Noticias

US industry figures have reacted to Thursday’s news that Sundance Film Festival will relocate to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027.

The location change comes after a year-long search and means that after next January’s final edition in Park City, it will be goodbye to the Utah ski resort. For four decades Sundance in Park City has championed thousands of filmmakers and major breakouts like Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Dee Rees, Sian Heder, and Christopher Nolan.

Sony Picture Classics co-president Tom Bernard has been a mainstay at Park City down the years and the company’s many Sundance titles include An Education,...

The Sundance Film Festival is best known as being the launching point for some of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Tarantino, Chazelle, Soderbergh, Aronofsky, and more have brought their first films to Sundance the rest has been history. While these names are now household staples, Sundance is perhaps best known as the premiere destination for ground-breaking documentaries, consistently showcasing some of the greatest non-fiction storytelling ever made.

Eighteen documentaries have premiered at Sundance and gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Some of those include Navalny, Searching for Sugarman, Icarus, March of the Penguins, Man On Wire, When We Were Kings, and many many more.

The best documentary of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and possibly an Oscar frontrunner, is a film called Andre is an Idiot. One wouldn’t expect a documentary about a man suffering from colon cancer to be the funniest film of the 150+ films showing at Sundance,...

Park City, Utah, January 31, 2025 — Today the 2025 Sundance Film Festival awards were presented at a ceremony for the jury and audience award–winning films at The Ray Theatre in Park City, where independent storytelling was celebrated ahead of the Festival’s conclusion. The 2025 Festival, taking place now through February 2, has featured premieres, screenings, talks, events, and more in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. All feature award-winning films are available online nationwide now through February 2. Select award-winning films will screen in person for ticketholders and passholders. Tickets can be purchased at festival.sundance.org/tickets.

Grand Jury Prizes went to Atropia (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Seeds (U.S. Documentary Competition), Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and Cutting Through Rocks (اوزاک یوللار) (World Cinema Documentary Competition). The Next Innovator Award presented by Adobe was given to Zodiac Killer Project.

Audience awards for films in competition were presented by Acura to Twinless (U.

What’s the deal with the film Academy’s documentary branch? This season’s shortlist for the best documentary feature Oscar, released Dec. 17, was missing one of the year’s most acclaimed crowd-pleasers, Warner Bros.’ Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story — which is at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, won the top Critics Choice documentary award and is nominated for the Producers Guild’s top doc award — and also impressive documentaries about Martha Stewart (Martha), Celine Dion (I Am: Celine Dion), James Carville (Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid) and John Williams (Music by John Williams), among others.

This isn’t to say that the 15 docs that were shortlisted are lacking — to the contrary, most are excellent. But it does reconfirm the doc branch’s weird aversion, over roughly the past decade, to populist titles.

During that period, the branch declined to shortlist Good Night Oppy, a charmer about a Wall-e-like Mars...

Hulu announced today the new original documentary series, Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, produced by Passion Pictures. The documentary series is set to premiere on February 27 on Hulu, with all three parts. It will also be available via Hulu on Disney+ for Bundle subscribers.

When popular vlogger Ruby Franke was arrested for child abuse in August 2023, it quickly became one of the biggest trending stories in America. For years, the Frankes’ YouTube channel had documented a wholesome, happy family life, with 2.5 million subscribers tuning in at its peak.

But happy families are rarely what they seem. As the cracks began to show, the family turned to counselor Jodi Hildebrandt for guidance – and rapidly found themselves trapped in a nightmare. Only the Frankes know what went on inside their home.

This series marks the first time Shari and Chad, the Frankes’ two eldest adult children, and Kevin,...

Fifteen-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will run its main lineup of 111 features, 32 world premieres, 24 U.S. premieres, and 129 short films in-person November 13-21 in New York City’s IFC Center, Sva Theatre, and Village East by Angelika and continue online until December 1 with films available to viewers across the U.S. All the films will have theatrical screenings at the festival, often with the directors in person.

Historically, most of the Doc NYC shortlist titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar shortlist. With the notable exception of Netflix’s Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher,” for 12 years, the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,...

Hhmi Tangled Bank Studios, Tiger Baby, and Emaho Films have set the world premiere of Taira Malaney’s “Turtle Walker” at Doc NYC.

