The Gotham Film & Media Institute on Monday has selected the films and series for its Project Market, a slate which IndieWire can exclusively reveal. Taking place during September’s Gotham Week at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the annual sales and development forum connects creators to distributors, financiers, and other industry decision-makers. It offers a look ahead at what could become the next buzzy films; “Moonlight” and “American Factory” are recent Oscar winners that were launched at past Project Market events.
This year’s lineup includes 65 fiction features and series, 60 nonfiction features and series, and 17 audio projects in various stages of development or production, including new projects from the producers of “Dopesick,” “Pose,” and “Sorry to Bother You.” For the first time since the pandemic, the annual event will include both in-person and virtual participation. In-person meetings run September 17-23, while virtual meetings will be held September 22-23.
“Being able...
This year’s lineup includes 65 fiction features and series, 60 nonfiction features and series, and 17 audio projects in various stages of development or production, including new projects from the producers of “Dopesick,” “Pose,” and “Sorry to Bother You.” For the first time since the pandemic, the annual event will include both in-person and virtual participation. In-person meetings run September 17-23, while virtual meetings will be held September 22-23.
“Being able...
- 8/1/2022
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Gia Coppola (Palo Alto) is in production on superfans: screaming. crying. throwing up., a documentary that she’s directing and producing for global nonfiction entertainment studio Xtr and Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan’s Aggregate Films, via her company Detour.
The film celebrating the culture-shifting influence of boy band superfans is based on Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKotB to BTS, a book by journalist and lifelong fangirl, Maria Sherman. It dives into the fangirl experiences, movements and markets of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, spotlighting the devoted girls, women and queer fans who have turned boy bands — including New Edition, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, *Nsync, One Direction and BTS — into multibillion-dollar franchises that dominate both the airwaves and pop culture phenomena.
For decades, fangirls like Sherman have had their musical infatuations demonized as frivolous or feminine, and superfans will shed new...
The film celebrating the culture-shifting influence of boy band superfans is based on Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKotB to BTS, a book by journalist and lifelong fangirl, Maria Sherman. It dives into the fangirl experiences, movements and markets of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, spotlighting the devoted girls, women and queer fans who have turned boy bands — including New Edition, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, *Nsync, One Direction and BTS — into multibillion-dollar franchises that dominate both the airwaves and pop culture phenomena.
For decades, fangirls like Sherman have had their musical infatuations demonized as frivolous or feminine, and superfans will shed new...
- 5/23/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Xtr has launched production on Role Players, which is billed as the definitive documentary on the seminal fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons.
Boasting never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with high-profile celebrity D&d fanatics, Role Players will tell the all-encompassing story of Dungeons & Dragons, from the game’s origin story to the cult-like devotion of its players, exploring the power living in a fantasy world can have on real-life human connection.
The feature is being made by director Morgan Jon Fox (The One You Never Forget) and producer Ted Speaker (Sword of Trust). Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett, Justin Lacob and Abazar Khayami are executive producing for Xtr. Pic comes on the heels of Paramount and eOne’s announcement on the title for their upcoming narrative feature, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Hasbro’s reported explosive growth on the franchise as a result of the major theatrical release in...
Boasting never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with high-profile celebrity D&d fanatics, Role Players will tell the all-encompassing story of Dungeons & Dragons, from the game’s origin story to the cult-like devotion of its players, exploring the power living in a fantasy world can have on real-life human connection.
The feature is being made by director Morgan Jon Fox (The One You Never Forget) and producer Ted Speaker (Sword of Trust). Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett, Justin Lacob and Abazar Khayami are executive producing for Xtr. Pic comes on the heels of Paramount and eOne’s announcement on the title for their upcoming narrative feature, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Hasbro’s reported explosive growth on the franchise as a result of the major theatrical release in...
- 5/11/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Xtr, the award-winning nonfiction company behind “They Call Me Magic” on Apple TV Plus and the Oscar-nominated “Ascension,” announced its acquisition of a 30,000 square-foot studio located off Alvarado St. in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, just west of downtown.
The new Xtr Studios space includes production and post-production facilities, a sound stage, recording studio and offices. The acquisition represents a key milestone for the documentary industry as audience growth and business catch up to narrative.
“This is an incredible time for documentaries where there is more demand than ever before. Having our own facilities will allow us to meet this moment,” said Bryn Mooser, Xtr CEO and founder. “Most importantly, we are excited to build a center for creative excellence and an independent home for filmmakers and artists that inspires them and supports them to make their best work.”
Speaking with Variety, Mooser adds that streaming services have...
The new Xtr Studios space includes production and post-production facilities, a sound stage, recording studio and offices. The acquisition represents a key milestone for the documentary industry as audience growth and business catch up to narrative.
“This is an incredible time for documentaries where there is more demand than ever before. Having our own facilities will allow us to meet this moment,” said Bryn Mooser, Xtr CEO and founder. “Most importantly, we are excited to build a center for creative excellence and an independent home for filmmakers and artists that inspires them and supports them to make their best work.”
Speaking with Variety, Mooser adds that streaming services have...
- 4/26/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Housemarque’s sci-fi shooter Returnal scored big at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, winning the coveted Best Game award, as well snagging awards in three other categories. Genre titles in Devolver Digital’s Inscryption and Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2 also snagged awards. Riding the momentum of its recently-released Ascension update, Returnal took home the BAFTA in the […]
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- 4/8/2022
- by Mike Wilson
- bloody-disgusting.com
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson went from spinning records at last year’s Oscar ceremony to winning a statuette of his own tonight, for directing Best Documentary Feature champ Summer of Soul.
The acclaimed DJ, music historian, and founding member of the Roots – The Tonight Show’s house band – accepted the award along with producers Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein. He began his speech by acknowledging the other nominees for Best Documentary Feature — Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Writing With Fire — then became emotional as he referenced the subject of his film: the long-overlooked Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, a series of concerts that showcased some of the greatest African American musical talent ever assembled on stage. The concerts were filmed at the time, with the intention of packaging them into a TV special, but back then the white-run television networks gave a collective shrug and passed.
The acclaimed DJ, music historian, and founding member of the Roots – The Tonight Show’s house band – accepted the award along with producers Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein. He began his speech by acknowledging the other nominees for Best Documentary Feature — Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Writing With Fire — then became emotional as he referenced the subject of his film: the long-overlooked Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, a series of concerts that showcased some of the greatest African American musical talent ever assembled on stage. The concerts were filmed at the time, with the intention of packaging them into a TV special, but back then the white-run television networks gave a collective shrug and passed.
- 3/28/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
No matter what your image of modern China, it’s nowhere near complete until you’ve seen it through New York-based, China-observing director Jessica Kingdon’s eyes. Working in the mold of photographers Lauren Greenfield (“Queen of Versailles”) and Edward Burtynsky (“Manufactured Landscapes”), the Tribeca Film Festival winner trains her camera on the impacts of China’s fast-exploding economy in the Oscar-nominated “Ascension,” leaving audiences with striking and frequently absurd scenes burned into their imaginations. Without contextualizing what we’re seeing, the hi-def collage asks us to make sense of a society even more stratified and excessive than our own.
Kingdon’s curiosity spans the class divide, from assembly lines where women prepare silicone sex dolls for demanding clients to private dining rooms where nouveau-riche elites learn how to eat a banana with fork and knife. The title, taken from a poem written by her great-grandfather Zheng Ze, refers not...
