By Glenn Dunks
“That’s one small leap for a woman, another giant step for mankind” is how Mercury 13 opens. Ignore that it is probably the teensiest bit too twee of a means to open a movie – and also doesn’t make much sense in so far as what they’re referencing – and consider for a moment what could have been. David Sington and Heather Walsh’s film isn’t one of speculative fiction, but rather the untold story of the women who partook in a Nasa program.
In many ways, Mercury 13 feels like a blueprint for a feature narrative drama film. Watching the doc and one can almost see it playing out with actors like Emma Stone in the roles of these determined women who took to the skies and played an important part in the war efforts before being recruited for a secret mission to test...
“That’s one small leap for a woman, another giant step for mankind” is how Mercury 13 opens. Ignore that it is probably the teensiest bit too twee of a means to open a movie – and also doesn’t make much sense in so far as what they’re referencing – and consider for a moment what could have been. David Sington and Heather Walsh’s film isn’t one of speculative fiction, but rather the untold story of the women who partook in a Nasa program.
In many ways, Mercury 13 feels like a blueprint for a feature narrative drama film. Watching the doc and one can almost see it playing out with actors like Emma Stone in the roles of these determined women who took to the skies and played an important part in the war efforts before being recruited for a secret mission to test...
- 5/1/2018
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
MaryAnn’s quick take… An essential documentary look at yet another example of historical feminism that should never have been forgotten: the first American in space might have and probably should have been a woman. I’m “biast” (pro): big space nerd; desperate for stories about real women
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film
(learn more about this)
You’ve heard of the Mercury 7. They were America’s first astronauts: the first to sit atop a rocket and get shot into space, the first to experience zero gravity, the first to orbit our planet. They were the subject of the multiple-Oscar-winning film The Right Stuff, based on the bestselling book of the same name. They were global celebrities for their exploits in the 1960s and remain national heroes to this day.
The Mercury 7 were all men.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film
(learn more about this)
You’ve heard of the Mercury 7. They were America’s first astronauts: the first to sit atop a rocket and get shot into space, the first to experience zero gravity, the first to orbit our planet. They were the subject of the multiple-Oscar-winning film The Right Stuff, based on the bestselling book of the same name. They were global celebrities for their exploits in the 1960s and remain national heroes to this day.
The Mercury 7 were all men.
- 4/23/2018
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
At a time when much has been written about the limited opportunities for female filmmakers, it is worth remembering that this sexist bias has infected many other fields as well. Mercury 13, a fascinating documentary that had its first showings at the San Francisco Film Festival and will premiere Friday on Netflix, demonstrates the prejudice against women pilots that had a devastating impact at the beginning of the Space Age.
The Oscar-nominated 2016 feature film Hidden Figures highlighted the female mathematicians who played a behind-the-scenes role at Nasa. But this new doc directed by David Sington and Heather Walsh adds a crucial...
The Oscar-nominated 2016 feature film Hidden Figures highlighted the female mathematicians who played a behind-the-scenes role at Nasa. But this new doc directed by David Sington and Heather Walsh adds a crucial...
- 4/19/2018
- by Stephen Farber
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Trailer For Netflix's Mercury 13 Which Tells The Story of The First Women Who Trained to Go To Space
A couple of years ago I found and read a book called The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight. As soon as I read it, I thought that it needed to be adapted into a movie or TV series. It tells the fascinating true story of the first women ever to go through the training to become astronauts. They were doing everything that the men were and they were fully qualified to go to space, but in the end, it didn't happen.
Netflix has released the first trailer for a new documentary that will tell the inspiring story of these 13 women who trained so hard only to have their dreams of going to space shut down by Nasa:
On April 9, 1959, Nasa introduced their first astronaut class of all men, Mercury 7, to the world. This is the story of the 13 women who...
Netflix has released the first trailer for a new documentary that will tell the inspiring story of these 13 women who trained so hard only to have their dreams of going to space shut down by Nasa:
On April 9, 1959, Nasa introduced their first astronaut class of all men, Mercury 7, to the world. This is the story of the 13 women who...
- 4/13/2018
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Premiering on Netflix April 20, 2018 is the documentary Mercury 13.
On April 9, 1959, Nasa introduced their first astronaut class of all men, Mercury 7, to the world. This is the story of the 13 women who were just as deserving of their place in space.
Mercury 13 is a remarkable story of the women who were tested for spaceflight in 1961 before their dreams were dashed in being the first to make the trip beyond Earth. Nasa’s ‘man in space’ program, dubbed ‘Project Mercury’ began in 1958. The men chosen – all military test pilots – became known as The Mercury 7. But away from the glare of the media, behind firmly closed doors, female pilots were also screened.
Thirteen of them passed and, in some cases, performed better than the men. They were called the Mercury 13 and had the ‘right stuff’ but were, unfortunately, the wrong gender. Underneath the obsession of the space race that gripped America,...
On April 9, 1959, Nasa introduced their first astronaut class of all men, Mercury 7, to the world. This is the story of the 13 women who were just as deserving of their place in space.
