The new trailer is here for Making Coco : The Grant Fuhr Story, Don Metz’s captivating cinematic chronicle on one of the most celebrated, yet enigmatic goalies in the history of the NHL. The feature has been announced as the closing Gala film at the Calgary International Film Festival.
Featured contributors in the documentary include Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Martin Brodeur, Brett Hull, Chris Pronger and many more of the NHL’s royalty.
Fuhr, along with a number of his teammates, will provide a never-before-seen exclusive look into the high-flying Oilers dynasty of the 80’s, what made them so successful, and the infamous challenges that they faced. All-time rivals will speak to what it was like playing against the greatest goalie on the greatest team in the NHL’s 100-year history. Those closest to Grant will take the audience on a journey behind the mask to understand who the mixed-race superstar truly is.
Barely 19, Grant ‘Coco’ Fuhr became starting goalie for the most exciting team in NHL history. In his mid-30’s, he played 76 consecutive and 79 total games in an 82-game season to set two league records, then followed that ironman performance by playing 73 the following season on a completely rebuilt knee. During the decade and a half between, he employed his acrobatic style and cat-like reflexes to backstop five Stanley Cup champions and two Canada Cup winners, cementing a reputation as the ultimate “money goalie”. He also got himself demoted to the minors for calling the hometown fans jerks, announced his retirement at the age of 26 in an attempt to force a famously hard-nosed general manager to renegotiate a long-term contract, and was suspended for an entire NHL season for conduct deemed “dishonourable and against the welfare of the league” for substance use, only to return and redeem himself as one of the game’s true greats.
“I think he’s the best goaltender in the history of the NHL.” – Wayne Gretzky
Upstream Flix is partnering again with Award winning producer Adam Scorgie (Ice Guardians, The Culture High, Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo) in conjunction with Oilers Entertainment Group VP Don Metz and Co-Producer Shane Fennessey for Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story. Upstream Flix plan to release the film in late 2018.
Documentary
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Watch Captivating MAKING COCO: THE GRANT FUHR STORY Trailer on Controversial NHL Goalie
The new trailer is here for Making Coco : The Grant Fuhr Story, Don Metz’s captivating cinematic chronicle on one of the most celebrated, yet enigmatic goalies in the history of the NHL. The feature has been announced as the closing Gala film at the Calgary International Film Festival.
Featured contributors in the documentary include Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Martin Brodeur, Brett Hull, Chris Pronger and many more of the NHL’s royalty.
Fuhr, along with a number of his teammates, will provide a never-before-seen exclusive look into the high-flying Oilers dynasty of the 80’s, what made them so successful, and the infamous challenges that they faced. All-time rivals will speak to what it was like playing against the greatest goalie on the greatest team in the NHL’s 100-year history. Those closest to Grant will take the audience on a journey behind the mask to understand who the mixed-race superstar truly is.
Barely 19, Grant ‘Coco’ Fuhr became starting goalie for the most exciting team in NHL history. In his mid-30’s, he played 76 consecutive and 79 total games in an 82-game season to set two league records, then followed that ironman performance by playing 73 the following season on a completely rebuilt knee. During the decade and a half between, he employed his acrobatic style and cat-like reflexes to backstop five Stanley Cup champions and two Canada Cup winners, cementing a reputation as the ultimate “money goalie”. He also got himself demoted to the minors for calling the hometown fans jerks, announced his retirement at the age of 26 in an attempt to force a famously hard-nosed general manager to renegotiate a long-term contract, and was suspended for an entire NHL season for conduct deemed “dishonourable and against the welfare of the league” for substance use, only to return and redeem himself as one of the game’s true greats.
“I think he’s the best goaltender in the history of the NHL.” – Wayne Gretzky
Upstream Flix is partnering again with Award winning producer Adam Scorgie (Ice Guardians, The Culture High, Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo) in conjunction with Oilers Entertainment Group VP Don Metz and Co-Producer Shane Fennessey for Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story. Upstream Flix plan to release the film in late 2018.
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CALL HER GANDA Spotlights Murder Case of Filipino Transgender Woman Jennifer Laude by U.S. Marine [Trailer]
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CALL HER GANDA[/caption]
The award winning, politically charged, eye-opening and moving human rights documentary Call Her Ganda directed by PJ Raval follows the brutal murder case of Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude by a U.S. Marine, and the obstacles faced in the pursuit of justice by three women intimately invested in the case. An activist attorney (Virgie Suarez), a transgender journalist (Meredith Talusan) and Jennifer’s mother (Julita “Nanay” Laude) galvanize a political uprising, seeking justice and taking on hardened histories of U.S. imperialism in the Philippines.
