In a keynote conversation Tuesday at Copenhagen’s leading international documentary festival Cph:dox, Academy Award winning filmmaker and producer Alex Gibney talked honestly about the winding road of making it in the documentary world, the creative process, and the lessons of life, partly learned from singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
The inspirational talk at the baroque Kunsthal Charlottenborg exhibition space, with moderator Thom Powers, Toronto Film Festival programmer, was a prelude to the festival’s screening of Gibney’s two-part doc “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which debuted on MGM+ March 17.
“What I learned from Paul was that when he wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ he sat alone and words came to him; creativity started to flow, and just like Bob Dylan with ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ [the song] suddenly fit and he felt like a conduit.”
Gibney said letting free associations take over, having an unguarded curiosity and generosity were some...
The inspirational talk at the baroque Kunsthal Charlottenborg exhibition space, with moderator Thom Powers, Toronto Film Festival programmer, was a prelude to the festival’s screening of Gibney’s two-part doc “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which debuted on MGM+ March 17.
“What I learned from Paul was that when he wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ he sat alone and words came to him; creativity started to flow, and just like Bob Dylan with ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ [the song] suddenly fit and he felt like a conduit.”
Gibney said letting free associations take over, having an unguarded curiosity and generosity were some...
- 3/20/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
A well-told story ends when the credits roll, but not so documentaries. There, in most cases, the lives of the people depicted on-screen continue on, transformed by the fact of being filmed — and even more by whatever attention the project ignites in the culture at large. That’s why, in the hundreds of post-screening Q&As I’ve seen for docs over the years, the same questions come up virtually without fail: What’s happened since? How are the movie’s subjects doing now?
In “Subject,” co-directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall catch up with the people at the center of several major documentaries — from “Hoop Dreams” and “The Wolfpack” to “Capturing the Friedmans” and “The Staircase” — to see how their involvement in such projects changed their lives. That may be the hook that lures in audiences, though the film is far more than just a years-later epilogue to those high-profile docs.
In “Subject,” co-directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall catch up with the people at the center of several major documentaries — from “Hoop Dreams” and “The Wolfpack” to “Capturing the Friedmans” and “The Staircase” — to see how their involvement in such projects changed their lives. That may be the hook that lures in audiences, though the film is far more than just a years-later epilogue to those high-profile docs.
- 11/6/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max’s The Janes was among the top winners at the 44th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday, with the film — centered on a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion network in Chicago — taking home best documentary as well as best social issue documentary.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presented the Documentary category winners during a live ceremony at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and streamed live on NATAS’ viewing platform powered by Vimeo, the second of a two-night celebration. The News category winners were announced in a ceremony held at the Palladium on Wednesday.
Scheduled presenters at the Thursday night Docs ceremony included HBO Documentary & Family Programming’s Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, reporter Jelani Cobb, Nothing Compares director Kathryn Ferguson, NPR host and Is That Black Enough for You?!? writer-director Elvis Mitchell, Doc NYC co-founder Thom Powers and National Geographic correspondent Mariana van Zeller.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presented the Documentary category winners during a live ceremony at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and streamed live on NATAS’ viewing platform powered by Vimeo, the second of a two-night celebration. The News category winners were announced in a ceremony held at the Palladium on Wednesday.
Scheduled presenters at the Thursday night Docs ceremony included HBO Documentary & Family Programming’s Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, reporter Jelani Cobb, Nothing Compares director Kathryn Ferguson, NPR host and Is That Black Enough for You?!? writer-director Elvis Mitchell, Doc NYC co-founder Thom Powers and National Geographic correspondent Mariana van Zeller.
- 9/29/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities. The same phrase could describe the state of the documentary industry.
More independent documentary films and series of exceptional quality are being made than ever before, yet there is an existential dilemma facing the field: how to get that remarkable work to viewers. Distribution opportunities have dried up in the past year – buyers aren’t buying, at least at the pace they used to – provoking deep anxiety among nonfiction filmmakers.
We dig into these vital concerns with Thom Powers, documentary programmer at the Toronto Film Festival, in Episode 2 of Doc Talk. Our podcast hosted by filmmaker John Ridley and Deadline’s documentary editor Matt Carey is produced by Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios and presented in partnership with National Geographic Documentary Films.
Powers, one of the most respected figures in documentary,...
More independent documentary films and series of exceptional quality are being made than ever before, yet there is an existential dilemma facing the field: how to get that remarkable work to viewers. Distribution opportunities have dried up in the past year – buyers aren’t buying, at least at the pace they used to – provoking deep anxiety among nonfiction filmmakers.
We dig into these vital concerns with Thom Powers, documentary programmer at the Toronto Film Festival, in Episode 2 of Doc Talk. Our podcast hosted by filmmaker John Ridley and Deadline’s documentary editor Matt Carey is produced by Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios and presented in partnership with National Geographic Documentary Films.
Powers, one of the most respected figures in documentary,...
- 9/20/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Programme opens with world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine.
Toronto has announced its TIFF Docs line-up, a crop of 22 features at time of writing which includes premieres of new work by Lucy Walker, Errol Morris, and Raoul Peck.
The section opens with the world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, a timely tale about a 1971 international women’s football tournament in Mexico City which drew record crowds and has been largely erased from sports history.
Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa gets its world premiere and profiles a single mother...
Toronto has announced its TIFF Docs line-up, a crop of 22 features at time of writing which includes premieres of new work by Lucy Walker, Errol Morris, and Raoul Peck.
The section opens with the world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, a timely tale about a 1971 international women’s football tournament in Mexico City which drew record crowds and has been largely erased from sports history.
Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa gets its world premiere and profiles a single mother...
- 7/26/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Toronto International Film Festival announced its lineup of documentaries this morning, a slate that includes the world premiere of a film on uncancelled comedian Louis C.K., as well as fresh work from nonfiction greats Raoul Peck, Frederick Wiseman, Errol Morris, Lucy Walker, and Roger Ross Williams.
Sorry/Not Sorry, directed by Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, foregrounds women comedians who accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment and the consequences they faced as a result. C.K. admitted in 2017 that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of several women, which appeared to cancel his thriving standup and acting career. But after a pause he resumed standup performances before sold out crowds.
Louis C.K.
“It’s a really nuanced telling of the story produced by the New York Times,” TIFF chief documentary programmer Thom Powers told Deadline. “It’s been six years since the original New York Times reporting on this case.
Sorry/Not Sorry, directed by Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, foregrounds women comedians who accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment and the consequences they faced as a result. C.K. admitted in 2017 that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of several women, which appeared to cancel his thriving standup and acting career. But after a pause he resumed standup performances before sold out crowds.
Louis C.K.
“It’s a really nuanced telling of the story produced by the New York Times,” TIFF chief documentary programmer Thom Powers told Deadline. “It’s been six years since the original New York Times reporting on this case.
