Barbara Lacen-Keller, Lily Keber and Mayor Latoya Cantrell at World Premiere of Buckumping at the New Orleans Film Festival. Photo credit: Sydney Walker[/caption]
The City of New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell was in the audience on Sunday, October 21st at the Orpheum Theater to attend the 29th New Orleans Film Festival for the World Premiere of “Buckjumping“, a documentary about New Orleans dance culture and traditions, directed by Lily Keber.
The Orpheum was packed with 900 people in the audience and the film was well received with often claps and laughter in the auditorium. There was a second line after the screening which took hundreds of people from the Orpheum Theater to the after party at Ace Hotel.
Buckjumping is a feature-length documentary about dance traditions in New Orleans, observing both their contemporary expression and abiding significance. The film follows six communities as they demonstrate ownership of the streets of New Orleans, commemorate their dead, forge community and find spiritual transcendence.
Documentary
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BUCKJUMPING Documentary on Dance Culture in New Orleans Premiered at New Orleans Film Festival [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_32339" align="aligncenter" width="874"] Barbara Lacen-Keller, Lily Keber and Mayor Latoya Cantrell at World Premiere of Buckumping at the New Orleans Film Festival. Photo credit: Sydney Walker[/caption]
The City of New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell was in the audience on Sunday, October 21st at the Orpheum Theater to attend the 29th New Orleans Film Festival for the World Premiere of “Buckjumping“, a documentary about New Orleans dance culture and traditions, directed by Lily Keber.
The Orpheum was packed with 900 people in the audience and the film was well received with often claps and laughter in the auditorium. There was a second line after the screening which took hundreds of people from the Orpheum Theater to the after party at Ace Hotel.
Buckjumping is a feature-length documentary about dance traditions in New Orleans, observing both their contemporary expression and abiding significance. The film follows six communities as they demonstrate ownership of the streets of New Orleans, commemorate their dead, forge community and find spiritual transcendence.
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LIFE WITHOUT BASKETBALL, Documentary on Hijab-Wearing Basketball Player to Premiere at DOC NYC [Trailer]
Life Without Basketball is an intimate and revealing look at the life and career of Bliqis Abdul-Qaadir, a 5’2 pioneering, powerhouse basketball player from Springfield Massachusetts, who broke records and barriers on her way to becoming the first Division I basketball player to play wearing a hijab. When a controversial FIBA (International Basketball Federation) uniform rule ends her chances of playing professionally, she must reexamine her faith and identity as a Muslim-American.
Life Without Basketball documentary, presented by Pixela Pictura and directed by Tim O’Donnell and Jon Mercer, will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC, America’s Largest Documentary Festival, on Saturday, Nov 10, 2018.
Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir’s story began in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball. Bilqis excelled as an honor student and on the basketball court from an early age. In January 2009, while a senior at New Leadership Charter School, she shattered the Massachusetts state scoring record (male or female) that was previously held by female hoops legend Rebecca Lobo, averaging over 40 points a game, and finishing with 3,070 career points.
Following her record-breaking high school career, Bilqis received a scholarship to play for the University of Memphis. She appeared in Sports Illustrated and on ESPN, was named the 2008-09 Gatorade Massachusetts Basketball Player of the Year, and was invited to the White House for a Ramadan dinner with President Barack Obama. In 2011, Bilqis was awarded the United States Basketball Writers Association “Most Courageous” award at the NCAA Women’s Final Four for being recognized as the first Muslim-American woman to play covered in NCAA history. After completing her final year of NCAA eligibility at Indiana State University, Bilqis began preparing to play internationally. When her agent discovered a little-known FIBA uniform rule which prohibited players from wearing religious head coverings, such as hijabs, turbans, and yarmulkes on the court, her professional career was abruptly halted. Unwilling to stray from her religious beliefs, Bilqis prepared for the toughest challenge of her life.
Life Without Basketball is an essential American story about hope and courage, and an exploration of identity and consequence. The film examines the personal impact of Bilqis’s encounter with this career ending rule and the complex world of being Muslim in America, where family tradition and popular perception are often at odds. Through persistent advocacy and dedication to youth empowerment, Bilqis’s story engages viewers in a new conversation about social and political dynamics at home and abroad.
