MoviePass Films is teaming up with Cannes Alum Gabe Polsky’s upcoming feature-length documentary, In Search Of Greatness as an investor and strategic marketing partner ahead of the film’s early-November theatrical release.
In Search Of Greatness, directed by acclaimed documentarian Gabe Polsky, best known for his previous feature Red Army, which debuted in Cannes in 2014 and was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, and his work on Nat Geo’s Emmy-award-winning TV show Genius, is a provocative work of non-fiction which examines the importance of creativity in determining athletic ability and also analyzes the roles nature and nurture play in the development of young athletes.
The film, which includes in-depth interviews with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, superstar wide receiver Jerry Rice, and soccer icon Pele, opens in 11 major U.S. markets on November 2nd, and expands to theaters across North America by mid-month.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Gabe and the AOS team to support this terrific documentary and help bring the personal stories of these world-class athletes to audiences everywhere,” said MoviePass Films Chairman Ted Farnsworth and Co-CEO Randall Emmett. We are pleased to be able to continue supporting independent creators and helping them bring their artistic visions to life on the big screen.”
The In Search Of Greatness investment follows a busy month of deal-making for the MoviePass Films label. In late September, MoviePass Films partnered with leading indie distributor NEON to co-release Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Sundance award-winner Monsters and Men (currently in theaters) and is preparing to co-release the second film in that partnership, Ali Abassi’s Cannes award-winner Border (which debuts in theaters this week). MoviePass Films also recently wrapped production on its Bruce Willis-starrer 10 Minutes Gone and green-lit Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning which starts production in Wales in January. The MoviePass Films team intends to produce 10-12 films per year, and intends to acquire an additional 8-10 films per year, starting in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-B9CVCcLrMDocumentary
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MoviePass Films to Support Release of Gabe Polsky’s Sports Documentary IN SEARCH OF GREATNESS [Trailer]
MoviePass Films is teaming up with Cannes Alum Gabe Polsky’s upcoming feature-length documentary, In Search Of Greatness as an investor and strategic marketing partner ahead of the film’s early-November theatrical release.
In Search Of Greatness, directed by acclaimed documentarian Gabe Polsky, best known for his previous feature Red Army, which debuted in Cannes in 2014 and was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, and his work on Nat Geo’s Emmy-award-winning TV show Genius, is a provocative work of non-fiction which examines the importance of creativity in determining athletic ability and also analyzes the roles nature and nurture play in the development of young athletes.
The film, which includes in-depth interviews with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, superstar wide receiver Jerry Rice, and soccer icon Pele, opens in 11 major U.S. markets on November 2nd, and expands to theaters across North America by mid-month.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Gabe and the AOS team to support this terrific documentary and help bring the personal stories of these world-class athletes to audiences everywhere,” said MoviePass Films Chairman Ted Farnsworth and Co-CEO Randall Emmett. We are pleased to be able to continue supporting independent creators and helping them bring their artistic visions to life on the big screen.”
The In Search Of Greatness investment follows a busy month of deal-making for the MoviePass Films label. In late September, MoviePass Films partnered with leading indie distributor NEON to co-release Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Sundance award-winner Monsters and Men (currently in theaters) and is preparing to co-release the second film in that partnership, Ali Abassi’s Cannes award-winner Border (which debuts in theaters this week). MoviePass Films also recently wrapped production on its Bruce Willis-starrer 10 Minutes Gone and green-lit Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning which starts production in Wales in January. The MoviePass Films team intends to produce 10-12 films per year, and intends to acquire an additional 8-10 films per year, starting in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-B9CVCcLrM
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Charlamagne Tha God Exec Produces Bakari Sellers Documentary WHILE I BREATHE, I HOPE [Trailer]
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While I Breathe, I Hope[/caption]
What does it means to be young, black, and a Democrat in the American South? While I Breathe, I Hope follows South Carolina politician and CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers as he runs to become the first African American candidate elected statewide in over a century.
The film from award-winning director Emily Harrold who is making her documentary feature directing debut, and from Executive Producer Charlamagne Tha God, the radio personality who co-hosts the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio program The Breakfast Club will have it New York Premiere screening at DOC NYC on Sunday, November 11.