- 7/26/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
New films from legendary documentarians Frederick Wiseman and Errol Morris and new work from directors Raoul Peck, Lucy Walker, Roger Ross Williams and Karim Amer will screen at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, which announced its TIFF Docs lineup on Wednesday.
The 93-year-old Wiseman will present the North American premiere of “Menus – Plaisirs Les Troisgros,” a four-hour deep dive into a fabled Michelin-starred restaurant in France. Morris will have the international premiere of “The Pigeon Tunnel,” which is built around a Morris interview with John le Carre that turned out to be the last interview the espionage novelist gave before his death in 2020.
The 22 films announced on Wednesday include 10 world premieres, including Amer’s “Defiant,” Walker’s “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road,” Williams’ “Stamped From the Beginning” and Caroline Suh and Cara Mones’ “Sorry/Not Sorry.” Of the 26 directors represented by those films,...
The 93-year-old Wiseman will present the North American premiere of “Menus – Plaisirs Les Troisgros,” a four-hour deep dive into a fabled Michelin-starred restaurant in France. Morris will have the international premiere of “The Pigeon Tunnel,” which is built around a Morris interview with John le Carre that turned out to be the last interview the espionage novelist gave before his death in 2020.
The 22 films announced on Wednesday include 10 world premieres, including Amer’s “Defiant,” Walker’s “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road,” Williams’ “Stamped From the Beginning” and Caroline Suh and Cara Mones’ “Sorry/Not Sorry.” Of the 26 directors represented by those films,...
- 7/26/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Every year, the Cannes Film Festival program yields its riches. And every year, documentaries are kept to the selection sidebars, with the exception of just three over the years, two of which won the Palme d’Or: “The Silent World,” co-directed by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle in 1956, and Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.
This year, out of 16 documentaries in the Official Selection, two are in the Competition, the first time nonfiction titles have joined that storied roster since Moore’s inclusion.
This is progress, but a quick glance at the latest Palme d’Or predictions reveals that Wang Bing’s “Youth” (marking the first 3.5-hours of an eventual 10-hour triptych) and “Olfa’s Daughters” from Kaouther Ben Hania are not high on the list of likely winners. Both are recognized by critics as boundary-pushing examples of the form but seem unlikely to become consensus award picks from Ruben Östlund’s eclectic Competition jury.
This year, out of 16 documentaries in the Official Selection, two are in the Competition, the first time nonfiction titles have joined that storied roster since Moore’s inclusion.
This is progress, but a quick glance at the latest Palme d’Or predictions reveals that Wang Bing’s “Youth” (marking the first 3.5-hours of an eventual 10-hour triptych) and “Olfa’s Daughters” from Kaouther Ben Hania are not high on the list of likely winners. Both are recognized by critics as boundary-pushing examples of the form but seem unlikely to become consensus award picks from Ruben Östlund’s eclectic Competition jury.
- 5/26/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
World class climber Jimmy Chin met his future wife, filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi, over a mountain – of footage.
He had been working for a number of years on the documentary that would become Meru, the story of an attempt by Chin and his fellow alpinists and friends Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk to become the first to summit the perilous Shark’s Fin peak in the Himalayas. Perhaps because he was so close to the subject matter, the film wasn’t quite cohering.
“I had submitted it to a few film festivals and got turned down,” Chin explained during an Artists & Auteurs conversation at Cph:dox in Copenhagen. He told moderator Thom Powers, TIFF’s documentary programmer and host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast, that while struggling over the film he crossed paths with Vasarhelyi at a conference.
Directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin appear at Cph:dox in Copenhagen on Tuesday, March...
He had been working for a number of years on the documentary that would become Meru, the story of an attempt by Chin and his fellow alpinists and friends Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk to become the first to summit the perilous Shark’s Fin peak in the Himalayas. Perhaps because he was so close to the subject matter, the film wasn’t quite cohering.
“I had submitted it to a few film festivals and got turned down,” Chin explained during an Artists & Auteurs conversation at Cph:dox in Copenhagen. He told moderator Thom Powers, TIFF’s documentary programmer and host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast, that while struggling over the film he crossed paths with Vasarhelyi at a conference.
Directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin appear at Cph:dox in Copenhagen on Tuesday, March...
- 3/24/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar winner and Academy member Roger Ross Williams is saying publicly what many in the documentary community have stewed over privately – that the sums of money being spent on Oscar documentary campaigns has “gotten insane.” And Williams, a former Academy Governor representing the Doc Branch, says something may be done about it.
“We in the Academy, in the Doc Branch, have a campaign finance reform committee… to sort of try to work through that and figure out solutions to that. It’s gotten insane. It’s gazillions of dollars to get seen and heard,” he said, “and that’s so troubling because it should be on the merit of the films.”
Director Roger Ross Williams (rt) and Thom Powers converse at Cph:dox in Copenhagen, Wednesday, March 22, 2023
His remarks, less than two weeks after the Academy Awards, came in a discussion with documentary programmer and Pure Nonfiction podcaster Thom Powers at Cph:dox in Copenhagen.
“We in the Academy, in the Doc Branch, have a campaign finance reform committee… to sort of try to work through that and figure out solutions to that. It’s gotten insane. It’s gazillions of dollars to get seen and heard,” he said, “and that’s so troubling because it should be on the merit of the films.”
Director Roger Ross Williams (rt) and Thom Powers converse at Cph:dox in Copenhagen, Wednesday, March 22, 2023
His remarks, less than two weeks after the Academy Awards, came in a discussion with documentary programmer and Pure Nonfiction podcaster Thom Powers at Cph:dox in Copenhagen.
- 3/23/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
During a talk at Copenhagen’s Cph:dox on Wednesday, Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams spoke about a wide variety of topics, including his latest documentary, “Love to Love You, Donna Summer,” how insanely expensive it is to garner a doc Oscar nomination, and why the racial reckoning that occurred in the nonfiction community after George Floyd’s murder is over.
Despite celebrity-driven docs being all the rage, Williams admitted that he usually rejects them.
“I have so many celebrities who come to me about making a documentary (about their life),” the helmer told moderator Thom Powers. “It’s never worked out because if they are a living celebrity, who is very popular, they are all about control. It’s a piece of propaganda about their image and their career. It’s not a documentary.”
But when it came to making a docu about Summer, who passed away in 2012, Williams didn...
Despite celebrity-driven docs being all the rage, Williams admitted that he usually rejects them.
“I have so many celebrities who come to me about making a documentary (about their life),” the helmer told moderator Thom Powers. “It’s never worked out because if they are a living celebrity, who is very popular, they are all about control. It’s a piece of propaganda about their image and their career. It’s not a documentary.”
But when it came to making a docu about Summer, who passed away in 2012, Williams didn...
