Exclusive: Joel ‘Kachi Benson (Madu) has been tapped to direct the documentary The Harvest, on Nigeria’s infamous Boko Haram Kidnappings of 2014, for Hunting Lane and Impact Partners. A first-look still can be found above.
Following four Nigerian mothers as they fight to educate their children in the wake of tragedy, the film marks the 10th anniversary of terrorist organization Boko Haram’s attack and abduction of 276 young girls from a school in the village of Chibok.
Joel ‘Kachi Benson
Nigerian filmmaker Benson came to helm the film after tackling the aftermath of the attacks with previous work including 2019’s Daughters of Chibok, a VR experience he wrote and produced which won the Lion for Best Immersive Story at the 76th Venice Film Festival.
“I have spent the last five years with the mothers and survivors of the Chibok kidnappings,” the filmmaker told Deadline. “I’ve listened to their stories,...
Following four Nigerian mothers as they fight to educate their children in the wake of tragedy, the film marks the 10th anniversary of terrorist organization Boko Haram’s attack and abduction of 276 young girls from a school in the village of Chibok.
Joel ‘Kachi Benson
Nigerian filmmaker Benson came to helm the film after tackling the aftermath of the attacks with previous work including 2019’s Daughters of Chibok, a VR experience he wrote and produced which won the Lion for Best Immersive Story at the 76th Venice Film Festival.
“I have spent the last five years with the mothers and survivors of the Chibok kidnappings,” the filmmaker told Deadline. “I’ve listened to their stories,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Distribution platform Gathr and documentary distribution agency Roco Films have teamed to create Roco Voices, a new speakers bureau.
Roco Voices, launching Nov. 14, will offer live speaking engagements with filmmakers and subject matter experts from Roco Film’s docu film catalog. The initial cohort of filmmakers to debut with Roco Voices include Academy Award winners and nominees Oliver Stone (“Nuclear Now”), Ross Kauffman (“Born Into Brothels”), Justine Shapiro (“Promises”), Sam Green (“The Weather Underground”), David France (“How to Survive a Plague”), Geralyn Dreyfous (“The Square”), and Roger Weisberg (“Sound and Fury”). (All Roco clients have the opportunity to opt-in.)
Powering Roco Voices is Gathr’s talent booking technology. (The company started beta-testing earlier this year.) The collaboration is a one-stop shop for Roco Films’ customers to search, discover, negotiate, and book filmmakers, doc talent and subject matter experts while also licensing impact-driven and educational film screenings.
“The shared experience of...
Roco Voices, launching Nov. 14, will offer live speaking engagements with filmmakers and subject matter experts from Roco Film’s docu film catalog. The initial cohort of filmmakers to debut with Roco Voices include Academy Award winners and nominees Oliver Stone (“Nuclear Now”), Ross Kauffman (“Born Into Brothels”), Justine Shapiro (“Promises”), Sam Green (“The Weather Underground”), David France (“How to Survive a Plague”), Geralyn Dreyfous (“The Square”), and Roger Weisberg (“Sound and Fury”). (All Roco clients have the opportunity to opt-in.)
Powering Roco Voices is Gathr’s talent booking technology. (The company started beta-testing earlier this year.) The collaboration is a one-stop shop for Roco Films’ customers to search, discover, negotiate, and book filmmakers, doc talent and subject matter experts while also licensing impact-driven and educational film screenings.
“The shared experience of...
- 11/14/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
“Last Call” wasn’t interested in telling just a story of anti-queer violence and trauma — which is a tricky needle to thread when you’re telling a true crime story of a serial killer targeting LGBTQ men in the greater New York area.
Centered on serial killer Richard Rogers, HBO’s “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” is based on Elon Green’s 2021 nonfiction account “Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York” and unflinchingly documents the crimes and circumstances surrounding the murders of four queer men in the 1990s. But it was the hope of executive producer Howard Gertler (Oscar nominee for “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and “How to Survive a Plague”) and director Anthony Caronna (“Susanne Bartsch: On Top”) to counterbalance that flashpoint of violence and fear with a tribute to the community’s joy and beauty.
Centered on serial killer Richard Rogers, HBO’s “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” is based on Elon Green’s 2021 nonfiction account “Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York” and unflinchingly documents the crimes and circumstances surrounding the murders of four queer men in the 1990s. But it was the hope of executive producer Howard Gertler (Oscar nominee for “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and “How to Survive a Plague”) and director Anthony Caronna (“Susanne Bartsch: On Top”) to counterbalance that flashpoint of violence and fear with a tribute to the community’s joy and beauty.
- 7/24/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
When director Anthony Caronna was pitched with making a series out of Elon Green’s 2021 book “Last Call,” about a string of queer-targeted murders in 1990’s Manhattan, he had some reservations.
“I loved the book,” said Caronna. “But I passed on the project because I wasn’t interested at that time in doing true crime. My biggest concern was re-victimizing the community and possibly working against the community in a way.”
True crime media is a true mixed bag. Each documentary, docuseries or podcast sits somewhere on a spectrum of educational and entertaining; while the latter might sound like a jarring way to describe the storytelling of real-life criminals and real-life victims, it’s not incorrect to say that some audiences find sensationalized crime stories enticing.
So, before Caronna ended up taking on the pitch and directing HBO’s four-part docuseries “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York,...
“I loved the book,” said Caronna. “But I passed on the project because I wasn’t interested at that time in doing true crime. My biggest concern was re-victimizing the community and possibly working against the community in a way.”
True crime media is a true mixed bag. Each documentary, docuseries or podcast sits somewhere on a spectrum of educational and entertaining; while the latter might sound like a jarring way to describe the storytelling of real-life criminals and real-life victims, it’s not incorrect to say that some audiences find sensationalized crime stories enticing.
So, before Caronna ended up taking on the pitch and directing HBO’s four-part docuseries “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York,...
- 7/17/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
One of the most telling moments of Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, the new HBO docuseries about a serial killer who terrorized gay men in the Nineties, comes when director Anthony Caronna is interviewing a pair of retired police detectives who worked the case. The interviewer asks a pretty standard wrap-up question, something along the lines of, “Is there anything you wish I had asked?” One of the detectives replies with his own question: “Why is the emphasis on the gay part?” Well, sir, it...
- 7/9/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
The most important thing about “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” is that, within the essential act of reclamation it provides for the star, it doesn’t just write off the Hollywood icon’s life as sad. That’s a remarkable thing for a documentary in which its last 40 minutes are as harrowing a depiction of AIDS in the ’80s there’s been in a film since “How to Survive a Plague.”
Certainly, it’s infuriating and upsetting on many levels: that Hudson wasn’t allowed to fly on a commercial airliner because of his diagnosis and had to rent an Air France Boeing 747 at the cost of $250,000 to return home to Los Angeles from Paris as it became clear his experimental treatment there had failed. And the revelation that his friend Nancy Reagan even urged her husband to deny him treatment at a military hospital is beyond enraging.
Stephen Kijak...
Certainly, it’s infuriating and upsetting on many levels: that Hudson wasn’t allowed to fly on a commercial airliner because of his diagnosis and had to rent an Air France Boeing 747 at the cost of $250,000 to return home to Los Angeles from Paris as it became clear his experimental treatment there had failed. And the revelation that his friend Nancy Reagan even urged her husband to deny him treatment at a military hospital is beyond enraging.
