The 2019 American Documentary Film Festival and Film Fund (AmDocs) in Palm Springs announced a slate of approximately 200 documentary and animated works from around the world. Among the works being exhibited are films focused on indigenous people’s rights, women’s equity in society, environmental trends, celebrity and historical biopics, cutting edge and socially relevant topics.
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, an artful and uplifting documentary on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner will open in theaters on June 21. Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (The Black List, Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart), a friend of Toni Morrison’s for over 35 years, the film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
This Women’s History Month, the trailer is released for Stephanie Wang-Breal’s Blowin’ Up, a documentary about a team of courageous women in Queens, New York, who try to create a safe space for women condemned by a legal system where sex work and prostitution are criminalized. Blowin’ Up opens April 5th in NY, and April 12th in LA.
In 2016 a small group of families with transgender kids joined the fight against a wave of discriminatory anti-transgender legislation that swept the nation and their home state. With the help of a coalition of civil rights activists and ally lawmakers, these families embarked on an uncharted journey of fighting for their children’s lives and futures in this present-day civil rights story documented by Seattle based award-winning filmmaker, Vlada Knowlton in The Most Dangerous Year.
Here is the new trailer for the documentary Well Groomed – written and directed by Rebecca Stern, making its world premiere on Sunday at 2019 SXSW Film Festival.
Melbar Entertainment Group has begun production on the feature documentary about the infamous Knoedler Gallery art scandal that involved one of the largest art forgeries in history. Over 60 forged abstract expressionists works of art sold to high society collectors and prestigious art institutions for over $80 million in total. The film will be completed in late 2019.
A new generation of Palestinian youth overcome obstacles through their love of the sport parkour, in the shadow of a border wall, as chronicled in Dallas filmmaker Michael Rowley’s feature documentary directorial debut Hurdle. Hurdle will World Premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) taking place April 11-18.
The River and The Wall follows five friends on a 1,200 mile journey along the US-Mexico border from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico. Riding horses, bicycles, and paddling canoes, they travel along the Rio Grande and meet with landowners, border patrol agents, congressmen on both sides of the aisle, immigrants, wildlife biologists, and folks on either side of the Rio to better understand where a physical border wall would go and the impacts it would have.
The Spy Behind Home Plate, set for national release on Friday, May 24, is the first feature-length documentary about Moe Berg, the enigmatic and brilliant baseball player who turned spy for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. The film from award-winning documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner will play film festivals and theaters across the U.S. and internationally.
The new inspiring and rousing documentary TIME FOR ILHAN, chronicles newly elected Congresswoman, and first ever Somali Muslim legislator, Ilhan Omar, as she seeks to redefine politics in America. TIME FOR ILHAN, which was recently nominated for Outstanding Documentary at the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, will be released on March 8, 2019 to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival will host the World Premiere of Fox Sports Films’ new MAGNIFY series documentary Q Ball, on Thursday, April 11 at the Castro Theatre. The film, executive produced by Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant, provides an intimate portrayal of several players on the San Quentin State Prison basketball team. Director Michael Tolajian, producer Rebekah Fergusson, and executive producers Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman, Jamie Patricof, Katie McNeill, and Jordan deBree are expected to attend.
OWN is partnering with HBO to present OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: AFTER NEVERLAND, a conversation hosted by Oprah Winfrey featuring Wade Robson and James Safechuck, subjects of the two-part HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” alongside director Dan Reed.