Documentary

Alex Gibney Directing New HBO Documentary on the Rise and Fall of Healthcare Company Theranos

[caption id="attachment_29735" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Alex Gibney[/caption] Academy Award winner Alex Gibney is working on a new documentary for HBO, investigating the rise and fall of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar healthcare company founded by Elizabeth Holmes. In 2004, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford to start a company that was going to revolutionize healthcare. In 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes, who was touted as “the next Steve Jobs,” the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. Just two years later, Theranos was cited as a “massive fraud” by the SEC, and its value was less than zero. Drawing on extraordinary access to never-before-seen footage and testimony from key insiders, director Alex Gibney will tell a Silicon Valley tale that was too good to be true. With all the drama of a real-life heist film, the untitled documentary will examine how this could have happened and who is responsible, while exploring the psychology of deception. “This story is a classic example of truth is more dramatic than fiction,” says Gibney. “The characters are at once larger-than-life and real.” A Jigsaw Production for HBO Documentary Films; directed and written by Alex Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” HBO’s Emmy-winning “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief“); producers, Alex Gibney, Erin Edeiken, Jessie Deeter; editor, Andy Grieve; co-editor, Alexis Johnson; associate producer, Ophelia Harutyunyan; executive producer Graydon Carter. For HBO: executive producers, Sara Bernstein, Nancy Abraham.
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Leonardo DiCaprio to Produce TV Documentary Series on President Ulysses S. Grant for History

[caption id="attachment_15285" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Leonardo DiCaprio[/caption] History network has greenlit “Grant,” a six-part television documentary based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow’s #1 New York Times bestselling biography, produced by Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio. The documentary will portray one of the most complex and under-appreciated generals and presidents in U.S. History – Ulysses S. Grant. Chernow will also serve as executive producer. “Grant is one of the most brilliant, yet flawed figures in U.S. History and Chernow’s extraordinary biography has transformed our understanding of him at the deepest level,” said Eli Lehrer, Executive Vice President of Programming, History. “This documentary will look at the Civil War and Reconstruction through the intriguing lens of Grant and we look forward to bringing Chernow’s fascinating portrait of this president to life.” The six-part documentary examines Grant’s life story using his perspective and experiences to explore a turbulent time in History – the Civil War and Reconstruction. Grant is known for his role as U.S. Army General and Commanding General during the Civil War, but few recognize his struggles during his youth, his time at West Point, his service in the Mexican War alongside some of the greatest names from U.S. military History or his several failed business ventures before the Civil War. Criticized for a scandal ridden Presidency and with a reputation for being a drunk, Grant was often dismissed by scholars, even after he distinguished himself as an extraordinary military strategist and leader during the Civil War. However, a primary focus of his Administration was Reconstruction and the herculean task to reconcile the North and the South. One of the most courageous and unexpected initiatives of Grant’s Presidency was protecting the four million freed slaves who had become U.S. citizens with the right to vote – despite the enormous resistance he faced. Most notably after his presidency, Grant embarked on a world tour in hopes Americans would forget the scandals during his term and negotiated a contract with a friend – famed novelist Mark Twain – to publish his now famous memoirs. History has seen continued success with mega-docs such as Emmy Award winner “The Men Who Built America,” Emmy Award winner “America: The Story of Us,” Emmy Award nominee “The World Wars,” and “Vietnam in HD.” Most recently, “The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen” reached 26 million viewers on a Live+7 basis. “Grant” is produced for History by Appian Way Productions and RadicalMedia in association with Lionsgate Television. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are executive producers for Appian Way Productions who are also producers on Lionsgate’s feature film based on the same property. Dave Sirulnick, Justin Wilkes and Fisher Stevens are executive producers for RadicalMedia. Ron Chernow is executive producer. Eli Lehrer, Mary E. Donahue and Jennifer Wagman are executive producers for History. Brian Volk-Weiss also serves as executive producer.
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Rooftop Films to US Premiere EXIT MUSIC Cameron Mullenneaux’s Docu-Portrait of Ethan Rice Dying with Cystic Fibrosis