Co-director Tim O’Donnell says “As a former Springfield (MA) high school art teacher and wrestling coach, I first heard about Bilqis’s story from a former student who played basketball with her. I was struck by the discriminatory nature of the FIBA rule, I teamed up with co-director Jon Mercer and we started filming right away, as Bilqis began her fight for the right to play. What originally was thought of as short production quickly turned into four years as the filmmakers were fully welcomed into Bilqis’s family and their private lives. Life Without Basketball continues Pixela Pictura’s mission of working within marginalized communities to share stories of overcoming personal challenge or conflict…”
Life Without Basketball will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC, America’s Largest Documentary Festival on the following date/times:
Saturday, November 10th at 5pm. Cinepolis Cinema
Life Without Basketball won best pitch at the 2015 DOC NYC, and materials were adapted into FIBA Allow Hijab, a short documentary co-created with Jon Mercer and distributed through CNN Films and UNINTERRUPTED. His Boston based company Pixela Pictura is currently in post-production on Finding My Dad’s Memories, a personal documentary filmed during his father’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury. His past work includes The Last Time I Heard True Silence and For The Love of Dogs. Tim was a former high school art teacher and wrestling coach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavrXZs9YgM
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Actress Rachel Brosnahan to Narrate Climate Change Documentary, PARIS TO PITTSBURGH
[caption id="attachment_32267" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Rachel Brosnahan in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”Amazon[/caption]
Award-winning actress and activist Rachel Brosnahan, star of the hit series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, will narrate Bloomberg Philanthropies’ upcoming climate change documentary, Paris to Pittsburgh. The film will premiere on National Geographic, Wednesday, December 12th at 9PM ET/PT and is produced by RadicalMedia in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Paris to Pittsburgh brings to life the impassioned efforts of individuals who are battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards. Set against the national debate over the United States’ energy future – and the Trump administration’s explosive decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement – the film captures what’s at stake for communities around the country and the inspiring ways Americans are responding. To view the trailer, visit ParistoPittsburgh.com.
At the recent Emmy Awards, Brosnahan, a Global Citizen ambassador who has worked on anti-poverty and get-out-the-vote initiatives in the past, used her acceptance speech time to strongly encourage those watching to “vote, show up, and bring a friend to the polls.”
“Paris to Pittsburgh shines a light on the many forgotten communities and people who have been affected by climate change in our country, as well as solutions for how we can fight back and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Brosnahan. “I’m proud to be part of this poignant and powerful documentary, and admire the pro-active approach Bloomberg Philanthropies has taken with this project and this issue; we need meaningful change.”
Paris to Pittsburgh explores the very real social and economic effects of climate change-fueled disasters – from America’s heartland to the nation’s coastlines and the island of Puerto Rico. The film features stories behind climate-related recovery and resiliency, as well as innovative efforts to reduce carbon emissions. It showcases cities, states, businesses and citizens taking their own action in the face of federal inaction.
Front and center is Pittsburgh, the boomtown formerly reliant on coal. When President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the worldwide Paris Climate Agreement, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didn’t follow. Instead, he and his city affirmed their commitment to ambitious energy efficiency goals. Mayor Peduto and Pittsburgh’s story is one of the many examples of bold economic and climate leadership in the film.
“America is not walking away from Climate Action; that’s the strong, clear message of Paris to Pittsburgh,” said Katherine Oliver, the film’s Executive Producer and a Principal at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “And who better to underscore that message than Rachel Brosnahan, a forward-looking and engaged role model for these times. We are thrilled that she has lent her strong voice and spirit of activism to this project.” Oliver further explained that Bloomberg Philanthropies has long believed in the power of informed storytelling to change minds and ignite positive change, and that’s why filmmaking has become such a key component of its strategy.
Paris to Pittsburgh is produced by the Academy Award and Emmy-winning production company RadicalMedia, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies. The film is co- directed by Emmy Award winner Sidney Beaumont and Emmy Award winning filmmaker Michael Bonfiglio. Beaumont also produced the film. Executive Producers are Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger, Jon Kamen and Katherine Oliver. Co-producers are Lindsay Firestone and Katie Dunn. Antha Williams of the Bloomberg Philanthropies environment program served as a consulting producer.