In 2014, Bakari Sellers–one of the youngest sitting members of the South Carolina House of Representatives–campaigns to be the first African American elected to statewide office since the 1870s. He runs for Lieutenant Governor, the second highest office in the state. The son of Cleveland Sellers, a prominent 1960s Civil Rights activist who was a leading member of SNCC, Bakari understands the difficult race relations in the American South. “Our race is not about what South Carolina was, it’s not about what South Carolina is, but it’s about what South Carolina can be,” he says. But as a Democrat in a red state, Bakari has a tough race ahead. News media consistently place Bakari behind his Republican opponent, Henry McMaster. Moreover, South Carolinians have not elected a Democrat to state office since 2006. Bakari doesn’t help his electability among white voters when he makes removing the Confederate Flag part of his campaign platform. But he refuses to give up. “I can’t win if I don’t run,” he states. But, in the end it seems South Carolina isn’t ready for the kind of change Bakari wants to bring to his state.
Just months after the election, racially motivated shootings in Charleston in June of 2015 throw Bakari back into the spotlight. As he struggles to deal with the brutal death of his friend Clementa Pinckney, he finds thousands of faces turn to him for leadership. Bakari rises as a spokesperson for the community while also trying to unravel and understand the strained race relations of his beloved state. As the Confederate Flag drops from the State House grounds, he is on national television explaining the momentous nature of this event. In one of the most significant moments of his life, Bakari addresses the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. He brings audiences to their feet as he proclaims “Stand up for progress. Stand up for justice. And stand up if you know like I know that we’re stronger together!”
NEW YORK PREMIERE SCREENING AT DOC NYC
Sunday, November 11 at 4:15 PM IFC Center 323 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10014
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AVICII: TRUE STORIES, Powerful Documentary on Late Producer/Artist, Sets Release Date [Trailer]
Levan Tsikurishvili’s powerful documentary Avicii: True Stories, reveals the unvarnished truth behind the success of Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter and artist Avicii (A.K.A. Tim Bergling). The film which follows Avicii over four years, and features Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, David Guetta, Tiësto and Wyclef Jean, will open on December 14th in Los Angeles and December 21st in New York.
Avicii: True Stories follows Avicii, one of the world’s highest grossing live music artists, whose seemingly sudden decision last year to quit doing live shows came as a complete chock to his fans and the industry.
The film traces the artist/DJ’s life from his beginnings, all the way to the joy of his success, from his chart-topping global radio hits and subsequent struggles with his physical and mental health. Tsikurishvili followed Bergling for over four years, and captured fly-on-the-wall footage of his experiences and thinking. Featuring appearances by colleagues such as Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers, David Guetta, Tiësto, and Wyclef Jean, Avicii: True Stories is a cautionary tale that explores the taxing nature and intensity of fame from the artist’s point of view as much as it is a film for Avicii’s die-hard fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZFK3VKzQIs
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Judith Helfand’s Disaster Preparedness Documentary COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE to Premiere at DOC NYC 2018
In COOKED: Survival by Zip Code, peabody award winning director Judith Helfand melds her unique brand of investigative reporting and respectful humor to make a potent argument that the best preparation for a disaster may start with actually redefining disaster and preparedness. COOKED: Survival by Zip Code will World Premiere at DOC NYC, screening November 11 and 14.
COOKED: Survival by Zip Code is a searing yet quirky investigation into the “natural” disasters we’re willing to see and prepare for and the “unnatural” ones we’re not. Adapted from Eric Klinenberg’s ground-breaking book HEAT WAVE: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.
In her signature serious-yet-quirky connect-the-dots style, Peabody Award winning filmmaker Judith Helfand takes audiences from the deadly 1995 Chicago heat disaster deep into one of our nation’s biggest growth industries — Disaster Preparedness. Along the way she forges inextricable links between extreme weather, extreme disparity and the politics of “disaster”; daring to ask: What if a zip code was just a routing number, and not a life-or-death sentence?