The documentary chronicles the life of Indian sea turtle conservationist Satish Bhaskar. Directed by Malaney in her feature debut, “Turtle Walker” explores Bhaskar’s journey along India’s coastlines in the late 1970s, where he studied and worked to protect endangered sea turtles. The film also examines the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on sea turtle habitats.

Submarine Deluxe, the hybrid sales, production, and distribution company, has acquired sales rights. Run by brothers and co-founders Dan Braun and Josh Braun, the company has a track record of success with documentary sales, having been involved with six of the last twelve Academy Award-winning documentaries. These include “American Factory,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Man on Wire,” “The Cove,” and “Searching for Sugar Man.”

Prior to completion, “Turtle...

Predicting the winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar becomes a lot easier on December 17 when the academy announces the 15 films that make the shortlist. Those semi-finalists will be culled from the more than 100 titles that qualified this year for consideration. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Documentary Feature.)

To winnow those down to a manageable number, the academy adds newly eligible documentary feature to a virtual screening room available to all 500-plus members of the documentary branch. While all members are encouraged to watch as many of these as they can, one-fifth of the voters are assigned each title. Each branch member will submit a preferential ballot listing their top 15 choices.

All of these ballots are collated to determine the 15 semi-finalists. Branch members are then encouraged to watch films on that list which they haven’t seen yet before casting another preferential ballot with their top five choices.

Christopher Reeve’s biopic “Super/Man” is proving just how super the late actor and activist really was.

IndieWire can confirm that documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” has officially won the 2024 HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Series’ Audience Award, after screening at the program August 14.

Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui co-direct the documentary, which has been shortlisted by IndieWire as an Oscar frontrunner. “Super/Man” charts Reeve’s astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, including his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but catalyzed his activism for disability rights.

The feature first screened at Sundance before playing at HamptonsFilm, among other festivals.

For the SummerDocs screening, executive producer Connor Schell and Reeve’s son Will Reeve participated in a Q&a conversation moderated by HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent and Chairman Emeritus Alec Baldwin.

Here’s a first look at the emotional trailer for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.

Only in Theaters September 21 and September 25. Tickets are available:

https://www.fathomevents.com/events/super-man-the-christopher-reeve-story

The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate...

Warner Bros. Pictures has shared the official trailer for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. The film will be presented by Warner Bros. Pictures and Fathom Events in select theaters on September 21, followed by an encore presentation on September 25, Christopher Reeve’s birthday.

The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from an unknown actor to an iconic movie star. His definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today.

Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for...

Jesse Uram has joined Ventureland, the creative studio behind “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” and “Beckham,” as vice president of strategic partnerships. He will be based in the company’s Los Angeles office, where he will work closely with CEO Kerstin Emhoff and managing director John Battsek on expanding the company’s relationships with partners across the financial, creative and distribution communities.

“Jesse has a wealth of knowledge, experience, and a strong reputation in this industry,” Emhoff said in a statement. “As Ventureland continues to grow exponentially, our ability to bring in the best partners and develop strong relationships across all entertainment platforms will support that growth. We are excited to have Jesse join this award-winning team!”

Battsek added: “We’re delighted to welcome Jesse to Ventureland. His experience in brand strategy is invaluable and I look forward to working with him on our growing documentary slate.”

Uram comes to...

One of the unexpected benefits of the streaming era documentary boom is that no musical subject is too niche for a feature-length production budget. Film festivals have become rife with music documentaries, and this year’s Sundance alone saw films about subjects ranging from Devo and Brian Eno to Luther Vandross, Lollapalooza, and the 1985 charity single “We Are the World.” And now we have a movie about Cymande, an obscure ‘70s soul funk band whose cult of devotees has gotten noticeably louder in recent years.

The official story on Cymande is pretty brief. They formed amid London’s West Indies immigrant community in the early 1970s, released three albums from 1972–1974, came to America (where they opened for Al Green and Jerry Butler), and then called it quits when they couldn’t break through to significant media attention or radio play. But Cymande’s music found a second life when their...

International documentary filmmakers and industry reps are gathering at Sheffield DocFest in the U.K. at a moment of political tumult in Europe. British voters head to the polls for a general election on July 4; in France, President Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called snap legislative elections after a French ultranationalist party surged in voting for the European Parliament. Germany’s far-right AfD party also scored substantial gains in that European Parliament vote. Overall, the center held — more or less.

