This week Lotfy Nathan's film 12 O'CLOCK BOYS entered theaters.
This week the film 12 O’CLOCK BOYS from director Lotfy Nathan hit theaters. In his Filmwax podcast, Adam Schartoff spoke with Nathan, while NPR featured a piece on Nathan and his film. Mekado Murphy of the New York Times wrote up the film, and Eric Kohn of Indiewire reviewed it, giving it an A minus. In his weekly Docutopia post at the SundanceNOW blog, Anthony Kaufman considered both 12 O’CLOCK BOYS and RICH HILL, and Andrew Parker of Dorkshelf interviewed Nathan. Also, Josh Slates profiled the film in a piece for the International Documentary Association (IDA) website.
At Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell issued a list of the best docs out of the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Slamdance Film Festival. Campbell and Daniel Walber also dedicated the latest episode of their The Realness podcast to Sundance. Ondi Timoner released the first part of a long Bring Your Own Doc episode about Sundance this week, along with a second report from the festival. Writing for Ion Cinema, Jordan M. Smith turned out a few reviews, one for THE NOTORIOUS MR. BOUT and another for THE OVERNIGHTERS. And Sean Flynn wrote a piece for Indiewire on the interactive projects featured in Sundance’s New Frontier section.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of LOU REED: ROCK AND ROLL HEART about the late rock legend Lou Reed on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 8pm at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Following the screening, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
Continue reading…
RICH HILL from directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo took home the grand jury prize for a U.S. film at Sundance this year.
The Sundance Film Festival awards were handed out Jan. 25, with Adam Benzine of Realscreen reporting that the film RICH HILL from directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo took home the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary, and Talal Derki won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for RETURN TO HOMS. Sean P. Means of the Salt Lake Tribune had more coverage of all the award winners. Eric Eidelstein of Indiewire had an interview with RICH HILL cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo. And Manori Ravindran reported on the short doc films that won awards at Sundance.
In Sundance Distro news, Realscreen’s Adam Benzine reported that RADiUS-TWC had picked up FED UP from filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig. Benzine also had the news that Pivot and Univision had bought U.S. television rights to the Cesar Chavez doc CESAR’S LAST FAST from filmmakers Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee. Colleague Kevin Ritchie reported that BBC Storyville had nabbed U.K. television rights for WEB JUNKIE from filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia. Ritchie also reported that Dogwoof had grabbed international rights for DINOSAUR 13. And writing for the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Miller broke down the behind-the-scenes moves that led to DINOSAUR 13’s U.S. acquisition by Lionsgate and CNN Films.
Writing for POV, Tom Roston shared his five major takeaways from Sundance. And in his Docutopia post at SundanceNOW, Anthony Kaufman looked at five Sundance docs dealing with the legacy of colonialism and the exploitation of the developing world. At Deadline, Dominic Patton reported that the Open Society Foundations had given a $5 million grant to Sundance to help fund docs. At Nonfics.com, Daniel Walber interviewed CONCERNING VIOLENCE director Goran Hugo Olsson. Writing for Realscreen, Manori Ravindran took a look at some of the Sundance docs focused on the Arab Spring. Colleague Kelly Anderson spoke to Stanley Nelson on his film FREEDOM SUMMER.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of FINDING THE FUNK, a road trip in search of the past, present and future of funk music from director Nelson George. The film will be screened at the IFC Center in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 28 at 8pm, and will be followed by a Q&A with George and special guests. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here. Don’t forget that a season pass granting admission for nine films and free popcorn can be bought for $99.
