If you ever had any doubt about how corporate mergers can make for strange bedfellows — and it’s 2023, so you should have gotten this memo long ago — one need look no further than After the Bite, a documentary programmed to play like the answer to the generally unasked question, “What would happen if Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav forced HBO to participate in Shark Week?”
Presumably, the creative origins of Ivy Meeropol’s (Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn) film and Discovery’s annual celebration of all things toothy and ichthyological were completely separate. But following its initial airing on HBO, After the Bite will migrate over to Max, where it can be promoted next to such Shark Week titles as Serial Killer Red Sea Attacks, The Shark of the Moral Universe Bends Toward Carnage and Great White Fight Club (only two of those are real).
Discovery...
Presumably, the creative origins of Ivy Meeropol’s (Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn) film and Discovery’s annual celebration of all things toothy and ichthyological were completely separate. But following its initial airing on HBO, After the Bite will migrate over to Max, where it can be promoted next to such Shark Week titles as Serial Killer Red Sea Attacks, The Shark of the Moral Universe Bends Toward Carnage and Great White Fight Club (only two of those are real).
Discovery...
- 7/25/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A beach and fishing community reels in the wake of a fatal shark attack that has everyone on edge. How will order be restored? You don’t have to make Jaws inferences; the new HBO documentary After the Bite does the work for you. “I’m not exaggerating, it was like Jaws,” exclaims a local fisherman of a particularly shark-infested day. We see a drive-in theater marquee that advertises a double feature of Steven Spielberg’s proto-blockbuster with one of his later spectacles, Jurassic Park. The doc makes note of its fictional forefather.
- 7/24/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
"The water's warm - so everything's marching north." HBO Docs has revealed an official trailer for After the Bite, a fascinating shark doc from filmmaker Ivy Meeropol. This is debuting during "Shark Week" this summer streaming on Max and on HBO to watch on TV. Local residents and vacationers flock to Cape Cod every summer begin to grapple with this alarming new reality of regular sharks while following the science to investigate. The title refers to fatal attack on a person in 2018 int he town of Wellfleet, Ma. After the Bite is a deep dive into how one coastal community is renegotiating their relationship with our rapidly changing environment. The changes are numerous: warmer waters, species interacting where they never had before, along with the rapidly increasing numbers of the shark's favorite prey, the North Atlantic gray seal, whose population has rebounded since seals were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
- 7/18/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Shark Week is upon us this month, but there’s a different shark tale headed toward HBO and Max on July 26 to offer documentary heads a smart-doc complement to the annual Discovery rollout.
Directed and produced by Ivy Meeropol, “After the Bite” takes a look at how a 2018 shark attack left a Cape Cod community in Massachusetts reeling over the effects of a re-adapting marine environment. Local residents and vacationers flock en masse every summer to Cape Cod — but only now are beginning to grapple with the alarming reality of the apex predators. IndieWire shares the trailer below ahead of the documentary’s premiere.
Great white sharks’ deadly interactions with people have increased in the waters stretching from Maine to the Cape and Islands. Public protectors are now forced to address the risk of serious injuries with stop-the-bleed kits throughout public access beaches, along with PSAs, billboards, shark-tracking apps, spotter planes,...
Directed and produced by Ivy Meeropol, “After the Bite” takes a look at how a 2018 shark attack left a Cape Cod community in Massachusetts reeling over the effects of a re-adapting marine environment. Local residents and vacationers flock en masse every summer to Cape Cod — but only now are beginning to grapple with the alarming reality of the apex predators. IndieWire shares the trailer below ahead of the documentary’s premiere.
Great white sharks’ deadly interactions with people have increased in the waters stretching from Maine to the Cape and Islands. Public protectors are now forced to address the risk of serious injuries with stop-the-bleed kits throughout public access beaches, along with PSAs, billboards, shark-tracking apps, spotter planes,...
- 7/18/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Cue the creepy tuba music. Just when you thought is was safe to go back in the water, HBO Documentary Films and director Ivy Meeropol have begun work on a documentary about the rise of great white sharks off Cape Cod.
The untitled feature will look at how the serene waters off southern Massachusetts have become one of the world’s hotspots for the giant predators during the past decade. Explosive growth in the seal population and shifting climate patterns are drawing sharks to this part of the northwest Atlantic.
The film is a portrait of how local residents – and the thousands of vacationers who flock to Cape Cod every summer — grapple with this alarming new reality while following the science to investigate what marine life can tell us about the health of the ocean. Meeropol, who helmed HBO’s 2019 docu Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, directs...
The untitled feature will look at how the serene waters off southern Massachusetts have become one of the world’s hotspots for the giant predators during the past decade. Explosive growth in the seal population and shifting climate patterns are drawing sharks to this part of the northwest Atlantic.
The film is a portrait of how local residents – and the thousands of vacationers who flock to Cape Cod every summer — grapple with this alarming new reality while following the science to investigate what marine life can tell us about the health of the ocean. Meeropol, who helmed HBO’s 2019 docu Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, directs...
