Showtime Documentary Films announced upcoming titles from its 2020 slate from preeminent documentarians, including LOVE FRAUD from Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, THE TRADE from Matthew Heineman, THE LONGEST WAR from Greg Barker, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, KINGDOM OF SILENCE from Alex Gibney, Rick Rowley and Lawrence Wright, and THE KINGMAKER from Lauren Greenfield.
Emmy(R) winners and Academy Award(R) nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady make their first foray into episodic television with LOVE FRAUD, which will have a World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, January 23, the first time in the festival’s history a television series will screen on Day One. The four-part docu-series follows the search for one man, Richard Scott Smith, who over the past 20 years used the internet and his dubious charms to prey upon unsuspecting women in search of love – conning them out of their money and dignity. Ewing and Grady capture the story as it unravels in real time as his victims band together to seek sweet revenge by turning to a bounty hunter when they feel the justice system has failed them. LOVE FRAUD will premiere on SHOWTIME on Friday, May 8. Ewing and Grady direct and executive produce the series, along with executive producer Amy Goodman Kass.
The IDA-winning series THE TRADE, directed by Emmy and DGA Award winner and Oscar(R) nominee Matthew Heineman, will premiere at Sundance on Tuesday, January 28 ahead of the network premiere on Friday, March 6. This season, the four-part series follows Central Americans on an odyssey to the United States (and others heading back home after being deported), while also delving into the shadow industries that prey on them at every step along the way. By shedding light on the smugglers and traffickers who take advantage of the migrant’s vulnerability, and law enforcement pursuing them at the border, THE TRADE takes audiences inside the rarely seen underbelly of the migrants’ world, and humanizes their struggle to survive. THE TRADE is executive produced by Heineman, Pagan Harleman and Joedan Okun.
As their prolific series HOMELAND comes to an end this season, Emmy and Peabody winning series creators and executive producers Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon have teamed up with Emmy winning director Greg Barker for THE LONGEST WAR, which will unpack the human stories and drama behind America’s involvement since 9/11 in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history. The documentary feature unfolds through the eyes of first-hand witnesses – a compelling cast of characters ranging from U.S. intelligence operatives, soldiers and their families, Afghan officials, journalists, top government and military officials – all of whom will bring their experiences to life through groundbreaking, emotional interviews. THE LONGEST WAR will premiere on SHOWTIME on Sunday, April 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, immediately following the penultimate episode of HOMELAND.
Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Rick Rowley (16 SHOTS, Dirty Wars) directs the network’s forthcoming documentary feature KINGDOM OF SILENCE (previously named HOUSE OF SAUD), a political thriller examining the complex relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi amplified entanglements between the two countries. The film, executive produced by award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI, Citizen K) and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright (The Looming Tower), shines new light on Khashoggi’s remarkable journey – from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the halls of power in Riyadh and Washington, from the Arab Spring to the rise of Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince. KINGDOM OF SILENCE will have a theatrical run before premiering on SHOWTIME later this year.
The network also announced Emmy winning director Lauren Greenfield’s latest film THE KINGMAKER, nominated for a Critics’ Choice Best Documentary Feature Award and a WGA Award for Best Documentary Screenplay, will premiere on Friday, February 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The critically acclaimed documentary, which was named to several 2019 “Best Of” lists during the theatrical run, explores the disturbing legacy of the Marcos regime in the Philippines, and chronicles Imelda’s present-day push to help her son, Bongbong, win the vice presidency.
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