[caption id="attachment_29729" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Ethan Rice, Subject of Exit Music[/caption] On Saturday, June 16, Rooftop Films will present the U.S. Premiere of Exit Music, Cameron Mullenneaux’s intimate and emotional docu-portrait of Ethan Rice, a 28 year old with Cystic Fibrosis, during the final months of his life. Filmmaker Cameron Mullenneaux will be in attendance and will participate in a special conversation along with Green-Wood Cemetery’s Death Educator Amy Cunningham after the film.’ The event will take place at Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn and will feature a live musical performance by Samuel R Saffery.
Exit Music
Born with cystic fibrosis, 28-year-old Ethan Rice has been preparing to die his entire life. His father Ed, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, immersed him in a world of imagination and documented it on camera, a hobby that provided relief from the fear of his son’s prognosis and his own painful past. Equal parts comedy and darkness, Exit Music is the last year, last breath, and final creative act of Ethan as he awaits the inevitable. Interweaving home movies with Ethan’s original music and animation, his story is an unflinching meditation on mortality and invites the viewer to experience Ethan’s transition from reality to memory. In a culture that often looks away from death, this film demystifies the dying process, a universal cornerstone of the human experience.
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THE SILENCE OF OTHERS To Have NY Premiere At Human Rights Watch Film Festival

The award-winning documentary The Silence of Others is a beautiful, cinematic, and poetic film about the people who are fighting for justice and a reckoning in Spain on crimes committed by the Franco regime during its brutal 40 year rule. It won the two prizes – Audience Award (Panorama) and Peace Prize at the Berlinale – 2018 Berlin International Film Festival. The Silence of Others will have its NY premiere at the 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City this month The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, the film follows victims and survivors as they organize the groundbreaking “Argentine Lawsuit” and fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, in a country still divided four decades into democracy. Synopsis: The Silence of Others offers a cinematic portrait of the first attempt in history to prosecute crimes of Franco’s 40-year dictatorship in Spain (1939-1975), whose perpetrators have enjoyed impunity for decades due to a 1977 amnesty law. It brings to light a painful past that Spain is reluctant to face, even today, decades after the dictator’s death. Filmed with intimate access over six years, the story unfolds on two continents: in Spain, where survivors and human rights lawyers are building a case that Spanish courts refuse to admit, and in Argentina, where a judge has taken it on using the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows foreign courts to investigate crimes against humanity if the country where they occurred refuses to do so. The implications of the case are global, as Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy continues to be hailed as a model to this day. The case also marks an astonishing reversal, for it was Spain that pioneered universal jurisdiction to bring down former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and yet now it is an Argentine judge who must bring Spain’s own past to light. The Silence of Others tells the story of this groundbreaking international lawsuit through the voices of five survivors who have broken Spain’s “pact of silence” and become plaintiffs in the case, including victims of torture, parents of stolen children, and family members who are fighting to recover loved ones’ bodies from mass graves across Spain. Guiding this monumental effort are Carlos Slepoy, the human rights lawyer who co-led the case against Pinochet, and Ana Messuti, a philosopher of law. The case is making history: what started as a small, grassroots effort has yielded the first-ever arrest warrants for perpetrators, including torturers, cabinet ministers, and doctors implicated in cases of stolen children. It has brought the nearly forgotten case to the front page of The New York Times and has stirred a flurry of international attention. Through this dramatic, contemporary story, The Silence of Others speaks to universal questions of how societies transition from dictatorship to democracy and how individuals confront silence and fight for justice. What happens when a country is forced to reckon with its past after so many years of silence? Can justice be done after so long? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar[/caption] Directors’ Statement: In 2010, the story of Spain’s “stolen children” began to come out. The story of these crimes, with roots in the early days of Franco’s rule, led us to explore the marginalization and silencing of victims of many Franco-era crimes, ranging from extrajudicial killings at the end of the Spanish Civil War to torture that took place as recently as 1975. As we began to learn more, we were baffled by basic questions: how could it be that Spain, unlike other countries emerging from repressive regimes, had had no Nuremberg Trials, no Truth and Reconciliation Commission, no national reckoning? Why, instead, was a “pact of forgetting” forged in Spain? And what were the consequences of that pact, 40 years into democracy, for the still-living victims of Franco’s dictatorship? When we began filming the process of the “Argentine lawsuit” in 2012, which challenged this status quo, few thought that it would amount to much. But as we filmed those early meetings, we could see that the lawsuit was stirring up something vital, transforming victims and survivors into organizers and plaintiffs and bringing out dozens, and then hundreds, of testimonies from all over Spain. As the number of testimonies snowballed, the case was building into a persuasive argument about crimes against humanity that demanded international justice. We thus discovered that The Silence of Others was going to be a story about possibilities, about trying to breach a wall, and that, rather than focusing on what had happened in the past, it would be all about what would happen in the future. We also saw that the film would embody great passion and urgency because, for many of the plaintiffs, this case would offer the last opportunity in their lifetimes to be heard. Even so, as we set out filming those early meetings, we could scarcely have imagined that we would follow this story for six years and film over 450 hours of footage. Screenings at HRWFF-NY Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 6:30 PM Film Society of Lincoln Center Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 9:00 PM IFC Center
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Jeremy Guy’s Directorial Debut PURDAH (VEIL) to LA Premiere at Dances With Films