- 3/22/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
On Monday, Oscar-winning documentarian Asif Kapadia told a roomful of Cph:dox Conference attendees that he might have never directed a nonfiction film had it not been for Harvey Weinstein “killing” his first narrative feature film, “The Warrior.”
“The Warrior,” starring the late Irrfan Khan, is about a mercenary directed by an evil warlord to wreak havoc on a rural village in Rajasthan by forcing the poor inhabitants to pay taxes. In 2003, the film won two BAFTAs for outstanding debut and outstanding British Film. But according to Kapadia, the film garnered no attention outside of England due to Weinstein, who bought worldwide rights – excluding the U.K. – in 2001.
“I was flown out to New York to meet Weinstein, and everyone was saying how great it was that the film had sold to Miramax,” Kapadia said. “I remember saying why I did not feel good about (the deal).”
At the meeting, Kapadia...
“The Warrior,” starring the late Irrfan Khan, is about a mercenary directed by an evil warlord to wreak havoc on a rural village in Rajasthan by forcing the poor inhabitants to pay taxes. In 2003, the film won two BAFTAs for outstanding debut and outstanding British Film. But according to Kapadia, the film garnered no attention outside of England due to Weinstein, who bought worldwide rights – excluding the U.K. – in 2001.
“I was flown out to New York to meet Weinstein, and everyone was saying how great it was that the film had sold to Miramax,” Kapadia said. “I remember saying why I did not feel good about (the deal).”
At the meeting, Kapadia...
- 3/20/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
When Cph:dox shifted from a fall festival to a spring-based fest in 2017, it got out of IDFA’s shadow and grew into one of the most influential documentary events of the year.
“It made a big jump in prominence when it moved to March because it fit into the calendar in a more exciting way for a lot of documentary stakeholders,” Thom Powers, lead documentary programmer for Toronto Film Festival, says. “It became a great place for films coming out of Sundance to have a European launch. It’s also become a very significant place for films to make world premieres near the beginning of the year, which can then send them on a circuit, traveling to other festivals like Hot Docs or Doc NYC.”
Now in its 20th year, Cph:dox is among the largest documentary film festivals in the world. This year’s lineup includes 200 docus, more than half...
“It made a big jump in prominence when it moved to March because it fit into the calendar in a more exciting way for a lot of documentary stakeholders,” Thom Powers, lead documentary programmer for Toronto Film Festival, says. “It became a great place for films coming out of Sundance to have a European launch. It’s also become a very significant place for films to make world premieres near the beginning of the year, which can then send them on a circuit, traveling to other festivals like Hot Docs or Doc NYC.”
Now in its 20th year, Cph:dox is among the largest documentary film festivals in the world. This year’s lineup includes 200 docus, more than half...
- 3/18/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSNo Bears.Jafar Panahi was released on bail last Friday, two days after starting a hunger strike to protest his seven-month imprisonment. “His next fight is to have the cancellation of his sentence officially recognized,” said Michèle Halberstadt, his French distributor. “He’s outside, he’s free, and this is already great.”Recommended VIEWINGPersonal Problems.Maya Cade of the Black Film Archive has chosen 28 films for the 28 days of Black History Month in the US and compiled online streaming links for each. The lineup includes films by Saundra Sharp, Bill Gunn, and many others.Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (We're All Going to the World's Fair)'s A Self-Induced Hallucination, their archival documentary about the Slenderman, is available for free on Vimeo. For more on the project,...
- 2/7/2023
- MUBI
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 112 features and 124 short films in-person November 9-17 at the IFC Center, Sva Theatre, and Cinépolis Chelsea and continue online until November 27 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 10 years the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 44 of the last 50 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2021, Doc...
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 10 years the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 44 of the last 50 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2021, Doc...
- 10/18/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Oscar race came into sharper focus at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with actors like Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh cementing their lead contender status, and big-budget studio efforts like The Fablemans and Glass Onion premiering to raves.
The fall superfecta – Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York – is the traditional launchpad for the prestige dramas that go on to vie for Best Picture. But for documentaries, it’s a different story.
Analyzing the last 10 years of Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature, most premiered early in the eligibility year, typically at Sundance. But a fortunate few have launched as late as the fall, arriving with such noise and momentum that they rise to the top and earn one of the five slots among the year’s most prestigious nonfiction films.
Stanley Nelson’s Attica accomplished that last year, launching at TIFF in 2021. A second Oscar nominee,...
The fall superfecta – Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York – is the traditional launchpad for the prestige dramas that go on to vie for Best Picture. But for documentaries, it’s a different story.
Analyzing the last 10 years of Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature, most premiered early in the eligibility year, typically at Sundance. But a fortunate few have launched as late as the fall, arriving with such noise and momentum that they rise to the top and earn one of the five slots among the year’s most prestigious nonfiction films.
Stanley Nelson’s Attica accomplished that last year, launching at TIFF in 2021. A second Oscar nominee,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Adam Benzine
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been a good year for several documentary filmmakers who sought and found distribution for independently made projects at major festivals. But for many nonfiction helmers, this year’s festival circuit hasn’t proven to be as fruitful as it once was.
Pre-pandemic, streaming services went to film fests to fill their slates, but now with media conglomerates consolidating, brands merging, and Netflix tightening its wallet, film fest documentary shopping sprees have slowed down. On top of mergers and economic unease, there’s been an increase in streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, and Disney either pre-buying docus or commissioning their own nonfiction projects.
Some of this year’s fest favorites were commissioned docus, including Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ ‘The Janes” (HBO), W. Kamau Bell’s “We Need to Talk About Cosby” (Showtime), Rory Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” (Netflix), and Ron Howard’s “We Feed People...
Pre-pandemic, streaming services went to film fests to fill their slates, but now with media conglomerates consolidating, brands merging, and Netflix tightening its wallet, film fest documentary shopping sprees have slowed down. On top of mergers and economic unease, there’s been an increase in streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, and Disney either pre-buying docus or commissioning their own nonfiction projects.
Some of this year’s fest favorites were commissioned docus, including Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ ‘The Janes” (HBO), W. Kamau Bell’s “We Need to Talk About Cosby” (Showtime), Rory Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” (Netflix), and Ron Howard’s “We Feed People...
- 9/15/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Los Angeles, Sep 14 (Ians) Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras slammed the Venice and Toronto film festivals for “providing a platform” for the Clinton family to engage “in a kind of whitewashing.”
Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about the artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won Venice’s top prize, the Golden Lion, reports ‘Variety’.
It is the rare document to land slots at the superfecta of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she thought “long and hard” about whether or not to voice criticism at the same venues feting her latest work. Nevertheless, she said, “journalists need to ask hard questions.”
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have made appearances at both Venice and Toronto in support of both their forthcoming Apple documentary series Gutsy; and in support...
Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about the artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won Venice’s top prize, the Golden Lion, reports ‘Variety’.