Mercury 13 is a remarkable story of the women who were tested for spaceflight in 1961 before their dreams were dashed in being the first to make the trip beyond Earth. Nasa’s ‘man in space’ program, dubbed ‘Project Mercury’ began in 1958. The men chosen – all military test pilots – became known as The Mercury 7. But away from the glare of the media, behind firmly closed doors, female pilots were also screened.
Thirteen of them passed and, in some cases, performed better than the men. They were called the Mercury 13 and had the ‘right stuff’ but were, unfortunately, the wrong gender. Underneath the obsession of the space race that gripped America,...
- 4/10/2018
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
While “Hidden Figures” explored the progress of black women behind the scenes as the U.S. launched the first man into space, the Netflix-produced documentary “Mercury 13” probes another struggle for inclusion taking place at the same time — the attempt by several woman to make the cut as astronauts. Unfolding as a series of tests in 1958 as Nasa prepared for Project Mercury, the experiments on the eponymous 13 women have received far less exposure than the stories surrounding the Nasa excursions themselves, but this straightforward, informative documentary provides an efficient historical revision, arguing that the bracing stories of the first men to enter space aren’t complete without an acknowledgement of the women stuck on Earth.
An engaging blend of modern-day interviews and archival footage, “Mercury 13” complicates the traditional narrative of triumph surrounding the Mercury missions of the ‘60s and their culmination with the moon landing. The surviving members...
An engaging blend of modern-day interviews and archival footage, “Mercury 13” complicates the traditional narrative of triumph surrounding the Mercury missions of the ‘60s and their culmination with the moon landing. The surviving members...
- 4/9/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
"I want to be up there, that's part of me!" Netflix has launched an official trailer for a documentary titled Mercury 13, made by filmmakers David Sington (In the Shadow of the Moon, The Fear of 13) & Heather Walsh. This doc profiles women who were tested in 1961 for spaceflight, but had their dreams dashed when only men were chosen to become astronauts. On April 9, 1959, Nasa introduced their first astronaut class of all men, Mercury 7, to the world. This is the story of the 13 women who were just as deserving of their place in space. I'm sold already based on that pitch alone. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking, "I didn't know anything about these women?" Perhaps that's the way Nasa wanted it to be, but now we get to learn their story. This looks like a great doc to watch when it's out. And I'm a big fan...
- 4/9/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Canadian documentary festival Hot Docs has added 17 additional special presentations.
They include McQueen, Ian Bonhôte’s documentary about fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and Steve Loveridge’s Matanga / Maya / M.I.A., the Sundance world premiere about British rapper and record producer M.I.A. that has been picked up for the UK by Dogwoof.
Other highlights in the programme include Liz Garbus’s The Fourth Estate, a look into how The New York Times covered the first year of the Trump presidency, and Mercury 13, the story of Nasa’s first female astronaut training programme.
The full selection from Hot Docs,...
They include McQueen, Ian Bonhôte’s documentary about fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and Steve Loveridge’s Matanga / Maya / M.I.A., the Sundance world premiere about British rapper and record producer M.I.A. that has been picked up for the UK by Dogwoof.
Other highlights in the programme include Liz Garbus’s The Fourth Estate, a look into how The New York Times covered the first year of the Trump presidency, and Mercury 13, the story of Nasa’s first female astronaut training programme.
The full selection from Hot Docs,...
- 3/13/2018
- by Adam Weddle
- ScreenDaily
★★★★☆ An irrational fear of the number thirteen is not a concept that many will be familiar with. Unlucky or not, the word in of itself held no particular meaning for convicted murderer Nick but is representative of the process of learning, self-education and personal enlightenment he achieved through a voracious appetite for books while incarcerated. David Sington's enthralling documentary The Fear of 13 (2015) charts a man's journey towards the light from the darkest recesses of his own imprisoned mind.
- 11/16/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The wrongly convicted Nick Yarris confronts the truth in David Sington’s dramatic documentary
After 23 years on death row, convicted killer Nick Yarris petitioned for the right to be executed promptly, exasperated by an appeals system that had failed to overturn his conviction. British director David Sington’s gripping documentary gets Yarris to tell his story, while slyly withholding information that leaves us wondering about truth and fiction as it builds towards a dramatic denouement. Yarris is a charismatic speaker, his performance sharpened by jail-bound immersion in literature, refining his narrative skills as he recounts/rewrites the past and future. Not so much an interviewee as a monologuist, Yarris leads us on a labyrinthine journey that has as much to say about the art of storytelling as it does about the iniquities of crime and punishment.
Continue reading...
After 23 years on death row, convicted killer Nick Yarris petitioned for the right to be executed promptly, exasperated by an appeals system that had failed to overturn his conviction. British director David Sington’s gripping documentary gets Yarris to tell his story, while slyly withholding information that leaves us wondering about truth and fiction as it builds towards a dramatic denouement. Yarris is a charismatic speaker, his performance sharpened by jail-bound immersion in literature, refining his narrative skills as he recounts/rewrites the past and future. Not so much an interviewee as a monologuist, Yarris leads us on a labyrinthine journey that has as much to say about the art of storytelling as it does about the iniquities of crime and punishment.
