Netflix released the trailer for the award winning documentary Knock Down the House that follows four women – US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin as they mount grassroots campaigns against powerful incumbents in the the 2018 midterm elections. Knock Down the House will open in select theaters and launch globally on Netflix May 1, 2019.
Barbara Rubin and The Exploding NY Underground a documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Chuck Smith, shines the spotlight on Barbara Rubin, one of the creative women in NYC’s influential avant garde scene in the 1960’s. The film which won the Metropolitan Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC will open theatrically at the IFC Center in NYC on May 24, and at Laemmle Theaters in LA and Roxie in SF on June 14. Other cities will follow.
Director Yu Gu follows several former cheerleaders through their legal and personal journeys in a David and Goliath fight, as they fight for minimum wage and end 50 years of inequality inflicted by the NFL in her new documentary A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem. The documentary will have its World Premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2019.
HBO Documentary Films is currently in production on a documentary series exploring the NXIVM organization, by Oscar(R)-nominated, Emmy(R)-winning directors Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer (“The Square,” “Control Room,” “Startup.com”).
For more than two decades Dr. Larry Nassar was the osteopathic physician for the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, as well as a physician at Michigan State University (MSU). During that time, he sexually abused hundreds of female athletes.
Film Independent has selected 13 filmmakers and eight projects for its 2019 Documentary Lab, an intensive two-week program designed to help filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentary films.
Metrograph Pictures will release The Raft, the documentary about the 1970’s infamous social experiment known as “The Sex Raft.” The film directed by Marcus Lindeen (Regretters, Glorious Accidents); and winner of the Grand Jury Award at 2018 CPH: DOX and Silver Hugo Award at 2018 Chicago International Film Festival will open Friday, June 7 at Metrograph in NY with nationwide expansion to follow.
Rita, The Documentary, film on Rita Guerrero, the brilliant lead singer of Mexico City-based art rock band Santa Sabina who passed away from breast cancer, will screen at the Hola Mexico Film Festival to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary.
With one in eight American children suffering a confirmed case of neglect or abuse by age 18, there are currently more than 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S., a number that continues to grow each year.
The Peabody Awards revealed the eight winning films released in 2018 in the Documentary category, including Dolores, profile of unsung activists Dolores Huerta; A Dangerous Son on the challenges faced by parents of children living with mental health issues; and Minding the Gap, on the healing skateboarding provides for three young men transitioning into adulthood.
Giant Pictures acquired worldwide Digital and VOD rights to Lisa Binn’s feature documentary Do Something: The Jeffrey Modell Story and plans a worldwide June 11, 2019 release.