Chicago suffered the worst heat disaster in U.S history in 1995, when 739 residents ― mostly elderly, poor and disproportionately black―died over the course of one hot week. COOKED: Survival by Zip Code is a connect-the-dots investigation into extreme heat, the politics of disaster and survival by zip code. Helfand uses her quirky investigative lens to ask a radical yet obvious question: what if we reframe the long-term impact of structural racism, systemic inequity and climate change as an official disaster?
WORLD PREMIERE SCREENINGS AT DOC NYC
Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 1:30 PM SVA Theatre Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 2:45 PM IFC Center Director Judith Helfand, producer Fenell Doremus, and author Eric Klinenberg in-person for post-screening Q&A’s after each screening.
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Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2018 Audience Choice, Heterodox, Broadcast, Unforgettables and Nonfiction “Shorts List”
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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?[/caption]
The Cinema Eye Honors unveiled the first awards announcements for their 12th Annual awards, including The Unforgettables, their annual list of notable and significant nonfiction film subjects; The Shorts List, an annual list of the year’s ten top Nonfiction Short Films; and nominees in four categories: Broadcast Film; Broadcast Series; the Heterodox Award, which recognizes fiction films that actively blur the line between fiction and documentary; and the annual Audience Choice Prize. The full list of nonfiction film and craft nominees, including the five nominees for Outstanding Nonfiction Short Film, will be revealed on Thursday, November 8.
Eight films – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo, Stephen Loveridge’s Mantangi/Maya/M.I.A., Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap, Alexandria Bombach’s On Her Shoulders, Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s RBG, Sandi Tan’s Shirkers, Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers and Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – were nominated for the Audience Choice Prize and also saw their subjects recognized amongst this year’s Unforgettables. Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks’ Quincy and Dava Whisenant’s Bathtubs Over Broadway round out this year’s Audience Choice nominees.
This is the first year that Cinema Eye will have an award to recognize Outstanding Nonfiction Series for Broadcast. Inaugural nominees in the Series category are Steve James’ America to Me (STARZ), Trey Borzilleri & Barbara Schroeder’s Evil Genius (Netflix), Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper & Jessica Dimmock’s Flint Town (Netflix) Liz Garbus’ The Fourth Estate (Showtime) Matthew Heineman’s The Trade (Showtime) and Chapman Way & Maclain Way’s Wild Wild Country (Netflix).
The 12th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be presented on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
AUDIENCE CHOICE PRIZE NOMINEES
Bathtubs Over Broadway Directed by Dava Whisenant Free Solo Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Directed by Stephen Loveridge Minding the Gap Directed by Bing Liu On Her Shoulders Directed by Alexandria Bombach Quincy Directed by Rashida Jones and Al Hicks RBG Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West Shirkers Directed by Sandi Tan Three Identical Strangers Directed by Tim Wardle Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan NevilleNONFICTION SHORTS LIST
(Five nominees in this category will be announced on Thursday, November 8) Baby Brother Directed by Kamau Bilal Concussion Protocol Directed by Josh Begley The Earth is Humming Directed by Garrett Bradley My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes Directed by Charlie Tyrell A Night at the Garden Directed by Marshall Curry Las Nubes Directed by Juan Pablo González Sister Hearts Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani Skip Day Directed by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas Volte Directed by Monika Kotecka and Karolina Poryzala Zhalanash – Empty Shore Directed by Marcin SauterHETERODOX AWARD NOMINEES
American Animals Directed by Bart Layton Obscuro Barrocco Directed by Evangelia Kranioti Skate Kitchen Directed by Crystal Moselle The Tale Directed by Jennifer Fox We the Animals Directed by Jeremiah ZagarBROADCAST FILM NOMINEES
Baltimore Rising Directed by Sonja Sohn HBO Believer Directed by Don Argott HBO The Final Year Directed by Greg Barker HBO I Am Evidence Directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir HBO Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press Directed by Brian Knappenberger Netflix This is Home: A Refugee Story Directed by Alexandra Shiva EpixBROADCAST SERIES NOMINEES
America to Me Directed by Steve James Starz Evil Genius Directed by Trey Borzilleri and Barbara Schroeder Netflix Flint Town Directed by Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper and Jessica Dimmock Netflix The Fourth Estate Directed by Liz Garbus Showtime The Trade Directed by Matthew Heineman Showtime Wild Wild Country Directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way NetflixUNFORGETTABLES NONFICTION SUBJECTS OF 2018
Annette Ontell 306 Hollywood América América Issei Sagawa Caniba Alex Honnold Free Solo Julita Salmerón Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Nick Bollettieri Love Means Zero M.I.A. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Kiere Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan Minding the Gap Abu Osama Of Fathers and Sons Nadia Murad On Her Shoulders Ruth Bader Ginsburg RBG Scotty Bowers Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan Shirkers Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran Three Identical Strangers Fred Rogers Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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AFI FEST Announces 2018 Shorts Lineup, Winners Eligible for Academy Awards
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God Never Dies (Dios Nunca Muere)[/caption]
The Shorts lineup at AFI FEST 2018 presented by Audi will feature 47 films from filmmakers from all over the world, showcasing their distinct international viewpoints. As the only juried section of the festival, the Grand Jury Award winners for Live Action and Animated Short will be eligible for the 2019 Best Live Action Short and Best Animated Short Academy Awards®.
