The 2024 Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday, May 25 following two weeks packed with screenings, stars, press and parties. With the prizes having been handed out for the festival’s 77th anniversary, we can now start looking at what contenders might be in the best spot to get into the upcoming Oscar race. Let’s examine the winners from this year’s festival and see the history that each category has when it comes to the Oscars.
In recent years, we’ve seen the festival serve as a huge springboard for major players in the Oscar derby. Three of the last four winners of the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, have nabbed Best Picture nominations: “Parasite” (2019), “Triangle of Sadness” (2022) and “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023). Other big winners at recent festivals that became big Oscar players include “Drive My Car,” “The Zone of Interest” and “BlacKkKlansman.” This year’s...
In recent years, we’ve seen the festival serve as a huge springboard for major players in the Oscar derby. Three of the last four winners of the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, have nabbed Best Picture nominations: “Parasite” (2019), “Triangle of Sadness” (2022) and “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023). Other big winners at recent festivals that became big Oscar players include “Drive My Car,” “The Zone of Interest” and “BlacKkKlansman.” This year’s...
- 5/25/2024
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
What really happened during the 48 hours leading up to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — at least according to mob bosses — is heading to the big screen in the upcoming film “November 1963: The Killing of a President.”
The mob’s version of events were passed down to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana’s nephew, Nicholas Celozzi, by Sam’s brother, the late Joseph “Pepe” Giancana, who drove around with his brother Sam during those two days.
“The reason why there’s this fascination or anxiety is because people know that what they’ve heard so far doesn’t make sense,” Celozzi tells Variety of the ongoing interest in the circumstances surrounding JFK’s assassination, even 60 years later. “They keep talking about it because they’re waiting to hear something that makes more common sense.”
Celozzi, whose film producing and writing credits include “The Legitimate Wiseguy,” “The Class” and...
The mob’s version of events were passed down to Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana’s nephew, Nicholas Celozzi, by Sam’s brother, the late Joseph “Pepe” Giancana, who drove around with his brother Sam during those two days.
“The reason why there’s this fascination or anxiety is because people know that what they’ve heard so far doesn’t make sense,” Celozzi tells Variety of the ongoing interest in the circumstances surrounding JFK’s assassination, even 60 years later. “They keep talking about it because they’re waiting to hear something that makes more common sense.”
Celozzi, whose film producing and writing credits include “The Legitimate Wiseguy,” “The Class” and...
- 5/8/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety Film + TV
Dan Goozee, the acclaimed artist who created posters for such films as Clash of the Titans, Superman IV and the James Bond movies Moonraker, Octopussy and A View to a Kill, has died. He was 80.
Goozee died April 7 at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center of an age-related condition he had battled for two years, his son, Rob, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The unassuming Goozee spent years as a Walt Disney Imagineering theme park consultant, crafting conceptual artwork for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea, for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder rides, for the Imagination Pavilion and Seas Pavilion at Epcot and for the Tree of Life attraction at Animal Kingdom.
He also handled effects work for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).
Born in 1943 in Astoria, Oregon, Daniel Goozee worked on weekends at movie theaters that his father and uncle owned and operated in nearby Seaside, then graduated...
Goozee died April 7 at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center of an age-related condition he had battled for two years, his son, Rob, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The unassuming Goozee spent years as a Walt Disney Imagineering theme park consultant, crafting conceptual artwork for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea, for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder rides, for the Imagination Pavilion and Seas Pavilion at Epcot and for the Tree of Life attraction at Animal Kingdom.
He also handled effects work for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).
Born in 1943 in Astoria, Oregon, Daniel Goozee worked on weekends at movie theaters that his father and uncle owned and operated in nearby Seaside, then graduated...
- 4/16/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cillian Murphy and writer, director, and producer Christopher Nolan on the set of ‘Oppenheimer’ (Photo © Universal Pictures)
Since Cillian Murphy just became the first Irish-born actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a list of the most notable Irish actors who have been honored by the Academy with either Oscar gold or a nomination.
1. Cillian Murphy
Murphy has played non-Irish roles so often and so well that some people may not realize or remember that he is Irish. His best Irish films include Breakfast on Pluto and The Wind that Shakes the Barley. And as noted above, he is the first Irish-born actor to take home an Academy Award in the Best Actor category.
Vicky Krieps and Daniel Day-Lewis in writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Phantom Thread’ (Photo by Laurie Sparham / Focus Features)
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
Day-Lewis...
Since Cillian Murphy just became the first Irish-born actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a list of the most notable Irish actors who have been honored by the Academy with either Oscar gold or a nomination.
1. Cillian Murphy
Murphy has played non-Irish roles so often and so well that some people may not realize or remember that he is Irish. His best Irish films include Breakfast on Pluto and The Wind that Shakes the Barley. And as noted above, he is the first Irish-born actor to take home an Academy Award in the Best Actor category.
Vicky Krieps and Daniel Day-Lewis in writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Phantom Thread’ (Photo by Laurie Sparham / Focus Features)
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
Day-Lewis...
- 3/17/2024
- by Beth Accomando
- Showbiz Junkies
Today, Apple Original Films unveiled the trailer for its critically acclaimed documentary feature “Girls State,” directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, and Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio. A 2024 Sundance Film Festival selection, “Girls State” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ April 5, 2024.
After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary “Boys State,” also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: What about Girls State? “Girls State” follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization.
After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary “Boys State,” also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: What about Girls State? “Girls State” follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization.
- 3/14/2024
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Weekly Commentary: With the Directors Guild of America and BAFTA Awards in hand, in addition to the tragic news of the death of Alexei Navalny, the subject of the Oscar-winning “Navalny” last year, “20 Days in Mariupol” is too important to ignore.
