The Polish documentary Communion (Komunia), winner of the European Film Awards for Best Documentary, from writer/director Anna Zamecka will be released in US theaters on Friday, January 4, 2019.
Documentary
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Barack Obama Reveals His Favorite Movies of 2018
If Beale Street Could Talk As he has done each year since 2015, former President Barack Obama released his favorite movies, songs, and books of the year on Facebook and Instagram. Obama’s taste in movies ranges from the popular Black Panther to some very impressive indie films including Eighth Grade, If Beale Street Could Talk, documentary films – Minding the Gap, Won’t You Be My Neighbor; and foreign films – Roma, Shoplifters.
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Netflix Releases Trailer for Art Documentary STRUGGLE: THE LIFE AND LOST ART OF SZULKALSKI
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski Netflix released the trailer for the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced documentary “Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski,” which looks at the life and career of Polish painter and sculptor Stanislav Szukalski. The documentary film launches Friday, December 21 on the Netflix.
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FYRE, Chris Smith’s Documentary on Controversial Fyre Music Festival, Sets Netflix Premiere Date
Fyre “Fyre”, Chris Smith’s highly anticipated documentary film is an exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival. The documentary will be released globally on Netflix on January 18, 2019.
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WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? – Documentary on America’s Favorite Neighbor: Fred Rogers, to Debut on HBO
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? One of the most celebrated theatrical releases of 2018, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes an intimate look at America’s favorite neighbor: Fred Rogers. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the acclaimed documentary from Morgan Neville (the Oscar(R)-winning “20 Feet from Stardom”), will debut Saturday, February, 2019 9 (8:00-9:35 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. In addition, HBO will honor Fred Rogers’ contribution and commitment to public television with a special presentation of the film on PBS’ “Independent Lens,” coinciding with the HBO debut.
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BLEED OUT, a Harrowing, Personal Investigation into America’s Healthcare System to Debut on HBO
Bleed Out Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Bleed Out is a new documentary premiering on HBO that uses one family’s story to underscore deep flaws in America’s current healthcare system and highlights ways those problems could be fixed.
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NEON Plans Early 2019 Release for Aretha Franklin Documentary AMAZING GRACE
Amazing Grace, the long-awaited Aretha Franklin film which made its World Premiere at DOC NYC will get an early 2019 theatrical release by NEON, following its Oscar qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles. The film has reportedly been garnering standing ovations during its New York qualifying run.
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Suge Knight Documentary AMERICAN DREAM/AMERICAN KNIGHTMARE to World Premiere on Showtime
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American Dream/American Knightmare[/caption]
The new documentary film American Dream/American Knightmare, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Southpaw), which offers an uncensored look into the life of notorious rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, will world premiere on Friday, December 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on-air, on Showtime.
In American Dream/American Knightmare, critically-acclaimed director and producer Fuqua delves deep into the life and storied exploits of the iconic Death Row Records co-founder, Suge Knight, as well as the volatile and highly influential era in music that he presided over. Through a series of interviews with Knight, viewers are guided through his world as he personally reveals exactly how it all happened and why it all fell apart. Once described as the “most feared man in hip-hop,” Knight is currently in jail, sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in a 2015 hit-and-run death.
“In this documentary – which took years of research, production and labor to complete – Suge Knight discusses for the first time his complex life in detail,” said Fuqua. “The audience will learn how he built and lost Death Row Records, and his views about the rap music scene. Suge also gives a first-person account and new details about the Las Vegas shooting that took the life of Tupac Shakur and also seriously injured him. This documentary will give viewers more access to Suge’s story than ever before. This is a cautionary tale of one man’s choices and the consequences of his decisions.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ran8XRQ9T6Y
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TAKE LIGHT, Film about Nigeria’s Energy Crisis, Releases on Dec 14
From space, at night, Nigeria is awash in light. But the glow almost entirely flares from oil and gas wells. The country, with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, leaves half its population without electricity, and the rest with erratic service.
Take Light, the feature directorial debut from Shasha Nakhai, takes us to her hometown in the country where she grew up, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, the ironically-nicknamed “Garden City” where the skies have turned grey. There, she follows the lives of workers for PHED, the previously state-owned Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) which was privatized in 2013. If any public servants anywhere feel unappreciated, they should compare their lot with the likes of Martins, an unflaggingly upbeat and religious family-man and electrical engineer, or Deborah, a sales-representative-turned-debt-collector.
Both face anger and even mob violence on a daily basis as they cut off service to delinquent customers (most of whom have little ability to pay, in a country with 7.5 million jobless). Martins, who has miraculously survived electrocution in the past, climbs poles to cut off dangerous makeshift wiring that is used to steal power. (We also meet Godwin, an “illegal electrician,” who invariably reconnects the “People’s Power” the following night).
The powerlessness closes businesses and forces people to use generators when they can (often bringing them indoors where they often succumb to fires and carbon monoxide poisoning). Even hospitals fall prey, unable to maintain refrigeration in their morgue, forcing them to “dry embalm” corpses.
“Shasha has crafted a film with global implications while maintaining focus on the intimate humanity of the people on screen,” says Tony Piantedosi, Director of Acquisitions at Gravitas. “We are proud to be presenting this powerful documentary to US audiences.”
“This is the film I’ve always wanted to see made about the power situation in Nigeria,” says Director Nakhai, “and I’m excited to finally be able to share it widely with audiences in my hometown of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and around the world.”
“Port Harcourt is the source of my fondest childhood memories,” says Nakhai, who produced the Oscar short-listed Frame 394. “Today, however, the city is much different than what I remember. Perfectly manicured green hedges have turned to black dust—the fallout zone of a fossil-fuel economy.