Stephen Kijak...
- 7/4/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
HBO unveiled a trailer for “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York,” which will premiere on HBO and stream on Max Sunday, July 9.
The four-part investigative crime docuseries, which is based on Elon Green’s award-winning investigative book “Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York,” centers on a serial killer who preyed upon gay men in New York City in the early 1990s, infiltrating queer nightlife to find his victims.
Also Read:
Warner Bros. Discovery in Talks to License HBO Content to Netflix
The show dives into the prejudices and attitudes of the times and the efforts by activists, including the NYC Anti-Violence Project, to force law enforcement to recognize and protect the queer community.
“Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” is executive produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Howard Gertler (HBO’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed...
The four-part investigative crime docuseries, which is based on Elon Green’s award-winning investigative book “Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York,” centers on a serial killer who preyed upon gay men in New York City in the early 1990s, infiltrating queer nightlife to find his victims.
Also Read:
Warner Bros. Discovery in Talks to License HBO Content to Netflix
The show dives into the prejudices and attitudes of the times and the efforts by activists, including the NYC Anti-Violence Project, to force law enforcement to recognize and protect the queer community.
“Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” is executive produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Howard Gertler (HBO’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed...
- 6/28/2023
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
While Hollywood still has a long way to go in supporting queer stories and storytellers, we’re living in a relative golden age of LGBTQ cinema compared to what has come before. Netflix has not always chosen to support the LGBTQ community in their business decisions, but the streamer has played a major role in increasing the visibility of queer characters and storylines in both film and TV, and in supporting queer creators in telling stories.
As we celebrate Pride month and beyond, let’s take a look at some of the best LGBTQ movies Netflix currently has on offer. If you’re looking for a queer film to watch—satirically funny or devastatingly earnest, heart-stoppingly romantic or casually queer—try one of the many excellent and diverse options below.
Brokeback Mountain
“Brokeback Mountain,” a neo-Western film about two male cowboys who love one another in a deeply homophobic society,...
As we celebrate Pride month and beyond, let’s take a look at some of the best LGBTQ movies Netflix currently has on offer. If you’re looking for a queer film to watch—satirically funny or devastatingly earnest, heart-stoppingly romantic or casually queer—try one of the many excellent and diverse options below.
Brokeback Mountain
“Brokeback Mountain,” a neo-Western film about two male cowboys who love one another in a deeply homophobic society,...
- 6/17/2023
- by Kayti Burt
- The Wrap
Arianna Bocco, IFC Films President, is out at the distributor, Deadline has confirmed.
The shocking news to the NYC indie world comes within days after the 17-year IFC vet was feted at the New York Women in Film & Television (Nywift)’s flagship fundraising event, the annual Muse Awards gala.
Bocco will be replaced in the interim by IFC Head of Acquisitions Scott Shooman. The Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group and CBS Films vet joined last year. The search for a new long-term replacement is underway. Talk about a revolving door at IFC.
We’re still sorting through what went down here. In the meantime, Bocco posted the following statement on social media, “I have big news to share! After much thought, I have stepped down from my post as President of IFC Films to pursue other opportunities. I’m so proud of the IFC Films team I’ve worked...
The shocking news to the NYC indie world comes within days after the 17-year IFC vet was feted at the New York Women in Film & Television (Nywift)’s flagship fundraising event, the annual Muse Awards gala.
Bocco will be replaced in the interim by IFC Head of Acquisitions Scott Shooman. The Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group and CBS Films vet joined last year. The search for a new long-term replacement is underway. Talk about a revolving door at IFC.
We’re still sorting through what went down here. In the meantime, Bocco posted the following statement on social media, “I have big news to share! After much thought, I have stepped down from my post as President of IFC Films to pursue other opportunities. I’m so proud of the IFC Films team I’ve worked...
- 3/31/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Anonymous Content and Impact Partners have teamed to produce a new doc on a China-based “mistress dispeller,” to be directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Elizabeth Lo (Stray). Plans for a scripted adaptation of the documentary are also in the works.
The as-yet-untitled feature watches as the mistress dispeller is hired by couples in crisis to break up affairs and save their marriages by any means necessary. Shifting perspectives between husband, wife and mistress, the film is billed as a strikingly intimate story of love and betrayal, as well as a potent exploration of how class, capital and culture collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
The project produced in association with Cmp is being co-financed by Anonymous Content, Impact Partners and Cmp, having been developed in association with The Concordia Fellowship. Dawn Olmstead, Jessica Grimshaw and Nick Shumaker will exec produce on behalf of Anonymous Content, alongside Jenny Raskin,...
The as-yet-untitled feature watches as the mistress dispeller is hired by couples in crisis to break up affairs and save their marriages by any means necessary. Shifting perspectives between husband, wife and mistress, the film is billed as a strikingly intimate story of love and betrayal, as well as a potent exploration of how class, capital and culture collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
The project produced in association with Cmp is being co-financed by Anonymous Content, Impact Partners and Cmp, having been developed in association with The Concordia Fellowship. Dawn Olmstead, Jessica Grimshaw and Nick Shumaker will exec produce on behalf of Anonymous Content, alongside Jenny Raskin,...
- 9/14/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France has signed with CAA.
The New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist most recently directed the HBO documentary How to Survive a Pandemic, which he also wrote. The film charts the development and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, in the U.S. and abroad.
France’s directorial debut, How to Survive a Plague, about AIDS activist group Act Up, was nominated for an Oscar, two Emmys, and a Directors Guild Award. The former Newsweek senior editor went from print journalist to award-winning filmmaker with a documentary that was eventually followed by the book How to Survive a Plague.
France’s credits include The Death & Life of Marsha P. Johnson and Welcome to Chechnya, which earned a Peabody Award for best documentary as the film portrayed a courageous effort to save Chechnya’s queer community from state-sanctioned persecution.
His...
Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France has signed with CAA.
The New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist most recently directed the HBO documentary How to Survive a Pandemic, which he also wrote. The film charts the development and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, in the U.S. and abroad.
France’s directorial debut, How to Survive a Plague, about AIDS activist group Act Up, was nominated for an Oscar, two Emmys, and a Directors Guild Award. The former Newsweek senior editor went from print journalist to award-winning filmmaker with a documentary that was eventually followed by the book How to Survive a Plague.
France’s credits include The Death & Life of Marsha P. Johnson and Welcome to Chechnya, which earned a Peabody Award for best documentary as the film portrayed a courageous effort to save Chechnya’s queer community from state-sanctioned persecution.
His...
- 8/2/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Two years on from Welcome to Chechnya, David France returns with another rip-roaring take on urgent real-world events with How To Survive A Pandemic, an on-the-ground, in-the-rooms account of the first two years of Covid-19 and the race to produce a vaccine; or what France refers to as our “route out.” With dedicated coverage (he began shooting as soon as two weeks into lockdown) and remarkable insider sources, France has constructed a film he hopes will prove definitive of its time in years to come.