Kingdon’s curiosity spans the class divide, from assembly lines where women prepare silicone sex dolls for demanding clients to private dining rooms where nouveau-riche elites learn how to eat a banana with fork and knife. The title, taken from a poem written by her great-grandfather Zheng Ze, refers not...
- 3/27/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – Happy Oscar Day! The 94th Academy Awards takes place on March 27th, and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com conducted two major interviews connected to nominees. Actor David Dastmalchian for “Dune” (Best Picture) and Director Jessica Kingdon for “Ascension” (Best Documentary).
It’s been an amazing film year for David Dastmalchian, who got his start in theater in Chicago. Besides portraying Piter De Vries from the House Harkonnen in “Dune,” he also was the Polka-Dot Man in James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.” He’d previously achieved blockbuster notoriety as the Russian Kurt, part of the “Antourage” in the Marvel Universe “Ant-Man” films, and has appeared in the DC series on the CW, “The Flash,” as the villain Abra-Kadabra.
David Dastmalchian as Piter in ‘Dune’ & Director Jessica Kingdon of ‘Ascension’
Photo credit: Warner Bros./MTV Documentary Films
“Ascension” is an impressionistic and cinematic portrait of China’s industrial supply chain...
It’s been an amazing film year for David Dastmalchian, who got his start in theater in Chicago. Besides portraying Piter De Vries from the House Harkonnen in “Dune,” he also was the Polka-Dot Man in James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.” He’d previously achieved blockbuster notoriety as the Russian Kurt, part of the “Antourage” in the Marvel Universe “Ant-Man” films, and has appeared in the DC series on the CW, “The Flash,” as the villain Abra-Kadabra.
David Dastmalchian as Piter in ‘Dune’ & Director Jessica Kingdon of ‘Ascension’
Photo credit: Warner Bros./MTV Documentary Films
“Ascension” is an impressionistic and cinematic portrait of China’s industrial supply chain...
- 3/27/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
After a long-haul awards season, the 94th annual Academy Awards are finally upon us. Hollywood’s biggest night will see Oscar statues doled out across 24 categories — though eight of those honors will, controversially, be handed out in the hour before the ceremony officially starts at 8 p.m. Pt.
Tonight will mark a moment of redemption for many of the most dogged Oscar campaigners, who’ve been on the awards circuit since the fall of 2021. The telecast this year features three hosts: Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer.
Plus, they’re joined by a variety of musical guests including Beyonce (“King Richard”), Billie Eilish and Finneas (“No Time to Die”), Reba McEntire (“Four Good Days”), and Sebastián Yatra (“Encanto”), among other musical guests. Plus, the Academy has assembled an “all-star band” featuring the likes of blink-182 drummer and “The Kardashians” star Travis Barker, percussionist and singer Sheila E., and genre-spanning pianist Robert Glasper.
Tonight will mark a moment of redemption for many of the most dogged Oscar campaigners, who’ve been on the awards circuit since the fall of 2021. The telecast this year features three hosts: Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer.
Plus, they’re joined by a variety of musical guests including Beyonce (“King Richard”), Billie Eilish and Finneas (“No Time to Die”), Reba McEntire (“Four Good Days”), and Sebastián Yatra (“Encanto”), among other musical guests. Plus, the Academy has assembled an “all-star band” featuring the likes of blink-182 drummer and “The Kardashians” star Travis Barker, percussionist and singer Sheila E., and genre-spanning pianist Robert Glasper.
- 3/27/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Updated: March 24, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
The race for documentary feature has been Questlove...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Updated: March 24, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
The race for documentary feature has been Questlove...
- 3/24/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“Coda” has been named the best produced film of 2021 at the Producers Guild Awards, throwing the Oscar race for Best Picture into complete turmoil only eight days before that show takes place on March 27.
The win comes at the only awards show besides the Oscars that uses ranked-choice or preferential voting in its best picture category, and it reinforced a feeling that the longtime Oscar favorite, “The Power of the Dog,” might be too divisive to win under a system that looks for a film with broad support.
Coupled with its SAG Awards win for ensemble, a category in which “The Power of the Dog” wasn’t even nominated, “Coda” now has to be considered a very strong Oscar contender and maybe even the new front runner, even though it is missing some of the nominations once thought necessary for a Best Picture winner.
The Oscars will now find PGA...
The win comes at the only awards show besides the Oscars that uses ranked-choice or preferential voting in its best picture category, and it reinforced a feeling that the longtime Oscar favorite, “The Power of the Dog,” might be too divisive to win under a system that looks for a film with broad support.
Coupled with its SAG Awards win for ensemble, a category in which “The Power of the Dog” wasn’t even nominated, “Coda” now has to be considered a very strong Oscar contender and maybe even the new front runner, even though it is missing some of the nominations once thought necessary for a Best Picture winner.
The Oscars will now find PGA...
- 3/20/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The 33rd Producers Guild of America Awards will take place Saturday, March 19, honoring the best achievements in TV and film production. Wondering who will take home prizes when the PGA announces its winners? Scroll down for our racetrack odds in 10 categories, which are based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users. The predicted winners are in gold.
The PGA represents over 8,000 producers in film, television and new media and, since 2009, both the PGA and the Academy Awards have picked Best Picture with ranked choice voting. As the only major precursor to use this voting system, the PGA Awards could foresee the winner of this year’s nail-biting Best Picture race at the Oscars.
Best Picture
The Power of the Dog — 13/2
Belfast — 15/2
Coda — 15/2
West Side Story — 8/1
King Richard — 9/1
Dune — 9/1
Licorice Pizza — 19/2
Don’t Look Up — 11/1
tick, tick…Boom! — 13/1
Being the Ricardos — 14/1
Best Animated Feature
Encanto — 31/10
The Mitchells vs the Machines...
The PGA represents over 8,000 producers in film, television and new media and, since 2009, both the PGA and the Academy Awards have picked Best Picture with ranked choice voting. As the only major precursor to use this voting system, the PGA Awards could foresee the winner of this year’s nail-biting Best Picture race at the Oscars.
Best Picture
The Power of the Dog — 13/2
Belfast — 15/2
Coda — 15/2
West Side Story — 8/1
King Richard — 9/1
Dune — 9/1
Licorice Pizza — 19/2
Don’t Look Up — 11/1
tick, tick…Boom! — 13/1
Being the Ricardos — 14/1
Best Animated Feature
Encanto — 31/10
The Mitchells vs the Machines...
- 3/18/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
“Summer of Soul” is the first proper music-centered film to land an Oscar nomination in Best Documentary Feature since 2015’s “Amy.” Despite that gap, the Questlove-directed doc will likely win the Oscar, much like “Amy” did. The film has won dozens of awards leading up to the Oscars, including the BAFTA, the Critics Choice Documentary Award and the Independent Spirit Award, making it a clear favorite to win the big prize.
The early-to-mid-2010s was a boon for music documentaries, starting with “Searching for Sugar Man” (2012), about singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez. The pattern continued with “20 Feet from Stardom” (2013), about the lives of various backup singers like Darlene Love. “Amy” made it a trend two years later with its chronicle of the strategic rise and fall of British singer Amy Winehouse. That same year, “What Happened, Miss Simone?”, about the life of Nina Simone, was also nominated. “Searching for Sugar Man,...