Director and cinematographer Jeremy Guy presents his feature documentary directorial debut with “Purdah” (“Veil”) – the inspiring story of a young Indian woman who trades her burka for dreams of playing on the Mumbai Senior Women’s Cricket Team and how the harsh realities for women in her country creates an unexpected outcome for her own family, ultimately shattering and fueling aspirations. The film is an Official Selection in competition at the internationally renowned Dances With Films festival, featuring its Los Angeles Premiere Screening at the world famous TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. The film recently held its World Premiere at Cinequest Film Festival where it was called a “a real life Bend It Like Beckham” by KQED-FM (NPR). Director Jeremy Guy says, “I was working on another film in India when I met Kaikasha Mirza. Her pursuit of a career in cricket as a woman, which is frowned upon by her Muslim community, was a fascinating story in itself. And then, as I began shooting, the story took a surprising turn, and an even bigger story began to unravel about the challenges that Kaikasha, her two sisters and their mother faced amidst societal oppression.” The three independent-minded Mirza sisters have ambitious dreams for their lives and careers. Despite their earnestness, they face an uphill battle coming from a conservative Muslim family in Mumbai, India. Kaikasha Mirza became enamored with cricket as a young woman, yet she was forbidden to play and forced to be a spectator in her burka, but she eventually persuades her father to allow her to remove her burka to become one of only a few Muslim women cricketers in all of Mumbai. She chases her dream of playing for the prestigious Mumbai Senior Women’s Cricket Team, but her parents give her the ultimatum that she will have two years to become a professional cricketer—or they will arrange her marriage. Kaikasha’s eldest sister, Saba, has her own dreams for her career and yearns to become a model, and Heena, the youngest sister, wants to be a fashion designer or a singer, but poverty may impede their pursuits. All three girls and their mother must contend with the wishes of their father who does not believe women should work, but rather, stay home to cook, clean and raise a family. As the women pursue their dreams, a series of shocking and tragic circumstances befall the Mirza family, and the film continues to follow each of them as they battle through family crises, poverty, and intense societal pressures. This cinematic journey highlights how dreaming the impossible dream and having a passionate purpose can potentially save us. This story of perseverance lands on the message that even if things don’t turn out as we had hoped or planned, it’s about how we react to overcome life’s biggest challenges that makes all the difference.
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Rooftop Films Presents the NY Premiere of ‘WRESTLE’ – FREE in Downtown Brooklyn

On Friday, June 8th, Rooftop Films will present the New York Premiere of Wrestle outdoors in MetroTech Commons in Downtown Brooklyn. The screening is free with an RSVP and will include a live musical performance. Director Suzannah Herbert and co-director Lauren Belfer will attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A. Wrestle is an intimate and nuanced documentary that follows the wrestling team at JO Johnson High School in Huntsville, which has been on Alabama’s failing schools list for many years. As they fight their way towards the State Championship and the doors they hope it will open, wrestlers Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan each face injustices and challenges on and off the mat. Together they grapple with obstacles that jeopardize their success, and their coach – coming to terms with his own past conflicts – pushes them forward while unwittingly wading into the complexities of class and race in the South. Through it all, the young heroes of Wrestle – with humor and grit – strive towards their goals, making Wrestle an inspiring coming of age journey and an impassioned depiction of growing up disadvantaged in America today.
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Dark Star Pictures to Release KING COHEN, Documentary on Maverick Filmmaker Larry Cohen [Trailer]