The Shorts jury is comprised of Alison Becker (actor on PARKS AND RECREATION, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM), Chinonye Chukwu (director/writer), Alicia Malone (host on Turner Classic Movies), Michael Mohan (co-creator of the Netflix original series EVERYTHING SUCKS!), Eliza Skinner (comedian and writer on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN) and Sasheer Zamata (comedian, actress, writer and former SNL cast member).
AFI FEST takes place November 8 to 15, 2018, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and other events will be held at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
SHORTS
III – A sudden meeting of a man and a woman begins a hypnotic act — a game of pleasure and discomfort. III is a portrait of a woman in an exhausting relationship with a man, which allures and repulses at the same time. DIR Marta Pajek. SCR Marta Pajek. Poland 49 MILE SCENIC DRIVE – The compelling and amusing story behind one of San Francisco’s most visually arresting signposts and the design change that tarnished a legacy. DIR Bradley Smith, Tyler McPherron. USA ADA – Ada is an unlikeable competitive walker who makes a dress out of toilet paper and has an unfortunate run-in with a hose. DIR Eleanore Pienta. USA ALL INCLUSIVE – Under the spell of mass entertainment on the high seas. DIR Corina Schwingruber Ilić. Switzerland APPLIED PRESSURE – Ease the pain from past physical and mental distress. The body remembers. Aches may linger. Lay prone, breathe deeply, release tension, let go of the pain. DIR Kelly Sears. USA BABY BROTHER – My baby brother moves back in with our parents. DIR Kamau Bilal. USA BIRDIE – A casual gesture of friendliness quickly spirals into a paralyzing moment for a woman on a train. DIR Shelly Lauman. Australia BLOOMSTREET 11 (BLOEISTRAAT 11) – As summer progresses, the bodies of inseparable best friends start to morph and shift as puberty interrupts their bond. DIR Nienke Deutz. Belgium, Netherlands CAT DAYS (NEKO NO HI) – Jiro, a little boy, feels sick. His father takes him to the doctor. She diagnoses a harmless condition, but it shakes the core of the boy’s identity. DIR Jon Frickey. Germany, Japan COME ON MANDY – A wheelchair-bound woman trying to get her dog to come when she calls. DIR Joshua Wilmott. USA CONCUSSION PROTOCOL – By the end of the 2017-18 season, more than 250 players in the NFL will have sustained concussions. For his latest project, data artist Josh Begley tracked these injuries. DIR Josh Begley. USA COUNTERFEIT KUNKOO – In a city that houses millions, Smita discovers a strange prerequisite for renting a house in middle-class Mumbai. She would make an ideal tenant, except for one glaring flaw — she is an Indian woman without a husband. DIR Reema Sengupta. India CYCLISTS (BICIKLISTI) – During the final race of the cycling season, two men in the lead compete for more than the Grand Trophy. DIR Veljko Popovic. Croatia, France DESERT RATS – Out in the Salt Flats, people think nothing can survive, but Lily did. DIR Shaz Bennett. USA DOWN THERE – A blissful night is unexpectedly interrupted by a sound from downstairs. Different reactions are triggered as well as indifference. DIR Zhengfan Yang. China, France DULCE – In coastal Colombia, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim, so that she may go to the mangroves and harvest piangua shellfish with other women in the village. DIR Angello Faccini, Guille Isa. Colombia, USA EGG – A woman is locked in her home with an egg. She eats the egg, she repents. She kills it. She lets the egg die of hunger. DIR Martina Scarpelli. France, Denmark FAUVE – Set in a surface mine, two boys sink into a seemingly innocent power game with Mother Nature as the sole observer. DIR Jeremy Comte. Canada GINGERBREAD – In 1862, during the bloodiest days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln reluctantly agrees to join Mary Todd in a séance to contact their recently departed son. DIR Kendell Courtney Klein. USA GOD NEVER DIES (DIOS NUNCA MUERE) – Living in hidden America, Paula, a Mexican farmworker, struggles to raise her two children on her own. DIR Barbara Cigarroa. USA, Ireland GOOD PEOPLE – Overwhelmed by guilt after an intense affair, Emma returns home to her family hoping to reconnect with her husband. An AFI Conservatory thesis film. DIR Gregory Kohn. USA HAIR WOLF – The staff