Participant and Magnolia Pictures have acquired North American rights to the documentary JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (TRAPPED, GIDEON’S ARMY). The film chronicles the life and career of the legendary civil rights activist and Democratic Representative from Georgia. Magnolia is planning a Spring 2020 theatrical release.
Two new documentaries profiling iconic rock bands New Order and Duran Duran will premiere on Showtime in late December. Part concert, part documentary, New Order: Decades follows the band’s preparations in the re-staging of their acclaimed collaboration, So It Goes, with the artist Liam Gillick and the 12-piece synthesizer orchestra that captured the headlines during Manchester International Festival 2017. New Order: Decades will premiere on Friday, December 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Hulu announced the official premiere date for the new four-part docuseries, Hillary, about the life and 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, which will world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
In the powerful and luminous black-and-white film Heimat is a Space in Time, Thomas Heise explores “heimat,” his family home and homeland, through the upheavals of 20th-century German history. Winner of the Caligari Film Prize at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and Best Film in the International Competition at Visions du Réel 2019, and official selections of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, Heimat is a Space in Time will make its U.S. theatrical debut via Icarus Films on March 13, 2020 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City, followed by engagements in Los Angeles and nationwide.
For Sama directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts is the winner of the top prize for Best Feature at the 35th IDA (International Documentary Association) Awards. Other notable documentary films winning awards include Leaving Neverland for Best Multi-Part Documentary and Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé for Best Music Documentary.
The Times of Bill Cunningham, Mark Bozek’s documentary on legendary New York street photographer Bill Cunningham released a delightful entertaining new trailer. In the documentary, Bill Cunningham, the legendary New York Times photographer and fashion historian, shares his life story in his own words and photographs from his remarkable archive of over 3 million images. The film opens in theaters on February 14 via Greenwich Entertainment.
The Intercept released “Drowning by Sunrise,” a short documentary focused on an investigation into the death of 16-year-old Damain Martin in Broward County, Florida.
Showtime Documentary Films announced a new limited docu-series, Gossip Starring Cindy Adams, profiling the longtime columnist whose work at the New York Post made her the reigning queen of gossip. Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are executive producing, with Emmy and BAFTA(R) nominee Jenny Carchman (The Fourth Estate) producing and directing. Scheduled to premiere in 2021, the series will be produced by Imagine Documentaries in cooperation with the New York Post.
CUFF.Docs, the 7th Annual Documentary Film Festival presented by Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF), starts this Wednesday night, November 27, with the Sundance hit THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY, about the final tour of a dying magician, “The Amazing Johnathan”, which turns into an unexpected and increasingly bizarre journey as the filmmaker struggles to separate truth from illusion. The 5-day festival runs until Sunday, Dec 1 at Globe Cinema.
Jerusalem-born trauma expert Ofra Bloch forces herself to confront her demons in a journey that takes her to Germany, Israel and Palestine in the documentary Afterward. The documentary film written and directed by Ofra Bloch opens in theaters on January 10, 2020 and on VOD on January 28, 2020.
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) revealed its 2020 Documentary Motion Picture nominees that will advance to the final voting process for the 31st Annual Producers Guild Awards. The Guild’s awards have been established as a bellwether for the Academy Awards, as PGA winners often predict the winners at the Oscars.
Apollo 11 took home the most prestigious award for Best Documentary Feature as well as Best Editing for Todd Douglas Miller, Best Score for Matt Morton, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Science/Nature Documentary at the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards earlier this week.