Will Win:...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Weekly Commentary: With the Directors Guild of America and BAFTA Awards in hand, in addition to the tragic news of the death of Alexei Navalny, the subject of the Oscar-winning “Navalny” last year, “20 Days in Mariupol” is too important to ignore.
Will Win:...
- 3/7/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
On a warm evening last month, inside a cluster of nondescript office spaces south of Miami, a rehearsal studio with a giant lion’s head painted in red, green, and gold on the concrete-block wall hums with activity. Long after the businesses surrounding them have shut down for the day, Stephen “Ragga” Marley and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley are putting their band through its paces, tuning up for the Traffic Jam tour, which will be crisscrossing the U.S. and Canada through Mar. 30.
“Practice make perfect,” Damian, 45, says during a break in the session.
“Practice make perfect,” Damian, 45, says during a break in the session.
- 3/2/2024
- by Reshma B
- Rollingstone.com
A-listers Alice Eve and Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro) star in Cult Killer which is out now on Digital Platforms in the UK and Ireland. Also out on DVD on the 12th February 2024.
Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) is a fearless private eye (with Banderas as her mentor) who uncovers brutal secrets in a sleepy Irish town that puts her life in danger. The film also stars Shelley Henig (Unfriended), Olwen Fouéré (The Northman) and Nick Dunning (The Tudors).
Stylishly directed by John Keeyes (Codename Banshee), Cult Killer recalls the nerve-shredding thrills of Silence of the Lambs and 7even, and is unmissable for fans of intelligent, dark crime thrillers.
Synopsis: When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims.
Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) is a fearless private eye (with Banderas as her mentor) who uncovers brutal secrets in a sleepy Irish town that puts her life in danger. The film also stars Shelley Henig (Unfriended), Olwen Fouéré (The Northman) and Nick Dunning (The Tudors).
Stylishly directed by John Keeyes (Codename Banshee), Cult Killer recalls the nerve-shredding thrills of Silence of the Lambs and 7even, and is unmissable for fans of intelligent, dark crime thrillers.
Synopsis: When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims.
- 2/20/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
On the heels of the new Bob Marley biopic, One Love, two of the musician’s sons, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Stephen Marley, have joined forces for the “Traffic Jam Tour.”
The 19-city jaunt, which kicked off over the weekend in Las Vegas, marks the first time the brothers have jointly presented a curated set featuring material from their own catalogs as well as their father’s music. Check out the full setlist and see a behind-the-scenes rehearsal video below.
The tour continues on Wednesday, February 21st in San Francisco, with additional performances scheduled in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Brooklyn, Detroit, Chicago, and elsewhere. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Get Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley and Stephen Marley Tickets Here
Read our interview with One Love star Kinsley Ben-Adir, who discussed how he prepared for the once-in-a-lifetime role of playing Bob Marley.
Setlist:
10,000 Chariots
The Traffic...
The 19-city jaunt, which kicked off over the weekend in Las Vegas, marks the first time the brothers have jointly presented a curated set featuring material from their own catalogs as well as their father’s music. Check out the full setlist and see a behind-the-scenes rehearsal video below.
The tour continues on Wednesday, February 21st in San Francisco, with additional performances scheduled in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Brooklyn, Detroit, Chicago, and elsewhere. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Get Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley and Stephen Marley Tickets Here
Read our interview with One Love star Kinsley Ben-Adir, who discussed how he prepared for the once-in-a-lifetime role of playing Bob Marley.
Setlist:
10,000 Chariots
The Traffic...
- 2/19/2024
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Music
Amid tributes from Brad Pitt, Carey Mulligan, and the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival itself, “Maestro” director, co-writer, and star Bradley Cooper fit in his own send-ups to a few famous names he’s gotten to work with.
On Thursday evening, the multi-hyphenate was on hand to accept the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award, and the current Oscar nominee reflected on his career in conversation with Deadline’s Pete Hammond, including the period in which he was a student asking questions at tapings of “Inside the Actors Studio,” hosted by James Lipton.
Recalling when he got to query his future “Silver Linings Playbook” co-star Robert De Niro about whether an acting choice he made in the 1990 film “Awakenings” was inspired by someone he knew, or was organic, Cooper said, “I thought maybe he would laugh. You think all these weird things, that he was going to laugh at you.
On Thursday evening, the multi-hyphenate was on hand to accept the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award, and the current Oscar nominee reflected on his career in conversation with Deadline’s Pete Hammond, including the period in which he was a student asking questions at tapings of “Inside the Actors Studio,” hosted by James Lipton.
Recalling when he got to query his future “Silver Linings Playbook” co-star Robert De Niro about whether an acting choice he made in the 1990 film “Awakenings” was inspired by someone he knew, or was organic, Cooper said, “I thought maybe he would laugh. You think all these weird things, that he was going to laugh at you.
- 2/9/2024
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
“A director can’t understand the final result from a description. You cannot describe music; it needs to be listened to.” So says Ennio Morricone in one of many talking-head sections that comprise Giuseppe Tornatore’s documentary. But Ennio, as it’s aptly titled, can feel part-documentary, part-video essay, and, yes, part-talking head compilation. It’s 156 minutes, but even the first four hint at its simplicity. A barrage of musicians, producers, and filmmakers spout what the film quickly compresses into glorified soundbites. Morricone was a towering artist. Audiences already knew this. But Tornatore doesn’t fully unpack the composer’s impact; he does more to describe it.
So what else is there to listen to? Per Morricone himself, he wanted to be a doctor, but his father insisted he learn the trumpet. He took classes at the Saint Cecilia Conservatory at age 12 and studied under Goffredo Petrassi, later marrying Maria Travia.
