossing extent.
Inspired by the work of sociologist Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot and her seminal text “Migrant Mothers Without Borders,” Sung-a Yoon crafts a fly-on-the-wall look at an academy where young maids learn the ropes before being...
Inspired by the work of sociologist Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot and her seminal text “Migrant Mothers Without Borders,” Sung-a Yoon crafts a fly-on-the-wall look at an academy where young maids learn the ropes before being...
- 8/28/2019
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Prior to Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing” (2014) and “The Look of Silence” (2016), the truth behind the 1965-66 Indonesian genocide had been buried in the benign, false history that the perpetrators of the killings elected to perpetuate, and have used to dictate the class and power structures of Indonesia ever since. What’s remarkable about Oppenheimer’s twin documentaries is not just that they exhume this buried history, but that also they use cinema to exorcise the demons that have been left deep within the soul of the country.
On the occasion of the two films being named #4 on IndieWire’s Best of the Decade list, we asked Oppenheimer to reflect on the profound impact his films have had on the politics of Indonesia, on himself as filmmaker, and on the life of his “Look of Silence” star Adi Rukan, who put his family’s safety at risk to...
On the occasion of the two films being named #4 on IndieWire’s Best of the Decade list, we asked Oppenheimer to reflect on the profound impact his films have had on the politics of Indonesia, on himself as filmmaker, and on the life of his “Look of Silence” star Adi Rukan, who put his family’s safety at risk to...
- 7/23/2019
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has received scant attention in the United States, but its impact is felt powerfully in the documentary The Distant Barking of Dogs, now in competition for an Academy Award nomination.
The film unfolds from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy who is being raised by his grandmother Alexandra in a village in Eastern Ukraine that sits on the front dividing Ukrainian forces from Russian-backed separatists.
“There’s these people around and you can look at them and see that person has a film in them that’s worth watching,” notes director Simon Lereng Wilmont. “And I felt that way with Oleg and Alexandra right away.”
The pair prove as compelling as any gifted actors, photographed in rhythms of daily life that might appear unexceptional if not for the punctuation of exploding shells and distant gunfire. Their village has largely been depopulated of everyone but military personnel,...
The film unfolds from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy who is being raised by his grandmother Alexandra in a village in Eastern Ukraine that sits on the front dividing Ukrainian forces from Russian-backed separatists.
“There’s these people around and you can look at them and see that person has a film in them that’s worth watching,” notes director Simon Lereng Wilmont. “And I felt that way with Oleg and Alexandra right away.”
The pair prove as compelling as any gifted actors, photographed in rhythms of daily life that might appear unexceptional if not for the punctuation of exploding shells and distant gunfire. Their village has largely been depopulated of everyone but military personnel,...
- 1/10/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
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