Continue reading...
- 11/15/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Other winners include Among The Believers and The Fear Of 13.Scroll Down For Full List
Cph:dox (Nov 5-15), Copenhagen’s festival of documentary cinema, has revealed its award winners for 2015, with God Bless The Child taking the top prize.
Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s film, which follows four young boys and their 13-year-old sister who are left to their own devices in their Californian home, was presented with the Dox:award, including a prize of $5400 (€5000).
The prize’s jury was composed of Elena Fortes, director of Ambulante, a non-profit organization working to support and promote a documentary film culture in Mexico; Miguel Valverde, festival director and programmer at IndieLisboa; Jim Kolmar, film Programmer for SXSW; Bernie Krause, professional musician turned soundscape ecologist and author; and Katja Adomeit, producer and freelancer for Corpoduction Office Denmark.
Regarding their decision, they stated: “Establishing an otherworldly tone of extraordinary realism and a near magical evocation of family dynamics, the winning...
Cph:dox (Nov 5-15), Copenhagen’s festival of documentary cinema, has revealed its award winners for 2015, with God Bless The Child taking the top prize.
Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s film, which follows four young boys and their 13-year-old sister who are left to their own devices in their Californian home, was presented with the Dox:award, including a prize of $5400 (€5000).
The prize’s jury was composed of Elena Fortes, director of Ambulante, a non-profit organization working to support and promote a documentary film culture in Mexico; Miguel Valverde, festival director and programmer at IndieLisboa; Jim Kolmar, film Programmer for SXSW; Bernie Krause, professional musician turned soundscape ecologist and author; and Katja Adomeit, producer and freelancer for Corpoduction Office Denmark.
Regarding their decision, they stated: “Establishing an otherworldly tone of extraordinary realism and a near magical evocation of family dynamics, the winning...
- 11/13/2015
- ScreenDaily
facebook
twitter
google+
50 fabulous documentary films, covering hard politics through to music, money and films that never were...
Thanks to streaming services such as Netflix, we’ve never had better access to documentaries. A whole new audience can discover that these real life stories are just as thrilling, entertaining, and incredible as the latest big-budget blockbuster. What’s more, they’re all true too. But with a new found glut of them comes the ever more impossible choice, what’s worth your time? Below is my pick of the 50 best modern feature length documentaries.
I’ve defined modern as being from 2000 onwards, which means some of the greatest documentaries ever made will not feature here. I’m looking at you Hoop Dreams.
50. McConkey (2013)
d. Rob Bruce, Scott Gaffney, Murray Wais, Steve Winter, David Zieff
Shane McConkey was an extreme skier and Base jumper who lived life on the edge, and very much to the full.
google+
50 fabulous documentary films, covering hard politics through to music, money and films that never were...
Thanks to streaming services such as Netflix, we’ve never had better access to documentaries. A whole new audience can discover that these real life stories are just as thrilling, entertaining, and incredible as the latest big-budget blockbuster. What’s more, they’re all true too. But with a new found glut of them comes the ever more impossible choice, what’s worth your time? Below is my pick of the 50 best modern feature length documentaries.
I’ve defined modern as being from 2000 onwards, which means some of the greatest documentaries ever made will not feature here. I’m looking at you Hoop Dreams.
50. McConkey (2013)
d. Rob Bruce, Scott Gaffney, Murray Wais, Steve Winter, David Zieff
Shane McConkey was an extreme skier and Base jumper who lived life on the edge, and very much to the full.
- 11/12/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Floating teasingly and compellingly between true crime documentary and thriller, "The Fear of 13" is a good fit for the Cph:dox film festival in Copenhagen, which encourages films that explore the grey areas between fiction and documentary, and where it screens in competition Saturday ahead of its showing this month at Doc NYC. The film wastes no time in setting us on the back foot. A caption tells us that after 20 years on Death Row, Nick Yarris has requested his own execution.Yet here he is, clean-shaven, dapper in a crisply-ironed shirt, speaking to the camera – not from a cell, but in one of those artfully neutral documentary spaces. He's smooth too, articulate in a way that we don't expect most cons to be, let alone someone who has spent most of his adult life in jail. So what's the deal? Has he died and gone to heaven? For a time...
- 11/7/2015
- by Demetrios Matheou
- Thompson on Hollywood
Anne Wivel’s Mand Falder will open the festival, which will screen 200 docs including 60 world premieres.
Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox has revealed the programme for its 13th edition, which runs Nov 5-15.
The line-up features 200 documentaries including 60 world premieres, 18 European premieres and 14 international premieres.
Danish film Mand Falder, directed by Anne Wivel, will open the festival. The film centres around the artist Per Kirkeby and his recovery after suffering from a brain hemorrhage.
16 documentaries will compete in the main competition for the Dox:award, including Friedrich Moser’s journalistic docu-thriller A Good American about William Binney’s programme ‘Thinthread’ that could have prevented 9/11, but was cancelled by the Nsa, and Aslaug Holm’s Norwegian documentary Brodre, which was shot over 8 years and centres around two boys growing up.
