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.
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The short film SLOMO from director Josh Izenberg was one of several shorlisted for the Oscar this week.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) this week named the short docs named to their shortlist. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times covered the news, as did Jon Weisman of Variety. At Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell had the vitals on the films on the shortlist.
Realscreen’s Adam Benzine reported on the lineup at this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Writing for DocGeeks, Alexandra Zeevalkink zeroed in on the IDFA offerings from the National Film Board of Canada. IDFA’s DocLab also announced details on the interactive titles selected for the festival,
In a thoughful piece at Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell contemplated docs that could be construed as platforms for an evil ideology. Campbell’s piece was, at least in part, a response to a critical review of THE ACT OF KILLING from About.com writer Jennifer Merin.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of Andrew Jarecki’s 2003 film CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS on Tuesday, October 15 at 8pm at the IFC Center in Manhattan. The film follows the story of a Long Island family torn apart by accusations of child molestation. Director Andrew Jarecki will be in attendance for a Q&A following the film. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
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GIVE UP TOMORROW from filmmakers Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco was among the films airing on television nominated for an Emmy this year.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences this week announced the nominations for this year’s news and documentary awards. Barry Walsh covered the announcement at Realscreen. ITVS’s Beyond the Box blog noted that it’s films had garnered eight nominations, while the POV blog announced it had show work snagging nine nominations.
The Sundance Institute also announced the 29 projects that would be recipients of its documentary grants this year. Nick Dawson covered the announcement for Filmmaker Magazine.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s doc THE ACT OF KILLING continues to draw attention in advance of its July 19 New York City release. At Guernica Mag, Caroline Cooper wrote a great piece on the underground network used for showing the film in Indonesia. The New York Times’ Larry Rohter also wrote a piece on the making of the film, while Errol Morris penned a piece on the film and the history of mass killings in Indonesia for Slate. The New Statesman even hosted a piece from Slavoj Zizek on the film.
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