If there’s anything the documentary community is used to dealing with it’s turbulence, whether at the macro level of major change in the business itself, or at the micro level of getting a film production off the ground. The message to DocFest attendees this week has been to insist on solidarity – to support each other — in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Patrizia Mancini, Head of...

After making the leap to narrative filmmaking last year with “Nyad,” Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have returned to their documentary roots and are currently at work in the edit suite prepping their next doc feature — “Lost in the Amazon” (working title), about how four Indigenous children survived for 40 days in the Amazon jungle after a plane crash in 2023. The story of their disappearance and eventual recovery transfixed the global media.

Vasarhelyi and Chin co-directed and produced the film with Colombian filmmaker Juan Camilo Cruz for National Geographic.

The feature docu will tell the story of the struggle for survival of the four children — who ranged in age from 11 months to 13 years — in the guerilla-held jungles of Colombia after a plane they were aboard crashed and killed their mother. The children survived for 40 days in the deep Amazonian rainforest using their Indigenous knowledge of the jungle and the...

Universal Pictures Content Group and Passion Pictures have wrapped on a new documentary about the nun who inspired 1995 Oscar-winning hit “Dead Man Walking,” Variety can exclusively confirm.

Titled “Rebel Nun,” the doc follows the story of Catholic nun and leading death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. Susan Sarandaon won her first and only Oscar playing Prejean in “Dead Man Walking,” which was written and directed by Tim Robbins and co-starred Sean Penn as a convicted murderer.

“Rebel Nun” will explore Sister Helen’s life to date and her ongoing fight against the death penalty.

“Sister Helen Prejean was a humble nun from Louisiana who embarked on a controversial battle that would change the world,” reads the logline. “Now 84 years old, Sister Helen is currently fighting to stop the execution of a Death Row inmate in Oklahoma even lawmakers are convinced is innocent.”

The doc is directed by Dominic Sivyer (“The...

Deadline for Submissions: May 24, 2024

The 20th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival is set to open its call for entries for domestic and international feature and short films from March 11th, 2024, at 14:00. The submission deadline is May 24th, 2024, at 23:59(Kst).

Eligible submissions must be works completed after January 1st, 2022. Shorts must be less than 60 minutes in running time, while features should be 60 minutes or longer. Qualifying entries include feature films, shorts, dramas, documentaries, animations, and experimental films that primarily involve or are themed around music. Films entered in the ‘International Competition' and ‘Korean Competition' categories must not have been screened anywhere in Korea before the 20th Jimff.

The ‘Made in Jecheon' category is open to both feature and short films of any genre and subject, aimed at invigorating independent cinema based in the Chungcheong region and supporting local filmmakers. To qualify, at least one key staff member must be...

Kim Kardashian is set to both executive produce and feature in an upcoming docuseries about Elizabeth Taylor.

Commissioned by the BBC, the three-part documentary — given the working title “Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar” — is coming from the Oscar-winning “Searching for Sugar Man” production house Passion Pictures, behind the recent Sundance hit “Super/Man” about Christopher Reeve.

The series will take a deep dive into Taylor’s craft and technique as an actor — one who mesmerized cinema-goers, but also changed the relationship between audiences and stars — showing how she reinvented the nature of fame, even as she smashed the glass ceiling in Hollywood, before going on to become a billion-dollar businesswoman, activist and advocate. Fremantle will be shopping the doc series globally.

“Elizabeth Taylor was unapologetically herself, a fighter,” said Kardashian, who conducted the last interview with her before she died. “She is proof that you can keep evolving and changing and...

BBC Arts has commissioned Academy Award-winning production firm Passion Pictures (Searching for Sugar Man, Wham!) to make a three-part documentary series on Elizabeth Taylor, executive produced by and featuring Kim Kardashian.

The BBC unveiled the project with the working title Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar on Monday, noting that Taylor is “one of Hollywood’s most famous names.”

Executive produced by Kari Lia, Hamish Fergusson and Kardashian, the series promises to feature “privileged access to those who knew her best, including members of Elizabeth Taylor’s family, friends, and colleagues from throughout her stellar career.” And it vows to shine the spotlight on “a superstar who transformed not just Hollywood but fame itself, as she went from child star to highest-paid actress in the world.”

A show description also highlights: “For too long the story of Elizabeth Taylor has been told as a soap opera. The eight marriages, the diamonds, the addictions.

The late, great Aretha Franklin once said: “Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.”