Helena Trestikova’s Czech documentary Mallory about life at the bottom of Czech society also features in the competition, which was won last year by Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence.
Sean McAllister...
Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox has revealed the programme for its 13th edition, which runs Nov 5-15.
The line-up features 200 documentaries including 60 world premieres, 18 European premieres and 14 international premieres.
Danish film Mand Falder, directed by Anne Wivel, will open the festival. The film centres around the artist Per Kirkeby and his recovery after suffering from a brain hemorrhage.
16 documentaries will compete in the main competition for the Dox:award, including Friedrich Moser’s journalistic docu-thriller A Good American about William Binney’s programme ‘Thinthread’ that could have prevented 9/11, but was cancelled by the Nsa, and Aslaug Holm’s Norwegian documentary Brodre, which was shot over 8 years and centres around two boys growing up.
Helena Trestikova’s Czech documentary Mallory about life at the bottom of Czech society also features in the competition, which was won last year by Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence.
Sean McAllister...
- 10/16/2015
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
The 59Th BFI London Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Programme
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
- 9/1/2015
- by John
- SoundOnSight
Official competition to include Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts Of No Nation and European premieres for Jonás Cuarón’s Desierto and Johnnie To’s Office.Scroll down for competition titles
The full line-up for the 59th BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18) has been unveiled this morning, including the titles set to compete in its four competitions.
The festival will screen a total of 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 world premieres, eight international premieres, 40 European premieres and 11 archive films including five restoration world premieres. The line-up also includes 182 live action and animated shorts.
As previously announced, the festival will open with Sarah Gavron’s period drama Suffragette, starring Carey Mulligan, and will close with Danny Boyle’s biopic Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender as the home computer pioneer and Apple co-founder. Both are European premieres.
Further headline galas at the festival will be Todd Haynes’ Carol, Jay Roach’s Trumbo, Scott Cooper’s Black Mass, John Crowley...
The full line-up for the 59th BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18) has been unveiled this morning, including the titles set to compete in its four competitions.
The festival will screen a total of 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 world premieres, eight international premieres, 40 European premieres and 11 archive films including five restoration world premieres. The line-up also includes 182 live action and animated shorts.
As previously announced, the festival will open with Sarah Gavron’s period drama Suffragette, starring Carey Mulligan, and will close with Danny Boyle’s biopic Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender as the home computer pioneer and Apple co-founder. Both are European premieres.
Further headline galas at the festival will be Todd Haynes’ Carol, Jay Roach’s Trumbo, Scott Cooper’s Black Mass, John Crowley...
- 9/1/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Well folks, after a rather long and brutal winter (at least for me here in Buffalo), we are finally heading into the wonderful warmth of summer, but with that blast of sunshine and steamy humidity comes the mid-year drought of major film fests. After the Sheffield Doc/Fest concludes on June 10th and AFI Docs wraps on June 21st, we likely won’t see any major influx in our charts until Locarno, Venice, Telluride and Tiff announce their line-ups in rapid succession. In the meantime, we can look forward to the intriguing onslaught of films making their debut in Sheffield, including Brian Hill’s intriguing examination of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, The Confessions of Thomas Quick, and Sean McAllister’s film for which he himself was jailed in the process of making, A Syrian Love Story, the only two films world premiering in the festival’s main competition.
- 6/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The Look of Silence and new music from members of Sigur Ros to open festival; Monty Python documentary to close.
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10) has revealed the line-up of its 2015 edition, which will open with two events.
The first is the UK premiere of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence, the follow-up to critically acclaimed The Act of Killing, in which a family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
The second is the world premiere of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses and Carnivals – a music and archive film that will feature a new score by Georg Hólm and Orri Páll Dýrason of Sigur Rós and the head of the Pagan Church in Iceland, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
The film centres on the lives of travelling showpeople and has been created with exclusive access to the University of Sheffield...
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10) has revealed the line-up of its 2015 edition, which will open with two events.
The first is the UK premiere of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence, the follow-up to critically acclaimed The Act of Killing, in which a family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.
The second is the world premiere of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses and Carnivals – a music and archive film that will feature a new score by Georg Hólm and Orri Páll Dýrason of Sigur Rós and the head of the Pagan Church in Iceland, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
The film centres on the lives of travelling showpeople and has been created with exclusive access to the University of Sheffield...
- 5/7/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Pussy Riot, Uri Geller: Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013 line-up The United Kingdom’s Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013 kicks off on June 12, featuring 27 World Premieres. Topics range from "psychic spy" Uri Geller (Uri Geller and Vikram Jayanti’s The Secret Life of Uri Geller — Psychic Spy) to shale mining (Lech Kowalski’s Drill Baby Drill), from the science behind Planet Earth’s fast-approaching climactic armageddon (David Sington and Simon Lamb’s Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science) to the life and times of international professional thieves (Havana Marking’s Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers). Below are a few Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013 highlights. (Photo: Pussy Riot — A Punk Prayer.) Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s Pussy Riot — A Punk Prayer follows the Pussy Riot trial in which three of the band’s members stood accused of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” following a performance staged at Moscow...