The early-to-mid-2010s was a boon for music documentaries, starting with “Searching for Sugar Man” (2012), about singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez. The pattern continued with “20 Feet from Stardom” (2013), about the lives of various backup singers like Darlene Love. “Amy” made it a trend two years later with its chronicle of the strategic rise and fall of British singer Amy Winehouse. That same year, “What Happened, Miss Simone?”, about the life of Nina Simone, was also nominated. “Searching for Sugar Man,...
- 3/18/2022
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Sense of place is a major theme in the Best Documentary category at this year’s Oscars. The five nominated movies span the globe from India to New York to China and Afghanistan, and the filmmakers involved with each movie joined TheWrap’s awards editor Steve Pond for an engaging conversation about making their movies.
Pond spoke with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director of “Summer of Soul;” Jessica Kingdon, director of “Ascension;” Stanley Nelson, director of “Attica;” Monica Hellström, producer of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee;” and Sushmit Ghosh, director (with Rintu Thomas) of “Writing with Fire.” All are first time Oscar nominees.
Questlove, a frontman of The Roots, explained that he approached directing “Summer of Soul” with a little trepidation, but was energized by the chance to document the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, an often overlooked cultural moment.
“The thought that something so precious could be discarded, like an uneaten hot dog at a carnival,...
Pond spoke with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director of “Summer of Soul;” Jessica Kingdon, director of “Ascension;” Stanley Nelson, director of “Attica;” Monica Hellström, producer of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee;” and Sushmit Ghosh, director (with Rintu Thomas) of “Writing with Fire.” All are first time Oscar nominees.
Questlove, a frontman of The Roots, explained that he approached directing “Summer of Soul” with a little trepidation, but was energized by the chance to document the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, an often overlooked cultural moment.
“The thought that something so precious could be discarded, like an uneaten hot dog at a carnival,...
- 3/17/2022
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
Revealed last week, Returnal‘s upcoming Dlc “Ascension” has received a new gameplay trailer that takes a look at the new Tower of Sisyphus. Well, it’s more of an 18-minute gameplay walkthrough for Ascension, featuring Returnal‘s game director Harry Krueger and narrative director Gregory Louden. The Ascension update is set to arrive on March 22nd, and […]
The post ‘Returnal: Ascension’ Gets 18-Minute Gameplay Walkthrough [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post ‘Returnal: Ascension’ Gets 18-Minute Gameplay Walkthrough [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 3/17/2022
- by Mike Wilson
- bloody-disgusting.com
This weekend is a big one for Oscar watchers, with two awards ceremonies that often predict key categories. Sunday marks the biggest night of the year in British film, with the BAFTAs, whose winners often mirror those of the Oscars, taking place. But first, the biggest names in directing came out for the Directors Guild of America Awards. Judd Apatow returned to host the DGAs, which honor outstanding achievement in directing film, television, and commercials.
The feature film nominees at the DGAs were almost identical to the Best Director nominees at the Oscars, with winner Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) competing against Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”), Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”), and Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”. The only difference is that the DGAs swapped in Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”).
On the television side, “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” have absolutely dominated the nominations. “Ted Lasso...
The feature film nominees at the DGAs were almost identical to the Best Director nominees at the Oscars, with winner Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) competing against Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”), Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”), and Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”. The only difference is that the DGAs swapped in Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”).
On the television side, “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” have absolutely dominated the nominations. “Ted Lasso...
- 3/13/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Jane Campion has been named the best feature-film director of 2021 by the Directors Guild of America for “The Power of the Dog.” She is the second consecutive female director to win after Chloe Zhao’s victory last year for “Nomadland,” and the third overall after Zhao and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”), who won in 2010 and was also on hand for the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
“I’m here because I care about women having voices,” Campion said in her acceptance speech. She had been the prohibitive favorite going into the DGA Awards, just as she is in the Best Director category at the Academy Awards — and the fact that she won even at the end of a marathon DGA ceremony during which one person after another had paid homage to her fellow nominee Steven Spielberg suggests that the rest of awards season will be smooth sailing for her.
“I’m here because I care about women having voices,” Campion said in her acceptance speech. She had been the prohibitive favorite going into the DGA Awards, just as she is in the Best Director category at the Academy Awards — and the fact that she won even at the end of a marathon DGA ceremony during which one person after another had paid homage to her fellow nominee Steven Spielberg suggests that the rest of awards season will be smooth sailing for her.
- 3/13/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The 74th Directors Guild of America Awards took place on Saturday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. Pt with Judd Apatow hosting the in-person, non-televised ceremony. (Read our minute-by-minute live blog.) These kudos honored the best helmers of the year in movies and television, as voted on by more than 18,000 members of the directing guild. Scroll down for the 2022 DGA Awards winners list in three film and eight TV categories.
The all-important feature film category is one of the most telling bellwethers for the Best Director Oscar. The guild and the academy have only disagreed eight times over the past seven decades, including in 2019 when Sam Mendes (“1917”) won the DGA but Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) claimed the Oscar. Will this year’s winner follow the path of so many prior champs? Reminder: four of the guild’s nominees also reaped Oscar bids: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Steven Spielberg...
The all-important feature film category is one of the most telling bellwethers for the Best Director Oscar. The guild and the academy have only disagreed eight times over the past seven decades, including in 2019 when Sam Mendes (“1917”) won the DGA but Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) claimed the Oscar. Will this year’s winner follow the path of so many prior champs? Reminder: four of the guild’s nominees also reaped Oscar bids: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Steven Spielberg...
- 3/12/2022
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Awards fans, mark your calendars for Saturday, March 12 as that’s when the 74th Directors Guild of America Awards will take place in Hollywood. Judd Apatow hosts the non-televised ceremony, which will honor the best in film and TV for the 2021 calendar year. According to Gold Derby’s DGA Awards predictions, some of the night’s big winners will include Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”). Scroll down to see the 2022 Directors Guild Awards predictions listed in order of their racetrack odds, with projected winners in gold.
Our DGA Awards odds are based on the combined forecasts of 1,400 Gold Derby readers, including Experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, Editors who cover awards year-round for this website, Top 24 Users who did the best predicting last year’s winners, All-Star Users who had the best prediction scores over the last two years, and...
Our DGA Awards odds are based on the combined forecasts of 1,400 Gold Derby readers, including Experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, Editors who cover awards year-round for this website, Top 24 Users who did the best predicting last year’s winners, All-Star Users who had the best prediction scores over the last two years, and...
- 3/11/2022
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Nearly three decades after making her film acting debut at age 14, Maggie Gyllenhaal has now added her first feature writing and directing credits to her resume. Since its Venice International Film Festival premiere last September, her “The Lost Daughter” has won her numerous accolades, from the festival’s Golden Osella to the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Gyllenhaal is also nominated for the Directors Guild of America’s First-Time Film Director award. According to our DGA Awards odds, she is widely expected to prevail and thereby become only the second woman to receive the honor.
This particular glass ceiling was broken by Alma Har’el, who took the 2020 prize for helming “Honey Boy.” Since the category’s establishment in 2015, 11 women and 25 men have vied for the award, making for a 1:2.3 ratio. The first female contender was inaugural nominee Marielle Heller. Aside from her and Har’el,...
