Jairus McLeary and Blanketfort Media’s The Work, winner of the 2017 SXSW Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary will be released in Fall 2017 by The Orchard.
Co-directed by Gethin Aldous, The Work is an immersive film shot entirely inside Folsom Prison where convicts and civilian volunteers run a one a kind social justice program. Offering a powerful and rare look past the cinder block walls, steel doors and dehumanizing tropes in our culture, The Work reveals a movement of change and redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.
Producers are Alice Henty, Jairus McLeary, Eon McLeary, Miles McLeary and Angela Sostre and executive producers are James McLeary, Rob Allbee and Aldous.
Jairus McLeary is a court videographer and filmmaker. The Work is his first documentary. He spent several years gaining the trust of the convicts and prison administration in order to film. Gethin Aldous directs motion capture for a major video gaming company. After his own experience at Folsom he joined forces with Jairus. This is his second documentary feature.
Documentary
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SXSW Award Winning Documentary THE WORK to Be Released in The Fall
Jairus McLeary and Blanketfort Media’s The Work, winner of the 2017 SXSW Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary will be released in Fall 2017 by The Orchard.
Co-directed by Gethin Aldous, The Work is an immersive film shot entirely inside Folsom Prison where convicts and civilian volunteers run a one a kind social justice program. Offering a powerful and rare look past the cinder block walls, steel doors and dehumanizing tropes in our culture, The Work reveals a movement of change and redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.
Producers are Alice Henty, Jairus McLeary, Eon McLeary, Miles McLeary and Angela Sostre and executive producers are James McLeary, Rob Allbee and Aldous.
Jairus McLeary is a court videographer and filmmaker. The Work is his first documentary. He spent several years gaining the trust of the convicts and prison administration in order to film. Gethin Aldous directs motion capture for a major video gaming company. After his own experience at Folsom he joined forces with Jairus. This is his second documentary feature.
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Tribeca 2017: Watch Trailer for I AM HEATH LEDGER Documentary
Here is the trailer for the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, released to coincide with the late actor’s 38th birthday. Ledger died from an accidental mixture of prescription drugs in 2008. The documentary directed by Derik Murray, and Adrian Buitenhuis will world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, and released in theaters on May 3.
Following its cinema debut, Spike TV will show an edited version of the documentary on May 17.
The new feature-length documentary celebrating the life and work of the late actor Heath Ledger brings a new understanding of the man behind his public image. Ledger was one of the most gifted Hollywood talents in a generation, who appeared in a string of seminal films including the culturally defining “Brokeback Mountain,” and in “The Dark Knight,” for which he won a posthumous Academy Award®.
Heath Ledger was a versatile artist whose talents spanned a broad array of mediums, including a love for photography, music and directing. He often rejected the trappings of Hollywood, instead creating an environment for himself which fostered his own passions and those of his friends and family. “I Am Heath Ledger” illustrates Ledger’s artistic output through both clips of his iconic film performances, as well as through the images he captured as a photographer and videographer. Extravagant in gesture and in action, it was this energy and unshakable willingness to take risks that instilled such a deep love and affection in those people closest to him.
“I Am Heath Ledger” provides an intimate look at Heath through the lens of his own camera, with a treasure trove of never-before-seen footage, as he films and often performs in his own personal journey – extravagant in gesture and in action. Through these personal home movies, we get a rare glimpse into his true character – demonstrating his creative energy and unshakable willingness to take risks that instilled such an extraordinarily deep love and affection in the people that entered his life. From his earliest performances to his iconic Academy-Award(R) winning performance as The Joker in „The Dark Knight,” the film truly speaks to his profound talent as an actor. The documentary goes behind-the scenes of the shooting of „The Dark Knight,” as Heath morphed into the psychotic criminal-mastermind that will live in cinematic lore forever.