- 5/27/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
“Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn” is collecting nominations on the pathway to Oscar season. The film just earned two bids from Cinema Eye Honors, an awards group that honors nonfiction films and series as voted on by programmers and experts. The HBO doc, which chronicles the life of Roy Cohn, former attorney to Donald Trump, earned bids in the categories of Outstanding Broadcast Film and Outstanding Editing in a Broadcast Film or Series. In both cases it was nominated in a field of five, beating out tough competition, which could make it one of the films to watch in the upcoming Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
Seehbo’s Roy Cohn documentary ‘Bully. Coward. Victim.’ is a uniquely personal look at Trump’s former lawyer
Directed by Ivy Meeropol, “Bully. Coward. Victim.” is a sprawling look at Cohn’s impact in the legal world, delving into...
Seehbo’s Roy Cohn documentary ‘Bully. Coward. Victim.’ is a uniquely personal look at Trump’s former lawyer
Directed by Ivy Meeropol, “Bully. Coward. Victim.” is a sprawling look at Cohn’s impact in the legal world, delving into...
- 11/29/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
With such a wide array of potential awards contenders in film and television, awards groups like the Cinema Eye Honors help to cull the field. This year, HBO Documentary Films leads the broadcast categories with 10 nominations, including three each for Liz Garbus’ serial killer series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and David France’s Oscar contender “Welcome to Chechnya.” Cinema Eye also unveiled 10 short documentary semifinalists for the short filmmaking honors.
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
With such a wide array of potential awards contenders in film and television, awards groups like the Cinema Eye Honors help to cull the field. This year, HBO Documentary Films leads the broadcast categories with 10 nominations, including three each for Liz Garbus’ serial killer series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and David France’s Oscar contender “Welcome to Chechnya.” Cinema Eye also unveiled 10 short documentary semifinalists for the short filmmaking honors.
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
The Outstanding Broadcast Film nominees also include “Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, 2020 Oscar winner “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” and “Sea of Shadows,” directed by Richard Ladkani.
Outstanding Series Nominees include “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children,” directed by Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, and Sam Pollard, “Hillary,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” a documentary about LGBTQ activists trying to help during the Chechnya government’s brutal crackdown on gays and lesbians, leads all films in nominations in the Cinema Eye Honors’ broadcast categories, which were announced on Thursday during a virtual edition of its annual fall lunch.
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
- 11/19/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
“Museum Town,” a documentary narrated by Meryl Streep, will release on demand in December.
The film is playing exclusively on Kino Lorber’s virtual cinemas platform, Kino Marquee, starting on Dec. 4. It will be made available on other digital platforms, cable and streaming services in the coming months.
“Museum Town” tells the story of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art — an unconventional museum in the small town of North Adams, Mass — and the power of art to transform a barren post-industrial city. Jennifer Trainer, a former journalist and one of the original builders of Mass MoCA, directed the documentary. The film had its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival.
“‘Museum Town’ demonstrates that art can be a path to economic recovery, but it’s also a story about risk,” Trainer said. “In 1986, when as a journalist I first learned about the idea for Mass MoCA...
The film is playing exclusively on Kino Lorber’s virtual cinemas platform, Kino Marquee, starting on Dec. 4. It will be made available on other digital platforms, cable and streaming services in the coming months.
“Museum Town” tells the story of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art — an unconventional museum in the small town of North Adams, Mass — and the power of art to transform a barren post-industrial city. Jennifer Trainer, a former journalist and one of the original builders of Mass MoCA, directed the documentary. The film had its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival.
“‘Museum Town’ demonstrates that art can be a path to economic recovery, but it’s also a story about risk,” Trainer said. “In 1986, when as a journalist I first learned about the idea for Mass MoCA...
- 10/30/2020
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
“Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn” is one of multiple projects tackling the life of Roy Cohn, but few are as personal as director Ivy Meeropol‘s HBO documentary. Meeropol is the granddaughter of Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage and put to death on Cohn’s recommendation. “Bully. Coward. Victim.” features Meeropol talking to her father, Michael Meeropol, about his experience advocating for his parents.
See ‘Time’: Garrett Bradley’s Sundance award-winning documentary about love and incarceration could make Oscar history
The documentary explores the many twists and turns of Cohn’s life, not only encompassing his work in the Rosenberg trials but his association with various influential figures from the ’50s through the ’80s like Joseph McCarthy, President Ronald Reagan, Rupert Murdoch and future President Donald Trump. Interspersed throughout the film we check in on Ivy’s conversations with her father...
See ‘Time’: Garrett Bradley’s Sundance award-winning documentary about love and incarceration could make Oscar history
The documentary explores the many twists and turns of Cohn’s life, not only encompassing his work in the Rosenberg trials but his association with various influential figures from the ’50s through the ’80s like Joseph McCarthy, President Ronald Reagan, Rupert Murdoch and future President Donald Trump. Interspersed throughout the film we check in on Ivy’s conversations with her father...
- 10/30/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
The amoral legacy of closeted gay political operator Roy Cohn has come back to life in two films of the moment: Matt Tyrnauer’s “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” and now this more personal documentary directed by Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were prosecuted by Cohn and executed for treason in 1953.
Meeropol previously covered the story of her grandparents in her 2004 documentary “Heir to an Execution,” and she sketches out the basics of the case against them at the beginning of her film on Cohn, starting off with footage of herself as a girl talking to her father about what happened to Julius and Ethel. She then cuts to footage of Cohn, who always signals, “I am evil” for the camera, as if he were very conscious of the part he was trying to play.
“The Story of Roy Cohn” tries to establish a balance between Cohn and the Rosenberg family,...