This particular glass ceiling was broken by Alma Har’el, who took the 2020 prize for helming “Honey Boy.” Since the category’s establishment in 2015, 11 women and 25 men have vied for the award, making for a 1:2.3 ratio. The first female contender was inaugural nominee Marielle Heller. Aside from her and Har’el,...
- 3/10/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Housemarque’s Returnal is getting an upgrade later this month with “Ascension”. The version 3.0 upgrade will be released on March 22, and not only adds online co-op, but a new endless mode known as Tower of Sisyphus. As detailed on PlayStation Blog by Housemarque’s Harry Krueger, the Ascension update adds a cooperative mode for Returnal […]
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- 3/10/2022
- by Mike Wilson
- bloody-disgusting.com
“Flee” made history on Oscar nominations morning by reaping bids in Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature. The film tells the true story of a man named Amin on the verge of married who is compelled to reveal his hidden past for the first time. None of Gold Derby’s experts currently list the movie winning in the first two categories, with 19 predicting “Encanto” in animated and 19 forecasting “Drive My Car” in international. As for the documentary race, six experts choose “Flee” while a leading 15 pick “Summer of Soul.”
While “Encanto” and “Drive My Car” are the overwhelming front-runners in their respective categories, Best Documentary Feature has room for a surprise winner, especially one like “Flee” that tells a compelling, life-affirming LGBTQ story about family, love and survival. Joshua Rothkopf (Empire Magazine) says “Flee” is “an extraordinary blend of personal reflection and inspired craft,” and Jen Yamato...
While “Encanto” and “Drive My Car” are the overwhelming front-runners in their respective categories, Best Documentary Feature has room for a surprise winner, especially one like “Flee” that tells a compelling, life-affirming LGBTQ story about family, love and survival. Joshua Rothkopf (Empire Magazine) says “Flee” is “an extraordinary blend of personal reflection and inspired craft,” and Jen Yamato...
- 3/9/2022
- by Brian Rowe
- Gold Derby
As Jessica Kingdon made eight trips to China to shoot her first feature “Ascension,” a meditational look at China’s factory life and consumer society, she didn’t imagine a large audience for the result. “I thought it would be more niche,” she said in a recent interview with IndieWire over Zoom. “It’s not conventional. There are no characters. I didn’t expect so many people to find that enjoyable.”
But something clicked. MTV Documentary Films acquired the movie last summer and launched a successful awards campaign that resulted in “Ascension” getting nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. Suddenly, Kingdon’s audacious immersion into this widely misunderstood side of China’s impact on the global economy became the seminal documentary on the subject for Western viewers.
That’s significant in part because as “Ascension” lingers in its settings, which range from a fabric shop that makes “Keep America Great...
But something clicked. MTV Documentary Films acquired the movie last summer and launched a successful awards campaign that resulted in “Ascension” getting nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. Suddenly, Kingdon’s audacious immersion into this widely misunderstood side of China’s impact on the global economy became the seminal documentary on the subject for Western viewers.
That’s significant in part because as “Ascension” lingers in its settings, which range from a fabric shop that makes “Keep America Great...
- 3/8/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Documentary+, the free streaming service launched by non-fiction studio Xtr, is getting into original programming and has ordered its first project.
The company will launch Fireworks, a feature doc directed by Nathan Truesdell, who recently produced Oscar-nominated film Ascension.
Fireworks will delve into a botched LAPD operation that causes catastrophe in an LA neighborhood.
The film will be part of Documentary+’s new Lost and Found collection, which is one of three strands that it is launching as part of the originals drive. Lost and Found will feature stranger than fiction stories using found footage.
The other two collections are Pop Docs, documentaries that sit at the collision between controversy and pop culture, and After Hours, slow content documentaries created for a late night audience.
The inaugural original for the Pop Docs strand will be a film about Hot Cheetos, which goes behind the fascination of the cult snack food...
The company will launch Fireworks, a feature doc directed by Nathan Truesdell, who recently produced Oscar-nominated film Ascension.
Fireworks will delve into a botched LAPD operation that causes catastrophe in an LA neighborhood.
The film will be part of Documentary+’s new Lost and Found collection, which is one of three strands that it is launching as part of the originals drive. Lost and Found will feature stranger than fiction stories using found footage.
The other two collections are Pop Docs, documentaries that sit at the collision between controversy and pop culture, and After Hours, slow content documentaries created for a late night audience.
The inaugural original for the Pop Docs strand will be a film about Hot Cheetos, which goes behind the fascination of the cult snack food...
- 3/7/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline has launched the streaming site for Contenders Film: The Nominees, this past weekend’s showcase of 24 Oscar-nominated films and their stars, creatives and craftspeople talking about their roads to the Academy Awards.
Click here to go to the site.
Saturday’s virtual panels ran the gamut from the cast of the Oscar Best Picture-nominated Coda to the star and director of Bhutan’s first Oscar-nominated film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, and pretty much everything in between.
Panelists included Kristen Stewart and Pablo Larraín from Spencer; Kenneth Branagh and Ciarán Hinds from Belfast; Guillermo del Toro with Nightmare Alley; Jessica Chastain from The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson from Summer of Soul; Jonas Poher Rasmussen from Flee; Joachim Trier and Renate Reinsve from The Worst Person in the World; Ariana DeBose from West Side Story; Adam McKay and Nicholas Britell from Don’t Look Up; Paolo Sorrentino...
Click here to go to the site.
Saturday’s virtual panels ran the gamut from the cast of the Oscar Best Picture-nominated Coda to the star and director of Bhutan’s first Oscar-nominated film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, and pretty much everything in between.
Panelists included Kristen Stewart and Pablo Larraín from Spencer; Kenneth Branagh and Ciarán Hinds from Belfast; Guillermo del Toro with Nightmare Alley; Jessica Chastain from The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson from Summer of Soul; Jonas Poher Rasmussen from Flee; Joachim Trier and Renate Reinsve from The Worst Person in the World; Ariana DeBose from West Side Story; Adam McKay and Nicholas Britell from Don’t Look Up; Paolo Sorrentino...
- 3/7/2022
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
The 37th Annual Independent Spirit Awards took place on Sunday, returning to an in-person format following last year’s virtual ceremony. Many of the biggest names in the independent film community made the trek out to the beach in Santa Monica with the hopes of taking home the most coveted prizes in indie film. While the Spirit Awards typically take place the week before the Oscars, this year’s unique Covid-influenced awards season calendar meant that they were held nearly a month in advance. Hollywood couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally served as emcees of the proceedings.
This year’s class of nominees draws from films largely shut out from the Oscars, with indie hits like Oscar nominee “The Lost Daughter,” “C’mon C’mon,” and “Zola” racking up the most nominations. “The Lost Daughter” cleaned up, with three wins for Netflix including Best Feature and Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Oscar no-show...
This year’s class of nominees draws from films largely shut out from the Oscars, with indie hits like Oscar nominee “The Lost Daughter,” “C’mon C’mon,” and “Zola” racking up the most nominations. “The Lost Daughter” cleaned up, with three wins for Netflix including Best Feature and Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Oscar no-show...
- 3/7/2022
- by Christian Zilko and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The U.S. is not the only country with growing income inequality. The same is true of China, a phenomenon explored in the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Ascension, from MTV Documentary Films.