The film features interviews from those who knew Heath best, including close friends, family members, and industry peers, such as actors Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, and Emile Hirsch, directors Ang Lee and Catherine Hardwicke, musicians Ben Harper, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), N’fa, and Grace Woodroofe, and the Ledger family. „I Am Heath Ledger” recounts his fabled rise to the pinnacle of the Hollywood dream and the indelible mark he left. Not only did he cut a path for himself, but Heath often championed other talents and artists whose voices he thought deserved to be heard. The documentary also showcases his most memorable moments on screen from his beginnings in Australia to the heights of his Hollywood achievements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bbHxWwRzPY
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Julie Perini Wins 2017 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship to Fund ‘The Story of Butch Lesbian Freedom Fighter rita bo brown’
Julie Perini has been selected by The Northwest Film Center, Oregon Arts Commission, and Portland Film Office as the winner of the 2017 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship (OMAF).
Julie Perini is a Portland-based media who works in experimental and documentary film and video, installations, and live events. Originally from Poughkeepie, NY, she has been exploring her immediate surroundings with cameras since age 15 when she discovered a VHS camcorder in her parent’s suburban home. Perini’s work often explores the areas between fact and fiction, the staged and improvised, and the personal and political, often in response to social movements happening locally and globally. Perini’s work has exhibited and screened internationally at such venues as the Centre Pompidou-Metz (France), Artists’ Television Access (San Francisco), Visible Evidence XX (Stockholm), The Horse Hospital (London), Cornell Cinema (Ithaca, NY), Microscope Gallery (New York City), among others. She has been awarded artist residencies at Yaddo, Signal Fire, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and Djerassi Resident Artists Program and is currently employed as an Associate Professor in the School of Art + Design at Portland State University. She has received grants and fellowships in support of her work from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, The Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission, and The Precipice Fund.
The $5,500 Fellowship award will go towards funding The Gentleman Bank Robber: The Story of Butch Lesbian Freedom Fighter rita bo brown, a feature-length documentary that tells the story of bo brown, a white working-class butch from Klamath Falls, Oregon who was a member of the revolutionary George Jackson Brigade, an underground, militant revolutionary prison abolitionist group based in Seattle, Washington in the 1970s. As a member of the George Jackson Brigade, bo became known as “The Gentleman Bank Robber” for combing her butch style of dress with a polite way of demanding funds from bank tellers, one of the ways the Brigade funded its militant activities to protest military aggression, injustice, and exploitation.
The Oregon Media Arts Fellowship supports filmmakers who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the media arts. Jurors reviewed 42 submissions from applicants throughout the state, weighing artistic merit, the potential of the proposed activity to advance the artist’s work, and the feasibility of the projects proposed. The Fellowship is funded by the Oregon Arts Commission and the Portland Film Office and administered by Northwest Film.
The application deadline for the 2018 Oregon Media Arts Fellowships is January 1, 2018
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Poster + Watch Trailer for French Actress Mélanie Laurent Award-Winning Environmental Documentary TOMORROW
Here is the poster and official trailer for Popular French actress Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) and activist Cyril Dion’s César Award-winning environmentally-themed documentary Tomorrow (Demain). The documentary film which won the awards for Best Documentary Feature -César Awards 2016, and Best Documentary- COLCOA French Film Festival (Los Angeles), will open theatrically in San Francisco on April 14 and then in New York, Los Angeles and other markets on April 21 – to coincide with Earth Day celebrations on April 22.
In 2012, “Nature” published a study led by more than 20 researchers from the top scientific institutions in the world predicting that humankind could disappear between 2040 and 2100. It also said that it could be avoided by drastically changing our way of life and take appropriate measures.
Shortly after giving birth to her first child, French actress and director Mélanie Laurent became increasingly aware of the dangers and the state of urgency that her son will face in the future. Along with friend and activist Cyril Dion and their crew, she decided to travel the world in search of solutions that can help save the next generations. The result is Tomorrow, an inspiring documentary that presents concrete solutions implemented throughout the world by hundred of communities.
From the US to the UK and through Finland and India, together they traveled to 10 countries to visit permaculture farms, urban agriculture projects and community-owned renewable initiatives to highlight people making a difference in the fields of food, energy, finance, democracy, and education. Their common ideas and examples make Tomorrow one of the most essential and unexpectedly inspirational viewing experiences of our time.