Meeropol previously covered the story of her grandparents in her 2004 documentary “Heir to an Execution,” and she sketches out the basics of the case against them at the beginning of her film on Cohn, starting off with footage of herself as a girl talking to her father about what happened to Julius and Ethel. She then cuts to footage of Cohn, who always signals, “I am evil” for the camera, as if he were very conscious of the part he was trying to play.
“The Story of Roy Cohn” tries to establish a balance between Cohn and the Rosenberg family,...
- 6/19/2020
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
The surest sign of a man’s iniquity is the contempt of his own family. When David Allen Marcus and Alice Marcus, estranged cousins to political fixer, villain, and unrepentant hypocrite Roy Cohn, sit down in front of Ivy Meeropol’s camera to reminisce about him in “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn,” they don’t bother dressing their feelings: David calls him the “personification of evil,” and when he opines that “every family has its Roy Cohn,” Alice gently replies, “Oh, I hope not.
Continue reading ‘Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story Of Roy Cohn’ Is A Deeply Personal Look At The Political Figure’s Awfulness [Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story Of Roy Cohn’ Is A Deeply Personal Look At The Political Figure’s Awfulness [Review] at The Playlist.
- 6/16/2020
- by Andrew Crump
- The Playlist
Roy Cohn, one of the worst people to ever live, is the subject of the new HBO documentary Bully. Coward. Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn. And, interestingly enough, the doc is directed by someone who has a personal connection to Cohn’s life: Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the couple Cohn prosecuted as spies, […]
The post ‘Bully. Coward. Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn’ Trailer: The Life and Death of an Infamous Political Figure appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Bully. Coward. Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn’ Trailer: The Life and Death of an Infamous Political Figure appeared first on /Film.
- 6/13/2020
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
7500
7500 is the emergency code for an attempted airplane hijacking. But when Tobias, a young pilot portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is suddenly put in a situation where issuing the code is necessary, he quickly learns that there’s no protocol for what comes next. Determined to get into the cockpit, the terrorist threaten to kill passengers lest Tobias hands over his controls. The clip gives what can only be a glimpse into Tobias’ excruciating choice between following orders and giving in to the terrorists’ demands. (June 19)
Bill and Ted 3: Face...
7500 is the emergency code for an attempted airplane hijacking. But when Tobias, a young pilot portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is suddenly put in a situation where issuing the code is necessary, he quickly learns that there’s no protocol for what comes next. Determined to get into the cockpit, the terrorist threaten to kill passengers lest Tobias hands over his controls. The clip gives what can only be a glimpse into Tobias’ excruciating choice between following orders and giving in to the terrorists’ demands. (June 19)
Bill and Ted 3: Face...
- 6/13/2020
- by Natalli Amato
- Rollingstone.com
Roy Cohn had always been a haunting presence in filmmaker Ivy Meeropol’s life, but the full extent of his existence was only apparent after she watched Meryl Streep play her grandmother, Ethel Rosenberg, in HBO’s 2003 “Angels in America.” “I think seeing the film made me finally connect emotionally to my human story, and this was a story I needed to tell,” Meeropol says. “I could do something no one else could because of my family history.”
The result is the documentary “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn,” which debuts June 19 on HBO.
Cohn was one of the most ruthless lawyers in American history — working with Sen. Joe McCarthy during the anti-Communist Army-McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. Cohn was also responsible, with McCarthy, for creating the Lavender scare of the ’50s, leading the government to repress and purge itself of homosexual people. And he pushed hard for...
The result is the documentary “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn,” which debuts June 19 on HBO.
Cohn was one of the most ruthless lawyers in American history — working with Sen. Joe McCarthy during the anti-Communist Army-McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. Cohn was also responsible, with McCarthy, for creating the Lavender scare of the ’50s, leading the government to repress and purge itself of homosexual people. And he pushed hard for...
- 6/12/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
"Every era has an opportunist." HBO has debuted an official trailer for a documentary titled in full Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, which premiered at last year's New York Film Festival. This is the second big Roy Cohn documentary recently, the other is Where's My Roy Cohn? from last year. This thorough and mesmerizing doc takes an appropriately unflinching look at the life and death of Roy Cohn, the closeted, conservative American lawyer whose first job out of law school was prosecuting filmmaker Ivy Meeropol's grandparents, Julius & Ethel Rosenberg. This is not merely a depiction of a brutal, ideologically diseased man – it's an interrogatory work in search of the true character behind an icon of the political right in a deeply troubled America. It features interviews with Cindy Adams, Alan Dershowitz, Tony Kushner, Nathan Lane, John Waters, and a trove of fascinating, recently unearthed archive video.
- 6/9/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The American Film Institute has revealed its full slate of films being presented online for the AFI Docs 2020 Film Festival, which will take place digitally this year. The lineup features 59 films from 11 countries and 12 virtual world premieres, with 61 percent of the films directed by women, 25 percent by Poc directors, and 14 percent by LGBTQ directors. The festival runs June 17–21, with films available to view on Docs.AFI.com. See the full lineup below.
“Now more than ever, it is important to expand our perspectives and listen to voices that may differ from our own, and this year’s festival includes a diverse range of insights and experiences for audiences to share in,” said Michael Lumpkin, AFI Festivals director. “These films explore political and social issues in the U.S. and across the globe, introducing us to the next generation of leaders and shedding new light on figures of the past.”
The...