It surely has been for Gloria Gaynor. The Grammy-winner singer is the subject of director Betsy Schechter’s compelling new documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive. The outing, which became an Audience Favorite at the recent Palm Springs International Film Festival, tracks the disco diva’s legacy, which took flight nearly five decades ago upon the release of her chart-topping disco hit "I Will Survive" in 1978. That song, which has sold more than 14 million copies to date, became the quintessential anthem for jilted lovers and anybody moving through life’s most pressing challenges.

Gaynor opens up about her own troubles in the documentary — from...

‘Searching for Sugarman’ Producer Passion Signs ‘Planet Earth II’ Showrunner

Searching for Sugarman producer Passion Pictures has snapped up the showrunner of Planet Earth II from Plimsoll. Tom Hugh-Jones will boost Passion’s natural history offering and be based in Bristol, taking on the new title of MD Passion Planet (Bristol). He has a wealth of major natural history credits including Planet Earth, Human Planet and Life Story across a 30-year career, while he most recently helmed A Real Bug’s Life for Disney+, which launches today. “Planet Earth II and Tiny World are two of my favourite natural history series of all time,” said Passion CEO Nick Southgate. “The chance to work with the showrunner of these extraordinary pieces of TV was a no-brainer. I can’t wait to dig in with Tom and Dave and create a new era of intelligent, big wildlife shows.”

Netflix Explores UFO-Inspired Religion

Netflix...

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival has its first major sale, and for arguably the wildest feature in the lineup.

“Kneecap,” the raucous comedy biopic about the Irish rap group and co-starring Michael Fassbender, has been picked up Sony Pictures Classics, which has acquired all rights to the title for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East.

The film, the debut feature of director Rich Peppiatt and the first Irish-language feature to play Sundance, premiered on Thursday night at the Prospector Square Theater to critical acclaim, after which the band played a set at the after-party at The Cabin on Main Street. The three-piece also brought along a Northern Irish police van for a stunt ahead of the first screening.

“Kneecap” follows the emergence of the riotous rap trio in post-Troubles Belfast, setting the stage for the Irish language’s resurgence against the establishment. Self-proclaimed “low life scum” Liam Óg and Naoise,...

Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher” documentarian Pippa Ehrlich is one of the voices behind a surprise A24 doc, streaming quietly on Prime Video since Friday, January 12.

Titled “My Mercury,” the film follows then-28-year-old conservationist Yves Chesselet, who sheds the comforts of modern living to relocate to the remote Mercury Island off the coast of Namibia. Chesselet is determined to bring 15,000 seals off the island and have Mercury Island solely be home to the critically endangered seabirds of the South Atlantic.

Chesselet’s sister Joelle Chesselet directed the documentary, with Ehrlich co-directing. Joelle said in a press statement, “My brother’s island saga has held me spellbound for three decades, challenging me to do justice to his tale of exhilaration, courage, positive masculinity and sacrifice. This journey has matured into what I see as a parable for our times, chronicling an intimate account of a re-wilding experiment and then zooming out to the choices we,...

Exclusive: Submarine has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Ilya Chaiken’s music documentary feature Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks, ahead of its world premiere at Doc NYC.

Concord Originals, the narrative content creation division of L.A.-based music management company Concord, has come on board to finance and produce.

The film revolves around influential underground New York punk band Les Lunachicks which had its heyday in the 1990s with songs such as Fallopian Rhapsody and Bitterness Barbie, and performed live with the likes of No Doubt, Green Day, The Offspring, The Go-Go’s, Nofx, Rancid, The Ramones, Rev Horton Heat, The Buzzcocks and Joan Jett.

Director and producer Chaiken catches up with the group decades after its messy break-up as its members attempt to reunite for one last show.

“I’ve been a devoted Lunachicks fangirl since I lucked into their very first show in 1988 when we were all teenagers.

Welcome to the world of documentaries, where real lives and real stories come to life on the screen. There’s something profoundly moving about witnessing the human experience captured through the lens of a camera – the raw emotions, the untold struggles, and the amazing moments that shape our lives. As a documentary enthusiast who believes in the power of storytelling, I’m excited to share with you a curated list of seven documentaries that offer a deep dive into the complexities of our existence.