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Watch Exclusive Film Clip + Poster for Climate Change Documentary THE AGE OF CONSEQUENCES
Here is the poster and exclusive video clip from the The Age of Consequences. Described as The Hurt Locker meets An Inconvenient Truth, the film investigates the impacts of climate change on increased resource scarcity, migration, and conflict through the lens of US national security and global stability.
The Age of Consequences directed by Jared P. Scott will be theatrically released in New York and Los Angeles and will be available digitally today, April 4, 2017. The film will also screen for NASA at the AmesResearch Center south of San Francisco on April 20th.
Through unflinching case-study analysis, distinguished admirals, generals and military veterans take us beyond the headlines of the conflict in Syria, the social unrest of the Arab Spring, the rise of radicalized groups like ISIS, and the European refugee crisis – and lay bare how climate change stressors interact with societal tensions, sparking conflict.
Whether a long-term vulnerability or sudden shock, the film unpacks how water and food shortages, drought, extreme weather, and sea-level rise function as ‘accelerants of instability’ and ‘catalysts for conflict’ in volatile regions of the world.
These Pentagon insiders make the compelling case that if we go on with business as usual, the consequences of climate change – waves of refugees, failed states, terrorism – will continue to grow in scale and frequency, with grave implications for peace and security in the 21st century.
The film’s unnerving assessment is by no means reason for fatalism – but instead a call to action to rethink how we use and produce energy.
As in any military defense and security strategy, time is our most precious resource.
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‘8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS’ and ‘SWEETHEART DEAL’ Win True Productions + SIFF Documentary Filmmakers Grants
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Sham, Yaman and Lulu in Lesbos, Greece, September 2015 (Amanda Bailly) (8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS – Amanda Bailly)[/caption]
Amanda Bailly’s film 8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS and co-directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s film SWEETHEART DEAL have been awarded filmmaking grants in the 2016 True Productions + SIFF $50,000 Documentary Filmmakers Grant program.
True Productions founder Dwayne Clark, and his wife Terese Clark, have generously pledged to underwrite an annual $50,0000 grant for three years, this being the second year. “We are committed to producing true stories and both these documentaries touch our hearts. Both my wife and I are children of immigrants and we understand the plight of the immigrant. But we are especially touched by those seeking refuge from violence. In addition, when it comes to the topic of heroin addiction, we see Seattle and nearby communities struggling with solutions. We hope by supporting SWEETHEART DEAL, that we can keep the problem top of mind and perhaps spark more conversations around prevention,” said Dwayne Clark.
“I am so grateful to True Productions + SIFF for investing in the story of this single Syrian mother and her children, who had no other option but to travel in a raft across the sea with smugglers,” director Amanda Bailly said. “It is through human stories like this one that I hope our country can understand what it means to close our doors to the millions of people in need of refuge.”
8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS is the story of one woman’s personal revolution in the context of one of the greatest human rights crises of our time. The film weaves between the intimate story of a fierce single mother of two from Syria, and an immersive experience of their eight-day journey to safety.
Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s film SWEETHEART DEAL, produced by Peggy Case, follows the lives of four women whose lives are ruled by heroin, and there is no help in sight – except from a ponytailed eccentric living in a Winnebago parked on Seattle’s notorious Aurora Avenue.
“When Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell made STREETWISE back in 1984, they chose Seattle because it was considered America’s most livable city. They wanted to show that if the issue of homeless kids could be a problem in wholesome Seattle, it had to be a problem everywhere. The same holds true today for heroin addiction,” director Elisa Levine said. “This incredible support from True Productions + SIFF comes at a crucial point in our post-production process. We so look forward to sharing SWEETHEART DEAL with SIFF audiences when it is completed.”
“Continuing with our second consecutive year, we are thrilled to have selected two powerful documentaries for the True Productions + SIFF Documentary Filmmaking Grant,” said Interim Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS and SWEETHEART DEAL have tackled the issues of immigration and heroin addiction with such grace and thoughtfulness, and thanks to the dedication of Dwayne and Teresa Clark and True Productions, both films will be equipped with the necessary tools for launching into the festival and exhibition world.”
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Sundance Award Winning Documentary LAST MEN IN ALEPPO to Be Released in U.S. | Trailer
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Last Men in Aleppo[/caption]
The award-winning documentary film Last Men in Aleppo, directed by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannesen will be released in the U.S. by Grasshopper Film.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize, then went on to screen as the Opening Night selection of CPH:DOX where it won the DOX:AWARD.