It is the rare document to land slots at the superfecta of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she thought “long and hard” about whether or not to voice criticism at the same venues feting her latest work. Nevertheless, she said, “journalists need to ask hard questions.”
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have made appearances at both Venice and Toronto in support of both their forthcoming Apple documentary series Gutsy; and in support...
- 9/14/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras sharply criticized the Toronto and Venice film festivals Tuesday for programming documentaries connected with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, suggesting the decision bordered on a “whitewashing” of history.
Her remarks came at the Toronto Film Festival’s Doc Conference, a day after Poitras’s new documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, made its North American premiere in Toronto. The film about artist Nan Goldin and her crusade against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, won the Golden Lion at Venice.
Poitras attended Venice, as did Clinton, the latter in support of her Apple TV+ docuseries Gutsy. Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton then headed to TIFF, where they unveiled In Her Hands, a documentary executive produced by the Clintons that focuses on one of Afghanistan’s few female mayors.
“It’s alarming to see some of the most powerful people in the world,...
Her remarks came at the Toronto Film Festival’s Doc Conference, a day after Poitras’s new documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, made its North American premiere in Toronto. The film about artist Nan Goldin and her crusade against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, won the Golden Lion at Venice.
Poitras attended Venice, as did Clinton, the latter in support of her Apple TV+ docuseries Gutsy. Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton then headed to TIFF, where they unveiled In Her Hands, a documentary executive produced by the Clintons that focuses on one of Afghanistan’s few female mayors.
“It’s alarming to see some of the most powerful people in the world,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras slammed the Venice and Toronto film festivals for “providing a platform” for the Clinton family to engage “in a kind of whitewashing.”
Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about the artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won Venice’s top prize, the Golden Lion.
It is the rare doc to land slots at the superfecta of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she thought “long and hard” about whether or not to voice criticism at the same venues feting her latest work. Nevertheless, she said, “journalists need to ask hard questions.”
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have made appearances at both Venice and Toronto in support of both their forthcoming Apple documentary series Gutsy; and in support of Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen’s documentary “In Her Hands,...
Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about the artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won Venice’s top prize, the Golden Lion.
It is the rare doc to land slots at the superfecta of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she thought “long and hard” about whether or not to voice criticism at the same venues feting her latest work. Nevertheless, she said, “journalists need to ask hard questions.”
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have made appearances at both Venice and Toronto in support of both their forthcoming Apple documentary series Gutsy; and in support of Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen’s documentary “In Her Hands,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Adam Benzine
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
A documentary dork’s delight, Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall’s Subject is one of those films about which my biggest lament is that it could have been five times as long — with the caveat that while I would be down for a 10-part series on documentary ethics, this 96-minute intro will be a thoroughly effective conversation starter.
Tiexiera and Hall’s film picks up where most documentaries end. You’ve turned your life over to a filmmaker for a few months or a few years. The film has come out. Maybe it’s won big prizes at Sundance. Maybe you even got to walk a red carpet or two. But then it’s over. Your story has been told in one very specific, strategically edited way. The director got the acclaim and the trophies.
But what about you? You’re famous. Maybe not globally famous,...
A documentary dork’s delight, Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall’s Subject is one of those films about which my biggest lament is that it could have been five times as long — with the caveat that while I would be down for a 10-part series on documentary ethics, this 96-minute intro will be a thoroughly effective conversation starter.
Tiexiera and Hall’s film picks up where most documentaries end. You’ve turned your life over to a filmmaker for a few months or a few years. The film has come out. Maybe it’s won big prizes at Sundance. Maybe you even got to walk a red carpet or two. But then it’s over. Your story has been told in one very specific, strategically edited way. The director got the acclaim and the trophies.
But what about you? You’re famous. Maybe not globally famous,...
- 6/14/2022
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jaie Laplante has been tapped as the new artistic director of Doc NYC, America’s largest and arguably most influential documentary festival. He will replace Thom Powers, the festival’s founding artistic director, who will move into a previously announced new role as director of special projects.
In addition, the festival is unveiling its wider programming team for features and shorts. The festival will hold its 13th edition from Nov. 9 to Nov. 17. The 2022 version will be both in person in New York and accessible online across the U.S.
Laplante offers more than 20 years of festival experience. For the past 12 years, he served as the Miami Film Festival’s executive director and co-director of programming, where he oversaw a major expansion of that festival’s documentary selections, as well as launched a digital screening platform and the Google Talks on Gender & Racial Gaps in Film & Technology. He simultaneously oversaw year-round...
In addition, the festival is unveiling its wider programming team for features and shorts. The festival will hold its 13th edition from Nov. 9 to Nov. 17. The 2022 version will be both in person in New York and accessible online across the U.S.
Laplante offers more than 20 years of festival experience. For the past 12 years, he served as the Miami Film Festival’s executive director and co-director of programming, where he oversaw a major expansion of that festival’s documentary selections, as well as launched a digital screening platform and the Google Talks on Gender & Racial Gaps in Film & Technology. He simultaneously oversaw year-round...
- 6/2/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will return in person this fall, welcoming local and international guests from Sept. 8 to 18.
Also returning in person are TIFF’s networking and celebratory events, including the opening night party, industry conference, filmmaker dinners, industry networking events, press and programmers events and tribute awards gala. The move follows two straight years of hybrid or largely digital festivals, a concession that TIFF, like many other film gatherings, made for public health reasons as Covid raged. In 2021, TIFF did host live screenings, but at reduced capacity, and the festival had far fewer international attendees. Clearly, this edition will look much more like pre-pandemic versions of TIFF unless variants spoil those plans.
The festival also announced the addition of five new film curators to its programming team. Leading the team is Robyn Citizen, who has been appointed TIFF’s director of festival programming and Cinematheque. Andréa Picard has...
Also returning in person are TIFF’s networking and celebratory events, including the opening night party, industry conference, filmmaker dinners, industry networking events, press and programmers events and tribute awards gala. The move follows two straight years of hybrid or largely digital festivals, a concession that TIFF, like many other film gatherings, made for public health reasons as Covid raged. In 2021, TIFF did host live screenings, but at reduced capacity, and the festival had far fewer international attendees. Clearly, this edition will look much more like pre-pandemic versions of TIFF unless variants spoil those plans.
The festival also announced the addition of five new film curators to its programming team. Leading the team is Robyn Citizen, who has been appointed TIFF’s director of festival programming and Cinematheque. Andréa Picard has...
- 2/24/2022
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Women comprise 50% of entire programming team.
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced five new key members of the programming team and unveiled brief details of this year’s edition which is set to run from September 8–18.
Robyn Citizen will lead the festival programming team and has been appointed TIFF’s director of festival programming & Cinematheque. Citizen started at TIFF in 2018 and prior to that was a film lecturer in the departments of Asian studies and theatre and film at University of British Columbia from 2012-17; before that, Citizen was board co-chair for Breakthroughs Film Festival and programmed for Human Rights Film Festival.