Related: 10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Changed Public Perception

These documentaries are more than just films; they’re windows into the lives of individuals who have experienced the spectrum of human emotions and challenges. From the comfort of your couch, you’ll have the privilege of walking in their shoes, experiencing their journeys, and gaining insights that might just change your perspective on the world.

Each documentary on...

Thirteen-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will run its main lineup of 114 features and 129 short films in-person November 8-16 in New York City’s IFC Center, Sva Theatre and Village East by Angelika and continue online until November 26 with films available to viewers across the U.S. All the films will have theatrical screenings at the festival, often with the directors in person.

Historically, most of the Doc NYC shortlist titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Shortlist. With the notable exception of Netflix’s Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher,” for 11 years the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has also screened 49 of the last 55 Oscar-nominated documentary features.

Exclusive: WME has signed Fisher Stevens and his production company Highly Flammable, which he launched last spring alongside producers Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg. They’ll rep the Academy Award-winning multi-hyphenate, going forward, across all scripted and documentary projects.

The move comes less than a week after Stevens’ Beckham docuseries was released on Netflix, debuting as the streamer’s most-watched English-language series of the week. The four-parter, on which he teamed with Oscar and Emmy-winning producer John Battsek (Searching for Sugar Man), tells the inside story of the global football star and cultural icon, offering unprecedented access not only to Beckham, but also to his wife Victoria, his family, his friends and his teammates.

Fisher’s scripted directing credits include the ex-convict drama Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake, which remains one of Apple TV+’s top 10 most popular films; the comedic thriller Stand Up Guys, starring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin,...

Universal Pictures Content Group has boarded “The Beat of a Nation: Kerouac’s Road,” a feature documentary directed by Ebs Burnough (“The Capote Tapes”) about Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel “On the Road.”

Produced by London-based banner Ventureland, the documentary starts filming this week and sees Burnough using the prism of “On the Road” to depict the turmoils of today’s political and cultural landscape in the U.S.

Burnough is the former White House deputy social secretary and senior advisor to First Lady Michelle Obama. He made his directorial debut with the documentary “The Capote Tapes,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and explores the impact of Truman Capote’s explosive unfinished novel “Answered Prayers.”

“The Beat of a Nation: Kerouac’s Road” is produced by John Battsek and Eliza Hindmarch of Ventureland, in collaboration with the Kerouac Estate, for which Jim Sampas will executive produce.

The...

Mega Merger

The proposed merger between Indian powerhouse Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony‘s Indian TV businesses, which has been nearly two years in the making, is likely to be delayed further, Sony said in a filing on Friday. The companies cleared a key regulatory hurdle in August, but there are other matters pending, especially that of leadership. The original plan had foreseen that Zee’s CEO Punit Goenka would be its captain, while Sony would own a 51% controlling stake. However, Goenka was banned from managing any listed company in India following an interim regulatory report that accused him and Zee founder Subhash Chandra of running the company for their own benefit and “siphoning off” money.

Goenka appealed the decision with India’s Securities Appellate Tribunal, who heard his plea on Wednesday but has reserved a verdict for at least a week.

On Friday, Sony said: “Both companies continue to...

Netflix has debuted the trailer for the sporting documentary on the iconic English Footballer, ‘Beckham.’

The four-part documentary series, tells the inside story of a global football star and cultural icon. David Beckham is one of the most known names on the planet, yet few people know who he really is. From his humble working-class beginnings in east London, his drive and determination to win, and the battle to find balance between ambition, love and family, David’s story is one of immense ups and downs. The series takes you on that rollercoaster and builds a surprising, personal and definitive story of one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time.

Academy Award-winner Fisher Stevens along with Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer John Battsek are granted unprecedented access to David, his wife Victoria, his family, his friends and his team-mates. The result is an intimate portrait of...

Award-winning production company Ventureland has entered a first-look partnership with independent studio A24 for documentary projects.

John Battsek, producer of Oscar-winning documentaries “One Day in September” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” who also serves as Ventureland’s managing director, will be both producing and executive producing as part of the deal, alongside Ventureland CEO Kerstin Emhoff, president Ali Brown, and co-founder Paul Hunter.

The two companies recently collaborated on freediving Netflix documentary “The Deepest Breath,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance.

Battsek and Emhoff said: “With our shared culture and ambition to broaden perspectives, we are thrilled to partner with A24. This partnership will allow us to continue to push creative boundaries in making award-winning documentary features and series.”