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OLYMPIA, Documentary on Academy Award-Winning Actress Olympia Dukakis to World Premiere at 2018 DOC NYC
Olympia, a documentary feature film on Academy Award®-winning actress Olympia Dukakis from director Harry Mavromichalis will world premiere at 2018 DOC NYC.
Olympia the film takes us on a poetic journey in search of one’s place in the world. We follow Academy Award® winning actress Olympia Dukakis as she takes on the roles of actor, teacher, wife, mother, and social activist. Determined not to be defined solely as a woman in a male dominated society she struggles to find a sense of belonging due to her ethnic roots and the dichotomy she has always felt between her American values and the values of her immigrant parents. After making the decision that she would never take no for an answer and would never let anyone define her, her mantra became: “Always move forward, no matter what.”
This revealing and unfiltered documentary follows the life and career of Academy Award® winning actress, Olympia Dukakis. Starting on the day she turns eighty and continuing for three years, this film deals with the struggles and pains surrounding identity and the roles placed on us by society. Its cinema-verité style allows the audience to constantly move alongside Olympia as she navigates between rehearsals, workshops, family life, and finally the journey to her ancestral home in Greece. Exhibiting both candor and vulnerability, we see her deal with age, grief, and sexuality while opening up about her past struggles with depression, suicide, and drug addiction.
Intricately weaving between visceral impromptu personal moments with Olympia, together with footage of her performances both on and off screen, we experience the presence of an unrelenting female energy. Not only does her story add to the perpetual ‘herstory’ of women withstanding and overcoming their obstacles and oppressors through the passage of time, it also gives us insight into how she overcame the impediments that affected her life as the daughter of immigrants and as a woman in a male-dominated society. We are granted the raw, unfiltered attitude of Olympia without a script to guide her. Her fierceness is seen to persist throughout her daily life beyond the stage or film. Years of oppression, subordination and self-doubt have thickened her skin and sharpened her mind, and her energy is contagious. Despite her age and the innumerable experiences in her life, her determination to continue, to move forward and overcome the hurdles that life places before us all, is an inspiration.
Through her brutal honesty and sincerity, Olympia compels us to confront our own shortcomings and differences by letting go, and moving forward with defiant conviction, which leaves us with a cathartic feeling that we too can be an “octogenarian motherfucker.”
WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING AT DOC NYC
Sunday, November 11 at 6:30 pm
SVA Theatre (School of Visual Arts)
333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011 (Between 8 and 9 Avenues)
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THE FIRST PATIENT, Documentary on First Year Med Students, Sets November Release Date [Trailer]
THE FIRST PATIENT is a new film that documents the extraordinary transformation of first-year medical students in the class many consider the toughest in medical school – gross anatomy. With extraordinary access and assistance provided by The Mayo Clinic, Director Chip Duncan brings his cameras into a world the public rarely sees.
THE FIRST PATIENT will open in New York on October 16 at the Cinema Village and in Los Angeles on November 19 at the Laemmle Monica Film Center. A national rollout will follow throughout the fall.
First year medical students embark on the ultimate expedition to explore the inside of the human body.
A dramatic journey into an unknown world, THE FIRST PATIENT challenges audiences to embrace their curiosity and courage as they follow first year medical students through gross anatomy – the dissection of the human body. The Mayo Clinic School of Medicine granted unprecedented access to veteran filmmaker Chip Duncan and The Duncan Entertainment Group team to explore a world long considered taboo. The documentary proves both entertaining and emotional as the camera follows a diverse group of students, faculty and body donors on this life affirming journey inside the human body.
THE FIRST PATIENT provides dynamic insights into medical science, teamwork, death, and spirituality as students discover what it means to be a doctor … and what it means to be a human being.
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Documentary TRUST MACHINE: THE STORY OF BLOCKCHAIN to International Premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival [Trailer]
Blockchain entertainment studio SingularDTV’s first feature-length documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain is set for an international premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) 2018. The film premieres in the JF Science360 Programme on November 21 with additional screenings to follow on Nov 26 and Nov 27.
Always one step ahead in signaling technology’s seismic shifts, award-winning documentarian Alex Winter (DOWNLOADED, DEEP WEB) has built up a body of work that documents how innovation changes the way people live their daily lives. In Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, he drills down on blockchain, the decentralized technology that supports cryptocurrencies. Why are banks terrified while UNICEF embraces it to help refugee children?