So what else is there to listen to? Per Morricone himself, he wanted to be a doctor, but his father insisted he learn the trumpet. He took classes at the Saint Cecilia Conservatory at age 12 and studied under Goffredo Petrassi, later marrying Maria Travia.
- 2/7/2024
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Liam Neeson in The GreyImage: Open Road Films
The winter movie season is often a time of treasure to trash. It begins with a progressively lavish banquet of prestigious awards hopefuls and holiday event films, then peters out as January approaches and the studios offload their castoffs and leftovers into...
The winter movie season is often a time of treasure to trash. It begins with a progressively lavish banquet of prestigious awards hopefuls and holiday event films, then peters out as January approaches and the studios offload their castoffs and leftovers into...
- 1/30/2024
- by Cindy White
- avclub.com
Julian Senior, the veteran Warner Bros. marketing and publicity executive in Europe who enjoyed close relationships with filmmakers including Oscar winners Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood, David Puttnam and Neil Jordan, has died. He was 85.
Senior died Jan. 1 of pneumonia and heart failure in a hospital near his home in Borehamwood, England, Conor Nolan, his friend and onetime Warner Bros. colleague, told The Hollywood Reporter.
A native of South Africa, Senior joined Warner Bros. in 1970 after an eight-year run at MGM, where he was an advertising and publicity consultant in its European Regional Office, and he stuck with the studio through 2000.
At the start, Senior helped mastermind the advertising and publicity campaign for the landmark Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange (1971), and he also worked with the famed director on The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
“He taught me how publicity, advertising and marketing operates,” Senior once said of Kubrick.
Senior died Jan. 1 of pneumonia and heart failure in a hospital near his home in Borehamwood, England, Conor Nolan, his friend and onetime Warner Bros. colleague, told The Hollywood Reporter.
A native of South Africa, Senior joined Warner Bros. in 1970 after an eight-year run at MGM, where he was an advertising and publicity consultant in its European Regional Office, and he stuck with the studio through 2000.
At the start, Senior helped mastermind the advertising and publicity campaign for the landmark Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange (1971), and he also worked with the famed director on The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
“He taught me how publicity, advertising and marketing operates,” Senior once said of Kubrick.
- 1/23/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Julian Senior, former Warner Bros European marketing and publicity executive, passed away on January 1, 2024 at the age of 85.
Senior joined Warner Bros in 1970, after an eight-year stint at MGM, as an advertising and publicity consultant in the studio’s European region office. He was soon appointed vice president of European advertising and publicity at the studio and, in 1993, was promoted to senior vice president.
The South Africa-born executive had a close working and personal relationship with Stanley Kubrick and worked with the filmmaker on the campaigns for A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
During his career,...
Senior joined Warner Bros in 1970, after an eight-year stint at MGM, as an advertising and publicity consultant in the studio’s European region office. He was soon appointed vice president of European advertising and publicity at the studio and, in 1993, was promoted to senior vice president.
The South Africa-born executive had a close working and personal relationship with Stanley Kubrick and worked with the filmmaker on the campaigns for A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
During his career,...
- 1/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
Best Narrative Film American Fiction Barbie Godzilla Minus One The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse The Zone of Interest Best Documentary Film American Symphony May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story The Mission Silver Dollar Road Still: A Michael J Fox Movie Best Animated
The post “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” Lead North Carolina Film Critics Association (Ncfca) Nominations appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
The post “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” Lead North Carolina Film Critics Association (Ncfca) Nominations appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
- 1/3/2024
- by manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
By the time December rolls around, a frontrunner has typically emerged in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. Not this year. The contest remains wide open, more so than in any year in recent memory.
For that reason alone, it’s essential to hear from the leading filmmakers in the mix. And that’s where Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary event comes in. Out essential guide featuring an awards-worthy slate of outstanding nonfiction films kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. Pt featuring panels from nine of the year’s most buzzy titles.
Click here to sign up for and launch the livestream.
Among the all-star talent on hand is Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, director of Apple Original Films’ Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, about the beloved Hollywood icon. Guggenheim’s film recently won five prizes at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Also...
For that reason alone, it’s essential to hear from the leading filmmakers in the mix. And that’s where Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary event comes in. Out essential guide featuring an awards-worthy slate of outstanding nonfiction films kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. Pt featuring panels from nine of the year’s most buzzy titles.
Click here to sign up for and launch the livestream.
Among the all-star talent on hand is Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, director of Apple Original Films’ Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, about the beloved Hollywood icon. Guggenheim’s film recently won five prizes at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Also...
- 12/10/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
By Glenn Charlie Dunks
The Academy has announced the long list for this year’s Best Documentary Feature category. 168 titles have qualified for members of the doc branch to whittle down to a 15-wide shortlist and then a nominated five. That figure is higher than last year, which had 144 eligible titles and which culminated in a win for Daniel Roher’s Navalny.
If you were to ask me right now what titles I expect to find on this year’s shortlist, I might say the following: Against the Tide (Sarvnik Kaur), American Symphony (Matthew Heineman), Anonymous Sister (Jamie Boyle), The Eternal Memory (Maite Alberdi), Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania), Lakota Nation vs United States, Little Richard: I Am Everything (Lisa Cortés), The Mission, Occupied City (Steve McQueen), Silver Dollar Road (Raoul Peck), Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints), A Still Small Voice (Luke Lorentzen), Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim...
The Academy has announced the long list for this year’s Best Documentary Feature category. 168 titles have qualified for members of the doc branch to whittle down to a 15-wide shortlist and then a nominated five. That figure is higher than last year, which had 144 eligible titles and which culminated in a win for Daniel Roher’s Navalny.