It’s as rigorous as it is selective. France sets a clear plan of action: to examine the greatest global, communal, medical achievement ever. And he sticks to it. It’s not on the same level as Chechnya and all that film’s radical effects and gripping, heart-wrenching urgency, but France (who spent years in long-form reporting) has a knack for bringing real propulsion and emotion to his stories.
It’s as rigorous as it is selective. France sets a clear plan of action: to examine the greatest global, communal, medical achievement ever. And he sticks to it. It’s not on the same level as Chechnya and all that film’s radical effects and gripping, heart-wrenching urgency, but France (who spent years in long-form reporting) has a knack for bringing real propulsion and emotion to his stories.
- 3/28/2022
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
From the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker David France (“How to Survive a Plague”) could sense the scale of the threat looming on the horizon. A long-time health reporter who has spent decades documenting the battle against HIV and AIDS, he also knew that it would be up to science to lead the world from the brink of an unprecedented human catastrophe.
The race to develop and rollout a Covid-19 vaccine has been the defining story of recent memory, and it was the director’s need to document “the great unseen work” performed in laboratories across the world that led to his latest feature, “How to Survive a Pandemic.” “This is the largest scientific undertaking of our lifetimes,” France tells Variety, “and it deserved to be chronicled.”
“How to Survive a Pandemic,” which world premieres this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, is a kaleidoscopic portrait...
The race to develop and rollout a Covid-19 vaccine has been the defining story of recent memory, and it was the director’s need to document “the great unseen work” performed in laboratories across the world that led to his latest feature, “How to Survive a Pandemic.” “This is the largest scientific undertaking of our lifetimes,” France tells Variety, “and it deserved to be chronicled.”
“How to Survive a Pandemic,” which world premieres this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, is a kaleidoscopic portrait...
- 3/11/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Under different circumstances, the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival might have been a more celebratory affair, with coronavirus restrictions gradually loosening across Greece and the country’s second city hosting an in-person edition of a festival that was among the world’s first to go virtual at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
But with the humanitarian toll rising in Ukraine, as Russia continues its relentless assault of its Eastern European neighbor, festival director Orestis Andreadakis offered a sobering reflection on the eve of opening night on war, cinema and the need for solidarity.
“It’s shocking what is happening,” Andreadakis told Variety, likening the threat to the one faced by Europe during World War II. “After the war, we had this slogan: Never again. Never again to war. Never again to Holocaust. Never again to horror. Every time we repeated this phrase, every time we wrote it on the walls,...
But with the humanitarian toll rising in Ukraine, as Russia continues its relentless assault of its Eastern European neighbor, festival director Orestis Andreadakis offered a sobering reflection on the eve of opening night on war, cinema and the need for solidarity.
“It’s shocking what is happening,” Andreadakis told Variety, likening the threat to the one faced by Europe during World War II. “After the war, we had this slogan: Never again. Never again to war. Never again to Holocaust. Never again to horror. Every time we repeated this phrase, every time we wrote it on the walls,...
- 3/10/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
True/False Festival Returns In-Person With Annual Parade and Spirited Response to Docus About Russia
True/False, the preeminent non-fiction festival, returned as an in-person event Thursday, drawing documentary notables and fans of their work to a Missouri college town for the first lineup under the artistic direction of Chloe Trayner.
There were 31 features and 19 short non-fiction films at the fest, which had more of an international tilt than usual and concludes March 6. Eight features, including “Fire of Love,” “I Didn’t See You There” and “The Territory,” had previously debuted virtually at Sundance in January, but screened for the first time for public audiences at True/False.
Their respective directors — Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”) Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) – were among the filmmakers making the trek to Columbia for the 19th edition of True/False. Fellow Sundance 2022 doc directors including Isabel Castro (“Mija”) and Joe Hunting (“We Met in Virtual Reality”) also attended.
“Sundance was amazing, but True...
There were 31 features and 19 short non-fiction films at the fest, which had more of an international tilt than usual and concludes March 6. Eight features, including “Fire of Love,” “I Didn’t See You There” and “The Territory,” had previously debuted virtually at Sundance in January, but screened for the first time for public audiences at True/False.
Their respective directors — Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”) Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) – were among the filmmakers making the trek to Columbia for the 19th edition of True/False. Fellow Sundance 2022 doc directors including Isabel Castro (“Mija”) and Joe Hunting (“We Met in Virtual Reality”) also attended.
“Sundance was amazing, but True...
- 3/6/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
A new film about the development, regulation and roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines from “How to Survive a Plague” director David France has scored a raft of international sales.
Documentary specialists Dogwoof have sold the film — which will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2022 — into Sky in the U.K., Germany and Italy; Nrk for Norway; Dr for Denmark; Svt for Sweden; Channel 8 and YesDocu for Israel; and HBO and HBO Max in Latin America.
Filming on the documentary, which is still untitled, began in April 2020 and wrapped in October. The project is now in post-production.
“Covid-19 has proved one of the most challenging and deadly diseases for vaccine scientists,” said France in a statement. “From the first effective vaccine to the current scramble to respond to an ever-changing virus, to their politically perilous efforts reaching patients in the far corners of the earth, we have been embedded in...
Documentary specialists Dogwoof have sold the film — which will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2022 — into Sky in the U.K., Germany and Italy; Nrk for Norway; Dr for Denmark; Svt for Sweden; Channel 8 and YesDocu for Israel; and HBO and HBO Max in Latin America.
Filming on the documentary, which is still untitled, began in April 2020 and wrapped in October. The project is now in post-production.
“Covid-19 has proved one of the most challenging and deadly diseases for vaccine scientists,” said France in a statement. “From the first effective vaccine to the current scramble to respond to an ever-changing virus, to their politically perilous efforts reaching patients in the far corners of the earth, we have been embedded in...
- 10/21/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
“There’s no way you can chronicle and document a genocide without knowing that you’re going to suffer,” declares David France about experience of making “Welcome to Chechnya.” The third in what the Oscar-nominated director calls a trilogy of queer activism, it documents the efforts of a group of activists as they help queer citizens of Chechnya escape a state-sanctioned purge of members of the LGBTQ community. The film premiered in 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival before airing on HBO. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
France became aware of the situation in Chechnya after reading a report by a Russian independent newspaper in 2017. Despite the clear evidence of what he calls “a liquidation campaign like the kind we haven’t seen since Hitler,” France argues that there’s a more significant reason for the lack of a worldwide response to the crisis. “I think that it failed to capture the attention,...
France became aware of the situation in Chechnya after reading a report by a Russian independent newspaper in 2017. Despite the clear evidence of what he calls “a liquidation campaign like the kind we haven’t seen since Hitler,” France argues that there’s a more significant reason for the lack of a worldwide response to the crisis. “I think that it failed to capture the attention,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Tony Ruiz
- Gold Derby
Almost inevitably, Hollywood will help shape the cultural memory of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But how?
Several quarantine films have already come out, but they haven’t quite hit the mark. They emphasize social isolation, while foregrounding their production constraints, or delve into disaster tropes, like the much-panned “Songbird.”
It will take some time — and the pandemic will have to recede — before anyone can see it clearly.
Joshua Loomis, author of “Epidemics: The Impact of Germs and Their Power over Humanity,” argues the pandemic will be memorialized much the way the polio outbreaks of the 1930s through the 1950s are remembered.