Winter follows tech innovators striking a raw nerve as banks and network pundits rush to condemn volatile cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. British hacktivist Lauri Love fights extradition—his computer skills perceived a threat to the US government. Through the film, Winter reveals that the proponents of the blockchain—a verified digital ledger—are already using the technology to change the world; fighting income inequality, the refugee crisis and world hunger.
Forbes’ Lauren DeLisa Coleman describes the film as “a compelling new documentary about blockchain and cryptocurrency that is dramatic, poignant, and engaging no matter whether you are working deep in the tech space, a business executive trying to grasp such disruptive changes or the everyday person intrigued about digital privacy, activism and power.”
Alex Winter on his inspiration for Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain:
“The idea of a verifiable ledger is a problem that’s been in search of a solution for a really long time. I got into this working on DOWNLOADED (2013). When I was making my film DEEP WEB (2015), funnily enough, I still had very little interest in Bitcoin. Then the world got really confusing with blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and decentralization.
Bitcoin matters, but blockchain is really where the changes are going to come. There are huge changes happening in human culture right now. Never has something like this happened before, ever. And it is fascinating to me. That’s why I really wanted to make this documentary.”
Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain opens in New York’s Cinema Village theater on October 26, followed by an LA release on November 16. will become available on SingularDTV’s distribution platform in 2019. Produced by Kim Jackson of SingularDTV, Geoff Clark of Futurism Studios and Alex Winter’s Trouper Productions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMlqIoUVnLo
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MY PERFECT WORLD: THE AARON HERNANDEZ STORY to World Premiere at DOC NYC
Dan Wetzel and Kevin Armstrong undertake an exhaustive journey into the mind and motives behind the murderous fall, and tragic suicide, of Aaron Hernandez, in the new documentary in My Perfect World: The Aaron Hernandez Story. My Perfect World: The Aaron Hernandez Story will World Premiere at 2018 DOC NYC on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 9:15 PM – IFC Center.
IT WAS A MOMENT THAT BLINDSIDED A NATION – just five days after being found not guilty of a double murder, Aaron Hernandez was discovered dead in his prison cell. Americans were shocked… confused… thrown off-kilter. Officials reported that Hernandez was not on suicide watch and that no note was found. “John 3:16” was, however, written on his forehead. The following day the story changed. The prison was mistaken, there were actually three suicide notes found in his cell. But why would he take his own life?
Together with award winning journalists Kevin Armstrong and Dan Wetzel, director Geno McDermott and Blackfin uncover the full, never before seen story of one of the most tragic figures in sports. Featuring exclusive interviews with those closest to Hernandez, as well as hundreds of hours of never before seen archival footage (including from 100 hours of Hernandez’s multiple court cases and surveillance camera from the night of his murders), My Perfect World: The Aaron Hernandez Story recounts the step by step process that took Hernandez from a young football star in Bristol, Connecticut to an early grave at age 27.
ABOUT DIRECTOR GENO MCDERMOTT
Geno McDermott is a New York-based director and executive producer, wielding a rare and versatile ability to film, edit and produce thus bringing a holistic approach to filmmaking. After spending several years roaming America’s heartland in search of unique characters and compelling stories for documentary series, Geno launched Blackfin in 2014 from a small WeWork office at 28 years of age. Now, just five years later Blackfin is one of Manhattan’s thriving independent production companies with clients such as Netflix, National Geographic, Discovery, History, CNN, Paramount, AMC and Investigation Discovery. Early 2017 marked Geno and Blackfin’s entrance into the feature documentary world by self-financing development and production of My Perfect World: The Aaron Hernandez Story for the festival circuit, all while producing the film BAD HENRY which aired on Investigation Discovery in July 2018.
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FREE SOLO Leads Nominations for 3rd Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards
[caption id="attachment_32176" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
FREE SOLO[/caption]
Free Solo leads the nominees for this year’s third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations and one honor, including Best Documentary, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi for Best Directors, Best Sports Documentary, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and a Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary honor for Alex Honnold.
Recognized with five nominations are Minding the Gap and Wild Wild Country.
The nominations for Minding the Gap are Best Documentary, Best Sports Documentary, Bing Liu for Best Director and for Best First Time Director, and Best Cinematography.