“Now more than ever, it is important to expand our perspectives and listen to voices that may differ from our own, and this year’s festival includes a diverse range of insights and experiences for audiences to share in,” said Michael Lumpkin, AFI Festivals director. “These films explore political and social issues in the U.S. and across the globe, introducing us to the next generation of leaders and shedding new light on figures of the past.”
The...
- 6/8/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Here are a few of the fun facts you learn from “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn.” Cohn, while wealthy, rarely paid his bills. A $1,500 laundry debt, a $10,500 tab he owed the 21 Club, a repossessed car — we see Cohn’s handwritten messages instructing his secretary not to pay anything, because that, quite simply, was his strategy: Don’t pay. (The result? He was always getting sued.) In Provincetown, the gay coastal resort-town mecca where Cohn’s one-time landlord says she never saw him alone (except when he was in the ocean), he threw dinner parties with a bowl of cocaine next to each plate, and a capsule of the barbiturate Tuinal next to that, in case a guest got too high. Cohn won victory for his clients by settling 60 to 75 percent of his cases out of court, and he once spent an evening with an escort, who had...
- 10/8/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Even when Ivy Meeropol was just a little girl, the boogeyman always had a name in her house: Roy Cohn. To the rest of the world, Cohn was the unscrupulous power broker who had first risen to notoriety as the assistant prosecutor responsible for the executions of “atomic spies” Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. To Meeropol, born more than a decade after the fact, Cohn was the man who effectively murdered her grandparents long before she would ever have a chance to meet them.
From a young age, Michael Meeropol taught his daughter about how her family was torn apart for allegedly selling nuclear secrets to the Russians, and perhaps also about the ruthless, pug-nosed, pit bull of a lawyer who all but did the deed with his bare hands. Now a 51-year-old filmmaker, Meeropol even opens her latest documentary with black-and-white home video footage of her childhood, in which Michael...
From a young age, Michael Meeropol taught his daughter about how her family was torn apart for allegedly selling nuclear secrets to the Russians, and perhaps also about the ruthless, pug-nosed, pit bull of a lawyer who all but did the deed with his bare hands. Now a 51-year-old filmmaker, Meeropol even opens her latest documentary with black-and-white home video footage of her childhood, in which Michael...
- 9/29/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
First Cow director Kelly Reichardt with Orion Lee, John Magaro and Film at Lincoln Center Director of Programing Dennis Lim Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Two free events have been added to the 57th New York Film Festival - a tribute to producer Ben Barenholtz who died on June 26, 2019, with Eamonn Bowles, Ethan Coen, and John Turturro, moderated by Annette Insdorf; and a screening of Lynne Ramsay’s Brigitte, commissioned by Miu Miu, followed by a Q&a with Ramsay and Brigitte Lacombe.
The Irishman, Joker and The Wolf of Wall Street producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff with Jane Rosenthal, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Free conversations with Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne on Young Ahmed; Nadav Lapid on Synonyms; producers Emma Tillinger Koskoff and David Hinojosa; Ric Burns (Oliver Sacks: His Own Life), Tania Cypriano (Born To Be), Ivy Meeropol (Bully.
Two free events have been added to the 57th New York Film Festival - a tribute to producer Ben Barenholtz who died on June 26, 2019, with Eamonn Bowles, Ethan Coen, and John Turturro, moderated by Annette Insdorf; and a screening of Lynne Ramsay’s Brigitte, commissioned by Miu Miu, followed by a Q&a with Ramsay and Brigitte Lacombe.
The Irishman, Joker and The Wolf of Wall Street producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff with Jane Rosenthal, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Free conversations with Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne on Young Ahmed; Nadav Lapid on Synonyms; producers Emma Tillinger Koskoff and David Hinojosa; Ric Burns (Oliver Sacks: His Own Life), Tania Cypriano (Born To Be), Ivy Meeropol (Bully.
- 9/28/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Nanni Moretti's Santiago, Italia to screen in the Spotlight on Documentary section Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the 57th New York Film Festival Spotlight on Documentary selections. The program includes 45 Seconds Of Laughter, directed by Tim Robbins; Dw Young's The Booksellers, executive produced by Parker Posey, featuring Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, and Gay Talese; Nick Broomfield's My Father And Me; Ric Burns's Oliver Sacks: His Own Life; Michael Apted's 63 Up; Alla Kovgan's Cunningham 3D on Merce Cunningham; Ivy Meeropol's Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story Of Roy Cohn, which features interviews with Cindy Adams, Alan Dershowitz, Tony Kushner, Nathan Lane and John Waters, and Nanni Moretti's Santiago, Italia.
Gay Talese is interviewed for Dw Young's The Booksellers Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In all, there are 13 feature documentaries and one short, Nicholas Ma's (producer of Morgan Neville's Won’t You Be My Neighbor?...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the 57th New York Film Festival Spotlight on Documentary selections. The program includes 45 Seconds Of Laughter, directed by Tim Robbins; Dw Young's The Booksellers, executive produced by Parker Posey, featuring Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, and Gay Talese; Nick Broomfield's My Father And Me; Ric Burns's Oliver Sacks: His Own Life; Michael Apted's 63 Up; Alla Kovgan's Cunningham 3D on Merce Cunningham; Ivy Meeropol's Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story Of Roy Cohn, which features interviews with Cindy Adams, Alan Dershowitz, Tony Kushner, Nathan Lane and John Waters, and Nanni Moretti's Santiago, Italia.