Call Her Ganda premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to play numerous other festivals including HotDocs, LA Asian Pacific, Frameline SF, Outfest, DMZ Docs – Korea, Doc Edge – New Zealand and Inside Out Toronto LGBTQ Film Festival winning awards along with audiences’ hearts and minds. Breaking Glass will release the film theatrically beginning September 21 in New York; September 28 in Los Angeles; October 5 in San Francisco; followed by a national rollout throughout the fall.
The Hollywood Reporter hailed the film, stating “Call Her Ganda handles its complex issues and complicated plot developments with forceful clarity. The film proves simultaneously heartbreaking and inspirational.” The film also “makes clear and compelling connections between personal stories and institutional violence” (NOW Magazine) and “doesn’t shy away from challenging anyone’s attitudes about trans people and the ongoing effects of colonialism.” (NOW Toronto ).
“Especially with our current political climate, I hope viewers find inspiration in witnessing these resilient women taking on the US, a foreign superpower, fighting for their voices to be heard and demanding accountability despite the odds. As Americans, we should all take a note, and support their efforts, while also fighting the oppressive forces in our own backyards”, said director Raval. “I’m thrilled to be working with Breaking Glass who is dedicated to bringing the story of Jennifer Laude to audiences nationwide.”
“Call Her Ganda is that rare film that comes along once in a generation”, said Richard Wolff, CEO of Breaking Glass. “This story is tragic, empowering, and exactly what our society needs right now to move the conversation about human rights forward.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wq7YETuN70
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Leon Lee’s LETTER FROM MASANJIA Sets September 14th Release Date [Trailer]
Leon Lee’s “Letter From Masanjia” is the unbelievable true story of an American woman who found an SOS note from a Chinese political prisoner in a box of Halloween decorations. The film has been hailed by audiences and critics alike as one of the best documentaries of 2018, and took home Audience Award for Documentary Feature at the 2018 Asian American International Film Festival. A devastating tale of human rights violations in current day China with corporate giants across the globe receiving prisoner labor efforts for Halloween decorations, asking no questions in a price for pennies on the dollar. This is the tale of one political prisoners desperate plea to alert the world to horrors most of society sweeps under the carpet.
Parade Deck Films will open “Letter From Masanjia” theatrically in New York and Los Angeles beginning on September 14th, 2018 and will expand into additional markets in the following weeks. Later this year Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, will bring the film to audiences across North America on VOD/Digital platforms on December 4th.
Written and directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker and Peabody Award winner, Leon Lee, this astonishing & riveting documentary follows the true story of an Oregon woman who finds a desperate SOS letter penned by a political prisoner in her Halloween decorations and the nail-biting chain of events that it sparks when she takes the letter public, exposing appalling flagrant human rights violations – that leads to sweeping labor reform in China. The impact of what those two unlikely heroes have accomplished is even more profound in today’s rapidly boiling over political climate, not just in China but around the rest of the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKRavgm-KPY
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Five Documentary Film Projects Win 2018 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund Awards Totaling $125,000
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In Real Life – Liza Mandelup[/caption]
SFFILM on Friday announced the five winners of the 2018 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund awards totaling $125,000, which support feature-length documentaries in post-production. Jennifer Maytorena Taylor’s The Gut (working title), Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, Liza Mandelup’s In Real Life, Hassan Fazili’s Midnight Traveler, and Jessica Kingdon’s Untitled PRC Project, were each awarded funding that will help push each project towards completion.
The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has a track record for championing important films that in recent years, left a mark on the festival circuit and beyond. Previous winners include RaMell Ross’ Hale County, This Morning, This Evening, which won a Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival; Peter Nicks’s The Force, which won the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for documentary and SFFILM Festival’s McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature Award, before being released theatrically by Kino Lorber; Peter Bratt’s Dolores, which won the 2017 SFFILM Festival Audience Award for Documentary Feature following its Sundance premiere; and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary and was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature; among many others.
Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has distributed more than $750,000 to advance new work by filmmakers nationwide. The 2018 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to support from Jennifer Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation.