The nominations for Wild Wild Country are Best Documentary, Chapman Way and Maclain Way for Best First Time Directors, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, and Best Limited Documentary Series.
Recognized with four nominations are Dark Money, Hitler’s Hollywood and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
The nominations for Dark Money are Best Documentary, Kimberly Reed for Best Director, Best Political Documentary and Best Editing.
The nominations for Hitler’s Hollywood are Best Documentary, Best Political Documentary, Rüdiger Suchsland for Best Director, and Most Innovative Documentary.
The nominations for Won’t You Be My Neighbor? are Best Documentary, Morgan Neville for Best Director, Most Innovative Documentary and Best Editing.
Three Identical Strangers received three nominations and an honor, including Best Documentary, Tim Wardle for Best Director, Best Editing and an honor for David Kellman and Bobby Shafran for Most Compelling Living Subjects of a Documentary.
At the gala ceremony, filmmaker Stanley Nelson will be presented with the Critics’ Choice Impact Award, and multi award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore will be honored with the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
For the first year, the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards has introduced the Catalyst Sponsorship, a program for industry leaders to support the event. The inaugural sponsors include Focus Features, National Geographic Documentary Films, Netflix, Curiosity Stream, and others.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s outstanding documentary work at the upcoming event,” said Broadcast Film Critics Association President Joey Berlin. “The year 2018 has been called ‘The Year of the Documentary’ and we are so happy to give these films and shows the recognition and high praise that they deserve.”
The winners will be presented their awards at a gala event, hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye, on Saturday, November 10 at BRIC in Brooklyn, New York.
The nominees for the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards are:
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Crime + Punishment – Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu) Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films) Hal – Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu) RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Three Identical Strangers – Director: Tim Wardle (Neon, CNN Films) Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
America to Me (Starz) Dirty Money (Netflix) Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television) Flint Town (Netflix) One Strange Rock (National Geographic) The Fourth Estate (Showtime Networks) The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO) Wild Wild Country (Netflix)BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
30 for 30 (ESPN) American Masters (PBS) Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) Frontline (PBS) Independent Lens (PBS) Making a Murderer (Netflix) POV (PBS) The History of Comedy (CNN)BEST DIRECTOR
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film) Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu) Morgan Neville – Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus Features) Kimberly Reed – Dark Money (PBS) Rüdiger Suchsland – Hitler’s Hollywood (Kino Lorber) Tim Wardle – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films)BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR
Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster – Science Fair (National Geographic Documentary Films) Heather Lenz – Kusama – Infinity (Magnolia Pictures) Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu) Stephen Nomura Schible – Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (MUBI) Rudy Valdez – The Sentence (HBO Documentary Films) Chapman Way and Maclain Way – Wild Wild Country (Netflix)BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS) Fahrenheit 11/9 – Director: Michael Moore (Briarcliff Entertainment) Flint Town – Directors: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, Jessica Dimmock (Netflix) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Directors: George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt (HBO) The Fourth Estate – Directors: Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman (Showtime Networks)BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
Andre the Giant – Director: Jason Hehir (HBO) Being Serena (HBO) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film) John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Director: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu) The Workers Cup – Director: Adam Sobel (Passion River)BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Bad Reputation – Director: Kevin Kerslake (Magnolia Pictures) David Bowie: The Last Five Years – Director: Francis Whately (HBO Documentary Films) Elvis Presley: The Searcher – Director: Thom Zimny (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television) Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow – Director: Stephen Kijak (Showtime Networks) Quincy – Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones (Netflix) Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI) Whitney – Director: Kevin Macdonald (Roadside Attractions, Miramax)MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY
(ALL LISTED IN THE CATEGORY WILL BE HONORED AT THE EVENT) Scotty Bowers – Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Greenwich Entertainment, Kino Lorber, Starz!) Ruth Bader Ginsburg – RBG (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Alex Honnold – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film) Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (Magnolia Pictures) Quincy Jones – Quincy (Netflix) David Kellman and Bobby Shafran – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films) John McEnroe – John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Leon Vitali – Filmworker (Kino Lorber)MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
306 Hollywood – Directors: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin (PBS, El Tigre) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI) Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
306 Hollywood – Cinematographers: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin, Alejandro Mejía (PBS, El Tigre) The Dawn Wall – Cinematographer: Brett Lowell (The Orchard) Free Solo – Cinematographers: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, Mikey Schaefer (National Geographic Documentary Film) Minding the Gap – Cinematographer: Bing Liu (Hulu) Pandas – Cinematographer: David Douglas (Warner Brothers) Wild Wild Country – Cinematographer: Adam Stone (Netflix)BEST EDITING
Dark Money – Editor: Jay Arthur Sterrenberg (PBS) Filmworker – Editor: Tony Zierra (Kino Lorber) Free Solo – Editor: Bob Eisenhardt (National Geographic Documentary Film) John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Editor: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Three Identical Strangers – Editor: Michael Harte (Neon, CNN Films) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Editors: Jeff Malmberg, Aaron Wickenden (Focus Features)
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RUDEBOY: THE STORY OF TROJAN RECORDS to US Premiere at DOC NYC [Trailer]
Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records documents the origins and the ongoing love affair between Jamaican and British Youth culture – all told through the prism of one the most iconic record labels in history, Trojan Records.