Gay Talese is interviewed for Dw Young's The Booksellers Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In all, there are 13 feature documentaries and one short, Nicholas Ma's (producer of Morgan Neville's Won’t You Be My Neighbor?...
- 8/23/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Films on Merce Cunningham, Roy Cohn and Oliver Sacks are among the notable titles set for the Spotlight on Documentary lineup at the 57th New York Film Festival.
Alla Kovgan’s “Cunningham 3D” centers on dancer and choreographer Cunningham, who was at the forefront of American modern dance for half a century. The Cohn documentary “Bully. Coward. Victim” is directed by Ivy Meeropol, whose grandparents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were prosecuted by Cohn. Ric Burns’s “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” examines the British neurologist and author.
The Spotlight on Documentary also include Michael Apted’s “63 Up,” the ninth iteration of his “Up” series that followed the lives of 14 British children since 1964; Nick Broomfield’s “My Father and Me,” a portrait of his relationship with his father Maurice Broomfield; and Nicholas Ma’s short documentary “Suite No. 1, Prelude,” which captures the perfectionist tendencies of his father Yo-Yo Ma.
Two...
Alla Kovgan’s “Cunningham 3D” centers on dancer and choreographer Cunningham, who was at the forefront of American modern dance for half a century. The Cohn documentary “Bully. Coward. Victim” is directed by Ivy Meeropol, whose grandparents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were prosecuted by Cohn. Ric Burns’s “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” examines the British neurologist and author.
The Spotlight on Documentary also include Michael Apted’s “63 Up,” the ninth iteration of his “Up” series that followed the lives of 14 British children since 1964; Nick Broomfield’s “My Father and Me,” a portrait of his relationship with his father Maurice Broomfield; and Nicholas Ma’s short documentary “Suite No. 1, Prelude,” which captures the perfectionist tendencies of his father Yo-Yo Ma.
Two...
- 8/21/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Section will include films from Nick Broomfield, Nanni Moretti and Michael Apted.
The New York Film Festival has unveiled a Spotlight on Documentary section that includes North American premieres for Nick Broomfield’s My Father and Me and Nanni Moretti’s Santiago, Italia and a Us premiere for Michael Apted’s 63 Up.
The festival, presented by Film at Lincoln Center and running from September 27 to October 13, will also include world premieres for Lynn Novick’s College Behind Bars and Abbas Fahdel’s Bitter Bread.
The full Spotlight on Documentary line-up:
45 Seconds of Laughter
Tim Robbins, USA. Us premiere
A...
The New York Film Festival has unveiled a Spotlight on Documentary section that includes North American premieres for Nick Broomfield’s My Father and Me and Nanni Moretti’s Santiago, Italia and a Us premiere for Michael Apted’s 63 Up.
The festival, presented by Film at Lincoln Center and running from September 27 to October 13, will also include world premieres for Lynn Novick’s College Behind Bars and Abbas Fahdel’s Bitter Bread.
The full Spotlight on Documentary line-up:
45 Seconds of Laughter
Tim Robbins, USA. Us premiere
A...
- 8/21/2019
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
A film examining the life and death of conservative power broker Roy Cohn and Tim Robbins' film about prison inmates participating in an acting workshop are among the highlights of the New York Film Festival's documentary lineup.
The Cohn film, Bully. Coward. Victim., directed by Ivy Meeropol, will have its world premiere at the Nyff, while Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter will get a U.S. premiere.
Other films set to screen as part the Spotlight on Documentary section include films from Nick Broomfield and Nanni Moretti as well as a portrait of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham in Alla ...
The Cohn film, Bully. Coward. Victim., directed by Ivy Meeropol, will have its world premiere at the Nyff, while Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter will get a U.S. premiere.
Other films set to screen as part the Spotlight on Documentary section include films from Nick Broomfield and Nanni Moretti as well as a portrait of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham in Alla ...
- 8/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A film examining the life and death of conservative power broker Roy Cohn and Tim Robbins' film about prison inmates participating in an acting workshop are among the highlights of the New York Film Festival's documentary lineup.
The Cohn film, Bully. Coward. Victim., directed by Ivy Meeropol, will have its world premiere at the Nyff, while Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter will get a U.S. premiere.
Other films set to screen as part the Spotlight on Documentary section include films from Nick Broomfield and Nanni Moretti as well as a portrait of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham in Alla ...
The Cohn film, Bully. Coward. Victim., directed by Ivy Meeropol, will have its world premiere at the Nyff, while Robbins' 45 Seconds of Laughter will get a U.S. premiere.
Other films set to screen as part the Spotlight on Documentary section include films from Nick Broomfield and Nanni Moretti as well as a portrait of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham in Alla ...
- 8/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
HBO is ready to give Roy Cohn his Hollywood closeup. The attack-dog lawyer who became a mentor to Donald Trump is the subject of a new documentary set to premiere on the premium cabler early next year.
The untitled project features recently discovered audiotapes of candid discussions between Cohn and journalist Peter Manso, recorded at the height of Cohn’s career as a power broker in the rough-and-tumble world of New York City business and politics. It also includes an interviews with playwright Tony Kushner, whose Angels in America featured Cohn as a main character, and actor Nathan Lane, who starred in it as Cohn for nearly a year. Lane offers insights into how devastatingly dangerous the actual Roy Cohn was and how he wielded power through invective and innuendo. Cohn died in 1986, less than two months after being disbarred for unethical conduct.