Steve Mitchell’s King Cohen, the true story of writer, producer, director, creator and all-around maverick, Larry Cohen has been acquired by Dark Star Pictures. Dark Star is planning a July 7th theatrical roll-out followed by an August 14th VOD release. Synopsis: Buckle up for King Cohen, the true story of writer, producer, director, creator and all-around maverick, Larry Cohen (Black Caesar, It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, The Stuff). Told through compelling live interviews, stills and film/TV clips, the people who helped fulfill his vision, and industry icons such as Martin Scorsese, J.J. Abrams, John Landis, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, Yaphet Kotto and many more, including Larry himself, bring one-of-a-kind insight into the work, process and legacy of a true American film auteur. Few can boast of a career as remarkable or prolific, spanning more than 50 years of entertaining audiences worldwide. King Cohen had its US premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2017, was an official selection at DOC NYC 2017, and has since screened around the world, in Austria, Ireland, Amsterdam and more, ensnaring raves. Cohen, best known for resourceful low-budget horror and thriller films that combine social commentary with prerequisite scares and welcome humor, is responsible for celluloid classics including Black Caesar, It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff. He was also a major player in the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, as well as a prominent Hollywood screenwriter (Phone Booth). Mitchell’s film features interviews with such industry luminaries as Martin Scorsese, J.J Abrams, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, John Landis, Fred Williamson as well as Cohen himself. Cohen’s remarkable one-of-a-kind career, from 60’s TV series creator (Branded, The Invaders), to 70’s and 80’s independent film icon and beyond, is chronicled with freewheeling and insightful verve. Winner of the 2017 Fantasia Fest Best Documentary Feature Audience Award, King Cohen hails from Rondo Award-winning writer/director Steve Mitchell, whose film and television credits include co-writing the beloved cult horror/comedy Chopping Mall. “Larry Cohen is one of a kind – a true film auteur. Steve Mitchell has brilliantly captured his essence and passion in this very entertaining and also informative film. We’re ecstatic to bring this work to North American audiences” says Michael Repsch, President of Dark Star Pictures. “We couldn’t be more delighted to have Dark Star Pictures unleash King Cohen on North America,” says producer Matt Verboys. “They completely get Larry Cohen’s indelible impact on cinema and are perfectly suited to get this film in front of enthusiastic viewers!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPblr7nKaYw
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Watch Trailer for SISTERS OF THE WILDERNESS DOCUMENTARY, 5 Zulu Women on a Journey of Self-Discovery

Set in the iMfolozi wilderness, South Africa, in the oldest game park in Africa, the iconic Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park, where the White Rhino was saved from extinction, Sisters of the Wilderness tells the story of five young Zulu women venturing into the wilderness for the first time on a journey of self-discovery, reminding them that we are all intimately linked to nature. Sisters of the Wilderness, a new South African social impact feature documentary, directed by award-wining filmmaker, Karin Slater, will have its world premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival in Cape Town and Johannesburg in June; with further festival screenings at the Durban International Film Festival and at the Nature, Environment, Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF) Congress in Durban in July and at the Mzansi Women’s Film Festival in Johannesburg in August. The film follows the women as they walk in big game country and camp under the stars, totally surrounded by wild animals. Exposed to the elements and carrying on their backs all they need for the journey, they face emotional and physical challenges, and learn what it takes to survive in the wild. “We want to ‘transfer’ the audience to an ancient place where no barriers separate human and nature,” says creator / producer, Ronit Shapiro, of One Nature Films, whose experience in the iMfolozi wilderness and a meeting with South Africa’s legendary conservationist, the late Dr Ian Player, inspired her to make this film. “A journey into wilderness is an intense experience where one can expect to undergo a personal transformation and build leadership.” Director Karin Slater says, “I was born in Empangeni and spent my early years, close to the iMfolozi wilderness. I have a deep love and connection to this area. I know what the wilderness has done for me over the years.” Sisters of the Wilderness serves as a foundation for an outreach program that will use multiple platforms to re-connect global audiences with nature. The film also explores the plight of this wilderness area threatened by an open-cast coal mine on its border, as well as the severe poaching that is decimating the rhino population here.
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FAMILY IN TRANSITION, WILD, THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS Win Top Awards at 20th Docaviv