Headquartered in London and Los Angeles, Ventureland’s credits include PGA and BAFTA-nominated “The Rescue”; double Emmy-winning “Rising Phoenix”; Critics Choice nominee “The Real Charlie Chaplin”; Werner Herzog’s “Theater...

How much longer will the Oscars wait? That is, wait to embrace the quality and sheer brilliance of documentary filmmaking in a significant way, meaning nominating one in the best picture category? Matthew Heineman’s deeply moving “American Symphony,” which follows Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Jon Batiste as he prepares for his performance at Carnegie Hall, is yet another home run for the filmmaker behind “Cartel Land” and “City of Ghosts,” not to mention a singular love story.

Batiste’s larger-than-life personality was on full display following the Telluride screening of the documentary, when he led a band down to the main street of Telluride.

The film doesn’t just follow Batiste in his musical element, such as his work as band leader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” or when he led the 2022 Grammy nominations and won album of the year. Instead, it’s an intimate portrait of...

All Might's final battle in My Hero Academia sees him using a power armor equipped with abilities from his students, showing that he has learned from them. All Might displays a skill in battling without a Quirk, which he learned from Deku's tactics in a previous arc. All Might's strategy involves infuriating his opponent, All for One, and keeping him off-balance until he makes a mistake, using a similar approach to what Deku did against Bakugo.

Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia Ch. #397All Might's final battle is on in My Hero Academia, and in his effectively Quirkless state, he's having to take a few pages out of his student's books--but most of all, from Midoriya.

For the final battle, All Might has deployed for himself a suit of power armor, which has already shown it's equipped with abilities from many of the students of Class 1-a. He's already...

Clarence Avant, the judicious manager, entrepreneur, facilitator and adviser who helped launch or guide the careers of Quincy Jones, Bill Withers and many others and came to be known as the “Black Godfather” of music and beyond, has died. He was 92.

Avant, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a family statement released Monday.

Avant’s achievements were both public and behind the scenes, as a name in the credits, or a name behind the names. Born in a segregated hospital in North Carolina, he became a man of lasting and wide-ranging influence, in part by minding two pieces of advice from an early mentor, the music manager Joe Glaser: Never let on how much you know, and ask for as much money as possible, “without stuttering.”

“He exemplified a certain level of cool and street smarts...

Clarence Avant, the music executive and film producer who was known unofficially as “The Godfather” of Black entertainment, died on Sunday in his Los Angeles home. He was 92.

“It is with a heavy heart that the Avant/Sarandos family announce the passing of Clarence Alexander Avant,” a statement from his children, Nicole and Alexander, as well as his son-in-law Ted Sarandos read. “Through his revolutionary business leadership, Clarence became affectionately known as ‘the Black Godfather’ in the worlds of music, entertainment, politics and sports. Clarence leaves behind a loving family and a sea of friends and associates that have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come. The joy of his legacy eases the sorrow of our loss.”

Avant began his music industry career in the 1950s as a manager of Teddy P’s Lounge in Newark, New Jersey. He would later go on...

Clarence Avant, who was dubbed the “Godfather of Black Music,” died Sunday in Los Angeles, his family has confirmed. He was 92.

A statement provided by his family including son-in-law Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-ceo, announced Avant’s passing “with a heavy heart,” and said he had “passed away gently.”

“Through his revolutionary business leadership, Clarence became affectionately known as ‘the Black Godfather’ in the worlds of music, entertainment, politics, and sports,” the statement said. “Top artists and executives like Quincy Jones, JayZ, Whitney Houston, Pharrell Williams, Lionel Richie, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Sean Combs, L.A. Reid, Suzanne de Passe, Kenny ‘Baby Face’ Edmonds, Jon Platt, Irving Azoff, Snoop Dogg Reginald Hudland, Benny Medina and Queen Latifah all credit Avant for his inspiration and guidance.”

The news comes almost two years after the shooting death of his wife, Jackie Avant, during a break-in at the family’s Beverly Hills home...

Clarence Avant, the beloved recording industry insider whose work as an executive, label owner, dealmaker and mentor earned him the nickname the “Godfather of Black Music,” has died. He was 92.

Avant died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced in a statement. His death came 20 months after his wife of 54 years, philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, was shot and killed by an intruder in their Beverly Hills home in the early morning hours of Dec. 1, 2021.