The docu focuses on Cohn’s family,...
The untitled project features recently discovered audiotapes of candid discussions between Cohn and journalist Peter Manso, recorded at the height of Cohn’s career as a power broker in the rough-and-tumble world of New York City business and politics. It also includes an interviews with playwright Tony Kushner, whose Angels in America featured Cohn as a main character, and actor Nathan Lane, who starred in it as Cohn for nearly a year. Lane offers insights into how devastatingly dangerous the actual Roy Cohn was and how he wielded power through invective and innuendo. Cohn died in 1986, less than two months after being disbarred for unethical conduct.
The docu focuses on Cohn’s family,...
- 11/8/2018
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.
Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.
See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron
Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.
The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud,...
Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.
See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron
Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.
The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud,...
- 7/8/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The spontaneous, seemingly spring-loaded standing ovation that erupted at the end of Jessica Edwards’ buoyant bio-pic “Mavis” Sunday night at Hot Docs here in Toronto, made a couple of things very clear: One, it’s a terrific movie. And, two, this year the girls are definitely in the mix. On the heels of a Tribeca Film Festival that had its largest contingent of female directors ever, Hot Docs is screening strong documentaries by strong women About strong women: “Mavis,” which of course is about the unsinkable Ms. Staples, whose decades long career as a member of the Staples Singers and as a solo artist shows no sign of easing up any time soon. “What Happened, Miss Simone?” in which the prolific Liz Garbus takes on the formidable Nina Simone; and Ivy Meeropol’s subtly scary “Indian Point” includes the likes of Marilyn Elie, one of the more persistent foes of the nuclear plant which,...
- 4/28/2015
- by John Anderson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Andrew Renzi‘s directorial debut about a third wheel starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, Reed Morano‘s relationship testing drama featuring Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson, Onur Tukel‘s secret unleashed on the airwaves and Gregory Kohn‘s hallucinatory tale with Eléonore Hendricks topling are part of the American independent offerings at the 14th Tribeca Film Festival. Renzi’s Franny and Morano’s Meadowland will be competing in the dozen selected in the World Narrative Competition while Tukel’s Applesauce and Kohn’s Come Down Molly are among the in the Viewpoints sidebar. Here are the selected titles below sans synopsis.
World Narrative Feature Competition (12)
The Adderall Diaries, directed and written by Pamela Romanowsky. (USA) – World Premiere.
Bridgend, directed by Jeppe Rønde, co-written by Jeppe Rønde, Torben Bech, and Peter Asmussen. (Denmark) – North American Premiere.
Dixieland, directed and written by Hank Bedford. (USA) – World Premiere
Franny, directed and written by Andrew Renzi.
World Narrative Feature Competition (12)
The Adderall Diaries, directed and written by Pamela Romanowsky. (USA) – World Premiere.
Bridgend, directed by Jeppe Rønde, co-written by Jeppe Rønde, Torben Bech, and Peter Asmussen. (Denmark) – North American Premiere.
Dixieland, directed and written by Hank Bedford. (USA) – World Premiere
Franny, directed and written by Andrew Renzi.
- 3/3/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Top brass at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) presented by At&T have announced the World Narrative and Documentary Competition and Viewpoints selections.
Organisers also said that At&T’s Film For All Friday will return with free screenings on April 24. The festival is set to run in New York City from April 15-26 and the festival hub is Spring Studios.
Tuesday’s announcement covers 51 films out of a total 97 features at the upcoming 14th edition. As previously announced, Tribeca will open with the documentary Live From New York!
The line-up includes world premieres of Andrew Renzi’s Franny starring Richard Gere, Pamela Romanowsky’s The Adderall Diaries with James Franco, Amber Heard, Ed Harris and Cynthia Nixon and documentaries In My Father’s House by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg and In Transit from Albert Maysles and four co-directors.
Thirty of the festival’s feature film directors are women –the highest percentage in Tribeca history. Nine of...
Organisers also said that At&T’s Film For All Friday will return with free screenings on April 24. The festival is set to run in New York City from April 15-26 and the festival hub is Spring Studios.
Tuesday’s announcement covers 51 films out of a total 97 features at the upcoming 14th edition. As previously announced, Tribeca will open with the documentary Live From New York!
The line-up includes world premieres of Andrew Renzi’s Franny starring Richard Gere, Pamela Romanowsky’s The Adderall Diaries with James Franco, Amber Heard, Ed Harris and Cynthia Nixon and documentaries In My Father’s House by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg and In Transit from Albert Maysles and four co-directors.
Thirty of the festival’s feature film directors are women –the highest percentage in Tribeca history. Nine of...
- 3/3/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Now that the busy winter fest schedule of Sundance, Rotterdam and the Berlinale has concluded, we’ve now got our eyes on the likes of True/False and SXSW. While, True/False does not specialize in attention grabbing world premieres, it does provide a late winter haven for cream of the crop non-fiction fare from all the previously mentioned fests and a selection of overlooked genre blending films presented in a down home setting. This year will mark my first trip to the Columbia, Missouri based fest, where I hope to catch a little of everything, from their hush-hush secret screenings, to selections from their Neither/Nor series, this year featuring chimeric Polish cinema of decades past, to a spotlight of Adam Curtis’s incisive oeuvre. But truth be told, it is SXSW, with its slew of high profile world premieres being announced, such as Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs...
