Monday Memo: Our Nixon Released in Theaters


Penny Lane's film Our Nixon hit theaters this week.

The Penny Lane-helmed film OUR NIXON hit theaters this week. At Film.com David Ehrlich interviewed Lane, while Reva Goldberg added producer Brian Frye to the mix for her interview at Cinereach’s website. Brandon Harris spoke to Lane for Filmmaker Magazine, while Anya Jaremko-Greenwold queried Lane for BOMB Magazine’s blog. Christopher Campbell profiled Lane and Frye at RogerEbert.com, while Anthony Kaufman considered the task of documenting presidents in his weekly Docutopia post at the SundanceNOW site. And Nathan Rabin penned a review of the film at The Dissolve.

It was a good week for distro deals. Kevin Ritchie of Realscreen reported that Variance had acquired North American theatrical rights for Roger Ross Williams’ GOD LOVES UGANDA, while Alison Willmore of Indiewire reported that Showtime had snagged the rights for Ron Howard’s Jay-Z concert doc MADE IN AMERICA. Adam Benzine of Realscreen had the news that Entertainment One Films International had picked up worldwide rights for Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky’s WATERMARK. Rebecca Ford of The Hollywood Reporter wrote up Zeitgeist Film’s U.S. rights acquisition of THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN COME TO EDEN. Back at Realscreen Kevin Ritchie reported news of MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE’s acquisition by Autlook, while colleague Adam Benzine wrote about Cinephil’s pickup of UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL from Kitty Green.

Stranger Than Fiction this week announced the details of its new fall season, which will kick off Sept. 18 with a preview screening of MUSCLE SHOALS featuring a Q&A with director Greg “Freddy” Camalier and FAME recording studio founder Rick Hall. Tickets for Stranger Than Fiction screenings are $16 for the general public and $13 for IFC Center members. A Season Pass, good for admission to all 8 evenings per season (plus 1 special), is available at an Early Bird rate of $80 ($70 for IFC members) through Sept. 18. Regular price is $99 ($80 for IFC members).

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Monday Memo: Filmmaker Greyson Arrested in Egypt


Canadian ilmmaker John Greyson was arrested in Egypt while researching a potential film.

Canadian filmmaker John Greyson, along with doctor and potential film subject Tarek Loubani, were arrested in Egypt this week while considering beginning work on a documentary film about Loubani’s work. Adam Benzine of Realscreen had details of his arrest, as did Sean Tepper of the Toronto Star. The Documentary Organization of Canada called on its government to aid in winning the release of the pair.

Director Bill Siegel talked with WYNC interviewer Leonard Lopate this week about his new film THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI, which hit theaters this week. Noel Murray of The Dissolve and Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times turned in reviews of the film.

At the Tribeca Institute website Ron Mwangaguhunga wondered if documentaries could save newsweeklies, noting the recent launch of Time Magazine’s new doc unit, Red Border Films. In a piece for the POV blog, Heather McIntosh provided a rationale for new interest in docs from CNN, Time and Al Jazeera America.

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