“Take Light is a film about Nigeria’s energy crisis, with my hometown as the backdrop. It’s about a crisis of electrical energy, but also about other kinds of power struggles – the tensions between people, between past and present, between governments and colonial powers—and about the transformation of it all into a seething, powerful force.
“I want to show the urgency and challenges of transitioning to greener and more egalitarian economies.
“But, this is also a film about the power of hope. With people like Martins, it is about keeping the candle lit in times of darkness and despair, about fighting to remain a good person when corruption is the status-quo, and harnessing the power of humour and religion to make it through each day.”
Take Light can be found on VOD: Comcast, Cox, dish Network, Verizon, Frontier, suddenlink, Mediacom, WOW! Also on iVOD: iTunes, Google play, YouTube, vudu, primevideo, Microsoft, vimeo, redbox.
And Home Video: amazon, Barnes&Noble, Target, Walmart, Baker & Taylor, Alliance, Midwest Tape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eu1ToXEvtA
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MY COUNTRY NO MORE Docu on Rise and Fall North Dakota’s Oil Boom to Premiere on PBS Independent Lens
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My Country No More[/caption]
Between 2011 and 2016, oil drilling in rural North Dakota reached its peak, setting off a modern-day gold rush in Trenton, North Dakota, population less than 1000. With billions of dollars to be gained in an industry-friendly state with a “reasonable regulation” climate, small towns like Trenton became overwhelmed by an influx of workers, and countless acres of farmland were repurposed for industrial development. My Country No More, a new documentary produced and directed by Rita Baghdadi and Jeremiah Hammerling, follows the rise and fall of the oil boom in North Dakota and paints a portrait of a rural American community in crisis. Through the voices of Trenton’s residents, the film challenges the notion of “progress” and questions the long-term human consequences of short-term approaches to land use, decisions that ultimate affect all Americans, rural and urban alike. My Country No More premieres on Independent Lens Monday, January 7, 2019, 10:00-11:00 PM ET (check local listings) on PBS.
Kalie Rider and her older brother Jed are striving to return to a life of farming after having suffered the loss of their parents’ farm during the 1980s farm crisis. Their uncle’s decision to sell a piece of land for a planned ethanol plant sets off a chain of consequences from which there is no turning back. With the Trenton church being eyed for a diesel refinery, the community becomes divided, with some favoring development and jobs, and others bemoaning the loss of their rural way of life.
“Although the media frenzy surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline has faded, My Country No More reveals how small communities like Trenton, North Dakota are forever changed by the rise and fall of the oil boom,” said Lois Vossen, executive producer of Independent Lens. “Rita and Jeremiah have created a contemplative, beautifully shot film about a town caught between economic opportunity and personal regret. As the foundation of life and identity shifts beneath their feet, the people of Trenton are left asking what is the value of community history and what sacrifices are they willing to make to preserve a vanishing way of life.”
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Northern Banner Releasing to Release THIS IS NORTH PRESTON Documentary
This Is North Preston, the remarkable documentary film by Jaren Hayman which will have its world premiere at Whistler Film Festival on Friday November 30, will be released in Canada by Northern Banner Releasing.
Northern Banner will have a limited theatrical release in Canada starting in the new year, and the film has been picked up in the US by Virgil Films, who will release digitally, also in the new year.
North Preston is the largest black community in the country and started as a safe haven for escaped slaves but has more recently been painted as one of the biggest hubs of pimping & human trafficking in the nation.
This Is North Preston explores how the town of 4,000 has dealt with generations of pimp culture, violence, economic struggle, and constant systemic racism through the eyes of the pimps, trafficking victims, politicians, police, and community members looking to change the narrative.
This Is North Preston not only tells a truly unique story, but also an incredibly important one. While the community has several deep rooted issues it’s facing including an accepted pimp culture and high levels of gun violence, the film explores how and why this is now a reality. The movie also looks at the decades of systemic racism that the town has experienced and continues to experience.
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ESPN Films Next 30 for 30 is “42 to 1” on Buster Douglas 1990 Victory Over Mike Tyson
ESPN Films Next 30 for 30 is “42 to 1”, the documentary on Buster Douglas defeating Mike Tyson for the 1990 Heavyweight Championship of the World.
The documentary “42 to 1”, co-directed by Jeremy Schaap and Ben Houser, premieres Tuesday, December 11th at 9:00p.m. ET on ESPN
If you were a sports fan in 1990, you’ll never forget where you were when you heard about Tyson-Douglas. Because, after all, it was impossible.
In sports, we’re used to seeing the improbable. But the impossible is another matter entirely. And on February 11, 1990, while the odds were technically 42-1, it was very much the impossible that happened in a boxing ring in Tokyo, Japan, when James “Buster” Douglas defeated Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship of the world.
The 30 for 30 documentary “42-1” tells the story of just how incredibly unlikely it was. It starts in Columbus, Ohio, where Douglas grew up the son of a boxer, who trained and guided him to become a top-10 heavyweight contender in the mid 1980’s. Of course, it was all in the shadow of the rise of “Iron” Mike Tyson, who became a worldwide phenomenon in a remarkable undefeated run to the undisputed title. And by the time their fight was set, Douglas was lightly regarded, merely a stepping stone for bigger fights for the champion. But on the day they met, a series of extraordinary circumstances led to an unimaginable result.
Featuring rare footage and never before seen images, this is a film about how Douglas pulled off a victory that changed the course of sports history, channeling the absolute best version of himself, if only for one fight, when it mattered most and no one thought it was possible.
Co-Directed by 11-time Emmy Award winner Jeremy Schaap (E:60, The Sporting Life) & 17-time Emmy award and 4-time Edward R. Murrow Award winner Ben Houser (E:60 docs Owen & Haatchi, The Number, Leaf).
Image via YouTube