[caption id="attachment_29480" align="aligncenter" width="1140"] Family in Transition – Ofir Trainin[/caption] Docaviv, the International Documentary Film Festival, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, announced the winners in a ceremony held at Mindspace Tel- Aviv . This year’s festival which concludes today May 26, has had a record-breaking lineup of 125 Israeli and international documentaries, as well as its first ever Shorts Competition.
2018 Docaviv Winners

ISRAELI COMPETITION
The Howard Gilman Award For the Best Israeli Documentary Film Family in Transition Ofir Trainin Jury’s justification: סרט זה משרטט בעדינות סיפור של With great sensitivity, this film tells the story of identities getting to know themselves and each other anew, and changing right before our eyes. The jury commends the filmmaker for the intimate dynamic he has formed with his subjects and for choosing to make their voices heard, unmediated. An important and timely film, it is a reminder of the power of documentary to refresh our experience of the world and make us question distorted worldviews. Behind the strong bond between subjects and audience is the director’s dedication to his subjects, and when the two meet, the magic happens. Special Jury Award A Perfect Housewife Jane Bibi Jury’s justification: A brave new voice, this filmmaker demonstrates an uncompromising relationship to her craft. Smashing through the restrictive taboos of traditional values, she forges new cinematic pathways to create an unforgettable portrait of the tremendous love that can exist between three generations of women. The Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Award for Best Debut Film Wild Uriel Sinai, Danel Elpeleg Jury’s justification: Jumping between chaos and calm, poetry and humor, man and animal, this film transcends the clichés of its genre, providing a profoundly moving reflection on the fragility and preciousness of life. Best Cinematography Award In The Desert – A Documentary Diptych Cinematograper: Avner Faingulernt Jury’s justification: In this opus, the cinematographer succeeds in crafting through his lens an epic allegory of hope infused with biblical intonations. From the harshest landscapes to the most intimate moments of human interaction, the camera is used with respectful restraint to accentuate the creator’s vision. Best Editing Award The Wounded Healer Editor: Yithzhak Sverdlov Jury’s justification: The editor’s authorial stamp is strong and skillful, weaving the story with great sensitivity and leading us from scene to scene with natural confidence. The editing makes a series of twists and turns while compassionately revealing a complex character coming to terms with his tragic past. Research Award You Only Die Twice Research: Niko Hofinger Jury’s justification: Research is the heart and soul of this film, a film where the director works as investigator, uncovering a personal mystery to reveal a profound truth about family, brotherhood and forgiveness. Best Original Music Award A Sister’s Song Composer: Peter Venne Jury’s justification: In this film, a haunting original score interweaves the film’s competing dualities into the soundscape, fusing together the secular and the sacred worlds, the musical motifs succeed in mirroring the personal stories that unfold before us. AIDC Award for Innovative Filmmaking A Sister’s Song Danae Elon Jury’s justification: This award recognizes the daring vision of a filmmaker who has shown a clear and deep understanding of the filmic language. An authorial stamp marks the film on every level, infusing the text with multiple layers of meaning, resulting in a meditative, thought-provoking journey that continues long after the film concludes. Israeli Competition Best Director Award by Fipresci In The Desert – A Documentary Diptych Avner Faingulernt The International Federation of Film Critics award Jury’s justification: A personal and humane look at both sides of one of the biggest conflict zones in the Middle East. The director of In the Desert finds two separate lyrical languages to tell the film’s stories in a way that serves the differences and similarities between the two sides. Despite being challenging and demanding, the film manages not to patronize the viewers or its subjects. In a film that is tough and gentle at the same time, big concepts like ownership, family, spirituality and calling are all translated into human moments.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION WINNERS
Best International Film Award The Distant Barking of Dogs Simon Lereng Wilmont Jury’s justification: Set in a village near the Ukraine/Russia frontline this highly accomplished film is a unique window into traumatic experience of growing up next to the battle zone in echoes of artillery fire. The International Competition Main Award goes to Simon Lereng Wilmont’s The Distant Barking of Dogs. Honorable Mention The Waldheim Waltz Ruth Beckermann Jury’s justification: The Honorable Mention goes to a film about truth and lies in politics. The filmmaker follows the investigation of the Jewish World Congress about the military past of the former General Secretary of the United Nations and Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who has tried to hide his involvement in war crimes in Yugoslavia and Greece during World War II. The film combines private archival footage of the filmmaker with international material and shows how Waldheim and his conservative supporters tried to protect the myth of Austria as a victim of the Third Reich. Ruth Beckermann’s Waldheim Waltz is also a statement against growing populism and sometimes not even hidden anti-Semitism today.
DEPTH OF FIELD COMPETITION
Artistic Vision Award Playing Men Matjaž Ivanišin Jury’s justification: For its strong, memorable and vibrant cinematic language, its bold and surprising storytelling and its creative and alternative approach to the way we see men. In Playing Men, the male state of being is addressed in a funny, timely and touching way.
SHORTS COMPETITION WINNER
Best Short Film Award Tracing Addai Esther Niemeier Jury’s justification: The winner of the Docaviv Shorts Competition is a true story about a son who disappeared without a trace. Addai, a young man, leaves his mother’s home to join a group of Salafi Syrian fighters and disappears, never to return. The director pieces together fragmented memories, facts and moments into a gentle, story loaded with emotion, yet manages to avoid pathos. The storylines converge into an honest examination of grief, regret and lost hope.
WINNERS OF THE STUDENTS COMPETITION IN MEMORY AND HONOR OF RUTHI GOTTESMAN
First Prize My Father’s Son Hillel Rate, Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts Jury’s justification: For its singular, emotionally stirring characters; for letting us glimpse at a uniquely close father-son relationship from a respectful, loving perspective; for drawing an unconventional portrait of religious masculinity. Second Prize The Bride’s Tree Shadi Habib Allah, Sam Spiegel Film and Television School Jury’s justification: For its gentle, patient and lyrical look at nature and its inhabitants; for dealing with history, identity and legacy as seen through the eyes of children being raised into a grim political reality. Third Prize A Train To The Horizon Sharon Shahanny, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jury’s justification: For turning the spotlight on the backyard of Israeli society and showing its personal and social aspects with sensitivity and humor. The day-to-day life stories the director has brought to the screen depict the complex human reality of life in the south of Israel, the far corner of its social consciousness.
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THE MOST DANGEROUS YEAR, Doc about Transgender Fight, to World Premiere at Seattle Int’l Film Festival [Trailer]