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced five new key members of the programming team and unveiled brief details of this year’s edition which is set to run from September 8–18.
Robyn Citizen will lead the festival programming team and has been appointed TIFF’s director of festival programming & Cinematheque. Citizen started at TIFF in 2018 and prior to that was a film lecturer in the departments of Asian studies and theatre and film at University of British Columbia from 2012-17; before that, Citizen was board co-chair for Breakthroughs Film Festival and programmed for Human Rights Film Festival.
- 2/24/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sales outfit MetFilm renegotiated rights with distributors to make deal happen.
Disney+ has secured rights to documentary The Reason I Jump from the UK’s MetFilm Sales, which renegotiated previous agreements with distributors to close the deal.
The streaming giant has picked up SVoD rights to Jerry Rothwell’s Sundance-award winning feature for Emea and Latin America and plans to launch the film around World Autism Day on April 2.
The documentary is an exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of non-speaking autistic people from around the world, based on Naoki Higashida’s 2007 book of the same name, translated into English...
Disney+ has secured rights to documentary The Reason I Jump from the UK’s MetFilm Sales, which renegotiated previous agreements with distributors to close the deal.
The streaming giant has picked up SVoD rights to Jerry Rothwell’s Sundance-award winning feature for Emea and Latin America and plans to launch the film around World Autism Day on April 2.
The documentary is an exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of non-speaking autistic people from around the world, based on Naoki Higashida’s 2007 book of the same name, translated into English...
- 2/18/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Thirteenth edition of festival set for November 9-17 in New York.
Doc NYC is to launch a search for a new artistic director as founding artistic director Thom Powers shifts to a new role as director of special projects.
The organisation will seek to serve its growing year-round activities as it enters its 13th year. Doc NYC’s core leadership team of executive director Raphaela Neihausen, director of industry and education Malikkah Rollins, and director of filmmaker development Caitlin Boyle remain in place.
“The scope and reach of Doc NYC have dramatically expanded since our first festival in 2010, and it...
Doc NYC is to launch a search for a new artistic director as founding artistic director Thom Powers shifts to a new role as director of special projects.
The organisation will seek to serve its growing year-round activities as it enters its 13th year. Doc NYC’s core leadership team of executive director Raphaela Neihausen, director of industry and education Malikkah Rollins, and director of filmmaker development Caitlin Boyle remain in place.
“The scope and reach of Doc NYC have dramatically expanded since our first festival in 2010, and it...
- 2/17/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Anamnesis [Part One] director Neville Elder: “The footage that I did shoot in the film was absent of people because it was May or June of the pandemic [in 2020].”
When I met with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discussed the Doc NYC U programme which includes films from Hunter College’s Mfa Program in Integrated Media Arts. Thom told me: “I think of the filmmakers who’ve passed through this program over the years and have come back in later years with their first film.” Neville Elder’s Anamnesis [Part One], screening in the Doc NYC U: Hunter strand is a highlight of the 12th edition of Doc NYC overall.
Neville Elder with Anne-Katrin Titze: “The guitar and the spacey noisy music was mine and a French musician Sourdure [aka Ernest Bergez], he was very gracious and let me use his music.”
A boyhood trauma. An attempt to fish in time for a...
When I met with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discussed the Doc NYC U programme which includes films from Hunter College’s Mfa Program in Integrated Media Arts. Thom told me: “I think of the filmmakers who’ve passed through this program over the years and have come back in later years with their first film.” Neville Elder’s Anamnesis [Part One], screening in the Doc NYC U: Hunter strand is a highlight of the 12th edition of Doc NYC overall.
Neville Elder with Anne-Katrin Titze: “The guitar and the spacey noisy music was mine and a French musician Sourdure [aka Ernest Bergez], he was very gracious and let me use his music.”
A boyhood trauma. An attempt to fish in time for a...
- 11/17/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers on Mel Brooks in the Special Event screening of Lisa Hurwitz’s The Automat: “This is a real New Yorker’s film.”
In the final instalment with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discuss a number of the films that are screening in the 12th edition of Doc NYC. I start with Marc Shaffer’s Exposing Muybridge which has comments from Eadweard Muybridge admirer Gary Oldman; Tom Donahue’s Dean Martin: King Of Cool; Alessandro Rossellini’s The Rossellinis; Andrea Arnold’s Cow; Vincent Liota’s Objects; Eva Orner’s Burning; Abby Epstein’s The Business Of Birth Control; Mads Brügger’s The Mole; Robert B Weide and Don Argott’s Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time; Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s The Real Charlie Chaplin; Lisa Hurwitz’s The Automat As A Special Event, and end with the Closing Night selection,...
In the final instalment with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discuss a number of the films that are screening in the 12th edition of Doc NYC. I start with Marc Shaffer’s Exposing Muybridge which has comments from Eadweard Muybridge admirer Gary Oldman; Tom Donahue’s Dean Martin: King Of Cool; Alessandro Rossellini’s The Rossellinis; Andrea Arnold’s Cow; Vincent Liota’s Objects; Eva Orner’s Burning; Abby Epstein’s The Business Of Birth Control; Mads Brügger’s The Mole; Robert B Weide and Don Argott’s Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time; Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s The Real Charlie Chaplin; Lisa Hurwitz’s The Automat As A Special Event, and end with the Closing Night selection,...
- 11/15/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
With the grand in-person return of the New York Film Festival in the rearview mirror, New York’s fall festival season barrels on with Doc NYC, the largest documentary festival in the country. This year’s festival will return to in-person theatrical screenings, with virtual options and passes available as well. The 2021 lineup includes more than 120 feature-length documentaries, including 32 world premieres and 34 U.S. premieres. World premieres include films on figures such as NBA legend Kevin Garnett, recently passed rapper Dmx, rat pack crooner Dean Martin, and the late literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. They join previously announced titles on Kenny G and Dionne Warwick, as well as Matthew Heineman’s “The First Wave,” a penetrating look at the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City.
Doc NYC is also launching three new competitive sections this year: A U.S. Competition for new American nonfiction films, an International...
Doc NYC is also launching three new competitive sections this year: A U.S. Competition for new American nonfiction films, an International...
- 10/19/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The documentary universe has changed radically over the past dozen years. No longer the domain of a few cable channels or public television stations, no longer bound by the old cinema verite rules of engagement, non-fiction filmmaking has spent the past decade bursting out of the low-budget indie sidelines into mainstream acceptance, adopting tricks and tropes from fiction and series storytelling as directors capture audience attention from all over the world.
One force for change throughout has been the Cinema Eye Honors, an awards body created in 2007 by a group of independent filmmakers. Led by Los Angeles documentary filmmaker A.J. Schnack (“Kurt Cobain About a Son” and the recent “30 for 30” entry “Long Gone Summer”), the Cinema Eye Honors have led the charge in shaking up conversations about the types of non-fiction storytelling that were worthy of celebration.