2018 DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND WINNERS
The Gut (working title) – Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, director/producer; Jim Sabataso and Asma Bseiso, producers; Jen Bradwell and Youssif Salah, editors – $25,000 Filmed over two years in a small New England community that is struggling to emerge from the opioid epidemic and finds itself caught up in a battle over Syrian refugee resettlement, The Gut closely follows the lives of several intersecting but very different characters to explore what changes — and what doesn’t — when white, rural Americans see themselves in “the other.” Honeyland – Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska, co-directors; Atanas Georgiev, producer/editor – $25,000 The last female bee hunter in Europe struggles to save the bees and restore the natural balance when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood. Honeyland is an exploration of an observational Indigenous visual narrative that deeply impacts our behavior towards natural resources and the human condition. In Real Life – Liza Mandelup, director; Lauren Cioffi and Bert Hamelinck, producers; Alex O’Flinn, editor – $25,000 This intimate contemplation on modern youth follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester as he flirts with the world of social media fame. Driven by a wide-eyed desire for stardom, Austyn cultivates a singularly positive online persona that’s at odds with growing up in small-town Tennessee. Midnight Traveler – Hassan Fazili, director; Su Kim, producer; Emelie Mahdavian, producer/editor – $25,000 Midnight Traveler follows a family of Afghan filmmakers on the run from the Taliban. Told from refugee/director Hassan Fazili’s unique first-person perspective, this story provides unprecedented access to the complex refugee experience as it encounters the West. Untitled PRC Project – Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell, producers – $25,000 Untitled PRC Project examines megatrends of today’s China through an impressionistic collage of the new “Chinese Dream.” This observational film reveals paradoxes born from prosperity of the newest world power through the flow of production, consumption, and waste.
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SingularDTV Sets Release Date for Alex Winter’s Documentary TRUST MACHINE: THE STORY OF BLOCKCHAIN [Trailer]
Blockchain entertainment studio SingularDTV is releasing its first feature-length documentary, Alex Winter’s Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain in New York on October 26, and Los Angeles on November 16.
Always one step ahead in signaling technology’s seismic shifts, Alex Winter has built up a body of work that documents how innovation changes the way people live their daily lives. DOWNLOADED (2013, SXSW) explored the downloading revolution and how Napster and file-sharing took on the music industry, leaving musicians wondering about royalty payments and copyrights. DEEP WEB (2015, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival) revealed a new kind of internet: decentralized, encrypted and dangerous; with particular focus on the FBI capture of the Tor hidden service Silk Road, and the judicial aftermath.
In his newest documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, Alex Winter drills down on blockchain, the decentralized technology that supports cryptocurrencies. Why are banks terrified while UNICEF Ventures 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. Narrated by Rosario Dawson.
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.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMlqIoUVnLo
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Magical Touching Documentary 306 HOLLYWOOD Sets September Release Date [Video]
306 Hollywood is described as a touching and formally audacious film, directed by sister-brother artists and filmmakers Elan and Jonathan Bogarín which was the opening night film of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section (and the first documentary ever to be selected for the program). 306 Hollywood will open in New York on Friday, September 28 at the Quad Cinema with a national rollout to follow.
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306 Hollywood by Elan Bogarín and Jonathan Bogarín[/caption]
When Elan and Jonathan lose their beloved grandmother, Annette, they face a profound question: When a loved one dies, what do we do with the things they leave behind? Turning documentary on its head, the Bogaríns embark on a magical-realist journey to discover who their grandmother really was, transforming her cluttered New Jersey home of 71 years into a visually exquisite ruin where tchotchkes become artifacts, and the siblings become archaeologists. With help from physicists, curators and archivists—and the added inspiration of a decade of interviews with the vivacious octogenarian herself—they excavate the extraordinary universe contained in Annette’s home. 306 Hollywood playfully transforms the dusty fragments of an unassuming life into an epic metaphor for the nature of time, memory and history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-biFuX4td4
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Watch Trailer for Powerful Documentary CITY OF JOY, Premieres September 7 on Netflix
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City of Joy[/caption]
Netflix has released the trailer for City of Joy, directed by first-time director Madeleine Gavin, that follows the first class of women at a revolutionary leadership center in eastern Congo called City of Joy. The documentary will launch globally on Netflix on September 7, 2018.