Jessica Kingdon’s film examines the vast tide of humanity at the bottom of the economic scale, flowing into cities to take menial factory jobs; a growing middle class with aspirations of wealth creation; and the super-rich, China’s 1 percent.
Contenders Film: The Nominees — Full Coverage
“The film is loosely structured by ascending the class ladder,” Kingdon explained during a panel discussion for Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event. “But a lot of it was also showing the middle class and showing leisure time. I wanted it to not just be about production, but also about how people spend their free time and what the different forms of that can look like and what everyone’s working for...
Jessica Kingdon’s film examines the vast tide of humanity at the bottom of the economic scale, flowing into cities to take menial factory jobs; a growing middle class with aspirations of wealth creation; and the super-rich, China’s 1 percent.
Contenders Film: The Nominees — Full Coverage
“The film is loosely structured by ascending the class ladder,” Kingdon explained during a panel discussion for Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event. “But a lot of it was also showing the middle class and showing leisure time. I wanted it to not just be about production, but also about how people spend their free time and what the different forms of that can look like and what everyone’s working for...
- 3/5/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The 37th Annual International Documentary Association Awards, streamed online Friday night, capped a big week for nonfiction awards that also included the 15th Annual Cinema Eye Honors, presented live in New York on Wednesday.
Both awards groups honored Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated immigration saga “Flee” (Neon) with their top honors, while the Danish International Feature Oscar contender’s fellow Oscar nominee “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight/Hulu) notched three IDA awards: Rookie filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won for Best Director, Best Music Documentary, and Best Editing. Oscar nominee Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” an observational look at the class structure in China, won three Cinema Eye Honors awards, the most of the evening, for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Original Score and Debut Feature.
Oscar nominee “Writing with Fire” nabbed the IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award for the India-based directing team Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.
The IDA online ceremony, which was pre-recorded,...
Both awards groups honored Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated immigration saga “Flee” (Neon) with their top honors, while the Danish International Feature Oscar contender’s fellow Oscar nominee “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight/Hulu) notched three IDA awards: Rookie filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won for Best Director, Best Music Documentary, and Best Editing. Oscar nominee Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” an observational look at the class structure in China, won three Cinema Eye Honors awards, the most of the evening, for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Original Score and Debut Feature.
Oscar nominee “Writing with Fire” nabbed the IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award for the India-based directing team Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.
The IDA online ceremony, which was pre-recorded,...
- 3/5/2022
- by Anne Thompson and Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.
I always have begun this column with the above line that it is all about “events and conversations on the awards circuit”, but sadly in the past two years the great percentage of those “events and conversations” have moved online into the virtual universe. It’s how we learned to keep the awards machine going, and the industry chugging along, inside a global pandemic that just never seemed to stop.
However, Sunday night we had a SAG awards show that seemed, well, like a SAG awards show again, and this weekend we return to the tent on the beach for an Indie Spirit awards that hopes to spark memories of the way were in early 2020, the last time it took place on the sand.
We also have live Art Directors Guild and Ace Eddie Awards ceremonies on Saturday. Q&As...
I always have begun this column with the above line that it is all about “events and conversations on the awards circuit”, but sadly in the past two years the great percentage of those “events and conversations” have moved online into the virtual universe. It’s how we learned to keep the awards machine going, and the industry chugging along, inside a global pandemic that just never seemed to stop.
However, Sunday night we had a SAG awards show that seemed, well, like a SAG awards show again, and this weekend we return to the tent on the beach for an Indie Spirit awards that hopes to spark memories of the way were in early 2020, the last time it took place on the sand.
We also have live Art Directors Guild and Ace Eddie Awards ceremonies on Saturday. Q&As...
- 3/5/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with quotes from winners and IDA executive director Rick Pérez: Flee and Summer of Soul divided honors at the 37th annual IDA Awards tonight, with Flee claiming Best Feature Documentary, and Summer of Soul capturing three awards, including best director for Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson [full winners list below].
Flee, the animated story of a gay Afghan youth who fled his homeland for life in the West, bested nine other contenders for Best Feature, including rivals Summer of Soul, and fellow Oscar nominee Writing With Fire (the latter title earned the Courage Under Fire Award for directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh).
Flee director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, who first met the subject of his film, Amin Nawabi, when they were teenagers in Denmark, accepted the night’s top award.
“First of all, I want to thank Amin, the subject of the film, for your generosity and...
Flee, the animated story of a gay Afghan youth who fled his homeland for life in the West, bested nine other contenders for Best Feature, including rivals Summer of Soul, and fellow Oscar nominee Writing With Fire (the latter title earned the Courage Under Fire Award for directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh).
Flee director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, who first met the subject of his film, Amin Nawabi, when they were teenagers in Denmark, accepted the night’s top award.
“First of all, I want to thank Amin, the subject of the film, for your generosity and...
- 3/5/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Danish animated documentary “Flee” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2021 at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards, which were streamed in a virtual ceremony on Friday night.
The film, in which director Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to disguise the identity of an Afghan refugee who fled to Russian and then Denmark, scored an unprecedented trifecta when it was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film categories.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won the IDA award in the Best Director category for “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut. The film also won in the Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories, making it the only film to win more than one award at the ceremony.
Other winners included Jimmy Goldblum’s “A Broken House” in the Best Short category, the series “Independent Lens” for Best Curated Series,...
The film, in which director Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to disguise the identity of an Afghan refugee who fled to Russian and then Denmark, scored an unprecedented trifecta when it was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film categories.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won the IDA award in the Best Director category for “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut. The film also won in the Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories, making it the only film to win more than one award at the ceremony.
Other winners included Jimmy Goldblum’s “A Broken House” in the Best Short category, the series “Independent Lens” for Best Curated Series,...
- 3/5/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Almost 2,000 Gold Derby readers have made their Indie Spirit predictions in advance of Sunday’s ceremony. Scroll down to see our official odds in all 13 movie categories based on those combined predictions. Our projected winners are highlighted in gold.
SEEOscars 2022: 20 movie reunions we would love to see happen on the ceremony, including ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Titanic,’ ‘Harry Potter’ and more
The Indie Spirit Awards winners are voted on by members of Film Independent. Membership is open to any movie fans who pay $95 in yearly dues, which often leads to the highest-profile Oscar contenders winning top prizes against less widely publicized films. But this year Film Independent snubbed many of the Oscar front-runners; this is only the second time in the last 13 years that there are no Best Picture Oscar nominees among the Spirit contenders for Best Feature.
The black comedy “Zola” led the nominations with seven including Best Feature, Best...
SEEOscars 2022: 20 movie reunions we would love to see happen on the ceremony, including ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Titanic,’ ‘Harry Potter’ and more
The Indie Spirit Awards winners are voted on by members of Film Independent. Membership is open to any movie fans who pay $95 in yearly dues, which often leads to the highest-profile Oscar contenders winning top prizes against less widely publicized films. But this year Film Independent snubbed many of the Oscar front-runners; this is only the second time in the last 13 years that there are no Best Picture Oscar nominees among the Spirit contenders for Best Feature.
The black comedy “Zola” led the nominations with seven including Best Feature, Best...