If you were to ask me right now what titles I expect to find on this year’s shortlist, I might say the following: Against the Tide (Sarvnik Kaur), American Symphony (Matthew Heineman), Anonymous Sister (Jamie Boyle), The Eternal Memory (Maite Alberdi), Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania), Lakota Nation vs United States, Little Richard: I Am Everything (Lisa Cortés), The Mission, Occupied City (Steve McQueen), Silver Dollar Road (Raoul Peck), Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints), A Still Small Voice (Luke Lorentzen), Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim...
- 12/10/2023
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday unveiled the films eligible for consideration for the 2024 Oscars in the categories of Documentary Feature Film and International Feature Film and Animated Feature Film.
A total of 167 documentaries have made the cut for the 96th Academy Awards, while 88 countries are eligible for the International Feature. Shortlists of 15 films in both categories will be revealed December 21.
In the Animated Feature race, 33 films are eligible for the 2024 race.
Final Oscar nominations will be revealed January 23, 2024, with the 96th Oscars to air Sunday, March 10 on ABC hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Here are the film lists revealed today, with AMPAS noting that not all have had their qualifying release yet, a requirement to advance in the voting process.
Animated Feature
The Amazing Maurice
Blue Giant
The Boy and the Heron
Chang’an
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Deep Sea
Elemental
Ernest & Celestine: A...
A total of 167 documentaries have made the cut for the 96th Academy Awards, while 88 countries are eligible for the International Feature. Shortlists of 15 films in both categories will be revealed December 21.
In the Animated Feature race, 33 films are eligible for the 2024 race.
Final Oscar nominations will be revealed January 23, 2024, with the 96th Oscars to air Sunday, March 10 on ABC hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Here are the film lists revealed today, with AMPAS noting that not all have had their qualifying release yet, a requirement to advance in the voting process.
Animated Feature
The Amazing Maurice
Blue Giant
The Boy and the Heron
Chang’an
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Deep Sea
Elemental
Ernest & Celestine: A...
- 12/7/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Just in time to ruin Christmas, gruesome horror comedy The Mean One, is out now on DVD and Digital Platforms from Altitude Film Distribution.
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
- 12/7/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
‘Sibiling’ to 2020 Sundance award winner is Concordia Studio presentation of Mile End Films production.
Apple Original Films has announced the documentary Girls State from the producers behind 2020 ‘sibling’ Sundance premiere and Emmy winner Boys State.
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, who co-directed Boys State and The Mission, directed and produced the feature alongside Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio.
It has wrapped and is expected to premiere in 2024, with Sundance an obvious candidate as launch pad, although Apple did not provide further guidance.
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in a democracy laboratory,...
Apple Original Films has announced the documentary Girls State from the producers behind 2020 ‘sibling’ Sundance premiere and Emmy winner Boys State.
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, who co-directed Boys State and The Mission, directed and produced the feature alongside Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio.
It has wrapped and is expected to premiere in 2024, with Sundance an obvious candidate as launch pad, although Apple did not provide further guidance.
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in a democracy laboratory,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Apple Original Films has set a new documentary feature Girls State, directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, and Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio. After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary Boys State, also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: what about Girls State?
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch,...
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s an interesting month ahead on Hulu, as the streamer rolls out some of the series it’s been keeping in its back pocket for the holiday season.
On December 15, the first season of Such Brave Girls will arrive. The sitcom follows a dysfunctional family – and we mean dysfunctional! – that includes real-life sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson. British comedian Sadler has previously written for The News Quiz, Hypothetical, and Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, but this is her first big TV project. “Everything we joke about in the show is from a place of lived experience,” she told Funny Women. “I wish I could say this is a heart-warming show about overcoming trauma, but that would be a lie. It’s about three toxic, damaged egomaniacs manipulating the world and each other for their own personal gain, vengeance and glory…just like in Little Women.” Sounds good!
Later in the month,...
On December 15, the first season of Such Brave Girls will arrive. The sitcom follows a dysfunctional family – and we mean dysfunctional! – that includes real-life sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson. British comedian Sadler has previously written for The News Quiz, Hypothetical, and Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, but this is her first big TV project. “Everything we joke about in the show is from a place of lived experience,” she told Funny Women. “I wish I could say this is a heart-warming show about overcoming trauma, but that would be a lie. It’s about three toxic, damaged egomaniacs manipulating the world and each other for their own personal gain, vengeance and glory…just like in Little Women.” Sounds good!
Later in the month,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
In a thought-provoking and somber exploration, “The Mission” takes center stage on National Geographic at 10:00 Pm on Thursday, December 7, 2023. This gripping episode delves into the tragic story of American missionary John Chau, whose quest to make contact with an Indigenous group off the coast of India ended in his untimely death.
The documentary sheds light on Chau’s attempt to reach one of the last communities on Earth still living in isolation, a group untouched by the modern world. Viewers can anticipate a deep dive into the complexities surrounding missionary work, cultural preservation, and the ethical dilemmas inherent in such endeavors.
“The Mission” promises to be a poignant exploration of human ambition, cultural sensitivity, and the consequences of attempting to bridge worlds that exist in isolation. As National Geographic unravels this gripping narrative, audiences are invited to reflect on the impact of such missions and the delicate balance between...
The documentary sheds light on Chau’s attempt to reach one of the last communities on Earth still living in isolation, a group untouched by the modern world. Viewers can anticipate a deep dive into the complexities surrounding missionary work, cultural preservation, and the ethical dilemmas inherent in such endeavors.
“The Mission” promises to be a poignant exploration of human ambition, cultural sensitivity, and the consequences of attempting to bridge worlds that exist in isolation. As National Geographic unravels this gripping narrative, audiences are invited to reflect on the impact of such missions and the delicate balance between...