City of Joy follows the unlikely friendship that develops between Congolese doctor Dr. Denis Mukwege (2016 Nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize), The Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler, and a charismatic Congolese human rights activist who join forces to create a safe haven for women survivors in the middle of violence-torn Eastern Congo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNy0MG_iy0Y
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Vivienne Westwood Documentary WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST on DVD on 9/11 [Trailer]
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Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist[/caption]
She helped create the look of British punk rock in the 1970s – then went on to become a global fashion innovator. Now the amazing and unpredictable life story of Vivienne Westwood is told in a must-see new film: WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST. It will be released by Greenwich Entertainment DVD on September 11, 2018.
With exclusive, unprecedented access, director Lorna Tucker’s WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST is the first film to encompass the remarkable story of Vivienne’s life, her fashion, her personality, her activism and her cultural importance.
Since igniting the punk movement with ex-partner and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Dame Vivienne Westwood has been redefining British fashion for over 40 years, and is responsible for creating many of the most distinctive looks of our time.
From the producers of the acclaimed documentaries Searching for Sugar Man, Listen to Me Marlon and Restrepo, WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST blends archive footage, beautifully crafted reconstruction and insightful interviews with Vivienne’s fascinating network of collaborators, guiding us on her journey from a childhood in postwar Derbyshire to the runways of Paris and Milan.
This is an intimate and poignant homage to one of the true cultural icons of our time, as she fights to maintain her brand’s integrity, her principles and her legacy in a business driven by consumerism, profit and global expansion.
Featuring supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, and former Vogue magazine editor-at-large André Leon Talley, the film was an Official Selection at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and its theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment coincided with New York Fashion Week.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST “A fascinating, involving glimpse of both who Westwood was back in the day and who she is at this particular moment in time,” while Anna Smith of Time Out called it “the perfect film to double bill Phantom Thread with.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2oF4wOnTS4
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Frederick Wiseman’s Small Town America Documentary MONROVIA, INDIANA Sets October Release Date
Frederick Wiseman’s documentary Monrovia, Indiana which is set to world premiere at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, will be released in theaters on October 26 at New York’s Film Forum as it begins a national theatrical rollout via Zipporah Films. Los Angeles will open November 2 with additional top markets to follow in November and December. Following Venice, the film will also play at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.
Located in mid-America, Monrovia, IN (population 1,063), founded in 1834, is primarily a farming community. The film is about the day-to-day experiences living and working in Monrovia, with emphasis on community organizations and institutions, religion and daily life in this farming community.
Forty-six million Americans live in rural, small town America. These towns were once the backbone of American life. While their number and populations have shrunk, the importance of rural America as a formative center of American politics and values was demonstrated in the 2016 presidential election. To understand more about American life, it is important acknowledge the unique and important contributions small towns make to American character and culture, in addition to providing most of our food, raw materials and drinking water.
The film explores the conflicting stereotypes and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity and authenticity are formed, experienced and lived. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in Monrovia and provides some understanding of a rural, mid-American way of life that has always been important in America but whose influence and force have not always been recognized or understood in the big cities on the east and west coasts of America and in other countries.
On his inspiration for the film Wiseman stated:“I thought a film about a small farming community in the Midwest would be a good addition to the series I have been doing on contemporary American life. Life in big American cities,on the east and west coasts,is regularly reported on and I was interested in learning more about life in small town America and sharing my view.”
Since 1967, Frederick Wiseman has directed 42 documentaries—dramatic, narrative films that seek to portray ordinary human experience in a wide variety of contemporary social institutions. His films include TITICUT FOLLIES, HIGH SCHOOL, WELFARE, JUVENILE COURT, BOXING GYM, LA DANSE, BALLET, CENTRAL PARK, BALLET, LA COMEDIE FRANCAISE, CRAZY HORSE, AT BERKELEY, NATIONAL GALLERY, IN JACKSON HEIGHTS, and EX LIBRIS – THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. He has directed one fiction film, THE LAST LETTER (2002). His films are exhibited in theatres and broadcast on television in many countries.
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Filmmaker Christi Cooper Wins Inaugural SFFILM Environmental Fellowship
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Youth v. Gov[/caption]
SFFILM awarded its inaugural SFFILM Environmental Fellowship along with the $25,000 cash prize to filmmaker Christi Cooper and her documentary Youth v. Gov. Cooper will also receive a year of mentorship and services to support the development, production, and impact campaign for the film.
The SFFILM Environmental Fellowship in partnership with Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions is geared towards mid-career filmmakers with a feature documentary project in development or early production that focuses on pressing environmental or conservation issues. Cooper is an Emmy Award-winning cinematographer with a passion for transforming complex issues into compelling storytelling. Youth v. Gov will chronicle a landmark lawsuit brought by 21 youths who are suing the U.S. government and fossil fuel industry for creating a climate emergency and endangering their futures.