Trojan Records’ 50th anniversary celebrations continue with the announcement that Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records has been unveiled as part of the line-up for DOC NYC. The 2018 DOC NYC Festival will run November 8to 15, 2018 – and the film’s US Premiere will take place on Wednesday, November 14. The film had its World Premiere on October 12 at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express®.
Directed by Nicolas Jack Davies, Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records charts the rise and impact of the legendary reggae, ska and rock steady label and its influence on music and subculture in Britain from the early ‘60s through to the late ‘70s. Defining a movement that brought cultures together through the power of music, the birth and journey of Trojan Records, and its wider impact on society, feels as vital as ever 50 years later.
Named after the flatbed truck that revered producer Duke Reid used to transport his soundsystem around Jamaica, Trojan was launched in 1968 by London based, Jamaican expats Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell. Growing rapidly during its’ early years – due in no small part to the development of the skinhead working class youth movement that embraced Jamaican music as part and parcel of its culture – the Trojan bandwagon quickly rolled into the 1970’s, with the likes of Desmond Dekker and The Maytals flying high in the UK Pop Charts.
This important story is effortlessly brought to life by director Nicolas Jack Davies with fascinating archive footage, alongside freshly shot drama and new interviews with legendary artists including Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Toots Hibbert, Ken Boothe, Neville Staple, Marcia Griffiths, Dave Barker, Dandy Livingstone, Lloyd Coxsone, Pauline Black, Derrick Morgan and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEQdklk3LvE
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BEYOND THE BOLEX, Epic Story of Bolex Inventor Jacques Bolsey, to World Premiere at DOC NYC
In the 1920s inventor Jacques Bolsey aimed to disrupt the early film industry with a motion picture camera for the masses: the iconic Bolex. 90 years later, filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey discovers a stash of boxes that belonged to her enigmatic great-grandfather, and over 12 years pieces together the fragments of a forgotten family archive to reveal his epic story in the documentary, Beyond the Bolex, which will World Premiere at DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, on Thursday, November 8 at 9:15 p.m at Cinepolis Chelsea.
As Alyssa delves into the treasure trove, among the items she finds is an old movie camera with the word “Bolex” embossed on its side, and a dangling tag with the date, “1927.” She also discovers reels of 16mm films inside rusty cans that are too brittle to run through a projector. Once the films are restored, she is captivated by their casual style as commonly seen today with digital cameras and smartphones.
When Alyssa finds Jacques journal she learns of the trials he faced both as an idealistic inventor and as an immigrant. In his words and films, she finds a man living stateless in Switzerland, torn from his homeland by the Russian Revolution. After many years of inventing in Switzerland and still unable to gain acceptance, Jacques finds his way to the US and settles in New York City, where he creates a new generation of military cameras for the fight against fascism.
Alyssa travels to Switzerland – the birthplace of the Bolex and Jacques’ two sons. She traces her own roots to her great-grandmother Sima’s apartment in Geneva, visits the Paillard factory where the Bolex Model H was designed and built, and makes a pilgrimage to the current headquarters of Bolex International.