- 3/4/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Oscar-nominated “Flee” took home the top prize at the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors on Tuesday evening at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
Going into the evening, Neon and Participant Media’s “Flee” led the field with a total of seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye also received the organization’s legacy award during the ceremony. The director was honored for her landmark 1996 independent feature “The Watermelon Woman.” After accepting the legacy award on stage, Dunye presented the category of audience choice prize.
See the full list of film winners and nominees below.
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi” (Directed and produced by Jessica Beshir)
“Flee” (Winner)
“The Rescue”
“Summer of Soul”
“The Velvet Underground”
Outstanding Direction
“Ascension”
“Faya Dayi”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession” (Winner)
“Summer of Soul”
Outstanding...
- 3/2/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary “Flee” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2021 at the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors, which were presented on Tuesday night in New York City. “The Rescue,” about the efforts to retrieve a Thai youth soccer team from a flooded cave, won the Audience Choice Prize.
The Neon release “Flee,” which uses animation to give anonymity to a young gay man who escaped Afghanistan as a teenager and made his way to Denmark, also won the award for graphic design and animation. It is nominated for Oscars in the documentary, animated-feature and international-feature categories.
Robert Greene won the directing award for “Procession,” while Matthew Heineman, Jenna Millman and Leslie Norville took the producing prize for “The First Wave.”
Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” won the most Cinema Eye awards, three, taking the prizes for debut feature, cinematography and score.
Other winners included “Summer of Soul...
The Neon release “Flee,” which uses animation to give anonymity to a young gay man who escaped Afghanistan as a teenager and made his way to Denmark, also won the award for graphic design and animation. It is nominated for Oscars in the documentary, animated-feature and international-feature categories.
Robert Greene won the directing award for “Procession,” while Matthew Heineman, Jenna Millman and Leslie Norville took the producing prize for “The First Wave.”
Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” won the most Cinema Eye awards, three, taking the prizes for debut feature, cinematography and score.
Other winners included “Summer of Soul...
- 3/2/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Independent film supporter Rooftop Films announced the 2022 Filmmaker Fund winners February 28, exclusively on IndieWire.
The prestigious Water Tower Feature Film Cash Grant was awarded to “The 40-Year-Old Version” writer-director-producer-star Radha Blank, for her upcoming untitled dark dramedy.
Environmental director Eleanor Mortimer also won a Water Tower grant for an untitled deep sea taxonomy documentary, which “follows biologists through the intricate process of discovering deep-sea species as they piece together the unknown ecosystems of the largest biome on the planet.”
The $15,000 grants are made possible by generous support from the Laurence W. Levine Foundation.
The Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grants are available to Rooftop Films alumni directors who have previously had their work screened during the annual Summer Series in New York City. Blank screened her debut feature, “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” with Rooftop Films in 2020 at the Queens Drive-In. Mortimer screened her award-winning short film “Territory” at Rooftop Films in 2016.
This year,...
The prestigious Water Tower Feature Film Cash Grant was awarded to “The 40-Year-Old Version” writer-director-producer-star Radha Blank, for her upcoming untitled dark dramedy.
Environmental director Eleanor Mortimer also won a Water Tower grant for an untitled deep sea taxonomy documentary, which “follows biologists through the intricate process of discovering deep-sea species as they piece together the unknown ecosystems of the largest biome on the planet.”
The $15,000 grants are made possible by generous support from the Laurence W. Levine Foundation.
The Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grants are available to Rooftop Films alumni directors who have previously had their work screened during the annual Summer Series in New York City. Blank screened her debut feature, “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” with Rooftop Films in 2020 at the Queens Drive-In. Mortimer screened her award-winning short film “Territory” at Rooftop Films in 2016.
This year,...
- 2/28/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
This year’s documentary Academy Award feature race is historical on many fronts. Four of the five nominated films were directed by people of color; Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” made history by scoring three Oscar nominations: not only the doc feature category but also in the animated feature and international feature categories; Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas’ “Writing With Fire” became the first feature doc from India to earn a nom in the race; and four of the six nominated helmers are first-time feature docu directors.
But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this year’s nonfiction feature Oscar race is the dominance of nascent doc distributors and production units.
Paramount Plus, Showtime Documentary Films and Music Box Films each received their inaugural Oscar nomination in the documentary feature category Feb. 8 for: Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount Plus), Stanley Nelson’s “Attica” (Showtime Documentary Films) and...
But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this year’s nonfiction feature Oscar race is the dominance of nascent doc distributors and production units.
Paramount Plus, Showtime Documentary Films and Music Box Films each received their inaugural Oscar nomination in the documentary feature category Feb. 8 for: Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount Plus), Stanley Nelson’s “Attica” (Showtime Documentary Films) and...
- 2/26/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
MTV Documentary Films has acquired worldwide rights to Ondi Timoner’s “Last Flight Home,” a moving and deeply personal portrait of family dealing with the last days of their patriarch. The documentary had several bidders and the sale was highly competitive.
“Last Flight Home” was a favorite with critics after it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. MTV Documentary Films is planning a theatrical release in the fall along with an awards campaign. “Last Flight Home” was written, directed and edited by Ondi Timoner, the filmmaker behind “Dig!” and “We Live in Public.” She also produced the film with David Turner.
The film follows Eli Timoner, a suburban man and business leader whose meteoric rise was impacted by health struggles. It charts his last remaining days, while celebrating an extraordinary life, one filled with wild achievements, tragic loss and enduring love from an incredibly close-knit family. Eli Timoner...
“Last Flight Home” was a favorite with critics after it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. MTV Documentary Films is planning a theatrical release in the fall along with an awards campaign. “Last Flight Home” was written, directed and edited by Ondi Timoner, the filmmaker behind “Dig!” and “We Live in Public.” She also produced the film with David Turner.
The film follows Eli Timoner, a suburban man and business leader whose meteoric rise was impacted by health struggles. It charts his last remaining days, while celebrating an extraordinary life, one filled with wild achievements, tragic loss and enduring love from an incredibly close-knit family. Eli Timoner...
- 2/25/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
My Old School Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute St Andrews has a new film festival - Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews will have its inaugural edition from March 25 to 27.
The festival, which will take place at the town's Byre Theatre, will feature nine fiction and non-fiction films, including a mystery film which has yet to be announced.
The theme of this year's festival is Beginnings, with fiction features including debut films, including Blerta Basholi's Hive, starring Ylka Gashi, and Amalia Ulman's El Planeta.
Homegrown talent will include Leith-based filmmaking duo, Will Hewitt and Austen McCowan, who will present Long Live My Happy Head, a documentary long-distance love story about comic books and cancer and Jono McLeod's schoolboy imposter tale My Old School, which recently screened at Sundance and will also play at Glasgow Film Festival.
Other notable inclusions are Jessica Kingdon's Oscar-nominated documentary Ascension, which...
The festival, which will take place at the town's Byre Theatre, will feature nine fiction and non-fiction films, including a mystery film which has yet to be announced.
The theme of this year's festival is Beginnings, with fiction features including debut films, including Blerta Basholi's Hive, starring Ylka Gashi, and Amalia Ulman's El Planeta.
Homegrown talent will include Leith-based filmmaking duo, Will Hewitt and Austen McCowan, who will present Long Live My Happy Head, a documentary long-distance love story about comic books and cancer and Jono McLeod's schoolboy imposter tale My Old School, which recently screened at Sundance and will also play at Glasgow Film Festival.