After five years of war in Syria, the remaining citizens of Aleppo are getting ready for a siege. From September 2015 to the fall of 2016, the filmmakers follow the volunteers from The White Helmets as they experience the daily life of death and struggle in the streets of the city. They fight for sanity in a place where war has become the norm.
Khalid, Subhi and Mahmoud are among the first to enter the destroyed buildings, scouring through the rubble in search of bodies and signs of life. They now live more or less under siege and constant bombings, together with the remaining 350,000 civilians in Aleppo. They all struggle with the same dilemma: Should they flee and bring their families to safety, or should they stay and fight for their city?
“For six years, I witnessed the ugliest of human brutality; secret prisons, destroyed cities and streets littered with human remains,” said director Feras Fiyyad, “I wanted to find a glimmer of hope and humanity under all this hell. War brings out the worst in human beings, but it also brings out the best in us. The White Helmets are indeed a living example of that, and their voices deserve to be heard.”
“’Last Men in Aleppo’ is bold, courageous, immersive filmmaking,” commented Ryan Krivoshey. “By embedding us among these extraordinary individuals, allowing us to experience their reality, it illuminates in a way that I haven’t seen before a conflict that is reshaping our world. We’re honored to be working with director Feras Fayyad and co-director Steen Johannesen on the release of this film.”
Grasshopper plans to release the film theatrically in May, followed by a non-theatrical and VOD release. The film will have an exclusive New York run starting May 3rd at the Metrograph and May 18 th at Laemmle’s Music Hall in Los Angeles with a nationwide rollout thereafter. The film has also been acquired for US broadcast by POV which will air the film later in the year.
Grasshopper Film is a new distribution company dedicated to the release of acclaimed and award-winning independent cinema. Upcoming releases include Bertrand Bonello’s “Nocturama,” Michael Almereyda’s “Escapes,” Andrew Rossi’s “Bronx Gothic” and Oliver Laxe’s Cannes Critics Week winner “Mimosas.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT6IagQ7xos
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Film Independent Selects 10 Indie Filmmakers for 2017 Documentary Lab + Launches Fiscal Sponsorship Program
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Brooklyn/Alaska, Erica Sterne[/caption]
10 filmmakers and six projects have been selected for Film Independent’s 2017 Documentary Lab. The 2017 Doc Lab is a five-week intensive program designed to support filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentaries.
“We’re thrilled to bring together this group of talented filmmakers for the seventh year of our Documentary Lab and provide them with career support and mentorship that will help elevate their unique visions and fully realize the potential of their stories,” said Kushner.
This year’s Documentary Lab Advisors and Guest Speakers include Jennifer Arnold (Tig, A Small Act); Nels Bangerter (Editor, Cameraperson); Peter Broderick (President, Paradigm Consulting); Greg Finton (Editor, He Named Me Malala); Keith Fulton (The Bad Kids); Simon Kilmurry (Executive Director, International Documentary Association); Peter Nicks (The Force); Lou Pepe (The Bad Kids); and Chris Perez (Partner, Donaldson + Callif LLP).
The organization also launched its new Fiscal Sponsorship Program, open to all types of eligible projects at every stage including documentary and fiction films and interactive media. Fiscal sponsorship is a legal arrangement between a 501(c)3 and an independent artist that gives them the eligibility to apply for grants and solicit tax-deductible donations for their project.
“In response to what our members have told us they need, we’re happy to deepen our support by offering Fiscal Sponsorship, helping filmmakers gain access to new sources of project funding,” said Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development.
The 2017 Documentary Lab projects and Fellows are:
Brooklyn/Alaska, Erica Sterne – director/producer
Teenage boys from tough Brooklyn neighborhoods discover the natural world on an unlikely adventure through the remote Alaskan wilderness and are transformed by the physical and emotional challenges encountered along the way.