“It was a reaction to what was happening elsewhere in the field,” Schnack...
One force for change throughout has been the Cinema Eye Honors, an awards body created in 2007 by a group of independent filmmakers. Led by Los Angeles documentary filmmaker A.J. Schnack (“Kurt Cobain About a Son” and the recent “30 for 30” entry “Long Gone Summer”), the Cinema Eye Honors have led the charge in shaking up conversations about the types of non-fiction storytelling that were worthy of celebration.
“It was a reaction to what was happening elsewhere in the field,” Schnack...
- 9/22/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Out of the many ads that precede public screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival, there’s one that has drawn consistent applause this year. It comes from Bell, which welcomes fans to the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF and also to Adnoiff, the “Amazing Date Night Out International Film Festival,” and to Inbsgtbbiatiff, the “I’ve Never Been So Glad to be Back in a Theater International Film Festival.”
That last line has regularly spurred cheers at this year’s TIFF, which has returned to a model that focuses on in-person screenings and allows international visitors for the first time in two years, with socially-distanced and carefully-controlled screenings of every film in the lineup. The physical screenings have been a relief to virtually everyone in attendance in Toronto, definitely including festival organizers, like artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey, who has introduced many films by saying, “I’m honestly...
That last line has regularly spurred cheers at this year’s TIFF, which has returned to a model that focuses on in-person screenings and allows international visitors for the first time in two years, with socially-distanced and carefully-controlled screenings of every film in the lineup. The physical screenings have been a relief to virtually everyone in attendance in Toronto, definitely including festival organizers, like artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey, who has introduced many films by saying, “I’m honestly...
- 9/13/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This year’s scaled-down Toronto Intl. Film Festival gets underway Sept. 9 with 14 non-fiction films in the lineup – a sizable reduction from the average of 22 in non-covid outings.
Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer, winnowed down the list from 800 submissions, looking for films that “took him by surprise,” as he always does. But with fewer slots to work with, Powers admits that “the bar was set higher” for selections this year.
So, what bowled him over? Stories about the devastating fires in Australia (Eva Orner’s “Burning”); the largest prison uprising in U.S. history (Stanley Nelson’s “Attica”); and New York City’s longest hostage siege.
Several of his choices have screened at other major film festivals: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee,” about a refugee who fled Afghanistan as a boy, will screen at TIFF after being an official selection of Cannes 2020 and having a world premiere at Sundance in January.
Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer, winnowed down the list from 800 submissions, looking for films that “took him by surprise,” as he always does. But with fewer slots to work with, Powers admits that “the bar was set higher” for selections this year.
So, what bowled him over? Stories about the devastating fires in Australia (Eva Orner’s “Burning”); the largest prison uprising in U.S. history (Stanley Nelson’s “Attica”); and New York City’s longest hostage siege.
Several of his choices have screened at other major film festivals: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee,” about a refugee who fled Afghanistan as a boy, will screen at TIFF after being an official selection of Cannes 2020 and having a world premiere at Sundance in January.
- 9/8/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The documentary awards race always begins at Sundance, where “Flee” (Neon) and “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight) broke out as Oscar frontrunners; Tribeca debuted high-profile “The Lost Leonardo” (Sony Pictures Classics) and “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” (Focus), while Todd Haynes’ “Velvet Underground” (AppleTV+) and “Val” (A24/Amazon) played well at Cannes.
Every September, the Toronto International Film Festival documentary lineup introduces more top non-fiction titles to the list of Oscar contenders — and this year, without many clear frontrunners, TIFF’s influence will be greater than ever. In the good old days when the TIFF selection was a sprawling smorgasbord, Thom Powers lead the TIFF documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. In the slimmed-down pandemic era, his team had to winnow TIFF Docs down to 13 features (announced so far)..
“Every year it’s a painful part of the process,” Powers told IndieWire, who is able...
Every September, the Toronto International Film Festival documentary lineup introduces more top non-fiction titles to the list of Oscar contenders — and this year, without many clear frontrunners, TIFF’s influence will be greater than ever. In the good old days when the TIFF selection was a sprawling smorgasbord, Thom Powers lead the TIFF documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. In the slimmed-down pandemic era, his team had to winnow TIFF Docs down to 13 features (announced so far)..
“Every year it’s a painful part of the process,” Powers told IndieWire, who is able...
- 8/5/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Some of the documentary features vying for 2021 Emmys may seem familiar. That’s because a bunch of them pushed through the ultra-long Oscar season last year, and some landed on the Oscar shortlist of 15, only to be left off the final five nominations. Last year’s revised Emmy rules dictate that no Oscar nominees will be chasing one of two Primetime Emmy Award categories for features, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special or Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. That’s why you can count out of the Emmy running the Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix) and four nominees “Collective” (Magnolia), “Time” (Amazon), “Crip Camp” (Netflix), and “The Mole Agent” (Gravitas Ventures).
Last year, the Television Academy forged a stronger divide between the Emmy Awards and the Oscars to clear up some of the confusion that has reigned as movies have double-dipped from one to the other. The Academy has done its...
Last year, the Television Academy forged a stronger divide between the Emmy Awards and the Oscars to clear up some of the confusion that has reigned as movies have double-dipped from one to the other. The Academy has done its...
- 6/14/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Later than usual, the eleven-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has finally revealed its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will open in a new online format with a main lineup of 119 features and 100 short films (November 11-19) available to viewers across the US.
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last nine years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 screened 24 of the last 25 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2019, Doc NYC screened 13 of 15 titles that were named to the subsequent Academy Award Documentary Shortlist.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for TIFF, oversees curation of the...
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last nine years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 screened 24 of the last 25 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2019, Doc NYC screened 13 of 15 titles that were named to the subsequent Academy Award Documentary Shortlist.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for TIFF, oversees curation of the...
- 11/9/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Later than usual, the eleven-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has finally revealed its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will open in a new online format with a main lineup of 119 features and 100 short films (November 11-19) available to viewers across the US.
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last nine years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 screened 24 of the last 25 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2019, Doc NYC screened 13 of 15 titles that were named to the subsequent Academy Award Documentary Shortlist.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for TIFF, oversees curation of the...
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last nine years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “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 screened 24 of the last 25 Oscar-nominated documentary features. In 2019, Doc NYC screened 13 of 15 titles that were named to the subsequent Academy Award Documentary Shortlist.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for TIFF, oversees curation of the...
- 11/9/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival and staple of the New York film community, announced the lineup for its 11th edition, running online November 11-19 and available to viewers across the US. The program includes new films about John Belushi, Pope Francis, Bill T. Jones, Jamal Khashoggi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Frank Zappa, and many more. The 2020 festival lineup includes 107 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and dozens of events. Included are 23 World Premieres, 12 international or North American premieres, and 7 US premieres. Fifty-seven features (53% of the lineup) are directed or co-directed by women and 36 by Bipoc directors (34% of the feature program).