- 5/29/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In the age of the internet, marketing a documentary is all about targeting influencial bloggers and cultivating online communities
Most films find an audience through a few well-chosen ads in newspapers and a handful of reviews. Not Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press's Oscar-nominated documentary about the 84-year-old New York Times fashion photographer. UK distributor Dogwoof made a conscious decision to target fashion bloggers, creating buzz about the film. About 50 of these so-called fashion "influencers" blogged about the film, creating what Dogwoof's chief executive, Andy Whittaker, calls "the perfect social storm". Welcome to marketing documentaries in the age of the internet.
"One of the key tricks is identifying influencers and tapping into them and co-ordinating that into the campaign," says Whittaker. "The first people we wanted to reach were those who understood the importance of Bill Cunningham."
Whittaker, who founded the independent distribution label eight years ago, used to be an executive at eBay,...
Most films find an audience through a few well-chosen ads in newspapers and a handful of reviews. Not Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press's Oscar-nominated documentary about the 84-year-old New York Times fashion photographer. UK distributor Dogwoof made a conscious decision to target fashion bloggers, creating buzz about the film. About 50 of these so-called fashion "influencers" blogged about the film, creating what Dogwoof's chief executive, Andy Whittaker, calls "the perfect social storm". Welcome to marketing documentaries in the age of the internet.
"One of the key tricks is identifying influencers and tapping into them and co-ordinating that into the campaign," says Whittaker. "The first people we wanted to reach were those who understood the importance of Bill Cunningham."
Whittaker, who founded the independent distribution label eight years ago, used to be an executive at eBay,...
- 6/10/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
A new documentary looks into the global financial meltdown, and also proves to be a good companion piece to Inside Job...
Any mention of the global financial crisis is almost certain to trigger something of an agnostic reaction in most people. We're aware of its existence, aware that something happened involving things called subprime mortgages, aware that a lot of people lost a lot of money and that our tax pounds flooded to the aid of the very institutions that were to blame for the whole sorry affair.
This said, unless you or someone close to you was unfortunate enough to be caught in the fallout, for most people, it still seems to be something abstract that happened to other people somewhere far away, be that in either geographic or socioeconomic terms. The ‘worst economic disaster since The Great Depression' came and went as we were all busy moaning about...
Any mention of the global financial crisis is almost certain to trigger something of an agnostic reaction in most people. We're aware of its existence, aware that something happened involving things called subprime mortgages, aware that a lot of people lost a lot of money and that our tax pounds flooded to the aid of the very institutions that were to blame for the whole sorry affair.
This said, unless you or someone close to you was unfortunate enough to be caught in the fallout, for most people, it still seems to be something abstract that happened to other people somewhere far away, be that in either geographic or socioeconomic terms. The ‘worst economic disaster since The Great Depression' came and went as we were all busy moaning about...
- 6/10/2011
- Den of Geek
X-Men: First Class (12A)
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
- 6/3/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Documentary film–maker David Sington explains why chargers are the bane of his life
What's your favourite piece of technology, and how has it improved your life?
I suppose if we're talking technology and not product then it's the light-sensitive chip, which is the key thing that allows digital photography and film-making. It's the key thing that's brought the documentary back to the big screen. It's provided an affordable route to producing pictures of a high-enough definition for cinemas.
When was the last time you used it, and what for?
It was actually doing the DVD extras for my film The Flaw – which, oddly enough, was an interview with me.
What additional features would you add if you could?
I think that what's really needed is for the technology to settle down to a universal format, or codec. The systems are very proprietary so getting the pictures off the camera...
What's your favourite piece of technology, and how has it improved your life?
I suppose if we're talking technology and not product then it's the light-sensitive chip, which is the key thing that allows digital photography and film-making. It's the key thing that's brought the documentary back to the big screen. It's provided an affordable route to producing pictures of a high-enough definition for cinemas.
When was the last time you used it, and what for?
It was actually doing the DVD extras for my film The Flaw – which, oddly enough, was an interview with me.
What additional features would you add if you could?
I think that what's really needed is for the technology to settle down to a universal format, or codec. The systems are very proprietary so getting the pictures off the camera...
- 6/3/2011
- by Stuart O'Connor
- The Guardian - Film News
Films such as Inside Job and Super Size Me are compelling but preach to the converted. What happens when the lights go up?
As the credits roll on The Flaw, a new documentary on the financial crisis, and we learn the fates of the various interviewees, it's Andrew Luan, a former mortgage bond trader for Deutsche Bank, who has emerged from the meltdown best. Now a guide who provides walking tours (and handy narrative threads for documentary filmmakers) through post-credit crunch Wall Street, his business has been on the up since 2008. The Flaw – from In the Shadow of the Moon director David Sington – joins Inside Job and Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story in cinema's growing oeuvre of rueful postmortems on the global financial system. But watching them, I sometimes wonder if their function is just like Luan's Wall Street walkabout: vicariously entertaining us with the spectacle of our own decline.