Other notable inclusions are Jessica Kingdon's Oscar-nominated documentary Ascension, which...
- 2/21/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The first ever Sands: International Film Festival, set to be held in Scotland’s St Andrews, has revealed its line-up.
Running March 25-27, the program will consist of nine fiction and non-fiction features, including a mystery film not yet announced.
On the list is documentary Long Live My Happy Head, from Leith-based filmmaking duo Will Hewitt and Austen McCowan, which is a love story about comic books and caner that follows a long-distance couple as they navigate a Covid lockdown. The film will premiere at this year’s BFI Flare festival next month.
Screening in St Andrews having premiered recently in Sundance is Jono McLeod’s My Old School, a documentary-animation hybrid that unravels a Scottish scandal.
Arriving from Sundance’s 2021 edition will be Blerta Basholli’s feature debut Hive, Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, and Christopher Makoto Yogi’s I Was a Simple Man.
A pair of titles will...
Running March 25-27, the program will consist of nine fiction and non-fiction features, including a mystery film not yet announced.
On the list is documentary Long Live My Happy Head, from Leith-based filmmaking duo Will Hewitt and Austen McCowan, which is a love story about comic books and caner that follows a long-distance couple as they navigate a Covid lockdown. The film will premiere at this year’s BFI Flare festival next month.
Screening in St Andrews having premiered recently in Sundance is Jono McLeod’s My Old School, a documentary-animation hybrid that unravels a Scottish scandal.
Arriving from Sundance’s 2021 edition will be Blerta Basholli’s feature debut Hive, Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, and Christopher Makoto Yogi’s I Was a Simple Man.
A pair of titles will...
- 2/21/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
We can confidently predict a documentary is forthcoming on ‘90s TV psychic Miss Cleo.
Nonfiction entertainment studio Xtr and production company Majority announced they are in production on a film about the famed tarot card reader, who became the centerpiece of a billion-dollar fraud investigation. Award-winning filmmaker Senain Kheshgi is directing the documentary about a woman who became a ubiquitous television presence in ads offering to tell people’s fortunes through a pay-per-call number.
Miss Cleo purported to be a Jamaican soothsayer, but the person under the turban in fact was Los Angeles native Youree Dell Harris, a sometime actress and playwright hired to embody the gifted psychic.
“Claiming to be a shaman from Jamaica, Miss Cleo’s charisma and famous imperatives enabled the Psychic Readers Network, a pay-per-call service, to charge callers seeking answers over $1 billion for advice,” Xtr noted. “But in 2002 it all came crashing down when the...
Nonfiction entertainment studio Xtr and production company Majority announced they are in production on a film about the famed tarot card reader, who became the centerpiece of a billion-dollar fraud investigation. Award-winning filmmaker Senain Kheshgi is directing the documentary about a woman who became a ubiquitous television presence in ads offering to tell people’s fortunes through a pay-per-call number.
Miss Cleo purported to be a Jamaican soothsayer, but the person under the turban in fact was Los Angeles native Youree Dell Harris, a sometime actress and playwright hired to embody the gifted psychic.
“Claiming to be a shaman from Jamaica, Miss Cleo’s charisma and famous imperatives enabled the Psychic Readers Network, a pay-per-call service, to charge callers seeking answers over $1 billion for advice,” Xtr noted. “But in 2002 it all came crashing down when the...
- 2/16/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
A new — and highly specific — Oscar trend may be brewing. A year after Jon Batiste won Best Original Score for “Soul,” Questlove is Oscar-nominated for his documentary and directorial debut “Summer of Soul”. What do they have in common? Well, they’re both bandleaders of late-night talk shows whose Oscar contenders have “Soul” in the title. Coincidence?
Batiste shared Best Original Score honors with “Soul” co-composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, having provided original jazz compositions for the New York City-set scenes of the Pixar film and Best Animated Feature winner. He has been the bandleader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” since its 2015 debut — Stephen Colbert was beaming like a proud papa after Batiste’s big night last year — and he may not be done pocketing hardware for “Soul.” The Oscar-winning trio could add a Grammy to their collection on April 3 for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media...
Batiste shared Best Original Score honors with “Soul” co-composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, having provided original jazz compositions for the New York City-set scenes of the Pixar film and Best Animated Feature winner. He has been the bandleader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” since its 2015 debut — Stephen Colbert was beaming like a proud papa after Batiste’s big night last year — and he may not be done pocketing hardware for “Soul.” The Oscar-winning trio could add a Grammy to their collection on April 3 for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media...
- 2/14/2022
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Every January, the Sundance Film Festival launches a slew of documentary Oscar contenders, and 2021 was no exception. While notable recent examples of fall openers winning Oscars include “Citizenfour” and “Free Solo” — and last year’s Netflix winner “My Octopus Teacher” played no festivals at all — most eventual Oscar nominees got their initial boost at Sundance and became must-sees for the expanding list of increasingly international documentary branch voters.
Emerging strong from Sundance 2021 was Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s innovative animated documentary “Flee,” which scored rave reviews and the Grand Jury Prize. This moving story of a refugee survivor reveals the identity-crushing dangers and humiliations of an immigrant trying to find sanctuary in a harsh world. Neon successfully mounted an Oscar campaign in three categories: Animation, Documentary, and International Feature Film, a first for any Oscar contender.
“Flee” landed an early Gotham Awards nomination and has assembled a mighty collection of awards and nominations,...
Emerging strong from Sundance 2021 was Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s innovative animated documentary “Flee,” which scored rave reviews and the Grand Jury Prize. This moving story of a refugee survivor reveals the identity-crushing dangers and humiliations of an immigrant trying to find sanctuary in a harsh world. Neon successfully mounted an Oscar campaign in three categories: Animation, Documentary, and International Feature Film, a first for any Oscar contender.
“Flee” landed an early Gotham Awards nomination and has assembled a mighty collection of awards and nominations,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Every January, the Sundance Film Festival launches a slew of documentary Oscar contenders, and 2021 was no exception. While notable recent examples of fall openers winning Oscars include “Citizenfour” and “Free Solo” — and last year’s Netflix winner “My Octopus Teacher” played no festivals at all — most eventual Oscar nominees got their initial boost at Sundance and became must-sees for the expanding list of increasingly international documentary branch voters.
Emerging strong from Sundance 2021 was Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s innovative animated documentary “Flee,” which scored rave reviews and the Grand Jury Prize. This moving story of a refugee survivor reveals the identity-crushing dangers and humiliations of an immigrant trying to find sanctuary in a harsh world. Neon successfully mounted an Oscar campaign in three categories: Animation, Documentary, and International Feature Film, a first for any Oscar contender.
“Flee” landed an early Gotham Awards nomination and has assembled a mighty collection of awards and nominations,...
Emerging strong from Sundance 2021 was Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s innovative animated documentary “Flee,” which scored rave reviews and the Grand Jury Prize. This moving story of a refugee survivor reveals the identity-crushing dangers and humiliations of an immigrant trying to find sanctuary in a harsh world. Neon successfully mounted an Oscar campaign in three categories: Animation, Documentary, and International Feature Film, a first for any Oscar contender.
