Documentary
Husband and wife filmmaking team Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to self-fund the UK cinema release this summer of their documentary THE MOO MAN, a surprise hit at film festivals including this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah and London. The Moo Man will also be playing at the Sheffield Doc/Fest on 12, 15 and 16 June.
The hip hop history documentary film “I WANT MY NAME BACK” starring Master Gee & Wonder Mike of The Sugarhill Gang, the rap group behind the mega-hit “Rapper’s Delight,” will be released on DVD and digital platforms on June 11, 2013.
MUSICWOOD, a feature documentary including special performances and interviews with Yo La Tengo, Steve Earle, The Antlers, Kaki King and Lambchop, will screen at music festivals across the US in advance of the film’s theatrical release. The tour kicks off at Bonnaroo on June 15 before travelling to Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival and Newport Folk Festival, with additional dates to be added. MUSICWOOD opens in Portland, Oregon on August 9 and Juneau, Alaska on August 23.
The documentary DESERT RUNNERS will have its world premiere at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jennifer Steinman (Motherland), Desert Runners follows a diverse cast of non-professional runners as they attempt to complete the four most difficult ultramarathon races on Earth.
Magnolia Pictures released a new trailer for the killer whale documentary “BLACKFISH” set to be released July 26, 2013. CNN is expected to air the documentary sometime in the Fall 2013. BLACKFISH tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity including the much publicized incident involving Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old female trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the muli-billion dollar sea-park industry.
Matthew Cooke’s documentary, HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS has a release date. The film produced by Bert Marcus and Adrian Grenier. Adrian, Matthew, Bert, Neil Franklin and Barry Cooper; and featuring Russell Simmons, Susan Sarandon, David Simon (creator of “The Wire”), Bobby Carlton, Brian O’Dea, Freeway Rick Ross, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will open in NYC at the IFC CENTER on June 26, with other cities to follow.
NICKY’S FAMILY, the award-winning documentary film directed by Matej Minac, will open in New York at the Quad Cinema, JCC Manhattan, Kew Gardens and Malverne; and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal, Town Center and Playhouse 7 in Pasadena on July 19, 2013. A national release is expected to follow.
“DOWNLOADED,” Alex Winter’s documentary about the rise and fall of Napster, will open in New York City on June 21 and Los Angeles on June 28, and will then expand to Albuquerque, Austin, Chicago, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Martha’s Vineyard, San Francisco and Seattle, among other cities.
Douglas Tirola’s documentary HEY BARTENDER, which had it’s world premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, will begin it’s theatrical run on June 7, 2013 in New York City at the Village East Cinema.
Phase 4 Films is planning an early Winter 2013 theatrical release in the US for Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker’s documentary “THE CRASH REEL” which premiered earlier this year at 203 Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary, FREE CHINA: THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE, directed by Michael Perlman (Tibet: Beyond Fear), in which survivors of Chinese forced labor prisons share their stories, opens in LA on May 31 and New York City on June 7. The film will also be released online on June 4th, which marks the historic anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana will launch the 2013 Big Sky Film Series with AIN’T IN IT FOR MY HEALTH, director Jacob Hatley’s moving portrait of Levon Helm, the legendary drummer and vocalist for The Band. Hatley and his crew spent nearly three years with Helm at his studio in Woodstock, NY, as Helm miraculously rediscovered his voice after throat-cancer treatment and recorded three Grammy-winning albums before eventually succumbing to the disease last year.