- 11/30/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
IndieWire’s longtime commitment to highlighting boundary-pushing documentary filmmaking reached new heights this fall during the inaugural Art of the Doc screening series. Presented in partnership with National Geographic, Art of the Doc showcased six of the best nonfiction films of 2023 at the Landmark Westwood in Los Angeles. Each screening featured in-person conversations with filmmakers and documentary subjects moderated by IndieWire editors.
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
- 11/27/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Updated with details about the next and final screening, which is “Stamped from the Beginning” on November 20. Learn more here.
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
- 11/17/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
At documentary festival IDFA this week, National Geographic’s exec VP of marketing and communications Chris Albert – whose slate includes IDFA entry “The Mission,” about the death of American evangelical missionary John Chau on the remote Indian island of North Sentinel – was asked during an onstage interview with the festival’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia: “How would you market a film with a budget of $20,000?”
The executive, who has worked at National Geographic for over 20 years, was quick to respond: “Whether you’ve got $20,000 or $2 million, marketing can’t make a bad movie good. You can throw as much money as you want into a bad movie and it’s not going to make it better.”
Albert said he could spend his entire marketing budget for a low-budget film by placing it on the viewing portal for Oscar voters, but that is not the way he would proceed. “I...
The executive, who has worked at National Geographic for over 20 years, was quick to respond: “Whether you’ve got $20,000 or $2 million, marketing can’t make a bad movie good. You can throw as much money as you want into a bad movie and it’s not going to make it better.”
Albert said he could spend his entire marketing budget for a low-budget film by placing it on the viewing portal for Oscar voters, but that is not the way he would proceed. “I...
- 11/17/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Emerald Fennell’s ‘Saltburn’, Sony horror ‘Thanksgiving’ and Todd Haynes’ ‘May December’ also out this week.
Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is going to battle at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend in 658 locations.
It is the widest opening for the franchise so far, ahead of previous instalment Mockingjay - Part 2 which opened in 576 sites. That title debuted on £11.3m but failed to beat the franchise record currently held by Mockingjay – Part 1, which opened in 2014 on £12.7m from 565 locations.
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is once again directed by Francis Lawrence,...
Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is going to battle at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend in 658 locations.
It is the widest opening for the franchise so far, ahead of previous instalment Mockingjay - Part 2 which opened in 576 sites. That title debuted on £11.3m but failed to beat the franchise record currently held by Mockingjay – Part 1, which opened in 2014 on £12.7m from 565 locations.
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is once again directed by Francis Lawrence,...
- 11/17/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
On November 17th 2018, five years to the day before this film's release, a young man died. What makes The Mission so striking isn't the certainty of that fate but the complexity of the circumstances that brought him to it. Treading a delicate path as it explores his difficult course, the film tries to explore without judgement. In a story where judgement is often lacking, and in a telling where there are a few unusual decisions, this is itself a source of questions, of discomfort, and the better for it.
Amanda McBaine and frequent collaborator Jesse Moss have been producing (in both senses) documentaries for decades. 2014's The Overnighters explored overlapping territories, crises of faith among oil men. They documented another utopian and paean to youth in Boys State. Moss also contributed to 2019's docuseries The Family about the influence of a particular evangelical group on US politics. That quasireligious...
Amanda McBaine and frequent collaborator Jesse Moss have been producing (in both senses) documentaries for decades. 2014's The Overnighters explored overlapping territories, crises of faith among oil men. They documented another utopian and paean to youth in Boys State. Moss also contributed to 2019's docuseries The Family about the influence of a particular evangelical group on US politics. That quasireligious...
- 11/17/2023
- by Andrew Robertson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film Forum
Glauber Rocha’s Black God, White Devil begins playing in a 4K restoration; “Hitchcock’s ’50s” runs through arguably the director’s greatest decade. the Farewell My Concubine restoration continues while Summer Stock plays on 35mm this Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Paul Vecchiali’s classic-in-waiting The Strangler is playing in a new restoration, while the films of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project are screening.
Roxy Cinema
The Josh Safdie-presented The Gods of Times Square begins a run, while The Untouchables and The Mission show on 35mm.
IFC Center
Distant Voices, Still Lives begins a run while The Exorcist, Battle Royale, Desperado, and a print of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 play on 35mm; Oldboy screens in a new restoration.
Museum of the Moving Image
Reverse Shot celebrates its 20th anniversary with a months-long programming run,...
Film Forum
Glauber Rocha’s Black God, White Devil begins playing in a 4K restoration; “Hitchcock’s ’50s” runs through arguably the director’s greatest decade. the Farewell My Concubine restoration continues while Summer Stock plays on 35mm this Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Paul Vecchiali’s classic-in-waiting The Strangler is playing in a new restoration, while the films of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project are screening.
Roxy Cinema
The Josh Safdie-presented The Gods of Times Square begins a run, while The Untouchables and The Mission show on 35mm.
IFC Center
Distant Voices, Still Lives begins a run while The Exorcist, Battle Royale, Desperado, and a print of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 play on 35mm; Oldboy screens in a new restoration.
Museum of the Moving Image
Reverse Shot celebrates its 20th anniversary with a months-long programming run,...
- 11/16/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Alex Pettyfer stars in the terrifying action thriller Black Noise, which is out out now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon Prime Video in the UK & Ireland.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
- 11/13/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
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
‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ Sweeps the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Complete Winners List)
One of the first big nights of the 2023 award season took place tonight at Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom when the best nonfiction filmmakers competed for the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The show, which is hosted by Wyatt Cenac, honors the most acclaimed documentaries of the year in one of the biggest early contests before the Academy Awards.