As the credits roll on The Flaw, a new documentary on the financial crisis, and we learn the fates of the various interviewees, it's Andrew Luan, a former mortgage bond trader for Deutsche Bank, who has emerged from the meltdown best. Now a guide who provides walking tours (and handy narrative threads for documentary filmmakers) through post-credit crunch Wall Street, his business has been on the up since 2008. The Flaw – from In the Shadow of the Moon director David Sington – joins Inside Job and Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story in cinema's growing oeuvre of rueful postmortems on the global financial system. But watching them, I sometimes wonder if their function is just like Luan's Wall Street walkabout: vicariously entertaining us with the spectacle of our own decline.
- 6/3/2011
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
In the informative The Flaw David Sington takes us through the origins of the 2008 banking fiasco, but the documentary isn't utterly clear on what it understands capitalism's "flaw" to be
British film-maker David Sington has made a pretty good documentary about the banking catastrophe in The Flaw, though it is not nearly as good as Charles Ferguson's Oscar-winning Inside Job: it has less journalistic bite and is more lenient with the white-collar players involved. Sington takes us through the origins of the 2008 fiasco and how the problem was the boom in house mortgages and bank securities based on those mortgages. He does a good job of emphasising that much of this activity was based on refinancing ie borrowing more and more money on an existing mortgaged property, often to cover other debts. So it was not extending the dream of home ownership. The film's title comes from Federal...
British film-maker David Sington has made a pretty good documentary about the banking catastrophe in The Flaw, though it is not nearly as good as Charles Ferguson's Oscar-winning Inside Job: it has less journalistic bite and is more lenient with the white-collar players involved. Sington takes us through the origins of the 2008 fiasco and how the problem was the boom in house mortgages and bank securities based on those mortgages. He does a good job of emphasising that much of this activity was based on refinancing ie borrowing more and more money on an existing mortgaged property, often to cover other debts. So it was not extending the dream of home ownership. The film's title comes from Federal...
- 6/2/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
New Video has acquired rights to Sundance doc "The Flaw," directed by British filmmaker David Sington ("In The Shadow of the Moon"). It will be released under New Video's Docurama Films brand later this year. Full release below: New Video Acquires David Sington'S 2011 Sundance Entry, "The Flaw," For Multi-platform Release New York, NY - January 27, 2011 - New Video, a leading independent film and TV distributor, announced today ...
- 1/28/2011
- Indiewire
Exclusive: New Video has made the latest Sundance film deal, acquiring the David Sington-directed financial crisis documentary The Flaw. New Video plans a limited theatrical run and then release on DVD, VOD and digital platforms. Sington's documentary tackles the financial meltdown, and gets its title from U.S. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's acknowledgment that he'd discovered a flaw in his model of how the world worked. Sington, the British filmmaker who previously made In the Shadow of the Moon, breaks down in detail the reasons behind the 2008 crisis, from credit default swaps to greed and avarice. The film was produced by Christopher Hird (The End of the Line), Luke Johnson and Stephen Lambert of Studio Lambert. The film debuted last Friday. "The Flaw delves into one of society's most pressing concerns with precision and intelligence," New Video acquisitions president Mark Kashden said. "We wanted to be sure David's...
- 1/28/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
For those in the documentary world, selection by Sundance represents a peak of achievement. Here the limelight falls as equally upon the non-fiction set as it does on their hipper dramatic cousins, especially because it’s often easier to wait-list a documentary ticket. After a late-night traipsing from The Details’s after party at the Bing Bar to Gun Hill Road’s intimate fête at Park City’s Asian-fusion restaurant Shabu, I caught a morning viewing of documentaries to counter excessive ski-slope frivolity: Eugene Jarecki’s profile of the iconic 40th president in Reagan, and David Sington’s examination of the financial crisis, The Flaw. Both filmmakers are familiar Sundance faces (Jarecki for Why We Fight and Sington for In the Shadow of the Moon), and watching their two docs together proved a thought-provoking pairing.
- 1/27/2011
- Vanity Fair
Taking its title from Alan Greenspan's 2008 Congressional testimony in which he confessed to a "flaw" in his free-market ideology, David Sington's new documentary addresses the root causes of the American financial crisis. But unlike Charles Ferguson's microscopic study of the collapse "Inside Job," Sington takes the macro approach, examining historical trends and concepts such as asset bubbles and income distribution throughout the 20th century.
- 1/18/2011
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
"The Flaw" makes one thing clear from the outset - there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007. Within minutes, experts had identified plenty of culprits: market failure, a credit culture, a wage crisis, a debt crisis, and upward redistribution of income. That's economic shorthand for fasten your seatbelt. David Sington's rigorously constructed analysis of the meltdown, told entirely by economists, brokers, bankers, and borrowers, plays like ...
- 1/3/2011
- indieWIRE - People
"The Flaw" makes one thing clear from the outset - there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007. Within minutes, experts had identified plenty of culprits: market failure, a credit culture, a wage crisis, a debt crisis, and upward redistribution of income. That's economic shorthand for fasten your seatbelt. David Sington's rigorously constructed analysis of the meltdown, told entirely by economists, brokers, bankers, and borrowers, plays like ...