“If you look at artistic production, it was really centered around the heroes of the story,” Loomis says. “It focused on how we moved on and overcame. There were books and movies about Jonas Salk and Fdr. Celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra supported the March of Dimes.
But how?
Several quarantine films have already come out, but they haven’t quite hit the mark. They emphasize social isolation, while foregrounding their production constraints, or delve into disaster tropes, like the much-panned “Songbird.”
It will take some time — and the pandemic will have to recede — before anyone can see it clearly.
Joshua Loomis, author of “Epidemics: The Impact of Germs and Their Power over Humanity,” argues the pandemic will be memorialized much the way the polio outbreaks of the 1930s through the 1950s are remembered.
“If you look at artistic production, it was really centered around the heroes of the story,” Loomis says. “It focused on how we moved on and overcame. There were books and movies about Jonas Salk and Fdr. Celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra supported the March of Dimes.
- 3/18/2021
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
For LGBTQ people in Chechnya, life has become a nightmare.
The Russian republic has never been very hospitable to gays, but in 2017 the Chechen government launched an outright purge against perceived members of the LGBTQ community.
“People in Chechnya who are suspected of being lesbian, gay or bisexual, are facing a ‘new wave of persecution’ following a spate of killings involving torture, and other rights abuses,” a group of Un human rights experts wrote in 2019.
Since then the situation has only worsened, as witnessed in the Oscar-shortlisted documentary Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France. The film contains first-hand accounts from torture survivors who were spirited to safety through a clandestine “rainbow railroad” operated by the Russian LGBT Network.
“We see irrefutable evidence that it is a government-controlled genocide,” France tells Deadline, “and that’s something that we haven’t seen since Hitler against the LGBTQ community—this belief that...
The Russian republic has never been very hospitable to gays, but in 2017 the Chechen government launched an outright purge against perceived members of the LGBTQ community.
“People in Chechnya who are suspected of being lesbian, gay or bisexual, are facing a ‘new wave of persecution’ following a spate of killings involving torture, and other rights abuses,” a group of Un human rights experts wrote in 2019.
Since then the situation has only worsened, as witnessed in the Oscar-shortlisted documentary Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France. The film contains first-hand accounts from torture survivors who were spirited to safety through a clandestine “rainbow railroad” operated by the Russian LGBT Network.
“We see irrefutable evidence that it is a government-controlled genocide,” France tells Deadline, “and that’s something that we haven’t seen since Hitler against the LGBTQ community—this belief that...
- 3/3/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The past 12 months may have been characterised by a level of uncertainty, but one staunch consistency has been a desire for social change among sections of the international community.
Nearly a decade after Time Magazine named ‘The Protestor’ as its Person of the Year, activism remains a powerful form of grassroots expression in the digital age.
It is the stories behind these campaigns that have been the focus of documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist David France throughout his career.
France’s debut film, How to Survive a Plague, which documents the early years of the HIV epidemic and the efforts of activist groups AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (Act Up) and Treatment Action Group (Tag), garnered widespread acclaim upon its release in 2012, appearing on over 20 “Best of the Year” lists, including Time and Entertainment Weekly.
He has continued to tell Lgbtiq+ activist stories in the years since, releasing The Death and Life of Marsha P.
Nearly a decade after Time Magazine named ‘The Protestor’ as its Person of the Year, activism remains a powerful form of grassroots expression in the digital age.
It is the stories behind these campaigns that have been the focus of documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist David France throughout his career.
France’s debut film, How to Survive a Plague, which documents the early years of the HIV epidemic and the efforts of activist groups AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (Act Up) and Treatment Action Group (Tag), garnered widespread acclaim upon its release in 2012, appearing on over 20 “Best of the Year” lists, including Time and Entertainment Weekly.
He has continued to tell Lgbtiq+ activist stories in the years since, releasing The Death and Life of Marsha P.
- 3/2/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The HBO documentary about the race for a vaccine will be introduced at the EFM.
Dogwoof has secured international sales rights to the upcoming documentary from Welcome To Chechnya director David France, which it is introducing to buyers at this week’s European Film Market (EFM).
The untitled feature will explore the global race to research, develop and roll out Covid-19 vaccines in the fight against the worldwide pandemic, and will debut on HBO and HBO Max in the US in 2022.
It will mark the fourth feature from US investigate reporter and documentarian France, whose 2012 debut How To Survive A Plague...
Dogwoof has secured international sales rights to the upcoming documentary from Welcome To Chechnya director David France, which it is introducing to buyers at this week’s European Film Market (EFM).
The untitled feature will explore the global race to research, develop and roll out Covid-19 vaccines in the fight against the worldwide pandemic, and will debut on HBO and HBO Max in the US in 2022.
It will mark the fourth feature from US investigate reporter and documentarian France, whose 2012 debut How To Survive A Plague...
- 3/1/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The first documentary ever shortlisted for Best Visual Effects, “Welcome to Chechnya” beings with a disclaimer acknowledging its use of movie magic: “For their safety, people fleeing for their lives have been digitally disguised.”
The film by director David France (2012’s Oscar nominee “How to Survive a Plague”) is a chronicle of the violence against the LGBT population in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Because being exposed as gay is punishable by torture or death, 23 individuals seen in the film had their faces masked in post-production with the faces of volunteers.
Visual effects supervisor Ryan Laney (‘Ant-Man’) filmed the anonymous volunteers at a Brooklyn studio using an array of nine cameras to data capture their range of expressions. Laney then spent a year at an undisclosed location in California, doctoring the original footage.
France and Laney spoke to TheWrap about making the historic project, days after the Oscars announced that...
The film by director David France (2012’s Oscar nominee “How to Survive a Plague”) is a chronicle of the violence against the LGBT population in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Because being exposed as gay is punishable by torture or death, 23 individuals seen in the film had their faces masked in post-production with the faces of volunteers.
Visual effects supervisor Ryan Laney (‘Ant-Man’) filmed the anonymous volunteers at a Brooklyn studio using an array of nine cameras to data capture their range of expressions. Laney then spent a year at an undisclosed location in California, doctoring the original footage.
France and Laney spoke to TheWrap about making the historic project, days after the Oscars announced that...
- 2/23/2021
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
One of my favorite citations when the Oscars revealed their shortlists on February 9 was a documentary, but it wasn’t in the Best Documentary Feature category. It was for Best Visual Effects, where “Welcome to Chechnya” was one of 10 films cited by the motion picture academy. If it makes the final five when nominations are announced on March 15, it will be one of my favorite nominations in any category this year. See who else made the shortlists here.
“Welcome to Chechnya” was also shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature, but the pre-nomination for its effects is just as gratifying for how those effects contribute to the emotional impact of the film. Directed by David France, a previous Oscar nominee for “How to Survive a Plague” (2012), the film tells the story of the crisis facing LGBT Chechens, who have faced a brutal, government-backed purge.
SEE2021 Oscars shortlists in 9 categories: International Feature Film,...
“Welcome to Chechnya” was also shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature, but the pre-nomination for its effects is just as gratifying for how those effects contribute to the emotional impact of the film. Directed by David France, a previous Oscar nominee for “How to Survive a Plague” (2012), the film tells the story of the crisis facing LGBT Chechens, who have faced a brutal, government-backed purge.