Netflix’s Jon Batiste documentary “American Symphony” led the pack with six nominations, while “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Kokomo City,” and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” were each honored with five nominations a piece. Other contenders for Best Documentary Feature include “Beyond Utopia,” “The Deepest Breath,” “The Mission,” “The Eternal Memory,” “Judy Blume Forever,” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” had the strongest story of the night. In addition to taking home Best Documentary Feature, the film won Best Biographical Documentary, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Narration for Fox himself.
Netflix’s Jon Batiste documentary “American Symphony” led the pack with six nominations, while “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Kokomo City,” and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” were each honored with five nominations a piece. Other contenders for Best Documentary Feature include “Beyond Utopia,” “The Deepest Breath,” “The Mission,” “The Eternal Memory,” “Judy Blume Forever,” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” had the strongest story of the night. In addition to taking home Best Documentary Feature, the film won Best Biographical Documentary, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Narration for Fox himself.
- 11/13/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Amber Heard (Aquaman) stars as a doctor battling against 19th-century superstitions and paranoia in In The Fire, also starring Luca Calvani (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), Eduardo Noriega (The Devil’s Backbone), and Sophie Amber (soon to be seen in The Last Girl with Antonio Banderas).
Directed by Cocor Allyn (No Man’s Land), In The Fire is an intense and thrilling experience featuring a searing career-best lead performance from Heard as a woman attempting to convince a community that medicine can overcome what they perceive as ‘evil’.
Synopsis:
A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.
In The Fire is available now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon.
About Altitude
Altitude Media Group is...
Directed by Cocor Allyn (No Man’s Land), In The Fire is an intense and thrilling experience featuring a searing career-best lead performance from Heard as a woman attempting to convince a community that medicine can overcome what they perceive as ‘evil’.
Synopsis:
A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.
In The Fire is available now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon.
About Altitude
Altitude Media Group is...
- 11/8/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
For the 10th year in a row, the Scad Savannah Film Festival, the 26th edition of which ran from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, was the place to be for documentary filmmakers and documentary lovers — specifically on Oct. 25, when The Hollywood Reporter presented and your humble correspondent hosted the fest’s Docs to Watch panel that brings together the directors of up to 10 of the year’s finest documentary features.
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
- 11/4/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Every year the race for the Oscar for best documentary feature gets more expensive and less inclusive.
The challenging doc marketplace favors a handful of big-name filmmakers commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. During the last two years, directors of independently made docs, especially those tackling hard-hitting social issues, have been facing an uphill battle to secure distribution.
The major streaming services, who just a few years ago were spending millions to acquire indie fare, seem to no longer be interested in garnering titles out of festivals.
There have, of course, been exceptions. Matthew Heineman’s “American Symphony” sold to Netflix immediately after the film’s Telluride premiere in September, and HBO Documentary Films/Max picked up Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” eight months after it debuted in Park City. Netflix acquired Laura McGann...
The challenging doc marketplace favors a handful of big-name filmmakers commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. During the last two years, directors of independently made docs, especially those tackling hard-hitting social issues, have been facing an uphill battle to secure distribution.
The major streaming services, who just a few years ago were spending millions to acquire indie fare, seem to no longer be interested in garnering titles out of festivals.
There have, of course, been exceptions. Matthew Heineman’s “American Symphony” sold to Netflix immediately after the film’s Telluride premiere in September, and HBO Documentary Films/Max picked up Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” eight months after it debuted in Park City. Netflix acquired Laura McGann...
- 11/3/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Sffilm’s 9th Annual Doc Stories festival is getting underway, featuring a distinguished lineup of Oscar-contending nonfiction films.
Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés, screens this afternoon, while the opening night slot goes to another music-driven documentary, Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, an intimate look at Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste [scroll for full Doc Stories schedule].
Sffilm Doc Stories runs November 2-5 in the City by the Bay, with several of the films available for streaming Nov. 6-7. By design, it’s a tightly curated program.
Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks
“It’s incredibly competitive and we only have two shorts blocks and the rest are features,” notes Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks. “It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase what we consider to be the best of documentary filmmaking at this point in the season. We require a Bay Area premiere, so we’re...
Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés, screens this afternoon, while the opening night slot goes to another music-driven documentary, Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, an intimate look at Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste [scroll for full Doc Stories schedule].
Sffilm Doc Stories runs November 2-5 in the City by the Bay, with several of the films available for streaming Nov. 6-7. By design, it’s a tightly curated program.
Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks
“It’s incredibly competitive and we only have two shorts blocks and the rest are features,” notes Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks. “It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase what we consider to be the best of documentary filmmaking at this point in the season. We require a Bay Area premiere, so we’re...
- 11/2/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Critics Choice Association just unveiled the nominees for its 8th annual documentary awards. Topping the list is “American Symphony” with six bids, including Best Documentary, Best Director for Matthew Heineman, and notices in Cinematography, Editing, and Music Documentary. Heineman is the Oscar nominated director of “Cartel Land” from 2015. The sixth nomination for “American Symphony” is for Best Score thanks to 2022’s Grammy Award recipient for Album of the Year, Jon Batiste. You may recognize another Aoty winner in the Ccda’s lineup — Taylor Swift‘s record breaking concert movie “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is also nominated for Music Documentary.
Just behind “American Symphony” are three films that received five nominations each: “20 Days in Mariupol” from Mstyslav Chernov, “Kokomo City” from D. Smith, and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” from Davis Guggenheim, who is also nominated for Director. The other directors that were heralded for their films...
Just behind “American Symphony” are three films that received five nominations each: “20 Days in Mariupol” from Mstyslav Chernov, “Kokomo City” from D. Smith, and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” from Davis Guggenheim, who is also nominated for Director. The other directors that were heralded for their films...
- 10/24/2023
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
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
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
The Scad Savannah Film Festival, which takes place each year at the Savannah College of Art and Design shortly before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to determine its Oscar shortlists, and which has become a premier showcase for documentary programming, has revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that it will highlight on this year’s edition of its popular Docs to Watch panel.
The Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, midway through the 26th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. For the 10th year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.
The films represented on this year’s Docs to Watch panel — all of which will also screen during the fest,...
The Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, midway through the 26th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. For the 10th year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.
The films represented on this year’s Docs to Watch panel — all of which will also screen during the fest,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival announced the lineup for the 32nd edition of North America’s longest-running all doc festival, a slate that includes several world premieres and a slew of Academy Award-contending films. In addition, Hot Springs announced Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, an Arkansas native, will serve as honorary chair of the event in the resort town located in the scenic Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.
Filmmaker, artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Sky Hopinka will receive the Hsdff Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award at this year’s festival; Diane Becker and Shane Boris, two of the Oscar-winning producers of Navalny, will earn the Impact Award. The festival runs from Oct. 6-14.
Musician Kishi Bashi, aka Kaoru Ishibashi
Among the world premieres happening at Hsdff are A Song Film by Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari, directed by Justin Taylor Smith...
Filmmaker, artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Sky Hopinka will receive the Hsdff Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award at this year’s festival; Diane Becker and Shane Boris, two of the Oscar-winning producers of Navalny, will earn the Impact Award. The festival runs from Oct. 6-14.
Musician Kishi Bashi, aka Kaoru Ishibashi
Among the world premieres happening at Hsdff are A Song Film by Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari, directed by Justin Taylor Smith...
- 9/20/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
A winner of Oscars, Emmys and Tonys, Jeremy Irons has been delivering top-notch performances for four decades now, and as he has been turning his sights back to television in recent years. I suspect that we are in store for many more great performances to come.
Irons is one-for-one at the Academy Awards, winning for his only nomination in Barbet Schroeder‘s “Reversal of Fortune” as suspected murderer Claus von Bülow, considered by many to be one of the definitive performances of the ’90s. It also brought Irons his first Golden Globe Award. Irons is also perfect at the Tony Awards, winning the Best Actor award for Tom Stoppard‘s 1984 production of “The Real Thing”. And he was won three of the five Emmy Awards for which he has been nominated, both as an actor and as a narrator (especially with that voice).
Irons last graced American TV screens in...
Irons is one-for-one at the Academy Awards, winning for his only nomination in Barbet Schroeder‘s “Reversal of Fortune” as suspected murderer Claus von Bülow, considered by many to be one of the definitive performances of the ’90s. It also brought Irons his first Golden Globe Award. Irons is also perfect at the Tony Awards, winning the Best Actor award for Tom Stoppard‘s 1984 production of “The Real Thing”. And he was won three of the five Emmy Awards for which he has been nominated, both as an actor and as a narrator (especially with that voice).
Irons last graced American TV screens in...
- 9/14/2023
- by Tom O'Brien, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Robert De Niro is a legendary actor, starring in a string of iconic movies and winning two Academy Awards along the way. He picked up his first Oscar way back in 1975 for Best Supporting Actor before adding a Best Actor trophy to his cabinet in 1981 for “Raging Bull.” Two Academy Awards is impressive, but it isn’t a record haul (Katherine Hepburn has four for acting).
However, De Niro does hold the record for most featured appearances in Best Picture nominees — with 11 to date. That stat places him ahead of the likes of Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jack Nicholson, who have all appeared in 10 Best Picture nominees. Here’s De Niro’s breakdown:
“The Godfather Part II” in 1975 — Won “Taxi Driver” in 1977 — Nominated, lost to “Rocky.” “The Deer Hunter” in 1979 — Won “Raging Bull” in 1981 — Nominated, lost to “Ordinary People.” “The Mission” in 1987 — Nominated, lost to “Platoon.” “Goodfellas” in 1991 — Nominated,...
However, De Niro does hold the record for most featured appearances in Best Picture nominees — with 11 to date. That stat places him ahead of the likes of Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jack Nicholson, who have all appeared in 10 Best Picture nominees. Here’s De Niro’s breakdown:
“The Godfather Part II” in 1975 — Won “Taxi Driver” in 1977 — Nominated, lost to “Rocky.” “The Deer Hunter” in 1979 — Won “Raging Bull” in 1981 — Nominated, lost to “Ordinary People.” “The Mission” in 1987 — Nominated, lost to “Platoon.” “Goodfellas” in 1991 — Nominated,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
When Hayao Miyazaki’s semi-autobiographical fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” had its international premiere Sept. 7, it wasn’t just the first animated film to open TIFF, or the master director’s first in a decade. It is also part of an unexpected resurgence of animated work at major international festivals.
“When we started doing [2017’s] ‘Loving Vincent,’ only one adult animated film every five years got any kind of recognition,” says Hugh Welchman, who directed ”Vincent” and “The Peasants,” which premiered Sept. 8 at TIFF, with wife D.K. Welchman. “Now it seems that every year one kind of breaks out.”
Their Oscar-nominated Vincent van Gogh biopic helped inspire this trend, earning $42.2 million worldwide on a $5.5 million budget. “Heron” is already continuing arthouse animation’s successful run, taking in $50.6 million since July in Japan alone. And prominent fests are increasing their support: in 2019, Cannes launched an Animation Day in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
“When we started doing [2017’s] ‘Loving Vincent,’ only one adult animated film every five years got any kind of recognition,” says Hugh Welchman, who directed ”Vincent” and “The Peasants,” which premiered Sept. 8 at TIFF, with wife D.K. Welchman. “Now it seems that every year one kind of breaks out.”
