This week the Steve James-helmed film LIFE ITSELF about the late film critic Roger Ebert reached theaters.
This week the Steve James-directed doc LIFE ITSELF about the late film critic Roger Ebert hit theaters. In a post for the Chicago Reader, Ben Sachs interviewed Steve James; Eric Kohn of Indiewire did the same. At the Chicago Sun-Times, Mike Thomas also spoke with James. Adam Schartoff dedicated an entire episode of his Filmwax Radio podcast to speaking with James. Writing for Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell gave the film five stars and called it “a perfect biography of Roger Ebert.” Back at Indiewire, Sam Adams rounded up some highlights from a Reddit AMA held by James and Ebert’s partner Chaz Ebert. At RogerEbert.com, Odie Henderson had another interview with James, as did Brandon Harris of Filmmaker Magazine. At the Sundance Institute’s website, James spoke with Nate von Zumwalt about the importance of film preservation. And at Ascap.com, Etan Rosenbloom spoke with LIFE ITSELF composer Joshua Abrams.
Premium cable network HBO announced that it would set aside Monday nights for doc airings. At Realscreen, Kevin Ritchie covered the news, as did Jessica Rawden of CinemaBlend. Rick Kissel at Variety also covered the development.
For Indiewire, Paula Bernstein spoke with documentary filmmaker Doug Block about why he was not as insistent on theatrical distribution for his latest film 112 WEDDINGS. Block also sat down for an interview with Jordan M. Smith of Ion Cinema.
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This week news broke that the documentary world had lost filmmaker Robert Gardner.
This week news broke that filmmaker Robert Gardner had passed away on June 21 at the age of 88. At the New York Times, Bruce Weber penned an obit of Gardner. The Documentary Educational Resources website also posted a note about Gardner.
Writing for the Washington Post, Anne Hornaday recapped some of the highlights from this year’s AFI Docs festival. At Realscreen, Manori Ravindran reported that HONEST LIAR from filmmakers Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom had won the festival’s audience award. The Week’s Scott Meslow shared a list of five docs screening at AFI Docs that could not be missed. And Patricia Aufderheide provided thoughts on the social issue docs that shined in Silver Spring at the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI) website.
The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS) announced its new invitees; at Realscreen Adam Benzine reported on the documentary filmmakers among the group. Jonathan Sullivan did the same for Nonfics.com.
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The film (T)ERROR from directors Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe was among those selected for participation in the Sundance Institute documentary edit and story lab.
This week the Sundance Institute named this year’s fellows for the documentary edit and story labs. Writing for Realscreen, Manori Ravindran covered the news, as did Nigel M. Smith of Indiewire.
The film NORTHERN LIGHT from director Nick Bentgen began a run at the Maysles Cinema this week. On the True/False Fest blog Chris Boeckmann posted an interview conducted with Bentgen about a year ago. Lance Edmands of Hammer to Nail also had an interview with Bentgen, while Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times awarded it a Critics’ Pick.
Basil Tsiokos turned out a slew of overviews of some upcoming film festivals and events on his blog, What (Not) to Doc. Among the events he looked at were the BAMcinemaFest, the American Black Film Festival, the AFI Docs festival, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
This week Stranger Than Fiction closes out its spring/summer season with a special Wednesday screening of THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP, a profile of music critic Nat Hentoff from director David L. Lewis, on June 25 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Following the screening, Lewis will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
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The film ATTACKING THE DEVIL from directors Jacqui Morris and David Morris took home the jury prize from this year's Sheffield Doc/Fest.
This year the Sheffield Doc/Fest Special Jury Award went to ATTACKING THE DEVIL: HAROLD EVANS AND THE LAST NAZI WAR CRIME from directors Jacqui Morris and David Morris. Writing for Indiewire, Casey Cipriani had coverage of all of the awards, as did Manori Ravindran at Realscreen. Christopher Campbell of Nonfics.com broke up his coverage of the festival into five parts, which you can find here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5. Filmmaker Laura Poitras also issued a statement after accepting the festival’s Inspiration Award in absentia. At Realscreen, Adam Benzine spoke with THE OVERNIGHTERS director Jesse Moss. Writing for Indiewire, Paula Bernstein broke down a potential formula for winning an Oscar for best doc.
The folks at Televisual wrote a post laying out some of the themes they found in the the Sheffield Doc/Fest commissioning panels. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Dalton reviewed THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON from director Mark Craig. At the DocGeeks blog, Ben Unwin reviewed REGARDING SUSAN SONTAG from director Nancy Kates. Adam Benzine of Realscreen also spoke with Alex Gibney regarding his film FINDING FELA. Paula Bernstein of Indiewire covered a master class at the festival from director Joe Berlinger. Bernstein also wrote a piece on the increasing difficulty of making a living as a documentary filmmaker.
Writing for Leveled Magazine, Jamie Maleszka previewed the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. At Nonfics.com, Daniel Walber made a list of the five best films screening at the fest. And Basil Tsiokos provided an overview at his What (Not) to Doc blog.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED from director Marina Zenovich on Tuesday June 17 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan. The film investigates the sexual assault case that embroiled the filmmaker decades ago. Following the screening film critic Scott Foundas will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
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This year's Sheffield Doc/Fest featured PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH, AND SUPERMARKETS as its opening film.
This week the Sheffield Doc/Fest kicked off in England. At Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell shared a recap of his first day at the festival. Writing at his What (Not) to Doc blog, Basil Tsiokos provided an overview of the festival, while Tim Isaac took a look at the festivals Queer Screen strand for The Big Gay Picture show. And Alexandra Zeevalkink provided a guide to navigating the festival in a post for The Knowledge.
Writing for the POV blog, Tom Roston reviewed the documentary series from director Agnes Varda FROM HERE TO THERE. In a piece for Film Comment, Fernando F. Croce did the same.
Back at Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell published a well-researched list of the top 100 docs available for streaming on Netflix.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of the film THE LAST MOGUL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LEW WASSERMAN from director Barry Avrich on Tuesday, June 10 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan. The film takes a look at the life of Hollywood agent Lew Wasserman. Following the screening, Avrich will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please go here.
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