“Flee” landed an early Gotham Awards nomination and has assembled a mighty collection of awards and nominations,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Xtr, the global nonfiction entertainment studio behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “Ascension,” has hired Abazar Khayami as head of studio.
Khayami, who previously served as head of content at Ntwrk, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead Xtr’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, Xtr co-founder and head of film. “We have a shared vision that draws on Abazar’s leadership and experience in the commercial and narrative worlds. With him at the helm, our production services team is going to be the best in the business.
“In my 15 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a bigger moment for nonfiction,” Khayami said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Xtr shares my vision for a better documentary industry,...
Khayami, who previously served as head of content at Ntwrk, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead Xtr’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, Xtr co-founder and head of film. “We have a shared vision that draws on Abazar’s leadership and experience in the commercial and narrative worlds. With him at the helm, our production services team is going to be the best in the business.
“In my 15 years in the industry, I’ve never seen a bigger moment for nonfiction,” Khayami said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Xtr shares my vision for a better documentary industry,...
- 2/9/2022
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
OscarsDirected by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, both debutants, 'Writing With Fire' chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India's only newspaper run by Dalit women.Inputs PTIImage: www.writingwithfire.inIndian documentary Writing With Fire has been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 94th edition of the Academy Awards. The nominations were announced by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan on Tuesday, February 8, via the Twitter page of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, both debutants, Writing With Fire chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. "We are beyond delighted. This is a massive moment for us and for Indian cinema... This film is about fearless Dalit women journalists who are redefining what being powerful means, quintessentially the story of the modern Indian woman," co-director Ghosh told Pti. The festival favourite...
- 2/9/2022
- by BNitin
- The News Minute
Our forum posters, many of whom are Hollywood insiders hiding behind screen names, were quick to sound off with their 2022 Oscar nomination reactions. While they discussed the reshaping of the race, they cheered for their favorite films and lamented the fact that others have hit the end of the road.
Over the past 93 years the Academy Awards have learned that it’s impossible to please everybody, and this year is no exception. Below is just a sampling of the brutally honest comments of our sassy forum posters concerning the 2022 Oscar nominations. Take a read and then jump in here if you’re brave enough.
See 2022 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 23 categories
Best Picture
“Belfast”
“Coda”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”
Skyler Lindquist: The “tick, tick… Boom!” disrespect.
fivestar: “The Power of the Dog...
Over the past 93 years the Academy Awards have learned that it’s impossible to please everybody, and this year is no exception. Below is just a sampling of the brutally honest comments of our sassy forum posters concerning the 2022 Oscar nominations. Take a read and then jump in here if you’re brave enough.
See 2022 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 23 categories
Best Picture
“Belfast”
“Coda”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”
Skyler Lindquist: The “tick, tick… Boom!” disrespect.
fivestar: “The Power of the Dog...
- 2/8/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
After winning the grand jury prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, "Flee" is once again receiving critical acclaim. On Feb. 8, the Danish animated film made history with its three Oscar nominations for best animated feature, best documentary feature, and best international feature film, making it the first film to ever receive nods in all three categories.
In the best animated feature category, "Flee" is up against "Encanto," "Luca," "The Mitchells vs. the Machines," and "Raya and the Last Dragon." Meanwhile, "Ascension," "Attica, "Summer of Soul," and "Writing With Fire" are also up for best documentary feature. And in the best international feature film category, "Flee" is nominated alongside "Drive My Car," "The Hand of God," "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom," and "The Worst Person in the World."
Related: After Months of Oscars Buzz, Lady Gaga Is Snubbed by the Academy
Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, "Flee" tells the story...
In the best animated feature category, "Flee" is up against "Encanto," "Luca," "The Mitchells vs. the Machines," and "Raya and the Last Dragon." Meanwhile, "Ascension," "Attica, "Summer of Soul," and "Writing With Fire" are also up for best documentary feature. And in the best international feature film category, "Flee" is nominated alongside "Drive My Car," "The Hand of God," "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom," and "The Worst Person in the World."
Related: After Months of Oscars Buzz, Lady Gaga Is Snubbed by the Academy
Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, "Flee" tells the story...
- 2/8/2022
- by Monica Sisavat
- Popsugar.com
The Power of the Dog, Dune, and West Side Story are among the leaders of this year’s Oscar nominees, which were announced Tuesday morning, Feb. 8
All three films will vie for Best Picture, where they’ll be up against Belfast, Coda, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley. Power of the Dog filmmaker Jane Campion and West Side Story’s Steven Spielberg were both nominated for Best Director as well, and they’ll go up against Kenneth Branagh for Belfast, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car,...
All three films will vie for Best Picture, where they’ll be up against Belfast, Coda, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley. Power of the Dog filmmaker Jane Campion and West Side Story’s Steven Spielberg were both nominated for Best Director as well, and they’ll go up against Kenneth Branagh for Belfast, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car,...
- 2/8/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s film Flee for Neon and Participant made history this morning, as it became the first ever to score a trifecta of Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film.
It will compete for Animated Feature against Disney’s Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney and Pixar’s Luca and Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, contending for Best Doc against Searchlight Pictures and Hulu’s Summer of Soul, MTV Documentary Films’ Ascension, Showtime’s Attica and Music Box Films’ Writing with Fire. Its competition in the category of International Feature includes Sideshow and Janus Films’ Drive My Car (Japan), Netflix’s The Hand of God (Italy), Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) and Neon’s The Worst Person in the World (Norway...
It will compete for Animated Feature against Disney’s Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney and Pixar’s Luca and Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, contending for Best Doc against Searchlight Pictures and Hulu’s Summer of Soul, MTV Documentary Films’ Ascension, Showtime’s Attica and Music Box Films’ Writing with Fire. Its competition in the category of International Feature includes Sideshow and Janus Films’ Drive My Car (Japan), Netflix’s The Hand of God (Italy), Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) and Neon’s The Worst Person in the World (Norway...
- 2/8/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Paramount+ revealed earlier this week that it had a series adaptation of John Travolta movie Urban Cowboy in the works. Now, the wild, true story that inspired the 1980 film is also being developed for television.
The rise and fall of country music icon Mickey Gilley’s football field-sized Texan honky tonk is being set up as a limited series with Philip Levens, creator of Syfy miniseries Ascension and Smallville writer, serving as showrunner for a series that comes from Michael Becker of Worth producer Imprint Entertainment and Joel Carpenter of Jc Productions.
The latter pair optioned Gilley’s life rights and will tell the story of what’s been described as the “the Studio54 of the West”, the center of the cowboy universe in 1978.
With a capacity of 6,000, the largest honky-tonk on the planet was frequented by an assortment of patrons that ranged from oilfield roughnecks to movie stars.
The rise and fall of country music icon Mickey Gilley’s football field-sized Texan honky tonk is being set up as a limited series with Philip Levens, creator of Syfy miniseries Ascension and Smallville writer, serving as showrunner for a series that comes from Michael Becker of Worth producer Imprint Entertainment and Joel Carpenter of Jc Productions.
The latter pair optioned Gilley’s life rights and will tell the story of what’s been described as the “the Studio54 of the West”, the center of the cowboy universe in 1978.
With a capacity of 6,000, the largest honky-tonk on the planet was frequented by an assortment of patrons that ranged from oilfield roughnecks to movie stars.
- 2/3/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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