SEE2021 Oscars shortlists in 9 categories: International Feature Film,...
- 2/10/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
David France understood right from the beginning that his film, “Welcome to Chechnya,” was going to be an essential tool in explaining what is currently happening to LGBTQ people in that region of Russia. “They needed a tool that they could use to carry out to the larger world and force conversations about bringing the kind of pressure that’s going to be necessary against the Chechen leadership to stop the atrocities and genocide that’s unfolding there.” France joined our recent “Meet the Experts” documentary panel.
The film has actually produced some positive results in that area. A huge accomplishment came after a screening in Washington “this past summer that brought sanctions for the first time from the U.S. government against the Chechen leadership for these crimes and sanctions also emanating from the U.K., the E.U and Canada.”
See‘Welcome to Chechnya’ documentary wins key award ahead...
The film has actually produced some positive results in that area. A huge accomplishment came after a screening in Washington “this past summer that brought sanctions for the first time from the U.S. government against the Chechen leadership for these crimes and sanctions also emanating from the U.K., the E.U and Canada.”
See‘Welcome to Chechnya’ documentary wins key award ahead...
- 1/28/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
When Bryan Fogel set out to make “The Dissident,” his intrepid and arresting exposé on the assassination of Saudi Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, he knew there were myriad security risks involved. There was the matter of Khashoggi’s killing—a brutal one, his body sawed into parts—at the hands of a Saudi murder squad, a death that US intelligence agencies have determined with a high degree of certainty was ordered by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. But there was danger lurking around every corner of this high-octane thriller, one that sent a shiver of terror down the spines of not only career journalists, but human rights activists and political dissidents globalwide. Fogel, a cinematic troubadour in the dogged pursuit of truth, was undeterred. Armed with exclusive access to Turkish criminal files, he embarked on a daring quest to unveil all facts in the...
- 1/27/2021
- by Malina Saval
- Variety Film + TV
New Indie
Slated to open in theaters right when the pandemic lockdowns started, and subsequently lost in the 2020 shuffle, Cannes award-winner “The Climb” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) is a smart comedy you might have missed. Co-writers Michael Angelo Covino (who also directed) and Kyle Marvin star as lifelong friends Mike and Kyle who may, as it turns out, be dragging each other down. A playful and occasionally ouch-y spin on the buddy comedy, this film may well be a calling card for two up-and-coming comic talents.
Also available: Mel Gibson makes a very non-traditional Santa Claus in the dark holiday comedy “Fatman” (Saban/Paramount), but Walton Goggins steals the show as the hitman hired to dispatch St. Nick; Adam Brody stars as “The Kid Detective” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), whose boozy grown-up existence doesn’t quite reflect his youthful potential; “Synchronic” (Well Go USA Entertainment) stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan...
Slated to open in theaters right when the pandemic lockdowns started, and subsequently lost in the 2020 shuffle, Cannes award-winner “The Climb” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) is a smart comedy you might have missed. Co-writers Michael Angelo Covino (who also directed) and Kyle Marvin star as lifelong friends Mike and Kyle who may, as it turns out, be dragging each other down. A playful and occasionally ouch-y spin on the buddy comedy, this film may well be a calling card for two up-and-coming comic talents.
Also available: Mel Gibson makes a very non-traditional Santa Claus in the dark holiday comedy “Fatman” (Saban/Paramount), but Walton Goggins steals the show as the hitman hired to dispatch St. Nick; Adam Brody stars as “The Kid Detective” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), whose boozy grown-up existence doesn’t quite reflect his youthful potential; “Synchronic” (Well Go USA Entertainment) stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan...
- 1/27/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Five top film documentary directors will reveal details behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Oscar contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to be published on Tuesday, January 26, at 5:00 p.m. Pt; 8:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our contributing editor Charles Bright and a group chat with Charles and all of the group together.
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Oscar contenders:
“Crip Camp” (Netflix): Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht
Newnham was a News Emmy nominee for “Collisions,” “The Revolutionary Optimists,” “The Rape of Europa” and “Sentenced Home.
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Oscar contenders:
“Crip Camp” (Netflix): Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht
Newnham was a News Emmy nominee for “Collisions,” “The Revolutionary Optimists,” “The Rape of Europa” and “Sentenced Home.
- 1/19/2021
- by Chris Beachum and Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
A version of this story about “Welcome to Chechnya” first appeared in the Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine.
The third feature from Oscar nominee David France (“How to Survive a Plague”) is a harrowing film that not only examines the ramifications of the dangers faced by the LGBT community in Chechnya but also follows a handful of refugees as they risk their lives to escape to Europe. TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde spoke to France about the documentary.
After premiering at Sundance, I’m sure you had a full year of festivals and symposia planned, before 2020 became 2020.
David France: I think we have been really extremely lucky in 2020, because we got to start at Sundance, and we were able to go to Berlin and from there to True/False and Thessaloniki. We really stretched out a much more direct connection with audiences than so many other filmmakers did this year.
The third feature from Oscar nominee David France (“How to Survive a Plague”) is a harrowing film that not only examines the ramifications of the dangers faced by the LGBT community in Chechnya but also follows a handful of refugees as they risk their lives to escape to Europe. TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde spoke to France about the documentary.
After premiering at Sundance, I’m sure you had a full year of festivals and symposia planned, before 2020 became 2020.
David France: I think we have been really extremely lucky in 2020, because we got to start at Sundance, and we were able to go to Berlin and from there to True/False and Thessaloniki. We really stretched out a much more direct connection with audiences than so many other filmmakers did this year.
- 12/22/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
AMC Networks on Wednesday said that longtime film executive Arianna Bocco has been named president of its IFC Films division. Bocco was previously EVP of Acquisitions and Production. She replaces departing IFC Films Co-President Lisa Schwartz. Schwartz had served as Co-President with Jonathan Sehring who retired at the end of 2018.
Bocco has spent more than a decade overseeing acquisitions and productions for IFC Films as well as genre label IFC Midnight.
In her new role, Bocco will continue to oversee acquisitions, production, marketing and publicity, while adding oversight of theatrical film distribution and the fast-growing IFC Films Unlimited subscription streaming service. Bocco will report to Miguel Penella, AMC Networks’ president of SVOD, who oversees the company’s new premium subscription bundled offering AMC+, which includes IFC Films Unlimited; its portfolio of subscription video on demand services Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and Umc; as well as Rlje Films. Penella reports to Ed Carroll,...
Bocco has spent more than a decade overseeing acquisitions and productions for IFC Films as well as genre label IFC Midnight.
In her new role, Bocco will continue to oversee acquisitions, production, marketing and publicity, while adding oversight of theatrical film distribution and the fast-growing IFC Films Unlimited subscription streaming service. Bocco will report to Miguel Penella, AMC Networks’ president of SVOD, who oversees the company’s new premium subscription bundled offering AMC+, which includes IFC Films Unlimited; its portfolio of subscription video on demand services Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and Umc; as well as Rlje Films. Penella reports to Ed Carroll,...