- 2/27/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- Few events in American history have the air of mystery, intrigue and tragedy that surrounds the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953 for supplying atomic secrets to the Russians. In "Heir to an Execution", Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, grapples with the personal ramifications of these very public events in full view of anyone interested in watching. And who could turn away from a story so compelling and full of Shakespearean drama? The production should generate more than enough interest to power a healthy theatrical run.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg become icons known as "the Atom Spies." Picasso painted them. But as Julius' old friend and co-defendant Morton Sobell says, "They were very ordinary people". It is Meeropol's search for the everyday aspect of the grandparents she never knew that propels the documentary.
We learn that Julius was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and Ethel doted on her two sons, Robert and Michael. Of course, like many intellectuals of the time, they were fervent communists, but what they did or did not do is not the question Meeropol is trying to answer. Another film will have to tackle that question. This is a family story.
Shortly after the execution, 10-year-old Robert, Ivy's father, and 6-year-old Michael were adopted by a good lefty couple, Anne and Abel Meeropol. None of the many siblings of Julius or Ethel would come forward to take in the kids. When Ivy tries to make contact with her long-lost cousins, only one would agree to be interviewed on camera, where he breaks down and apologizes for the family's neglect.
Robert serves as Ivy's conscience and sounding board and the source of much of the information. One of the curiosities of the film is that he is seemingly a happy and well-adjusted person. Together he and Ivy go to the apartment on New York's Lower East Side where the Rosenbergs lived before the FBI came to arrest Ethel and Julius in 1951. Robert is spooked to think that the agents rode in this very elevator to get his parents. Then, in the kitchen, Ivy strikes a pose made famous by Ethel, and to make the connection, the film cuts to the original photo. The filmmaker is sharing her intensely private moment with the audience.
Pieces of the puzzle are laid out by friends and colleagues, most notably 103-year-old Harry Steingart, who says that the Rosenbergs could have gotten off by naming names, including his own, but to their credit remained silent. Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy are among the scoundrels who make appearances via newsreels and suggest the pernicious tenor of the times.
Meeropol, a writer by trade, is not always the most assured interviewer or graceful filmmaker. Some scenes go on too long and miss the mark, others have less impact than they should. But her openness and willingness to go anywhere, and to take along a public that has long been intrigued by this story, is the film's real strength. And when, at the end, Meeropol finally visits her grandparents' grave and places a stone on the headstone to mark the site, as is the Jewish tradition, there is not likely to be a dry eye in the house.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION
Blowback Prods.
Credits:
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson, Ivy Meeropol, Sheila Nevins
Directors of photography: Matthew Akers, Ivy Meeropol
Music: Human
Editors: Ken Eluto, Eric Seuel Davies
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- Few events in American history have the air of mystery, intrigue and tragedy that surrounds the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953 for supplying atomic secrets to the Russians. In "Heir to an Execution", Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, grapples with the personal ramifications of these very public events in full view of anyone interested in watching. And who could turn away from a story so compelling and full of Shakespearean drama? The production should generate more than enough interest to power a healthy theatrical run.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg become icons known as "the Atom Spies." Picasso painted them. But as Julius' old friend and co-defendant Morton Sobell says, "They were very ordinary people". It is Meeropol's search for the everyday aspect of the grandparents she never knew that propels the documentary.
We learn that Julius was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and Ethel doted on her two sons, Robert and Michael. Of course, like many intellectuals of the time, they were fervent communists, but what they did or did not do is not the question Meeropol is trying to answer. Another film will have to tackle that question. This is a family story.
Shortly after the execution, 10-year-old Robert, Ivy's father, and 6-year-old Michael were adopted by a good lefty couple, Anne and Abel Meeropol. None of the many siblings of Julius or Ethel would come forward to take in the kids. When Ivy tries to make contact with her long-lost cousins, only one would agree to be interviewed on camera, where he breaks down and apologizes for the family's neglect.
Robert serves as Ivy's conscience and sounding board and the source of much of the information. One of the curiosities of the film is that he is seemingly a happy and well-adjusted person. Together he and Ivy go to the apartment on New York's Lower East Side where the Rosenbergs lived before the FBI came to arrest Ethel and Julius in 1951. Robert is spooked to think that the agents rode in this very elevator to get his parents. Then, in the kitchen, Ivy strikes a pose made famous by Ethel, and to make the connection, the film cuts to the original photo. The filmmaker is sharing her intensely private moment with the audience.
Pieces of the puzzle are laid out by friends and colleagues, most notably 103-year-old Harry Steingart, who says that the Rosenbergs could have gotten off by naming names, including his own, but to their credit remained silent. Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy are among the scoundrels who make appearances via newsreels and suggest the pernicious tenor of the times.
Meeropol, a writer by trade, is not always the most assured interviewer or graceful filmmaker. Some scenes go on too long and miss the mark, others have less impact than they should. But her openness and willingness to go anywhere, and to take along a public that has long been intrigued by this story, is the film's real strength. And when, at the end, Meeropol finally visits her grandparents' grave and places a stone on the headstone to mark the site, as is the Jewish tradition, there is not likely to be a dry eye in the house.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION
Blowback Prods.