of a black hair salon fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture. DIR Mariama Diallo. USA HALF A CHICKEN – Bryan struggles to keep to his chicken alive. DIR Sarah Ginsburg, Will Lennon. USA INSTINCT – A psychosexual thriller about Isabelle, a lonely gallery owner, who meets a dangerously seductive performance artist and discovers they have more in common than expected. An AFI Conservatory thesis film. DIR Maria Alice Arida. USA IRISH PRINCE – When an older Irish gentleman reveals to his pals how he met his wife, the story turns out to be a lot more familiar than expected. DIR Joey Garfield. USA JEOM – A strange and wonderful story about a special connection between father and son. DIR Kangmin Kim. USA A LITTLE BREAK (LES PETITES VACANCES) – While on their summer break, two young women explore their sexuality. DIR Louise Groult. France MAGIC ’85 – During the height of the AIDS epidemic in LA, Gabriel, a lonely hospice worker, helps lead his patients to a conscious death. An AFI Conservatory thesis Film. DIR Annika Kurnick. USA MAGIC ALPS – An Afghani refugee arrives in Italy with his goat and seeks political asylum for both of them. DIR Andrea Brusa, Marco Scotuzzi. Italy MATRIA – Faced with the challenges presented by her daily routine, Ramona tries to take refuge in the relationship that ties her to her daughter and granddaughter. DIR Alvaro Gago. Spain METEORITE – Bird men suffer mysterious falls in the search for where the sun rises. An altered reality through rites that converge in one objective: die to generate life. DIR Mauricio Sáenz. Mexico NORMAL APPEARANCES – An unsettling supercut of the women of #BachelorNation watching themselves being watched. DIR Penny Lane. USA THE ORPHAN (O ÓRFÃO) – Jonathas is adopted but then returned due to his “different” way. Inspired by true events. DIR Carolina Markowicz. Brazil PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE. – In an effort to improve feminine hygiene, a machine that creates low-cost biodegradable sanitary pads is installed in a rural village in Northern India. DIR Rayka Zehtabchi. USA PIU PIU – A restless young woman yearns to escape the confines of romance in order to find her superpower. DIR Naima Ramos-Chapman. USA REBIRTH IS NECESSARY – A video-art film exploring the magic and dynamism of Blackness in a realm where time and space are altered. DIR Jenn Nkiru. UK SHE (AJO) – To escape an early marriage arranged by her father, Zana has to make a courageous decision. DIR More Raca. Kosovo A SIEGE (OSTROM) – A lonely woman in war-torn Sarajevo embarks on a journey to find water, and neither her neighbors nor sniper fire can stop her. DIR István Kovács. Hungary THE SUMMER OF THE ELECTRIC LION (EL VERANO DEL LEON ELECTRICO) – Hidden in a house far from the city, Alonso accompanies his dear sister, Daniela. She expects to become the seventh wife of The Lion, a prophet who (according to stories) electrocutes you when you touch him. DIR Diego Céspedes. Chile UMBRA (TARIKI) – A few minutes after midnight, a young woman realizes that her partner has disappeared after sex. Worried, she goes out to find him in the dark streets. DIR Saeed Jafarian. Iran WAR PAINT – A young, South LA black girl experiences a series of events that intersect racism and sexism during the Fourth of July holiday. An AFI Directing Workshop for Women film. DIR Katrelle Kindred. USA THE WATER SLIDE – Tragedy strikes the world’s tallest water slide. DIR Nathan Truesdell. USA WHERE THE WATER RUNS – During the most drastic and prolonged drought in California history, a water truck delivery driver uses his resources to return water to the communities that need it most. An AFI Conservatory thesis film. DIR DuBois Ashong. USA WHILE I YET LIVE – Five acclaimed African-American quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, talk about love, religion and the fight for civil rights as they continue the tradition of quilting that originally brought them together. DIR Maris Curran. USA X – X, a young black kid, wanders through Los Angeles while confronting the difficult realities of adolescence while being black in America. DIR Yara Shahidi. USA YAEL (CONCEPTION: YAEL) – Becoming a mother is one of the most transformative life experiences. DIR Margaret Cheatham Williams, Jordan Bruner. USA YASAMIN – Amid the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Yasamin moves to the USA and navigates the trials and tribulations of assimilation through the waxing of a unibrow. DIR Julia Elihu. USA