Minding the Gap, Bing Liu – director/producer, Diane Quon – producer
Bing, a 25-year-old Chinese-American skateboarder and filmmaker, returns to his hometown and reconnects with two skateboarders: Keire, an African-American 17-year-old and Zack, a white 23-year-old, who all share a history of childhood trauma. Over the next three years, their freewheeling lives unravel as they figure out who they hope to be.
Shadow of His Wings, Lucas Habte – director/producer, Isidore Bethel – producer/editor
Hoping to understand his Ethiopian father’s history of forced migration, an American filmmaker moves to Addis Ababa and falls in love with a young man who soon must flee homophobic death threats at home to become France’s first LGBT refugee from Ethiopia.
A Taste of Sky, Michael Lei – director/producer
In the dizzying heights of Bolivia’s capital of La Paz a gastronomical revolution is offering the possibility of hope to the country’s impoverished youth. We follow the trials and tribulations of GUSTU, the innovative cooking school and world-class restaurant of South America’s poorest country.
A Woman’s Work, Yu Gu – director, Elizabeth Ai – producer
Football and feminism collide in this feature documentary that follows three former NFL cheerleaders as they battle against their former teams and the NFL to reverse 50 years of illegal employment practices.
Waiting for Kate…(female is not a genre) Amy Goldstein – director/producer, Anouchka van Riel –producer
Waiting for Kate…(female is not a genre) takes us on the roller coaster of contemporary pop stardom, with an unprecedented inside look at the euphoric highs and destructive lows on the cutting edge of today’s music industry.
image via Brooklyn/Alaska, Erica Sterne
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Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia is “A Fascinating Portrait of a Nation Struggling to Come to Terms with its Past”
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Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia[/caption]
Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia is a fascinating portrait of a growing nation struggling to come to terms with its past. The follows the people of Cambodia as they fight to recover their culture and history in the wake of the Khmer Rouge genocide (1975-1979).
The documentary film includes an unprecedented appearance by Cambodia’s Strongman/Prime Minister Hun Sen, who seems to align himself here with President Trump.
Directed by Robert H Lieberman, Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia will open on May 5th, 2017 in New York at Landmarks Sunshine Cinema and in DC at the E Street Theater, in LA on May 12th at Laemmle’s Monica Theater and at Playhouse 7 in Pasadena and Claremont 5. Additional cities to follow
“Angkor Awakens” is a sweeping and eye-opening portrait of a nation now poised at the tipping point. The film documents the process and collective efforts of the Khmer people as they work to recover their culture and history in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime. It views the present through the lens of the country’s tangled history. Though the legacy of past violence and present-day repression lives on, it is counterbalanced by the hope and aspirations of the new generation of Cambodians.
Built around intimate interviews and stunning footage of the country, this is the film for anyone desiring to learn more about one of Asia’s youngest populations as it seeks to leave behind its brutal past.
“”Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia” is directed by Robert H. Lieberman, a best-selling novelist, award winning filmmaker and long-time member of Cornell University Physics faculty. It is Lieberman’s background as a child of the holocaust that has led him to explore the effects of the genocide on the mentality of today’s young Cambodian.
The film opens with a rush of motion, the camera speeding up a flight of stairs with increasing momentum, panning out to reveal lush hills, stone steps and a vibrant earth that stretches on and on. Ambient music fills the theatre; the screen slips to a red backdrop, with the shadows of traditional dancers gliding about; a voiceover extracted from one of the many interviews speaks, introducing us to an eighty-minute documentary probe into Cambodia.
Following independence from France, the Cambodia of the ’60s and ’70s was sucked into the Cold War when its neighbor Vietnam fell into civil chaos, despite efforts to stay neutral. What eventually emerged from the din and struggle for national survival was the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge, an extremist Communist group led by Pol Pot, which proceeded to commit one of the worst mass killings of the 20th century, claiming up to an estimated two million lives. Angkor Awakens is a poignant, revealing documentary in how it chooses to look at this highly volatile and violent time.” – Cornell Daily Sun
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ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL Spotlighting Voices on Both Sides of The Polarizing Issue, will Debut April 3 on HBO | Trailer
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ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL[/caption]
ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL, a documentary film that presents a candid dialogue about one of the most divisive and timely issues facing America today, will debut Monday, April 3 on HBO.