- 1/3/2011
- indieWIRE - People
"The Flaw" makes one thing clear from the outset - there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007. Within minutes, experts had identified plenty of culprits: market failure, a credit culture, a wage crisis, a debt crisis, and upward redistribution of income. That's economic shorthand for fasten your seatbelt. David Sington's rigorously constructed analysis of the meltdown, told entirely by economists, brokers, bankers, and borrowers, plays like ...
- 1/3/2011
- Indiewire
"The Flaw" makes one thing clear from the outset - there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007. Within minutes, experts had identified plenty of culprits: market failure, a credit culture, a wage crisis, a debt crisis, and upward redistribution of income. That's economic shorthand for fasten your seatbelt. David Sington's rigorously constructed analysis of the meltdown, told entirely by economists, brokers, bankers, and borrowers, plays like ...
- 12/28/2010
- indieWIRE - People
"The Flaw" makes one thing clear from the outset - there was nothing simple about the U.S. financial collapse of 2007. Within minutes, experts had identified plenty of culprits: market failure, a credit culture, a wage crisis, a debt crisis, and upward redistribution of income. That's economic shorthand for fasten your seatbelt. David Sington's rigorously constructed analysis of the meltdown, told entirely by economists, brokers, bankers, and borrowers, plays like ...
- 12/28/2010
- indieWIRE - People
Some of the movers and shakers in British film discuss the Awards, what they love about British films and which film, if any, they would make into a musical. t5m asked director of In The Shadow Of The Moon, David Sington, what is so important about British film? 'Film is such an important medium and it's a way for a society to look at itself and tell stories about itself and understand itself and if we're not making films about Britain, then we're missing out.' No arguments there and his fellow director, Neil Marshall, adds that it's just nice to have a lifeline of variety amongst the sea of American blockbusters on the market. In essence, British film is quintessentially refreshing. When it come to the big question - what makes a great film? - Sington is philosophical in his approach. 'It's the same ingredients that it's been...
- 10/1/2008
- by t5m
- t5m.com
- In recent years I've often criticized the Academy Awards for not having the foresight and fortitude to include docu films that have not only completely reinvigorated the genre, but have pushed the medium to new possible artistic and narrative terrains. This year's short list of 15 titles only further confirms that the Academy has tremendous difficulty in acknowledging the wider scope of films that merit year-end salutations. The formula for the docu-filmmaking and docu movie-going experience has significantly changed since Y2K, yet the most prestigious award film ceremony seems to come up short when it comes to new trends in storytelling and filmmaking. Today IndieWIRE reports Aj Schnack will collaborate with online independent film distributor IndiePix to launch a new nonfiction filmmaking awards event, set for March 18, 2008 at IFC Center in New York City. Below you find a Top 15 list of films that will be nominated for eight categories,
- 1/7/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
This review was written for the theatrical release of "In the Shadow of the Moon".The really surprising thing is that no one has made this film before. Thank goodness someone finally did, for the dozen men it celebrates -- the only human beings to have stood on an alien world -- won't be with us forever.
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
TORONTO -- British filmmaker David Sington's In the Shadow of the Moon, about the astronauts in the Apollo space program, will open this year's Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 19, organizers said Tuesday.
The British documentary, which looks at nine men who walked on the moon, premiered at Sundance and is among a host of films exploring contemporary America booked for Toronto.
Other titles fitting the theme include the international premiere of Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen's USA vs Al-Arian, about the jailed activist and pro-Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian; U.S. filmmaker Jennifer Venditti's Billy the Kid, a portrait of a troubled 15-year-old boy in small-town Maine; and fellow U.S. filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky Hear and Now, which follows her deaf parents, Paul and Sally Taylor, going through risky implant surgery as elderly patients.
Also Toronto-bound is a world premiere for British filmmaker Oliver Hodge's Garbage Warrior, a film about a visionary American architect who creates eco-friendly homes from refuse.
"Documentaries that agitate and educate are a big part of the mix, but we also have a range of other films from love stories to the playful," Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel said before outlining his lineup at a Toronto press conference.
The British documentary, which looks at nine men who walked on the moon, premiered at Sundance and is among a host of films exploring contemporary America booked for Toronto.
Other titles fitting the theme include the international premiere of Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen's USA vs Al-Arian, about the jailed activist and pro-Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian; U.S. filmmaker Jennifer Venditti's Billy the Kid, a portrait of a troubled 15-year-old boy in small-town Maine; and fellow U.S. filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky Hear and Now, which follows her deaf parents, Paul and Sally Taylor, going through risky implant surgery as elderly patients.
Also Toronto-bound is a world premiere for British filmmaker Oliver Hodge's Garbage Warrior, a film about a visionary American architect who creates eco-friendly homes from refuse.
"Documentaries that agitate and educate are a big part of the mix, but we also have a range of other films from love stories to the playful," Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel said before outlining his lineup at a Toronto press conference.