The Most Dangerous Year, a new documentary by Vlada Knowlton, about transgender fight in Washington state, will world premiere at the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival on May 29 and June 2. In early 2016, when a dark wave of anti-transgender “bathroom bills” began sweeping across the nation, The Hu-man Rights Campaign published a report identifying 2016 as the most dangerous year for transgender Americans. In Washington State six such “bathroom bills” were introduced in the State Legislature. Documentary filmmaker Vlada Knowlton captured the ensuing civil rights battle from the perspective of a small group of embattled parents as they banded together to fight a deluge of proposed laws that would strip away the rights of their young, trans-gender children. As one of the parents, Knowlton presents an intimate portrait of her own struggle to protect her 5-year-old transgender daughter from laws inspired by hate and fear. From tension-filled Senate hearings in Olympia to intimate household settings of the families involved; from thought provoking conversations with key lawmakers to elucidating facts explained by leading scientists – The Most Dangerous Year explores the transgender civil rights battle in all its richness and complexity. While the film follows the story and outcome of anti-transgender legislation in Washington, it culminates in a moving victory for Knowlton and the other families who, it turns out, won the battle before it even began. They won the moment they made the decision to accept and support their kids for exactly who they are
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Vlada Knowlton
Vlada is a Seattle-based filmmaker. Her first documentary feature, HAVING IT ALL, was selected by Washington’s PBS station, KCTS9, as the anchor program for its “Women Who Inspire” series in August, 2015, and went on to also be broadcast by Oregon Public Broadcasting. Its online premiere, presented by the organizations Flexjobs and 1 Million For Work Flexibility, was a press-covered event that included a panel discussion with Kelly Wallace of CNN. Her current documentary, The Most Dangerous Year, was awarded the Professional Grant from Women in Film Seattle and an Open 4Culture Grant. Prior to becoming a filmmaker Vlada worked at Microsoft. She holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Brown University. https://vimeo.com/264539442
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LOVE, CECIL, Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s Portrait of Style Icon Cecil Beaton, Sets Release Date [Trailer]