- 12/2/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
After premiering to great acclaim at Sundance in early 2020, the documentary “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen” was eventually acquired by Netflix, and it debuted on the streaming service on June 19 right in the middle of Pride Month. As the studio behind two of the last three winners of Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars (2017’s “Icarus” and 2019’s “American Factory”), could Netflix have another contender on its hands with this film?
Directed by Sam Feder, “Disclosure” examines the history of trans representation in film and television dating back to the early days of silent movies. Throughout we are shown the evolution of trans portrayals in everything from Bugs Bunny cartoons, classic television and film to contemporary series such as FX’s “Pose.” There are also looks at award-winning films and television programs that have, with time, been seen as more controversial and potentially problematic, including Oscar winners “The Silence of the Lambs...
Directed by Sam Feder, “Disclosure” examines the history of trans representation in film and television dating back to the early days of silent movies. Throughout we are shown the evolution of trans portrayals in everything from Bugs Bunny cartoons, classic television and film to contemporary series such as FX’s “Pose.” There are also looks at award-winning films and television programs that have, with time, been seen as more controversial and potentially problematic, including Oscar winners “The Silence of the Lambs...
- 10/19/2020
- by Tony Ruiz
- Gold Derby
Documentary film editor Jonathan Oppenheim died July 16 in New York City, Sundance Institute confirmed to Variety. He was 67 and had been battling brain cancer .
“Jonathan began his life in the arts as a painter which informed his sensibility in film,” his wife, Josie Oppenheim, wrote in a statement. “He was a talented and highly original painter but documentary film was his chosen medium. The collaborative dynamic while not always peaceful was one aspect of the work that Jonathan loved.”
Oppenheim was best known for editing “Paris is Burning” (1990) and Oscar nominee “Children Underground” (2001). He also edited and co-produced “The Oath” (2010), the Emmy-nominated film in Laura Poitras’ post 9/11 trilogy.
Born to TV producer David Oppenheim and actress Judy Holliday in 1952, he began his editing career with the seminal “Paris is Burning,” directed by Jennie Livingston. He devoted his career to documentary storytelling and edited over 24 films, including the Oscar-nominated films “Streetwise...
“Jonathan began his life in the arts as a painter which informed his sensibility in film,” his wife, Josie Oppenheim, wrote in a statement. “He was a talented and highly original painter but documentary film was his chosen medium. The collaborative dynamic while not always peaceful was one aspect of the work that Jonathan loved.”
Oppenheim was best known for editing “Paris is Burning” (1990) and Oscar nominee “Children Underground” (2001). He also edited and co-produced “The Oath” (2010), the Emmy-nominated film in Laura Poitras’ post 9/11 trilogy.
Born to TV producer David Oppenheim and actress Judy Holliday in 1952, he began his editing career with the seminal “Paris is Burning,” directed by Jennie Livingston. He devoted his career to documentary storytelling and edited over 24 films, including the Oscar-nominated films “Streetwise...
- 7/21/2020
- by Janet W. Lee
- Variety Film + TV
Jonathan Oppenheim, an editor on classic documentary films such as 199o’s “Paris Is Burning,” has died at age 67.
Oppenehim died of brain cancer in New York City on July 16, according to the Sundance Institute, where he had long served as a fellow and adviser. No cause of death was given.
Oppenheim edited and co-produced the second film in director Laura Poitras’ post-9/11 trilogy, “The Oath,” which was a psychological portrait of Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard. He won a Peabody Award for the 1987 film “Arguing the World,” about four Jewish intellectuals educated at New York City College in the 1930s who each became prominent figures with starkly different viewpoints.
Among his more notable editing credits are 2001’s “Children Underground,” 2002’s “Sister Helen,” about a nun working with prisoners on death row, 2013’s “Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner,” about the actor who appears in Louis Malle’s acclaimed 1981 film “My Dinner With Andre.
Oppenehim died of brain cancer in New York City on July 16, according to the Sundance Institute, where he had long served as a fellow and adviser. No cause of death was given.
Oppenheim edited and co-produced the second film in director Laura Poitras’ post-9/11 trilogy, “The Oath,” which was a psychological portrait of Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard. He won a Peabody Award for the 1987 film “Arguing the World,” about four Jewish intellectuals educated at New York City College in the 1930s who each became prominent figures with starkly different viewpoints.
Among his more notable editing credits are 2001’s “Children Underground,” 2002’s “Sister Helen,” about a nun working with prisoners on death row, 2013’s “Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner,” about the actor who appears in Louis Malle’s acclaimed 1981 film “My Dinner With Andre.
- 7/20/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Jonathan Oppenheim, editor of such documentaries as the ball culture classic “Paris Is Burning” and Laura Poitras’ “The Oath,” has died after a battle with brain cancer at the age of 67. Though he passed away on July 16, the news was reported on Monday. He died in New York City, with his wife Josie and daughter Netalia at his side.
“Jonathan began his life in the arts as a painter which informed his sensibility in film. He was a talented and highly original painter but documentary film was his chosen medium,” his wife shared in a statement shared with media. “The collaborative dynamic while not always peaceful was one aspect of the work that Jonathan loved. But he found an outlet for his intellectual and artistic talents in all aspects of documentary film. I can say, as well, that the film community was profoundly important to him, and served as a...
“Jonathan began his life in the arts as a painter which informed his sensibility in film. He was a talented and highly original painter but documentary film was his chosen medium,” his wife shared in a statement shared with media. “The collaborative dynamic while not always peaceful was one aspect of the work that Jonathan loved. But he found an outlet for his intellectual and artistic talents in all aspects of documentary film. I can say, as well, that the film community was profoundly important to him, and served as a...
- 7/20/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It’s been a year of change for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has responded not only to the pandemic, pushing back the global ABC Oscars telecast from February 28 to April 25, 2021 — setting a new award season calendar as other award shows have followed suit — but the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In its continuing push to swell the Academy membership ranks, 819 artists and executives from 68 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call. People from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities (36 percent) and women (45 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members (49 percent) also come from overseas.
In 2019, the Academy invited 842 new members,...
In its continuing push to swell the Academy membership ranks, 819 artists and executives from 68 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call. People from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities (36 percent) and women (45 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members (49 percent) also come from overseas.
In 2019, the Academy invited 842 new members,...
- 6/30/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
It’s been a year of change for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has responded not only to the pandemic, pushing back the global ABC Oscars telecast from February 28 to April 25, 2021 — setting a new award season calendar as other award shows have followed suit — but the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In its continuing push to swell the Academy membership ranks, 819 artists and executives from 68 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call. People from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities (36 percent) and women (45 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members (49 percent) also come from overseas.
In 2019, the Academy invited 842 new members,...
In its continuing push to swell the Academy membership ranks, 819 artists and executives from 68 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call. People from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities (36 percent) and women (45 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members (49 percent) also come from overseas.
In 2019, the Academy invited 842 new members,...
- 6/30/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Within two weeks of David France reading an article in The New Yorker about the persecution of Lgtbq people in Chechnya, he was on a plane headed to Moscow.
It’s there that he first met the men and women who are featured in his new documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” which premieres Tuesday on HBO. Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the autonomous region of Russia, enacted a campaign in 2017 to find, imprison, torture and sometimes kill LGBTQ Chechens. Many who survived imprisonment have fled to Moscow, where they live in a safe house while seeking political asylum in other countries.