Continue reading…
20 FEET FROM STARDOM was one of the docs to receive an Oscar nomination this week.
This week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) loosed the list of nominees for the Oscar awards on the world. At Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell had coverage, along with a reaction from director Jehan Noujaim, with Adam Benzine on the news at Realscreen. Larry Rohter of the New York Times also reported on the nominations with an eye toward the themes of politics and entertainment. At the POV blog, Tom Roston shared his impressions of the list and named snubs. Both Michelle Kung of the Wall Street Journal and Joan E. Solsman of cnet took note of the fact that THE SQUARE was the first Netflix “original” documentary to earn an Oscar nod. Paula Bernstein shared info on where nominated films could be screened online in a piece for Indiewire. And at the Thompson on Hollywood blog at Indiewire, Sheerly Avni interviewed Rithy Panh, director of doc THE MISSING PICTURE, which earned a nomination in the foreign language category.
The Sundance Film Festival also kicked off this week. At Realscreen, Kelly Anderson spoke with programmer Caroline Libresco to preview some of the docs to keep an eye on. In a piece for Indiewire’s Reel Politik section, Anthony Kaufman took a look at the film THE GREEN PRINCE. And in a separate piece for the SundanceNOW blog, Kaufman wrote a piece identifying trends and players to keep an eye on at Park City. Paula Bernstein of Indiewire wrote on the influence that Chicken & Egg Pictures has had on getting women documentary filmmakers some festival shine. Ondi Timoner previewed the docs playing at the festival in an episode of Bring Your Own Doc. Writing for Variety, Addie Morfoot noted that most festivals, including Sundance, seemed to privilege left-leaning docs over their rightward counterparts. In a piece for the Sundance website, PARIS IS BURNING director Jennie Livingston wrote on the experience of being branded a failure as a filmmaker.
At the International Documentary Association (IDA) website, Michael Galinsky interviewed Jesse Moss, director of THE OVERNIGHTERS. Kevin Ritchie of Realscreen spoke with LIFE ITSELF director Steve James. Michael Dunaway of Paste Magazine also interviewed Steve James, as did Matt Zoller Seitz at RogerEbert.com.
Continue reading…
Sarah Polley won the outstanding director award for her film STORIES WE TELL at this year's Cinema Eye Honors.
This week saw the 7th annual Cinema Eye Honors, with the award for outstanding feature going to Joshua Oppenheimer’s THE ACT OF KILLING. Sarah Polley took home the award for outstanding director for STORIES WE TELL. Adam Benzine had coverage for Realscreen, while Christopher Campbell did the same at Nonfics.com. Tom Roston reported on the awards for the POV blog, as did Nick Dawson at Filmmaker Magazine. And Adam Schartoff spoke with Esther Robinson about the awards in an episode of his Filmwax podcast.
In distro news, Paula Bernstein of Indiewire reported that Cinedigm picked up North American rights to REMOTE AREA MEDICAL, while Dave McNary of Variety also had the news. Also, Paula Bernstein reported that CITIZEN KOCH had been nabbed by Variance Films for theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) this week announced its doc nominees, with Alexandra Zeevalkink of the DocGeeks blog on the news and Adam Benzine covering the event for Realscreen.
Continue reading…
THE ACT OF KILLING distributor Drafthouse Films released a promotional bundle for the film via BitTorrent this week.
The New Year holiday has left us with another light news week. Perhaps the most interesting news was that distributor Drafthouse Films released a “bundle” of content related to THE ACT OF KILLING via BitTorrent, a medium most closely associated with pirating. The bundle dropped at the same time the film was being released on iTunes. Realscreen’s Adam Benzine covered the development, as did Paula Bernstein of Indiewire. And Anthony Ha of TechCrunch also had the news.
Indiewire rounded up all of their doc advice from last year in one incredibly helpful post that you can check out here.
Melena Ryzik of the New York Times took note of the fact that both PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER and THE SQUARE had been banned in the respective countries in which they had been shot, while also landing on the Oscar shortlist for docs. Vanessa Thorpe of The Guardian mentioned PUSSY RIOT in a piece noting the political nature of those getting on the shortlist. Jezebel’s Rebecca Rose had details on a screening of PUSSY RIOT intended to take place in Russia that was scuttled by the government there.
Continue reading…