World Premieres at the festival include Nelson G. Navarrete and Maxx Caicedo’s “A La Calle,” Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan,” Sian-Pierre Regis’s “Duty Free,” Noah Hutton’s “In Silico,” Nancy Buirski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,...
World Premieres at the festival include Nelson G. Navarrete and Maxx Caicedo’s “A La Calle,” Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan,” Sian-Pierre Regis’s “Duty Free,” Noah Hutton’s “In Silico,” Nancy Buirski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,...
- 10/15/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
At just 50 films, the 2020 pandemic version of the Toronto International Film Festival is dramatically smaller than previous editions, but its very existence is something of a victory. In a year that found major festivals such as SXSW, Cannes and Telluride unable to go on, TIFF has charted a path forward despite a funding deficit and missing studio entries that are either unfinished or not ready for primetime.
By the standards of a 44-year-old festival that has long prided itself on the intimidating scope of its selection, the lineup may look like a mishmash of international films that happened to be available and willing to subject themselves to an unpredictable market. Most audiences who aren’t already in Toronto will experience the selection online. But all of that is a microcosm of industry’s shifts in 2020.
Yet TIFF co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente were adamant about the caliber of the...
By the standards of a 44-year-old festival that has long prided itself on the intimidating scope of its selection, the lineup may look like a mishmash of international films that happened to be available and willing to subject themselves to an unpredictable market. Most audiences who aren’t already in Toronto will experience the selection online. But all of that is a microcosm of industry’s shifts in 2020.
Yet TIFF co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente were adamant about the caliber of the...
- 7/30/2020
- by Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn
- Thompson on Hollywood
Thom Powers on Daniel Roher’s Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band; Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, and Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes on Truman Capote via George Plimpton: “The films that we choose for Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night, are films that we want to give a big bright spotlight to.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second part of my conversation at Cinépolis Chelsea with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discussed juxtapositions such as Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words, Todd Hughes and P David Ebersole’s House of Cardin with the Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum; nature in the Short List programme with John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm, Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, and Mark Deebles and Victoria Stone’s The Elephant Queen; identity with Elegance Bratton...
In the second part of my conversation at Cinépolis Chelsea with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discussed juxtapositions such as Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words, Todd Hughes and P David Ebersole’s House of Cardin with the Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum; nature in the Short List programme with John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm, Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, and Mark Deebles and Victoria Stone’s The Elephant Queen; identity with Elegance Bratton...
- 11/10/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
When Doc NYC started a decade ago, documentary film was still seen as something of a novelty. In the ensuing years, non-fiction movies have exploded in popularity with hits such as “Rbg,” “Free Solo,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “Apollo 11” helping to fuel more interest in the genre.
“We never could have anticipated the change,” says Thom Powers, the festival’s co-founder and artistic director. “Fifteen years ago you would not propose to a date that you go and see a documentary film, but now I think you would come off as an impressive date to suggest it.”
Powers points to several factors for the turnaround. In particular, he credits streaming services such as Netflix with helping to get audiences more comfortable with watching documentaries and with making non-fiction films more readily available.
“It used to be that if you heard about a documentary film, it would...
“We never could have anticipated the change,” says Thom Powers, the festival’s co-founder and artistic director. “Fifteen years ago you would not propose to a date that you go and see a documentary film, but now I think you would come off as an impressive date to suggest it.”
Powers points to several factors for the turnaround. In particular, he credits streaming services such as Netflix with helping to get audiences more comfortable with watching documentaries and with making non-fiction films more readily available.
“It used to be that if you heard about a documentary film, it would...
- 11/8/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Thom Powers with Anne-Katrin Titze on Doc NYC Lifetime Achievement Visionary Tribute honourees Michael Apted and Martin Scorsese: “We feel very blessed in our tenth year to have two filmmakers who are working at the peak of their craft and the peak of this industry.” Photo: Doc NYC
2019 marks the tenth anniversary of Doc NYC and it is dedicated to the memory of the great Da Pennebaker. Barbara Kopple: “On August 1st 2019 I lost someone irreplaceable in my life, my friend and inspiration Da Pennebaker.” Andrew Rossi: “Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers. It's not just because his films were so poetic and historically important, putting him on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians like Maysles, Wiseman and Varda.”
Andrew Rossi puts Da Pennebaker, Albert Maysles, Frederick Wiseman and Agnès Varda on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Chris Hegedus and...
2019 marks the tenth anniversary of Doc NYC and it is dedicated to the memory of the great Da Pennebaker. Barbara Kopple: “On August 1st 2019 I lost someone irreplaceable in my life, my friend and inspiration Da Pennebaker.” Andrew Rossi: “Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers. It's not just because his films were so poetic and historically important, putting him on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians like Maysles, Wiseman and Varda.”
Andrew Rossi puts Da Pennebaker, Albert Maysles, Frederick Wiseman and Agnès Varda on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Chris Hegedus and...
- 11/8/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
American Factory co-director Steven Bognar detailed how he and directing partner Julia Reichert's storytelling approaches align with the Obamas', while Doc NYC artistic director Thom Powers and honoree Martin Scorsese nodded to the ongoing debate around what qualifies as "cinema" during the festival's sixth annual Visionaries Tribute on Thursday in New York.
Kicking off the 2019 festival, which runs through Nov. 15, the event honored five creatives in the documentary world for their various contributions to the medium. In addition to Bognar and Reichert's honors as recipients of the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary ...
Kicking off the 2019 festival, which runs through Nov. 15, the event honored five creatives in the documentary world for their various contributions to the medium. In addition to Bognar and Reichert's honors as recipients of the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary ...
- 11/8/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
American Factory co-director Steven Bognar detailed how he and directing partner Julia Reichert's storytelling approaches align with the Obamas', while Doc NYC artistic director Thom Powers and honoree Martin Scorsese nodded to the ongoing debate around what qualifies as "cinema" during the festival's sixth annual Visionaries Tribute on Thursday in New York.
Kicking off the 2019 festival, which runs through Nov. 15, the event honored five creatives in the documentary world for their various contributions to the medium. In addition to Bognar and Reichert's honors as recipients of the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary ...
Kicking off the 2019 festival, which runs through Nov. 15, the event honored five creatives in the documentary world for their various contributions to the medium. In addition to Bognar and Reichert's honors as recipients of the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary ...
- 11/8/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 10th-anniversary edition of Doc NYC — which bills itself as America’s largest documentary film festival — boasts more than 300 movies and special events for 2019. The lineup includes new works from documentary veterans and fledgling filmmakers alike, plus U.S. and NYC premieres of films we’ve already seen making the rounds on the festival circuit. This year, according to the fest, is Doc NYC’s biggest slate ever.