Survivors include their daughter, Nicole Avant, a producer, former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and the wife of Netflix co-ceo and chief content officer Ted Sarandos, and their son, Alexander, a producer (Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!) and talent rep.

“Clarence leaves behind a loving family and a sea of friends and associates that have changed the world and will continue to change the world for generations to come,” the Avant/Sarandos family said.

Lil Tay is alive and well.

On Thursday, the family of the 14-year-old internet star released a statement to TMZ saying that she and her brother are not dead, despite a now-deleted Instagram post from Wednesday claiming otherwise.

Read More: Lil Tay’s Ex-Manager Cannot Confirm Or Deny ‘Legitimacy’ Of Family’s Statement Over Rapper’s Death

“I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say,” Lil Tay said in the statement. “It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess.”

She added, “My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumours regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong.

Los Angeles, Aug 10 (Ians) American songwriter Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, who is just called Rodriguez, died on August 8, aged 81. Having started his career in the 1970’s, the singer is known for garnering an Academy Award for his 2013 documentary ‘Searching for Sugar Man’; but after some brief folk rock hits, he quit the music industry for a quiet life.

The singer’s death was later announced on his official website which stated “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away.”

“We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family. Rodriguez was 81 years old.”

“May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace”

The singer was heavily influenced by Bob Dylan and other 1960s-’70s folk musicians such as The Band and even some other groups that used folk elements in their music as Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull.

Oscar-nominated producer Bill Pohlad has a long history of aligning himself with auteurs on award-winning fare—from Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain to Terrence Malick on the Palme d’Or winning The Tree of Life to Steve McQueen’s Oscar Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, and getting financially behind them with his River Road Entertainment banner. We talk with Pohlad on Crew Call today about his third career feature as director, Dreamin’ Wild, based on the New York Times Steven Kurutz article about the Fruitland, Wa-based Emerson brothers whose dad literally bet the farm (mortgaging it to the tune of $100K) on the duo’s singing talents in the 1970s, and built them a studio. They didn’t make it initially — not until 2008 when the album they made some near 40 years prior, “Dreamin’ Wild,” was discovered by a record collector in Spokane, Jack Fleischer, and championed fervently. The...

Actor Robert Swan, best known for roles in The Untouchables, Hoosiers, The Babe, and more, died on Wednesday. He was 78.

Swan died after a battle with liver cancer, a family friend confirmed to multipleoutlets.

Born in Chicago, Swan got his start in local theater — earning three Joseph Jefferson Award nominations — before his first film appearance in the 1980 film Somewhere in Time. He continued to work in film and television throughout his career, playing a Mountie captain in The Untouchables in 1987, and Deputy Napalatoni in 1994’s Natural Born Killers.

Two of his most high-profile roles came in sports movies. He played Rollin Butcher, the assistant coach to Gene Hackman’s Norman Dale in the 1986 high school basketball drama Hoosiers, and in 1992’s The Babe — which starred John Goodman in the titular role — he played Babe Ruth’s father, George Herman Ruth Sr.

Swan was also the founder of Harbor Country Opera,...

Rodriguez, the subject of the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has passed away at the age of 81. The news of Rodriguez’s death was announced on the official webpage and on Facebook with the following message: “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today. We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family. Rodriguez was 81 years old. May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”

Rodriguez – whose full name was Sixto Diaz Rodriguez – may have been most famous at one point for being practically untraceable outside of the mainstream. Indeed, the hunt led by two die-hard fans (Stephen “Sugar” Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom) inspired the aforementioned Searching for Sugar Man which renewed interest in the music career of Rodriguez.

In his career, Rodriguez only recorded two albums, with...

Rodriguez, the singer-songwriter who gained renewed fame thanks to the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man”, has died at age 81.

The news of his passing was shared on his official website, which posted, “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today.”

Read More: John Gosling, Keyboardist For The Kinks, Dead At 75

The statement added, “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family. Rodriguez was 81 years old. May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”

Rodriguez, who hailed from Detroit, broke onto the music scene playing in clubs around the city while working on a Chrysler assembly line during the day.

After attracting the attention of producers Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey, he released his 1970 debut album Cold Fact.

Both his first and second album, Coming From Reality, were commercial failures,...

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, the Detroit-born singer-songwriter who found cult success in South Africa and Australia before becoming the subject of the Oscar-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has died. He was 81.