Along the way, Alyssa seeks insight from camera collectors, historians and renowned filmmakers who explain how the Bolex reached the farthest corners of the globe, unleashed the imagination and became synonymous with creative freedom. Simple and functional, it became a perfect tool for a diverse range of filmmakers. Alyssa speaks to Wim Wenders, Jonas Mekas, Barbara Hammer, Bruce Brown and others, who share their stories of how this camera has inspired and nurtured their creative potential and careers. She also discovers the enthusiasm his pioneering invention continues to have with filmmakers today.
“Curiosity was the catalyst for making Beyond the Bolex,” said director Alyssa Bolsey. “But what I didn’t see coming was the emotional journey I would go on while discovering my great grandfather’s deep desire for roots; this during one of the most tumultuous times in history. His was an immigrant struggle that we see playing out yet again today. And his story shows the power and ingenuity that many immigrants bring to their new home. Along with planting seeds that have grown for generations with his Bolex camera, he also laid down roots that would contribute to the technology that has become part of our daily lives in the modern world.”
About the Director: Alyssa Bolsey
Alyssa Bolsey began writing and directing short films as a kid. While still in High School, she directed a short documentary entitled “Wild Horses.” This work was screened at various art galleries in the US and was described by KPBS as “an insightful look at the artistic process.” In University, her fictional short “I. Hero” was featured in rotation on the San Diego, California television show, “The Short List” from 2007-2010. Alyssa graduated Cum Laude from San Diego State University with a degree in Television, Film and New Media, with an emphasis on directing. She spent the next two years working at Creative Artists Agency, starting in the mailroom. She left CAA to direct a feature documentary about her great-grandfather Jacques Bolsey, the inventor of the iconic Bolex camera. Beyond the Bolex is making its World Premiere at DOC NYC 2018.
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Brainstorm Media to Release Save-Our-Shows TV Fan Documentary UNITED WE FAN
Ahead of its DOC NYC premiere, UNITED WE FAN, the documentary that chronicles the stories of passionate television fans and their unique crusades to save their beloved shows from cancellation, has been acquired by Brainstorm Media, and will hit VOD on December 4. Fans, stars, creators and more come together to explore the history and evolution of TV’s save-our-show fan campaigns in Michael Sparaga’s (The Missing Ingredient) humorous and heartfelt feature documentary that made its World Premiere earlier this year at Hot Docs and U.S. Premiere at AFI Docs. From the letter-writing and product mail-ins of yesterday to the social media and crowdfunding campaigns of today, United We Fan goes beyond the headlines to give viewers deeper insights into fandom, community and identity.
Fans in New York City will get a sneak peek of the film when it celebrates its New York premiere at DOC NYC on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:45 p.m. at Cinepolis Chelsea followed by a Q&A with director Michael Sparaga and film subjects. In Los Angeles, fans will have the opportunity to catch a special preview screening of United We Fan at the Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The filmmakers and several of the film’s subjects will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A.
For most viewers, it’s simply a disappointment when their favorite TV series is cancelled. But the fans of some series take the loss a lot harder. And they fight back. United We Fan chronicles the stories of those passionate individuals and their unique crusades to save their beloved shows.
When married sci-fi fans Bjo and John Trimble organized their unprecedented letter-writing campaign to force NBC to renew the original “Star Trek” back in 1967, they couldn’t have known that they were also planting the seeds of fan activism that would forever change the relationship between TV viewers and networks. Fast-forward to 1983, when Dorothy Swanson, a Michigan schoolteacher, besieged CBS with letters to stop them from unceremoniously cancelling her favorite series “Cagney & Lacey.” Emboldened by her success, Dorothy formed the fan advocacy group Viewers for Quality Television, whose dedicated members fought to save multiple other “quality” series over their 15-year history. Today, 26-year-old Kaily Russell has picked up the fan activism mantle in her fight for the recently axed CBS series “Person of Interest.” Kaily spends every waking hour online, rallying the troops and trying to convince a new broadcaster or streaming service to pick up the series. Kaily’s tools and targets might be vastly different, but she is taking her cue from the methods of fan activism from all those that came before her.
Declared “a joy to watch” by POV Magazine, United We Fan intertwines the remarkable stories of Kaily, Dorothy and the Trimbles while also taking time to delve into the inspiring campaigns to save “Designing Women,” “Quantum Leap,” “Chuck,” “Longmire,” “Jericho,” “Veronica Mars,” “Roswell” and others.