Although 44 years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade recognized a woman’s right to choose, abortion remains one of the most polarizing issues in America. Since 2011, more than half of the states have imposed significant restrictions on abortion, including in Missouri, where only one abortion clinic remains open in the entire state, and patients and their doctors must navigate a 72-hour waiting period.
ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL offers an intimate window into the lives of women living in Missouri. Tracy Droz Tragos (winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary for “Rich Hill”), a native of the state, sheds new light on the issue, focusing not on the debate, which is typically dominated by legislators and advocates, but on women’s personal stories. Presenting a candid dialogue about one of the most divisive and timely issues facing America today, the film debuts MONDAY, APRIL 3 (8:00-9:35 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO.
Wherever they stand the issue, the women in the film base their choices on individual circumstances and beliefs. ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL underscores their strength and capacity to overcome and persevere through complicated and unexpected circumstances.
As a result of the state’s restrictions and the availability of just one operating clinic, many women in Missouri travel across the state line, to Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Ill., just 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis, but more than 100 miles from rural Missouri. Drawing on access to the clinic, the film features interviews with a range of women of all ages, backgrounds and faiths, as well as doctors, nurses and staff who face protestors on a daily basis, and activists on both sides, hoping to sway decisions and lives.
The film provides a balanced looks at abortion through women’s own words and experiences. Among the subjects:
Amie, a 30-year-old single mom who splits custody of her two children with her ex and works 70 hours a week as a waitress and bartender to make ends meet. She drives 400 miles round-trip to get to Hope Clinic, where she’s given a prescription for an abortion pill. Crying, Amie thinks of her kids and says, “I’m not just doing this for me.”
Chi Chi, a guard at Hope Clinic, who shields women daily from the anti-choice protesters in the clinic’s parking lot. Challenging a particularly vocal protestor, Chi Chi demands, “Are you gonna take care of these babies?” Reflecting on her own abortion years ago – her son was only six months old at the time – Chi Chi says it was the right decision because she didn’t want to end up on public assistance.
Erin, a doctor at Hope Clinic who says she had no problems when she worked at Planned Parenthood in Chicago, but has had protestors show up at her house since moving to the St. Louis area. “They identified me as an abortion provider, where I just think of myself as a gynecologist,” she says. When she feels worn down, Erin looks at a book with messages left by clinic patients, but warns that access to abortion keeps shrinking.
Kathy, a pro-life activist, who says that her dad once told her that she was almost aborted, and that she always felt “a kinship with the baby in the womb.” Kathy hosts a local event featuring Susan, a prominent pro-life speaker who has had three abortions and sees herself as protecting women from the shame and guilt that she felt.
Chelsea, a young woman who learned that her baby had a genetic defect and would not survive past birth. She and her husband consulted their pastor, who they say was supportive of their decision to terminate. As Christians, the couple says it was a tough choice, but knowing that they are not alone is the reason they want to share their story.
Reagan, an anti-abortion activist for Students for Life of America. Reagan says there’s a stereotype of pro-life people as old men and women holding up graphic signs of aborted fetuses, but insists that is changing. She and other members of her group hand out anti-Planned Parenthood information on campus, and are challenged by a pro-choice student, who points out that Planned Parenthood provides many other services for women besides abortion.
Te’Aundra, a young mother who was set to go to college on a basketball scholarship when she got pregnant. She wanted to give the baby up for adoption, but the father disagreed, though he didn’t want to be involved in raising the child. With a baby daughter now in her care and her college dreams dashed, Te’Aundra says, “I’d hate to say… I probably would have just had an abortion and just been on my way.”
Interspersed throughout the film are short stories of women who have had an abortion in the recent or distant past. A few regret the decision, while others say they would not be where they are now if they hadn’t made that choice.
The documentary had its world premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X94ZaE7pso
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Restored Version of Marcel Ophuls’ THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE to Air April 24, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on HBO
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Marcel Ophuls’ THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE[/caption]
Following the film’s restoration by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, the newly restored version of Oscar(R)-winner Marcel Ophüls’ 1976 documentary THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE will be debut on HBO2 on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Monday, April 24. The rarely seen epic was presented at the Berlin, Toronto and New York film festivals in 2015.
THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE explores the relationship between individual and collective responsibility, as Ophüls investigates then-recent alleged war crimes committed by France in Algeria and by the U.S. in Vietnam in light of atrocities committed by the Nazis. The director was inspired by the 1970 book “Nuremberg and Vietnam: An American Tragedy,” by Telford Taylor, a counsel for the prosecution at the Nuremberg trials, who became a harsh critic of America’s escalating involvement in Vietnam.
Filmed 30 years after the end of World War II and the Nuremberg trials, the film draws on the unique perspectives of those who lived through the conflict and those who came of age afterward. THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE features rare archival footage and interviews with both victims and architects of atrocities, raising essential questions about the moral choices made by individuals and governments in the latter half of the 20th century that are equally relevant today.
“It seems to me that THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE, which flopped pretty badly when it first came out, is the best work I ever did in my life, or at any rate the most personal and the most sincere of my films,” says Marcel Ophüls. “Now, thanks to Martin Scorsese and The Film Foundation, and with the help of my favorite studio, my favorite child has been put back into circulation as an adult. Needless to say, I’m immensely grateful!”
“THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE is a monumental documentary achievement; an essential work of historic and intellectual importance,” notes Martin Scorsese, founder and chair of The Film Foundation. “The film was unavailable for decades and, strongly encouraged by my friend Jay Cocks, the Academy and The Film Foundation undertook the nearly ten-year process of restoration. We were incredibly fortunate to have support for this project from Olivia Harrison’s Material World Charitable Foundation and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.”
After years of research, The Film Foundation and the Academy Film Archive discovered an original, unlabeled, 16mm camera negative of THE MEMORY OF JUSTICE in a studio vault, and worked closely with Ophüls and producer Hamilton Fish on its restoration. Newly discovered original recordings of Ophüls’ interviews with French and German speaking interview subjects were restored and substituted for the existing English-language voiceover tracks. New subtitles in English, French and German were created for the restoration so that the participants’ own voices can now be heard, along with Ophüls’ questions.
The original film screened at the 1976 Cannes and New York Film Festivals, and was hailed by Vincent Canby as “a standard against which all other non-fiction cinema must be measured.”
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HBO Likes Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio’s Documentary on Avett Brothers’ Band
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MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS[/caption]
HBO quickly snapped up the documentary MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS, co-directed and produced by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, ahead of its March 15 world premiere in the 24 Beats Per Second section of the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival. The documentary is expected to air on HBO later this year.
Filmed with extraordinary access over the course of more than two years, MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS chronicles the band, fronted by brothers Scott and Seth Avett, on the long journey from their rural North Carolina childhoods to topping the charts and selling out arenas, experiencing heartbreak, tragedy and joy along the way. The film also provides an inside look at their collaboration with legendary producer Rick Rubin while recording the 2017 Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness,” which was released on American Recordings/Republic Records.
With the recording process as the backdrop, MAY IT LAST intimately depicts the deeply personal, lifelong bond between brothers, and shows how that dynamic helps shape their creative process as musicians and songwriters.
“This film has been a true labor of love for us for more than three years now, and we could not be happier that HBO – with their incredible lineage of documentary programming – believes in it as much as we do,” say Apatow and Bonfiglio.
“The accuracy with which Apatow and Bonfiglio present this moment in our lives and process is stunning,” says Seth Avett. “From the vantage point of my brother and I, the film is almost surreal in its level of personal truth-telling.”
Featuring a wealth of exclusive footage of the Avetts in the studio and at home, never-before-seen family photographs, concert footage and revealing interviews with band members Scott (banjo, lead vocals) and Seth (guitar, lead vocals) Avett, Bob Crawford (bass), Joe Kwon (cello), Tania Elizabeth (fiddle), Paul DeFiglia (keyboards) and Mike Marsh (drums), as well as producer Rick Rubin and intimate family and friends, the film takes an in-depth look at the personal and creative relationship between the brothers that helps define America’s biggest roots band.
Apatow and Bonfiglio previously co-directed the ESPN documentary “Doc & Darryl” as part of the network’s “30 for 30” series, which was Apatow’s first foray into the documentary world.