Credits:
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson, Ivy Meeropol, Sheila Nevins
Directors of photography: Matthew Akers, Ivy Meeropol
Music: Human
Editors: Ken Eluto, Eric Seuel Davies
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- Few events in American history have the air of mystery, intrigue and tragedy that surrounds the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953 for supplying atomic secrets to the Russians. In "Heir to an Execution", Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, grapples with the personal ramifications of these very public events in full view of anyone interested in watching. And who could turn away from a story so compelling and full of Shakespearean drama? The production should generate more than enough interest to power a healthy theatrical run.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg become icons known as "the Atom Spies." Picasso painted them. But as Julius' old friend and co-defendant Morton Sobell says, "They were very ordinary people". It is Meeropol's search for the everyday aspect of the grandparents she never knew that propels the documentary.
We learn that Julius was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and Ethel doted on her two sons, Robert and Michael. Of course, like many intellectuals of the time, they were fervent communists, but what they did or did not do is not the question Meeropol is trying to answer. Another film will have to tackle that question. This is a family story.
Shortly after the execution, 10-year-old Robert, Ivy's father, and 6-year-old Michael were adopted by a good lefty couple, Anne and Abel Meeropol. None of the many siblings of Julius or Ethel would come forward to take in the kids. When Ivy tries to make contact with her long-lost cousins, only one would agree to be interviewed on camera, where he breaks down and apologizes for the family's neglect.
Robert serves as Ivy's conscience and sounding board and the source of much of the information. One of the curiosities of the film is that he is seemingly a happy and well-adjusted person. Together he and Ivy go to the apartment on New York's Lower East Side where the Rosenbergs lived before the FBI came to arrest Ethel and Julius in 1951. Robert is spooked to think that the agents rode in this very elevator to get his parents. Then, in the kitchen, Ivy strikes a pose made famous by Ethel, and to make the connection, the film cuts to the original photo. The filmmaker is sharing her intensely private moment with the audience.
Pieces of the puzzle are laid out by friends and colleagues, most notably 103-year-old Harry Steingart, who says that the Rosenbergs could have gotten off by naming names, including his own, but to their credit remained silent. Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy are among the scoundrels who make appearances via newsreels and suggest the pernicious tenor of the times.
Meeropol, a writer by trade, is not always the most assured interviewer or graceful filmmaker. Some scenes go on too long and miss the mark, others have less impact than they should. But her openness and willingness to go anywhere, and to take along a public that has long been intrigued by this story, is the film's real strength. And when, at the end, Meeropol finally visits her grandparents' grave and places a stone on the headstone to mark the site, as is the Jewish tradition, there is not likely to be a dry eye in the house.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION
Blowback Prods.
Credits:
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson, Ivy Meeropol, Sheila Nevins
Directors of photography: Matthew Akers, Ivy Meeropol
Music: Human
Editors: Ken Eluto, Eric Seuel Davies
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- Few events in American history have the air of mystery, intrigue and tragedy that surrounds the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953 for supplying atomic secrets to the Russians. In "Heir to an Execution", Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, grapples with the personal ramifications of these very public events in full view of anyone interested in watching. And who could turn away from a story so compelling and full of Shakespearean drama? The production should generate more than enough interest to power a healthy theatrical run.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg become icons known as "the Atom Spies." Picasso painted them. But as Julius' old friend and co-defendant Morton Sobell says, "They were very ordinary people". It is Meeropol's search for the everyday aspect of the grandparents she never knew that propels the documentary.
We learn that Julius was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and Ethel doted on her two sons, Robert and Michael. Of course, like many intellectuals of the time, they were fervent communists, but what they did or did not do is not the question Meeropol is trying to answer. Another film will have to tackle that question. This is a family story.
Shortly after the execution, 10-year-old Robert, Ivy's father, and 6-year-old Michael were adopted by a good lefty couple, Anne and Abel Meeropol. None of the many siblings of Julius or Ethel would come forward to take in the kids. When Ivy tries to make contact with her long-lost cousins, only one would agree to be interviewed on camera, where he breaks down and apologizes for the family's neglect.
Robert serves as Ivy's conscience and sounding board and the source of much of the information. One of the curiosities of the film is that he is seemingly a happy and well-adjusted person. Together he and Ivy go to the apartment on New York's Lower East Side where the Rosenbergs lived before the FBI came to arrest Ethel and Julius in 1951. Robert is spooked to think that the agents rode in this very elevator to get his parents. Then, in the kitchen, Ivy strikes a pose made famous by Ethel, and to make the connection, the film cuts to the original photo. The filmmaker is sharing her intensely private moment with the audience.
Pieces of the puzzle are laid out by friends and colleagues, most notably 103-year-old Harry Steingart, who says that the Rosenbergs could have gotten off by naming names, including his own, but to their credit remained silent. Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy are among the scoundrels who make appearances via newsreels and suggest the pernicious tenor of the times.
Meeropol, a writer by trade, is not always the most assured interviewer or graceful filmmaker. Some scenes go on too long and miss the mark, others have less impact than they should. But her openness and willingness to go anywhere, and to take along a public that has long been intrigued by this story, is the film's real strength. And when, at the end, Meeropol finally visits her grandparents' grave and places a stone on the headstone to mark the site, as is the Jewish tradition, there is not likely to be a dry eye in the house.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION
Blowback Prods.
Credits:
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson, Ivy Meeropol, Sheila Nevins
Directors of photography: Matthew Akers, Ivy Meeropol
Music: Human
Editors: Ken Eluto, Eric Seuel Davies
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/23/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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