“United We Fan is not a movie about television’s wackiest fans,” said director Michael Sparaga, “rather, it’s a love letter to the inspiring people who have formed communities and fought tirelessly against seemingly impossible odds to give viewers everywhere more seasons of some of television’s most iconic shows.”
Interviewees include: Bjo and John Trimble (known as “the couple that saved ‘Star Trek’), Dorothy Swanson (founder of Viewers for Quality Television), and Kaily Russell (currently fighting to resurrect “Person of Interest”); series’ stars: Nichelle Nichols (“Star Trek”), Zachary Levi (“Chuck”), Scott Bakula (“Quantum Leap”), Amy Acker (“Person of Interest”), Adam Bartley (“Longmire”), Skeet Ulrich (“Jericho”), and Enrico Colantoni (“Veronica Mars”); series’ creators: Tom Fontana (“St. Elsewhere”), Barney Rosenzweig (“Cagney & Lacey”), Harry Thomason (“Designing Women”), Donald P. Bellisario (“Quantum Leap”), Rob Thomas (“Veronica Mars”), Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz (“Jericho”), Matt Miller (“Chuck”), Jason Katims (“Roswell”), and Jonah Nolan and Greg Plageman (“Person of Interest”).
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Award-Winning Surfing Documentary MOMENTUM GENERATION to Debut on HBO [Trailer]
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Momentum Generation[/caption]
The award-winning documentary Momentum Generation takes a deep dive into the fascinating, constantly evolving world of surfing, exploring how a group of dedicated teenagers changed the sport and its culture in the 1990s. Momentum Generation which made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier this year where it won an Audience Award, debuts Tuesday, December. 11 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. It has also won top awards at the Aspen Film Festival, Santa Cruz Surf Film Festival, Honolulu Surf Film Festival, Surfalorus and the Los Angeles Film Awards.
In the 1960s, surfing in America was known primarily as a California- and Hawaii-based phenomenon associated with surf instrumentals and Beach Boys songs. In films, it was a vehicle to infuse all-American romantic comedies with action or zany antics. Although equipment and skills evolved, the public’s perception of surfing as a novelty sport remained constant until the 1990s, when a group of punk rock-loving teens, many from troubled homes and backgrounds, found its way to a house on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in the process changing their lives and the sport itself.
In Momentum Generation, the core members of that legendary crew? – ?including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox, Benji Weatherley, Kalani Robb, Ross Williams, Taylor Steele and Pat O’Connell? – ?tell their story together for the first time. Filmmakers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist draw on unprecedented access to their inner circle, as well as to tens of thousands of hours of footage in private archives, to highlight the deep friendships that were formed and tested during the surfers’ careers as top athletes and cultural icons.
“We’re proud to be the home for Momentum Generation, a film that is obviously about a group of surfers at the zenith of the sport, but more subtly about their lifelong friendships,” says Peter Nelson, executive vice president, HBO Sports. “The Zimbalist brothers take us on an adrenaline-fueled journey spanning three decades, and the intimacy with which they reveal the ups and downs of some of surfing’s biggest stars makes this film unlike anything else of its kind.”
After relocating to Oahu, the young surfers courageously followed each other into Mother Nature’s most dangerous waves. When some of them didn’t make it back to shore, they found a way to mourn together? – ?and adapt. Fueled by camaraderie and a deep-seated competitiveness, the tight-knit crew became known as the “Momentum Generation” after being featured in Taylor Steele’s groundbreaking films. Its members went on to win world titles, break records and redefine the world’s perception of the surfer, youth culture and what it means to be free.
Filmed over the course of two and a half years, the Momentum Generation surfers reflect on the complexity of the brotherhood and competition that have shaped their shared emotional journey, and made these pioneers both heroic and human.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlgfI6h2aW4
From Emmy(R) and Peabody winners Jeff and Michael Zimbalist of All Rise Films, the HBO Sports presentation, in association with Priority Pictures and Sundance Productions, is executive produced by Robert Redford and Laura Michalchyshyn of Sundance Productions alongside Karen Lauder and Greg Little of Priority Pictures. Justine Chiara, Lizzie Friedman, Tina Elmo and Colby Gottert produced.