“What I learned from that story in The New Yorker was that the crimes that had been exposed earlier in the year hadn’t stopped, that nothing about the exposure in the world media, nothing about the expressions of outrage from European leaders, nothing about the meek, near silence from...
It’s there that he first met the men and women who are featured in his new documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” which premieres Tuesday on HBO. Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the autonomous region of Russia, enacted a campaign in 2017 to find, imprison, torture and sometimes kill LGBTQ Chechens. Many who survived imprisonment have fled to Moscow, where they live in a safe house while seeking political asylum in other countries.
“What I learned from that story in The New Yorker was that the crimes that had been exposed earlier in the year hadn’t stopped, that nothing about the exposure in the world media, nothing about the expressions of outrage from European leaders, nothing about the meek, near silence from...
- 6/30/2020
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
The mistreatment and persecution of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya has been an ongoing issue, but in March 2017 a glaring spotlight was put on the Russian republic as reports of gay and bisexual men being abducted, tortured, beaten and even killed at the hands of authorities started coming to the forefront. Oscar-nominated director David France did not waste any time in deciding to confront this issue head-on with the documentary Welcome to Chechnya, which debuts June 30 on HBO.
In a place where there are no protections for those in the LGBTQ community and where they are openly mistreated and oppressed, France already had a volatile landscape to navigate. In the documentary, he follows a group of undercover activists in Chechnya who risk their lives to rescue victims and provide them with safe houses and visa assistance to escape an oppressive system. We are introduced David Isteev, the Crisis Response Coordinator...
In a place where there are no protections for those in the LGBTQ community and where they are openly mistreated and oppressed, France already had a volatile landscape to navigate. In the documentary, he follows a group of undercover activists in Chechnya who risk their lives to rescue victims and provide them with safe houses and visa assistance to escape an oppressive system. We are introduced David Isteev, the Crisis Response Coordinator...
- 6/29/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
June is Gay Pride Month, and with most of the country under restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, most major Pride events are canceled. Thankfully, there’s plenty of entertaining and informative LGBTQ content to fill the entire month (and a few starting in May).
From questioning teens to talented queens, check out TheWrap’s list of Gay Pride Month programming below:
Streaming
“It Gets Better”: A Digital Pride Experience (June 24-26)
The “It Gets Better” Project is launching a three-day digital Pride event, bringing together a diverse slate of talent across genres, including fitness, lifestyle, fashion & beauty, gaming, music and drag performances. The Digital Pride event will stream from the organization’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch on June 24th-26th from 2 p.m – 7:00 p.m. Pt. The event will be hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race’s” Peppermint, and feature other alums including Crystal Methyd and Jujubee,...
From questioning teens to talented queens, check out TheWrap’s list of Gay Pride Month programming below:
Streaming
“It Gets Better”: A Digital Pride Experience (June 24-26)
The “It Gets Better” Project is launching a three-day digital Pride event, bringing together a diverse slate of talent across genres, including fitness, lifestyle, fashion & beauty, gaming, music and drag performances. The Digital Pride event will stream from the organization’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch on June 24th-26th from 2 p.m – 7:00 p.m. Pt. The event will be hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race’s” Peppermint, and feature other alums including Crystal Methyd and Jujubee,...
- 6/25/2020
- by Lawrence Yee
- The Wrap
Doc Corner is celebrating Pride Month with a focus on documentaries that tackle Lgbtiq themes. This week we are looking at the latest film from the Oscar-nominated director of How to Survive a Plague.
By Glenn Dunks
We may find ourselves every June celebrating “pride”, but it is important to remember that it started from a fireball of anger. A fist of societal and cultural agitation that in a single moment decided it was going to fight back against oppression and violence. It may be more than 50 years later, but it’s an unfortunate fact that even in the most modern of societies, people who identify as Lgbtiq or non-binary still face the world with varying degrees of awareness about our otherness. And while many may not choose to dwell on it, there is the ever-present knowledge that those like us around the world are being bullied, harassed, targeted, punished,...
By Glenn Dunks
We may find ourselves every June celebrating “pride”, but it is important to remember that it started from a fireball of anger. A fist of societal and cultural agitation that in a single moment decided it was going to fight back against oppression and violence. It may be more than 50 years later, but it’s an unfortunate fact that even in the most modern of societies, people who identify as Lgbtiq or non-binary still face the world with varying degrees of awareness about our otherness. And while many may not choose to dwell on it, there is the ever-present knowledge that those like us around the world are being bullied, harassed, targeted, punished,...
- 6/24/2020
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
On May 21st, veteran AIDS activist Peter Staley marked the 30th anniversary of Act Up’s “Storm the Nih” demonstration by sharing a video of the pivotal event to make sure the coalition’s demands were heard for greater access to and involvement in clinical research. The group’s protests helped wake the nation up to the reality of the people who were dying and being ignored by the government.
Tbt. Getting arrested at Act Up's "Storm The Nih" demo, May 21, 1990. They had to walk me through Niaid's Building 31 to...
Tbt. Getting arrested at Act Up's "Storm The Nih" demo, May 21, 1990. They had to walk me through Niaid's Building 31 to...
- 6/18/2020
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
Today, HBO confirmed that it’s going to release David France’s new documentary, Welcome To Chechnya, on June 30. France is the director of How To Survive A Plague, and this new doc—which is going to be on all of the HBOs, including the new one—is about the activists in Chechnya risking their lives to protect LGBTQ…...
- 6/9/2020
- by Sam Barsanti on News, shared by Sam Barsanti to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
Refresh for updates Lin-Manuel Miranda, Benj Pasek, Rob Reiner and other figures of Hollywood and Broadway paid tribute today to Larry Kramer, the Normal Heart playwright and AIDS activist who died this morning of pneumonia in Manhattan.
“A man who never let comfort get in the way of progress,” tweeted Dear Evan Hansen and Smash composer Benj Pasek. Wrote Miranda, “Don’t know a soul who saw or read The Normal Heart and came away unmoved, unchanged. What an extraordinary writer, what a life. Thank you, Larry Kramer.”
Here is a sampling of the voices speaking out for Larry Kramer today. Check back for updates…
Rest In Peace and eternal power Larry Kramer. A life lived so righteously on the corner of Activism and Art. Read his words and watch his works and if you haven’t seen the documentary How To Survive A Plague it is essential viewing for...
“A man who never let comfort get in the way of progress,” tweeted Dear Evan Hansen and Smash composer Benj Pasek. Wrote Miranda, “Don’t know a soul who saw or read The Normal Heart and came away unmoved, unchanged. What an extraordinary writer, what a life. Thank you, Larry Kramer.”
Here is a sampling of the voices speaking out for Larry Kramer today. Check back for updates…
Rest In Peace and eternal power Larry Kramer. A life lived so righteously on the corner of Activism and Art. Read his words and watch his works and if you haven’t seen the documentary How To Survive A Plague it is essential viewing for...
- 5/27/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Chechnya has been a hotbed of human rights violations as part of the Russian Federation, in particular the myriad Lgbtq rights violations that have been reported in the region. News reports are conveying the atrocities inflicted on innocent civilians, including alleged concentration camps to interrogating gay men and subjecting them to physical violence.