[caption id="attachment_29432" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Cecil Beaton Selfies Late 1910’s[/caption] Zeitgeist Films, in association with Kino Lorber, will release LOVE, CECIL, a documentary portrait of the legendary Cecil Beaton directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict). Winner of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, the film premiered at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival and went on to screen at a number of festivals including DOC NYC and Palm Springs. LOVE, CECIL will open in New York on Friday, June 29 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center with a national rollout to follow. Photographer, Oscar-winning set and costume designer (My Fair Lady, Gigi), writer, painter, and self-professed dandy Cecil Beaton was not only a dazzling chronicler, but an arbiter of his time. From the Bright Young Things to the front lines of war to the international belle monde and the pages of Vogue, and then onto the Queen’s official photographer—Beaton embodied the cultural and political changes of the twentieth century. In this tender portrait, director Lisa Immordino Vreeland blends evocative archival footage and photographs with excerpts from his diaries—wittily narrated by Rupert Everett—to capture his legacy as a complex and unique creative force. Dynamic and lyrical, LOVE, CECIL is an examination of Beaton’s singular sense of the visual, which dictated a style that set standards of creativity that continue to resonate and inspire today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xznzK0EOwfs
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“To A More Perfect Union: U.S. V. Windsor” Shines Spotlight on LGBTQ Icon Edie Windsor [Trailer]

Filmmaker Donna Zaccaro’s illuminating new documentary “To A More Perfect Union: U.S. V. Windsor” shines a powerful light on historic LGBTQ civil rights figure Edie Windsor. CineLife Entertainment will bring the Ferrodonna Features Inc. acclaimed documentary to more than 150 screens nationwide beginning on June 7, 2018 with Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, D.C., Denver, Atlanta, Austin, Palm Springs, San Diego, etc. timed to the anniversary of this landmark Supreme Court decision. The film features interviews with notable voices in this civil rights battle, including: Roberta Kaplan (Windsor Attorney), Pam Karlan (Windsor Legal Team & Co-Director, Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic), Rosie O’Donnell (Comedian, Actor & Activist), Frank Rich (Writer-At-Large, NY Magazine), Hilary Rosen (Communications Advisor & LGBT Activist), Richard Socarides (White House Special Assistant & Advisor to President Clinton), Matt Staver (Founder & Chairman of Liberty Counsel), Jeff Toobin (CNN Legal Analyst & New Yorker Staff Writer), Nina Totenberg (Legal Affairs Correspondent for National Public Radio), Tony West (Former Associate U.S. Attorney General), Edie Windsor (Plaintiff), Evan Wolfson (Founder & President of Freedom to Marry), among others. “It is a true privilege to be working with Donna and the Ferrodonna team on this brilliant and important film” said CineLife Entertainment’s Managing Director Mark Rupp. “We look forward to bringing Edith Windsor’s story to a discerning audience on big screens across the US for Pride Month.” “To A More Perfect Union: U.S. V. Windsor” shares a rich tapestry of love, marriage, and a fight for equality. The film chronicles unlikely heroes — octogenarian Edie Windsor and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, on their quest for justice. Upon the death of her spouse Thea Spyer, Windsor was forced to pay a huge estate tax bill because the government denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. Windsor became a renowned LGBTQ civil rights advocate when she chose to sue the United States government to recognize her more than 40 year union– and won. Windsor and Kaplan’s legal and personal journeys go beyond the story of this pivotal case in the marriage equality movement as Zaccaro tells the story of our journey as a culture, and as a country that promises its citizens equal rights for all. “To A More Perfect Union: U.S. V. Windsor” Director/Producer Donna Zaccaro is the Founder & President of Ferrodonna Features Inc., a non-profit film production company with a mission of producing films about women, women’s issues, and social justice issues. Previously, Zaccaro Directed/Produced “Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way,” the critically acclaimed documentary about the trailblazer who made history as the first woman to run for national office on a major party ticket, which debuted on Showtime. Prior to founding her media production company, Zaccaro was an award-winning producer for the “Today” show at NBC News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W4CfhlA_6c
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