“Our 10th-anniversary lineup reflects a more international scope than in previous years, drawing compelling stories from all over the world, in addition to a rich selection of American nonfiction,” said director of programming Basil Tsiokos in a statement. “Where better to experience this diversity of documentary storytelling than NYC?” Tsiokos leads the Doc NYC programming team alongside artistic director Thom Powers.
This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of D.A. Pennebaker, a constant presence at Doc NYC since its first year,...
“Our 10th-anniversary lineup reflects a more international scope than in previous years, drawing compelling stories from all over the world, in addition to a rich selection of American nonfiction,” said director of programming Basil Tsiokos in a statement. “Where better to experience this diversity of documentary storytelling than NYC?” Tsiokos leads the Doc NYC programming team alongside artistic director Thom Powers.
This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of D.A. Pennebaker, a constant presence at Doc NYC since its first year,...
- 10/10/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The festival selects feature documentaries including American Factory and Diego Maradona
The Doc NYC festival has selected Knock Down The House, Honeyland, Diego Maradona, American Factory and 11 other documentaries for its Short List: Features section, designed to spotlight what the event’s programmers think are the year’s strongest awards contenders.
The festival, which runs from November 6 to 15 in New York, is also launching Winner’s Circle, a new section highlighting international festival prize-winners that may have been overlooked by Us audiences.
The Short List: Features titles will for the first time compete for juried awards in directing, producing, cinematography...
The Doc NYC festival has selected Knock Down The House, Honeyland, Diego Maradona, American Factory and 11 other documentaries for its Short List: Features section, designed to spotlight what the event’s programmers think are the year’s strongest awards contenders.
The festival, which runs from November 6 to 15 in New York, is also launching Winner’s Circle, a new section highlighting international festival prize-winners that may have been overlooked by Us audiences.
The Short List: Features titles will for the first time compete for juried awards in directing, producing, cinematography...
- 9/26/2019
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Ten-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will announce its main lineup of 100 films as well as its opening night selection in two weeks, before kicking off on November 6.
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short-list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last eight years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has screened 27 of the last 30 Oscar-nominated documentary features.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year’s list of 15 features...
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short-list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last eight years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has screened 27 of the last 30 Oscar-nominated documentary features.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year’s list of 15 features...
- 9/26/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Ten-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will announce its main lineup of 100 films as well as its opening night selection in two weeks, before kicking off on November 6.
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short-list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last eight years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has screened 27 of the last 30 Oscar-nominated documentary features.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year’s list of 15 features...
Historically, most of the Doc NYC short-list titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the last eight years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” and “Undefeated.” The festival has screened 27 of the last 30 Oscar-nominated documentary features.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year’s list of 15 features...
- 9/26/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Next year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature will go to “Apollo 11,” “The Cave,” “Diego Maradona,” “For Sama,” “Knock Down the House” or one of 10 other nonfiction films, if the track record for Doc NYC’s annual Short List proves to be as accurate as it has been in past years.
Those five films were included on the documentary festival’s 2019 list, along with “American Factory,” “The Apollo,” “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “The Biggest Little Farm,” “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Elephant Queen,” “The Great Hack,” “Honeyland,” “The Kingmaker” and “One Child Nation.”
All of the films will screen at this year’s festival, which runs in New York City from Nov. 6 through Nov. 15, and will be eligible for juried awards in four categories for the first time.
Doc NYC has been compiling its Short List, which identifies the documentaries that its programming team considers to be the year’s strongest awards contenders,...
Those five films were included on the documentary festival’s 2019 list, along with “American Factory,” “The Apollo,” “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “The Biggest Little Farm,” “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Elephant Queen,” “The Great Hack,” “Honeyland,” “The Kingmaker” and “One Child Nation.”
All of the films will screen at this year’s festival, which runs in New York City from Nov. 6 through Nov. 15, and will be eligible for juried awards in four categories for the first time.
Doc NYC has been compiling its Short List, which identifies the documentaries that its programming team considers to be the year’s strongest awards contenders,...
- 9/26/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Fueled by streamers and strong B.O. on high-profile titles, the documentary genre has exploded, and Toronto Intl. Film Festival documentary programmer Thom Powers sifted through 850 possibilities before determining this year’s non-fiction lineup. While these 25 films vary widely, “politics is going to be ever-present in this section,” Powers says.
Last year, filmmakers including Michael Moore, Alexis Bloom and Errol Morris explored American politics and the people behind President Donald Trump’s rise. But the 2016 election is nowhere in site at this year’s fest. Instead, veteran doc filmmakers Alex Gibney and Lauren Greenfield as well as first time non-fiction helmer Garin Hovannisian are examining politics in foreign lands, and issues such as election manipulation, corruption, fake news and fragile democracies.
Gibney’s “Citizen K” looks at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch turned political dissident, while Greenfield’s “The Kingmaker” (Showtime) aims its lens at...
Last year, filmmakers including Michael Moore, Alexis Bloom and Errol Morris explored American politics and the people behind President Donald Trump’s rise. But the 2016 election is nowhere in site at this year’s fest. Instead, veteran doc filmmakers Alex Gibney and Lauren Greenfield as well as first time non-fiction helmer Garin Hovannisian are examining politics in foreign lands, and issues such as election manipulation, corruption, fake news and fragile democracies.
Gibney’s “Citizen K” looks at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch turned political dissident, while Greenfield’s “The Kingmaker” (Showtime) aims its lens at...
- 9/4/2019
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The first trailer for Mark Cousins’ epic documentary “Women Make Film,” whose full-length 14-hour version receives its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, has been launched by Dogwoof and Hopscotch Films.
Narrated by actresses Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Sharmila Tagor, Adjoa Andoh, Kerry Fox, Thandie Newton, and Debra Winger, the film has been divided by Cousins into five parts for screening in Toronto from Sept. 7-11. The first four installments run three hours apiece and the final section runs two hours.
The narrators are seen driving in the trailer, taking the viewer on a literal road trip. The film is subtitled “A New Road Movie Through Cinema.”
Swinton sets out the premise and goal of the documentary. “Most films have been directed by men. Most of the recognized so-called movie classics were directed by men,” she says. “For 13 decades and on all six filmmaking continents, thousands of women have been directing films,...
Narrated by actresses Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Sharmila Tagor, Adjoa Andoh, Kerry Fox, Thandie Newton, and Debra Winger, the film has been divided by Cousins into five parts for screening in Toronto from Sept. 7-11. The first four installments run three hours apiece and the final section runs two hours.
The narrators are seen driving in the trailer, taking the viewer on a literal road trip. The film is subtitled “A New Road Movie Through Cinema.”
Swinton sets out the premise and goal of the documentary. “Most films have been directed by men. Most of the recognized so-called movie classics were directed by men,” she says. “For 13 decades and on all six filmmaking continents, thousands of women have been directing films,...
- 8/28/2019
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
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