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2018 IDFA to Open with Afghan Documentary KABUL, CITY IN THE WIND
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Kabul, City in the Wind[/caption]
Kabul, City in the Wind by Aboozar Amin, a sobering, intimate and warm account of daily life in Kabul during the silent intervals between suicide bombings, will open this year’s 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on Wednesday November 14th.
The bombings that happened, and those that will, define life for the film’s characters; a father who works as a bus driver, and two young boys whose policeman father is away due to murder threats.
“Amini introduces himself as an original uncompromising artist of film, he absorbed the work of Abbas Kiarostami and made it his very own,” Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia comments.
Aboozar Amini (Bamiyan, Afghanistan, 1985) arrived in the Netherlands as a teenager and graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2010. Amini returned to reside in Afghanistan after his studies in the Netherlands. Kabul, City in the Wind is a co-production between Afghanistan, Japan and the Netherlands and was made with support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.
IDFA also revealed the the complete list of nominees for the Feature-Length Documentary, First Appearance and Dutch Documentary competitions. IDFA’s main competition consists of 12 titles by established filmmakers; the IDFA Competition for First Appearance consists exclusively of first films, including opening film opening film; and 11 unique films – both in terms of subject matter and form – compete in the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary.
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DOCNYC 2018: Syrian Women Find Strength Through Theater in WE ARE NOT PRINCESSES [Trailer]
With intimate footage and stunning animation, We Are Not Princesses follows how a theater workshop group of Syrian refugee women, living in a Beirut refugee camp, find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone. This film focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. We Are Not Princesses directed by Bridgette Auger and Itab Azzam will World Premiere at DOC NYC on November 14, 2018.
In 2014, the Open Art Foundation put together a theater workshop with Syrian women refugees in Beirut to create a space for community and to provide tools to help the women process their trauma as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
We Are Not Princesses focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. With intimate footage and stunning animation, the film follows how this group of women find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone.
Whether they are gossiping at a seaside café or engaging in long-forgotten pleasures at a night-time fairground, these poignant scenes are where intense discussion and transformation take place. Smoking cigarettes and wearing makeup become acts of rebellion against societal and patriarchal authority. And never far from the surface are the horrifying backstories which brought the women to Beirut.
Mona tells of the death of her child; Fedwa hyperventilates as she attempts to rehearse the story of her son whom she was unable to bury; Heba remembers her starving brother’s last wish for noodles and yogurt.
These stories provide context for the Syrian war, and also establish the women’s point of access into the story of Antigone, a story through which the women begin the work of processing their personal and national traumas.
We Are Not Princesses focuses strong Syrian women picking up the pieces of their broken society and moving forward.
WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING AT DOC NYC
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:45 PM – Cinepolis Chelsea
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Film Society of Lincoln Center to Honor Chinese Documentarian Wang Bing with Tribute Screening
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Wang Bing[/caption]
The Film Society of Lincoln Center will honor Chinese documentarian Wang Bing with a three-film tribute titled Wang Bing: The Weight of Experience, November 16 to 18.