Youth v. Gov was selected from a field of 70+ submissions by a committee of film and environmental experts from SFFILM, Vulcan Productions, Sierra Magazine, EarthX and the Redford Center.
“Talented filmmakers are telling powerful stories about climate change and the environment, and we are proud to be able to help bring this particular story to life via this new partnership with SFFILM,” said Carole Tomko, general manager and creative director of Vulcan Productions. “We support Christi’s incredibly timely film and recognize the importance of providing filmmakers financial and creative support.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Vulcan to add to our commitment to the crucial early development stage of this documentary and elevate emerging voices tackling such significant issues of the environment and conservation,” added Caroline von Kühn, Director of Artist Development at SFFILM. “Through this process, it was really quite encouraging to see how many talented filmmakers are out there tackling these critical issues, but we are especially excited to support Christi and this timely, inspiring story of the next generation fighting for the future of our climate.”
“We are incredibly honored for this needed support to continue documenting this important story,” said Cooper. “We are once again at a point in history where youth are rising up and demanding change, from gun reform to social justice. These youth plaintiffs are on the frontlines of the climate crisis in our highest courts of law, holding their government accountable to protect their rights and inspiring other youth to take action. This story also has the power to change our discourse on climate change in a time of intense partisan divide, and to reframe it as a paramount responsibility of our government to protect our future.”
The SFFILM Environmental Fellowship supports a documentary filmmaker over the course of six months who is creating a powerful story about conservation and the environment. In addition to the $25,000 grant, the fellow will travel to San Francisco and Seattle to participate in filmmaking and environmental workshops and to cultivate connections within the entertainment industry. The program consists of three key components: a residency at SFFILM’s FilmHouse for artistic support and mentorship; guidance from a dedicated environmental advisor; and development of a community outreach campaign and educational plan. The fellowship will run from June to December 2018.
An Emmy-award winning cinematographer, Christi Cooper grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where she was fortunate to be surrounded by people that nurtured and helped her develop a strong connection to nature and the outdoors. She obtained an M.S. in Microbiology from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Regensburg, Germany. After significant time in basic research and teaching at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, she made the decision to pursue her dream of an MFA in Science and Nature Filmmaking at Montana State University. In addition to communicating sometimes very complex issues through storytelling and visual narrative, her primary goals are to combine her research skills and in-depth knowledge of science with her desire to create compelling narratives focused on raising awareness about socio-political issues. In what little “free” time she has, she enjoys being a mother and a partner, growing her own food, and relishing in the incredible beauty and lifestyle of Montana.
In 2015, 21 young plaintiffs, ages 8 to 19, filed suit against the U.S. government asserting a willful violation of their constitutional rights. Youth v. Gov follows this turbulent legal battle as the government and fossil fuel industry take extraordinary measures to get the case dismissed. The case will go to trial on October 29, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon.
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Toronto International Film Festival Unveils 2018 Docs Program, Opens with Michael Moore’s FAHRENHEIT 11/9
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Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9[/caption]
The World Premiere of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 , a radical and humorous look at the United States under Donald Trump, will open the Toronto International Film Festival 2018 documentary program. The Festival will screen 27 feature-length non-fiction films, representing 19 countries in the 2018 documentary program.
Other World Premieres include Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks’ Quincy, profiling musical icon Quincy Jones; Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble’s The Elephant Queen, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, tracing the epic journey of an elephant herd; Billy Corben’s Screwball, a true-crime comedy on doping in Major League Baseball; and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s The Truth About Killer Robots, investigating the lethal consequences of automation.
One-third of this year’s doc features are directed or co-directed by female filmmakers including TIFF Docs closing film, Margarethe von Trotta’s Searching for Ingmar Bergman, which offers a multi-faceted look at the Swedish auteur’s life 100 years after his birth. Women creators, trailblazers, and the #MeToo movement are also examined within the lineup: Naziha Arebi’s Freedom Fields, about a Libyan women’s football team; Alex Holmes’ Maiden recounts the story of the first all-women sailing crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race), skippered by Tracy Edwards; and Tom Volf’s Maria by Callas, narrated by Joyce DiDonato, profiles one of the major icons of the 20th century. More highlights include Alexis Bloom’s Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes, covering the Fox News creator who was ousted for allegations of sexual harassment; and Tom Donahue’s This Changes Everything, an examination of gender dynamics in Hollywood, executive produced by Geena Davis. Mark Cousins’ Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema , narrated by Tilda Swinton, explores international cinema through the lens of women directors.