The musician, known professionally as Rodriguez, died Wednesday, it was announced on his official website. No cause of death was revealed.

The note on his website continued: “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters — Sandra, Eva and Regan — and to all his family. May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”

Rodriguez garnered more widespread recognition in the U.S. later in his career, following the release of Searching for Sugar Man. The doc, directed by Malik Bendjelloul, traced the folk musician’s journey from near obscurity to international cult success after his first two albums — which he recorded in Detroit in the early 1970s — struggled to sell.

The film received the 2013 Academy Award for best documentary feature,...

Sixto Rodriguez, the Detroit musician who found surprise success in South Africa and became the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has died at the age of 81.

The news was announced in a statement from his official website, which reads, “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today. We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters — Sandra, Eva and Regan — and to all his family.”

Though Rodriguez’s cause of death is unknown, The Detroit News reports he had been in declining health.

Born July 10th, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan as the sixth child of a Mexican father and Native American mother, Sixto Diaz Rodriguez began his music career in 1967 under the name Rod Riguez. Three years later, he signed with Sussex Records and began recording under the name Rodriguez. Following two albums, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality,...

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, the Detroit singer-songwriter better known simply as Rodriguez whose seeming disappearance after a brief flirtation with musical success in the early 1970s was the subject of the Oscar-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, died today. He was 81.

His death was announced on his official website.

“It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today,” the statement reads. “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family.”

A singer-songwriter heavily influenced by Bob Dylan and other 1960s-’70s confessional folk musicians, Rodriguez seemed poise for success, or at least a sustainable career in music, when his 1970 debut album Cold Fact was released on the Los Angeles indie label Sussex Records. Already familiar in the Detroit area for his club and barroom performances, Rodriguez was hailed by some as the next Dylan.

Sixto Rodriguez, the Mexican-American singer-songwriter who languished in obscurity for decades before his brilliant music was rediscovered and chronicled in the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, died on Tuesday. He was 81.

Rodriguez’s death was announced Wednesday on his official website. “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today,” the statement read. No cause of death was provided, but Rodriguez reportedly dealt with health issues in recent years.

Rodriguez only released two studio albums: 1970’s Cold Fact and 1971’s Coming From Reality.

Michigan-born singer-songwriter whose improbable career was detailed in 2012 Oscar-winning documentary has died

Rodriguez, the singer-songwriter whose unlikely career was the subject of Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has died at 81.

The news was announced on his official site with his cause of death unknown. “It is with great sadness that we at Sugarman.org announce that Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has passed away earlier today,” the official statement read. “We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his daughters – Sandra, Eva and Regan – and to all his family. Rodriguez was 81 years old. May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”...

“At 20 when I met him, I knew I would see his name on a screen.”

Nancy Emerson beams with pride as she speaks of her husband, the singer-songwriter Donnie Emerson. Donnie’s had a strange career: after years in obscurity, in 2008, Dreamin’ Wild, an album he recorded with his brother Joe, became a cult hit, gaining notice from music lovers all over the world. Overlooked when it debuted in 1979, Dreamin’ Wild is now considered a classic of its time, and launched Donnie into a professional musical career.

Now the amazing story of Donnie and Joe Emerson gets the Hollywood treatment in the new film Dreamin' Wild, directed by Bill Pohlad. Debuting August 4, it recounts the amazing story of the Emerson Brothers and their sudden, belated rise to fame.

“I’m blessed that the underground took off in the music business,” said Donnie, shy and soft-spoken. “What it did — it crossed all the barriers.

The true story of the late-blooming musical duo, Emerson Brothers, at the heart of Bill Pohlad’s elegiac yet bizarrely dull “Dreamin’ Wild” goes a bit like that of Rodriguez, the Michigan-based musician followed in the Oscar-winning documentary, “Searching for Sugarman.”

Growing up amid modest means at their hardworking family’s Washington State farm, Donnie and Joe Emerson were two teenagers in love with making music. A real talent often charges family-wide operations of this sort—in the Emerson clan that was Donnie, a gifted songwriter on his guitar and an expressive soloist to boot, with boundless aspirations for the future of his still young life.

On the drums was his older sibling Joe, for whom music had never been an all-or-nothing pursuit. Through much sacrifice and support from their caring family the two released their only record, “Dreamin’ Wild,” in the late ’70s, a soulful, genuinely beautiful album doomed with the dead-end,...