- 3/21/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- The Sundance Film Festival grand jury honored Christopher Zalla's illegal immigration drama Padre Nuestro and Jason Kohn's Brazilian corruption documentary Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) with its top prizes Saturday night.
Some features seemed to justify their high sales prices with popular appeal. James C. Strouse's family drama Grace Is Gone took home the Audience Award: Dramatic, while David Sington's Apollo program chronicle In The Shadow Of The Moon won the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary. They sold for $4 million to Weinstein Co. for worldwide rights and $2.5 million to $3 million to ThinkFilm for North American rights (excluding TV), respectively. Sington noted onstage that Saturday was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 1 incident that killed three astronauts.
Two films won two awards each. Grace is Gone landed 29-year-old writer Strouse the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Heloisa Passos was honored for documentary excellence in cinematography for Manda Bala.
"I've been a nervous wreck the entire time I've been here," said Manda Bala director Kohn after delivering an exuberant, four-letter-word-filled speech at the awards and leaving a message for his onetime boss, documentary director Errol Morris. A rep at his sales agent Cinetic Media, which hasn't yet sold the film, warned him it would be a "rollercoaster" week, with people paying attention, then not. "My self worth has gone up and down. It's definitely up now," he said.
Two-time Grace winner Strouse said after the awards that "to be honest, this was the one I was hoping for." The first-time helmer is currently looking at different projects and trying to get more of his fiction published, but a friend is trying to pull him down to Earth. "He told me 'You need to come back home. Sundance isn't the center of the world, '" he laughed.
Some features seemed to justify their high sales prices with popular appeal. James C. Strouse's family drama Grace Is Gone took home the Audience Award: Dramatic, while David Sington's Apollo program chronicle In The Shadow Of The Moon won the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary. They sold for $4 million to Weinstein Co. for worldwide rights and $2.5 million to $3 million to ThinkFilm for North American rights (excluding TV), respectively. Sington noted onstage that Saturday was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 1 incident that killed three astronauts.
Two films won two awards each. Grace is Gone landed 29-year-old writer Strouse the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Heloisa Passos was honored for documentary excellence in cinematography for Manda Bala.
"I've been a nervous wreck the entire time I've been here," said Manda Bala director Kohn after delivering an exuberant, four-letter-word-filled speech at the awards and leaving a message for his onetime boss, documentary director Errol Morris. A rep at his sales agent Cinetic Media, which hasn't yet sold the film, warned him it would be a "rollercoaster" week, with people paying attention, then not. "My self worth has gone up and down. It's definitely up now," he said.
Two-time Grace winner Strouse said after the awards that "to be honest, this was the one I was hoping for." The first-time helmer is currently looking at different projects and trying to get more of his fiction published, but a friend is trying to pull him down to Earth. "He told me 'You need to come back home. Sundance isn't the center of the world, '" he laughed.
- 1/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Space missions aren't what they once were - back during the Apollo missions, an astronaut for Nasa was up there with cops and firemen as prime choices of "what I want to be when I grow up" professions for little boys. Th!NKFilm acquired all North American rights to In the Shadow of the Moon. Preeming in the World docu comp at Sundance, David Sington uses never-before-seen footage and images that were taken between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. “In the Shadow of the Moon” brings together for the first, and very possibly the last, time surviving crew members from every single Apollo mission which flew to the Moon, and allows them to tell their story in their own words. This riveting first-hand testimony is interwoven with visually
- 1/23/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
PARK CITY -- ThinkFilm acquired all North American rights except for TV to David Sington's Apollo space mission docu In The Shadow of the Moon for around $2 million. The film will be released in conjunction with Discovery Films in 2007, with a TV premiere on cable's Discovery Channel to follow.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- ThinkFilm acquired all North American rights except for TV to David Sington's Apollo space mission docu In The Shadow of the Moon for around $2 million. The film will be released in conjunction with Discovery Films in 2007, with a TV premiere on cable's Discovery Channel to follow.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
- 1/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Quick Links Complete Film Listing: Premieres: Dramatic Comp: Docu Comp: World Dramatic Comp: Spectrum: Park City at Midnight: New Frontier: Short Film Programs January 18 to 28, 2007 Counting Down: updateCountdownClock('January 18, 2007'); ⢠"Acidente" (Brazil), directed by Cao Guimaraes and Pablo Lobato, an experimental, poetic expression of everyday life culled from images of 20 cities in Menas Gerais, Brazil. ⢠"Bajo Juarez, The City Is Devouring Its Daughters" (Mexico), directed by Alejandra Sanchez, an examination of the societal corruption backdropping the many cases of sexual abuse and murders of women in a Mexican industrial border town. ⢠"Cocalero" (Bolivia), directed by Alejandro Landes, which follows the campaign of Aymaran Indian Evo Morales to becomed the first indigenous president of Bolivia. World premiere. ⢠"Comrades In Dreams" (Germany), directed by Uli Gaulke, a look at four people in different parts of the world who bring cinema to locals. ⢠"Crossing the Line" (U.
- 1/18/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.