An intrepid chronicler of the human tribulations underlying modern China’s social and economic transformation, Wang Bing makes films that are epic in duration yet precise in scope. Forging intimate bonds with his subjects, he captures the plights of individuals and communities in factory towns and rural villages, and demands that we behold the political complexity and moral weight of their struggles.
FSLC will present the New York premiere of Wang’s latest, the eight-hour opus Dead Souls; a rare screening of his debut masterpiece, the three-part West of the Tracks (2002); and the first U.S. showing of the single-shot 15 Hours (2017), screening free in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater. Wang will appear in person to discuss these films and his singular art.
FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
All films screen digitally at the Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th St.) unless otherwise noted.
15 Hours
Wang Bing, Hong Kong, 2017, 900m
Mandarin with English subtitles
This documentary installation consists of a single, 15-hour take shot in a garment factory in China and captures the daily labor of its 300,000 migrant workers and the functioning of its 18,000 production units. Rigorous and hypnotic, 15 Hours marks Wang’s most radical meditation on the contemporary meaning of work and the state of labor conditions in present-day China. (Free Amphitheater screening)
Dead Souls
Wang Bing, France/Switzerland, 2018, 495m
Mandarin with English subtitles
Wang Bing’s latest is a monumental work of testimony, largely comprised of interviews with survivors of the Jiabiangou and Mingshui re-education camps of the late 1950s, which were set up in the Gobi Desert to imprison alleged reactionaries and anti-Communists a decade after China’s revolution in 1949. In making Dead Souls, Wang interviewed over 100 survivors from almost all of China’s provinces, recording traumatic memories, melancholic recollections and sober reflections on political repression in the country prior to the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s. As with all of Wang’s work, Dead Souls is both an engrossing epic and a profound moral act in and of itself. A Grasshopper Film and Icarus release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnB-4IP50Bk
West of the Tracks, Part 1: Rust
Wang Bing, China, 2003, 224m
Mandarin with English subtitles
The first part of Wang’s debut film—a nine-hour epic about the decline of an industrial Tiexi district in the city of Shenyang—follows a small group of workers employed in three state-owned factories. Wang captures the workers’ plight, caught between backbreaking labor in substandard conditions and periods of simmering anxiety as they idly wait for a shortage in raw materials to subside. West of the Tracks offers one of the most affecting and thorough looks at the effects of deindustrialization and the advent of the free market on China’s economy, and its first section is a powerful snapshot of the radically changing nature of work in the 21st century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_z4BTaTRko
West of the Tracks, Part 2: Remnants
Wang Bing, China, 2003, 178m
Mandarin with English subtitles
The second part of West of the Tracks is devoted to the proletarian families of the state-owned housing block known as Rainbow Row, particularly their teenage children. Wang sensitively chronicles these families’ efforts to cope with the rapidly changing circumstances of their lives, from the shifting role of work within their everyday existence to their all-but-certain displacement in the face of factory closures throughout Tiexi. A rich, humanist portrait of the quotidian repercussions of fluctuations in the global economy, West of the Tracks’ second section is a captivating immersion in the daily lives of society’s most vulnerable elements and a stark reminder of all that is lost to the violent churning of capitalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxRJPphDEd4
West of the Tracks, Part 3: Rails
Wang Bing, China, 2003, 132m
Mandarin with English subtitles
Narrowing its focus, the final part of West of the Tracks follows a coal-scavenger father and his son, who make a living collecting raw parts from the local railyards and selling them to Tiexi’s dwindling factories. Like that of the factory workers, their future has also been rendered anxiously uncertain by the deindustrialization of 21st-century capitalism, and Wang captures their resilience and resourcefulness amid a decaying local economy and the omnipresent threat of eviction from their home. As with its two preceding parts, the conclusion of West of the Tracks is a critical, intensely moving chronicle of survival in an age when the very concept of work is in crisis.
image via Twitter
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BUCKJUMPING Documentary on Dance Culture in New Orleans Premiered at New Orleans Film Festival [Trailer]
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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
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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.