Their Oscar-nominated Vincent van Gogh biopic helped inspire this trend, earning $42.2 million worldwide on a $5.5 million budget. “Heron” is already continuing arthouse animation’s successful run, taking in $50.6 million since July in Japan alone. And prominent fests are increasing their support: in 2019, Cannes launched an Animation Day in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
- 9/8/2023
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
What is the fine line between altruism and narcissism, and what happens when “higher-calling” religious beliefs blur those demarcations? That vague space is not exactly what celebrated doc filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine are trying to resolve in their compelling new documentary “The Mission.” Honestly, their story is more subtle and nuanced; a fairer and balanced look at the ideas of self-sacrifice, an empathetic examination of a tragedy, and yet a sobering probing of good intentions and the paths that lead us astray.
Continue reading ‘The Mission’: The ‘Boys State’ Directors Examine A Tragic Death & The Hubris Of Christian Messiah Complex [Telluride] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Mission’: The ‘Boys State’ Directors Examine A Tragic Death & The Hubris Of Christian Messiah Complex [Telluride] at The Playlist.
- 9/6/2023
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Exclusive: The Oscar-winning team behind Navalny is embarking on its next project, a National Geographic documentary under the working title Blink of an Eye. It will focus on the Pelletier family, “a happy, adventurous family of six,” who decided to go on a world tour after learning three of their children would soon lose their vision.
Navalny’s Daniel Roher is directing with Edmund Stenson, who will make his feature debut on the film. MRC and Fishbowl Films are producing, with Fishbowl’s Melanie Miller and Diane Becker on board to produce. They won Academy Awards for producing Navalny (along with fellow producers Shane Boris and Odessa Rae).
The Pelletier’s world “was changed forever when they found out three of the four children were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable disorder that leads to permanent blindness,” noted a release about the documentary. “Edith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier decide...
Navalny’s Daniel Roher is directing with Edmund Stenson, who will make his feature debut on the film. MRC and Fishbowl Films are producing, with Fishbowl’s Melanie Miller and Diane Becker on board to produce. They won Academy Awards for producing Navalny (along with fellow producers Shane Boris and Odessa Rae).
The Pelletier’s world “was changed forever when they found out three of the four children were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable disorder that leads to permanent blindness,” noted a release about the documentary. “Edith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier decide...
- 9/1/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
National Geographic documentary films specialize in telling stories of adventurers whose journeys put themselves at great risk, but few are more unbelievable than “The Mission.” NatGeo has released the official trailer for the upcoming documentary, set for theatrical release October 13.
The documentary focuses on the story of John Chau, an American evangelical Christian missionary. In 2018 and at the age of 26, Chau traveled to the extremely remote Andaman Islands, claimed by India but closer to Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, on an unsanctioned missionary trip. There, he repeatedly visited North Sentinel Island, which is restricted by the Indian government to outside visitors because of the indigenous Sentinelese, a voluntarily “uncontacted people,” who live there. They’re considered so vulnerable to contamination from outside influences that the Indian government has armed marine patrols around the island to prevent landings. Chau somehow made it ashore, nonetheless. It did not go well.
The film,...
The documentary focuses on the story of John Chau, an American evangelical Christian missionary. In 2018 and at the age of 26, Chau traveled to the extremely remote Andaman Islands, claimed by India but closer to Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, on an unsanctioned missionary trip. There, he repeatedly visited North Sentinel Island, which is restricted by the Indian government to outside visitors because of the indigenous Sentinelese, a voluntarily “uncontacted people,” who live there. They’re considered so vulnerable to contamination from outside influences that the Indian government has armed marine patrols around the island to prevent landings. Chau somehow made it ashore, nonetheless. It did not go well.
The film,...
- 8/31/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
"My friend did something stupid and courageous." Don't really agree with all of that... National Geographic Documentary Films has revealed the first official trailer for a doc called The Mission, made by talented doc filmmakers Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss (of Boys State most recently). This is premiering at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival this weekend, hence the trailer arriving in celebration of its world premiere. The 26-year-old Christian missionary from America, John Chau, was killed by arrows as he attempted to make contact with an Indigenous group on an island off the coast of India, one of the last communities on the planet still living in isolation. This is his story. "The Mission contains multitudes, thanks to Amanda & Jesse's artful, empathic and nuanced storytelling. It is a gripping murder mystery that examines the moral and ethical implications of John Chau's story to probe deeply into the complicated history of colonialism and global exploration.
- 8/31/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Updated with the addition of The Holly and American Symphony to the FallDocs lineup.
The Holly, Julian Rubinstein’s documentary about conflict over a gentrifying neighborhood near Denver, and Matthew Heineman’s film American Symphony, about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, have been added to the IDA’s FallDocs screening series.
American Symphony will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles, followed by a live Q&a with Heineman.
The Holly will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Culver Theater, followed by a live Q&a with Rubinstein, main participant Terrance Roberts, and Aqeela Sherrills, anti-violence activist and co-founder of Community Based Public Safety Collective.
Earlier: Exclusive: The International Documentary Association announced the lineup for its prestigious FallDocs 2023 program, featuring a slew of Oscar contending nonfiction films as well as more than two dozen films that haven’t yet nailed down distribution.
The Holly, Julian Rubinstein’s documentary about conflict over a gentrifying neighborhood near Denver, and Matthew Heineman’s film American Symphony, about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, have been added to the IDA’s FallDocs screening series.
American Symphony will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles, followed by a live Q&a with Heineman.
The Holly will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Culver Theater, followed by a live Q&a with Rubinstein, main participant Terrance Roberts, and Aqeela Sherrills, anti-violence activist and co-founder of Community Based Public Safety Collective.
Earlier: Exclusive: The International Documentary Association announced the lineup for its prestigious FallDocs 2023 program, featuring a slew of Oscar contending nonfiction films as well as more than two dozen films that haven’t yet nailed down distribution.
- 8/31/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
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