Global politics and leaders of modern society are put under the microscope with films such as Werner Herzog and André Singer’s Meeting Gorbachev, on the former Soviet leader; Vitaly Mansky’s Putin’s Witnesses, focusing on Russia’s president; and Errol Morris’ American Dharma , looking at controversial Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Grand adventures are at the heart of several docs in the selection. E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo captures Alex Honnold’s unprecedented climb of El Capitan without safety ropes; Andrey Paounov’s Walking on Water documents the artist Christo’s project The Floating Piers; John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm chronicles an eight-year struggle to run a family farm; and Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron’s Ghost Fleet captures a nail-biting rescue of fishermen enslaved at sea.
After directing last year’s Festival opener Borg vs McEnroe, Janus Metz teams with Sine Plambech for the World Premiere of Heartbound, a longitudinal study 10 years in the making about the trend of Thai women marrying Danish men. And several documentaries represent eclectic perspectives told from around the world, including: Rithy Panh’s Graves Without a Name, on the legacy of Cambodia’s genocide; Jawad Rhalib’s When Arabs Danced, on Muslim performers pushing boundaries; James Longley’s Angels Are Made Of Light, about a group of Afghan children and their teachers; and Frederick Wiseman’s Monrovia, Indiana , about a small town in America’s Midwest.
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.
2018 TIFF Docs Program
American Dharma Errol Morris | USA/United Kingdom North American Premiere Angels Are Made Of Light James Longley | USA/Denmark/Norway Canadian Premiere The Biggest Little Farm John Chester | USA International Premiere Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes Alexis Bloom | USA World Premiere The Elephant Queen Victoria Stone, Mark Deeble | United Kingdom/Kenya World Premiere TIFF Docs Opening Film Fahrenheit 11/9 Michael Moore | USA World Premiere Free Solo E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA International Premiere Freedom Fields Naziha Arebi | Libya/United Kingdom/Netherlands/USA/Qatar/Lebanon/Canada World Premiere Ghost Fleet Shannon Service, Jeffrey Waldron | USA International Premiere Graves Without a Name ( Les tombeaux sans noms) Rithy Panh | France/Cambodia Canadian Premiere Heartbound ( Hjertelandet) Janus Metz, Sine Plambech | Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden World Premiere Maiden Alex Holmes | United Kingdom World Premiere Maria by Callas Tom Volf | France North American Premiere Meeting Gorbachev Werner Herzog, André Singer | United Kingdom/USA/Germany Canadian Premiere This Changes Everything Tom Donahue | USA World Premiere Monrovia, Indiana Frederick Wiseman | USA North American Premiere Putin’s Witnesses ( Svideteli Putina) Vitaly Mansky | Latvia/Switzerland/Czech Republic International Premiere Quincy Rashida Jones, Alan Hicks | USA World Premiere Screwball Billy Corben | USA World Premiere TIFF Docs Closing Film Searching for Ingmar Bergman Margarethe von Trotta | Germany/France North American Premiere The Truth About Killer Robots Maxim Pozdorovkin | USA World Premiere Walking on Water Andrey Paounov | Italy/USA North American Premiere When Arabs Danced ( Au temps où les Arabes dansaient) Jawad Rhalib | Belgium North American Premiere Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Mark Cousins | United Kingdom North American Premiere Previously announced Canadian features at the Festival include Ron Mann’s Carmine Street Guitars, Barry Avrich’s Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz, and Astra Taylor’s What is Democracy?
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Netflix Releases Most Inspiring Trailer for ZION on High School Wrestler Born Without Legs
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Zion Clark appears in ZION by Floyd Russ | photo by Gregory Wilson[/caption]
Netflix released the trailer for the Zion, a gripping portrait of Zion Clark, a young wrestler born without legs who grew up in foster care. The documentary short, premiered earlier this year at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and launches globally on Netflix on August 10.
Zion is a gripping portrait of Zion Clark, a young wrestler born without legs who grew up in foster care. Clark began wrestling in second grade against his able-bodied peers. The physical challenge became a therapeutic outlet and gave him a sense of family. Moving from foster home to foster home, wrestling became the only constant thing in his childhood. The Netflix original documentary short is directed by Floyd Russ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWo0MN_tY1E