Renowned documentarian David France turns the camera on these unjustly persecuted victims of a cruel regime in Welcome To Chechnya. The first trailer for the acclaimed documentary has now arrived ahead of an HBO premiere on June 30th at 10 Pm, followed by an HBO Max release.
An official selection at Sundance and Berlin International Film Festivals, the film follows the attempts of a group of activists working together to save these unjustly persecuted Lgbt civilians from prosecution and even death in Chechnya by transferring them out of Russia. Ahead of an HBO premiere, it’ll also screen...
Renowned documentarian David France turns the camera on these unjustly persecuted victims of a cruel regime in Welcome To Chechnya. The first trailer for the acclaimed documentary has now arrived ahead of an HBO premiere on June 30th at 10 Pm, followed by an HBO Max release.
An official selection at Sundance and Berlin International Film Festivals, the film follows the attempts of a group of activists working together to save these unjustly persecuted Lgbt civilians from prosecution and even death in Chechnya by transferring them out of Russia. Ahead of an HBO premiere, it’ll also screen...
- 5/21/2020
- by Margaret Rasberry
- The Film Stage
David France‘s (How to Survive a Plague) Welcome to Chechnya debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival to critical raves, with the powerful Lgbtq documentary collecting the award for best editing and later, at Berlinale, winning the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary. The documentary will soon arrive on HBO, with the network announcing the June […]
The post ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Trailer: The Lgbqt Sundance Documentary Premieres on HBO in June appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Trailer: The Lgbqt Sundance Documentary Premieres on HBO in June appeared first on /Film.
- 5/21/2020
- by Hoai-Tran Bui
- Slash Film
Since the release of his debut feature, 2012’s Oscar-nominated AIDS activism documentary “How to Survive a Plague,” filmmaker David France has charted a steady course as one of the most prolific and influential gay filmmakers covering Lgbtq issues. His 2017 follow-up film, “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson,” paid tribute to a transgender pioneer while investigating her mysterious disappearance. With his upcoming third feature film, “Welcome to Chechnya,” France is pushing the envelope yet again, debuting face-swapping technology to profile the Lgbtq activists fleeing devastating and sometimes lethal persecution in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Here’s the official synopsis: “This searing documentary is a terrifying real-life thriller that shadows a group of brave activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-lgbtq persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. In recent years, tens of thousands of Lgbtq people in the republic have suffered detention, torture...
Here’s the official synopsis: “This searing documentary is a terrifying real-life thriller that shadows a group of brave activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-lgbtq persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. In recent years, tens of thousands of Lgbtq people in the republic have suffered detention, torture...
- 5/20/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
"They'll do everything they can to shut me up." HBO Docs has revealed the first official trailer for a very powerful, acclaimed documentary film called Welcome to Chechnya, the latest made by Academy Award-winning filmmaker David France. This premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Documentary Film Editing Award. Welcome to Chechnya is an eye-opening documentary about a group of activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-lgbtq persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. The film uses an impressive digital face replacement technique to obfuscate the people involved, both those trying to escape and those helping. I saw this at Sundance this year and it's good, very good. Every single person from this doc is a genuine hero - risking their own lives to save others who just wish to live in peace. Here's the first official ...
- 5/20/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that already has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With Covid-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for an exchange of ideas and experiences, and suggestions on how businesses and individuals can best ride out a crisis that doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon. If you have a story, email mike@deadline.com.
Earlier this year, former New York Times columnist and MSNBC contributor Anand Giridharadas agreed to host a weekly news talk show for youth-skewing media company Vice. The idea of his show, Seat at the Table, was to shine a spotlight on the power balance in the U.S. and offer regular people...
Earlier this year, former New York Times columnist and MSNBC contributor Anand Giridharadas agreed to host a weekly news talk show for youth-skewing media company Vice. The idea of his show, Seat at the Table, was to shine a spotlight on the power balance in the U.S. and offer regular people...
- 4/20/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“When people think of plagues, they think of me,” jokes David France. Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, the director of 2012’s Oscar-nominated documentary How To Survive A Plague has seen an uptick in media requests, the title of his most known work all but an engraved invitation. The film chronicles the life-or-death fight for effective AIDS treatments waged by Act-Up, the era-defining AIDS activist group that demanded to be heard by the government, Big Pharma and the country at large.
What can his film, or more broadly the AIDS Plague Years of the 1980s and early ’90s prior to the arrival of life-saving drug cocktails in 1996, teach us about living with a pandemic today? What does that moment in history have to say about our own, about our government and healthcare system, about ourselves?
More from DeadlineReopening Broadway: What Will It Take? What Will It Look Like? When Could It Really Happen?...
What can his film, or more broadly the AIDS Plague Years of the 1980s and early ’90s prior to the arrival of life-saving drug cocktails in 1996, teach us about living with a pandemic today? What does that moment in history have to say about our own, about our government and healthcare system, about ourselves?
More from DeadlineReopening Broadway: What Will It Take? What Will It Look Like? When Could It Really Happen?...
- 4/17/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
For David France, the chaos surrounding the coronavirus pandemic is depressingly familiar.
When he observes the disaster playing out in New York and other parts of the U.S., the journalist and filmmaker behind the 2012 documentary “How to Survive a Plague” is reminded of the bureaucratic incompetence and overwhelmed healthcare system that led to critical failures in the country’s response to AIDS. It’s a crisis that will lead to suffering and death, and one that France thinks could fundamentally alter the fabric of American life. But it’s also a challenge that’s inspiring countless acts of heroism and generosity similar to the kind of advocacy highlighted by “How to Survive a Plague.”
France, who directed the upcoming HBO documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” is currently in the early stages of a new project that will highlight coronavirus activism. He spoke with Variety about the lessons from the AIDS...
When he observes the disaster playing out in New York and other parts of the U.S., the journalist and filmmaker behind the 2012 documentary “How to Survive a Plague” is reminded of the bureaucratic incompetence and overwhelmed healthcare system that led to critical failures in the country’s response to AIDS. It’s a crisis that will lead to suffering and death, and one that France thinks could fundamentally alter the fabric of American life. But it’s also a challenge that’s inspiring countless acts of heroism and generosity similar to the kind of advocacy highlighted by “How to Survive a Plague.”
France, who directed the upcoming HBO documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” is currently in the early stages of a new project that will highlight coronavirus activism. He spoke with Variety about the lessons from the AIDS...
- 3/30/2020
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has released the first official trailer for “Crip Camp,” the new documentary from executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama under their growing production company, “Higher Ground.” The crowdpleaser took home the coveted Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The award is sometimes a bellwether for a film’s Oscar chances, a possibility made more likely with the Obamas onboard, as well as “How to Survive a Plague” producer Howard Gertler shepherding the film.
The official synopsis reads: “In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination, and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp ‘for the handicapped,’ in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and makeout sessions awaiting everyone, where campers felt fulfilled as human beings. Their bonds endured as they migrated West to Berkeley, California — a promised...
The official synopsis reads: “In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination, and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp ‘for the handicapped,’ in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and makeout sessions awaiting everyone, where campers felt fulfilled as human beings. Their bonds endured as they migrated West to Berkeley, California — a promised...
- 3/11/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
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