Documentary

“Noma: My Perfect Storm” Documentary on World’s Best Restaurant to Premiere at DOC NYC and Opens in Theaters on Dec. 18

“Noma: My Perfect Storm,” the documentary on the World’s Best Restaurant will have its North American premiere at 2015 DOC NYC before being released in theaters, On Demand and on iTunes on Dec. 18 via Magnolia Pictures. The documentary directed by Pierre Deschamps, follows celebrated chef Rene Redzepi against the backdrop of his Copenhagen-based restaurant called Noma,which was voted The World’s Best Restaurant in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Inspired by two books written by celebrated chef René Redzepi, the film follows him on a culinary journey as he travels to find inspiration for creating novel dishes for travelers from around the world. Noma: My Perfect Storm is a creative journey into the mind of René Redzepi. How did he manage to revolutionize the entire world of gastronomy, inventing the alphabet and vocabulary that would infuse newfound pedigree to Nordic cuisine and establish a new edible world while radically changing the image of the modern chef? His story has the feel of a classic fairy tale: the ugly duckling transformed into a majestic swan, who now reigns over the realm of modern gourmet cuisine. But beneath the polished surface, cracks appear in the form of old wounds. 2013 stands as the worst year in René Redzepi’s career. We follow him as he fights his way back to the top, reinventing NOMA and reclaiming the title of best restaurant in the world in 2014 for the fourth time. https://vimeo.com/139779858
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DADDY DON’T GO, Executive Produced by Omar Epps & Malik Yoba, to Premiere at 2015 DOCNYC

DADDY DON’T GO directed by Emily Abt, and Executive Produced by Omar Epps (Resurrection) & Malik Yoba (Empire) will premiere at the 2015 DOC NYC on November 14th. “Daddy Don’t Go” captures two years in the lives of four disadvantaged fathers in New York City as they fight to defy the odds against them.

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Cancer Documentary, THE C WORD, Narrated by Morgan Freeman to Premiere at DOC NYC | TRAILER

The documentary, THE C WORD, which takes on the institutions preventing meaningful progress in the ways we currently treat cancer, will have its NYC premiere at DOC NYC on Sunday, November 15, 2015. Directed by cancer survivor Meghan O’Hara (producer of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine and Sicko) and narrated by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, THE C WORD mixes the personal stories of Meghan and celebrated neurosurgeon and cancer revolutionary Dr. David Servan-Schreiber with an in-depth exploration of the systemic societal failings that predispose Americans to cancer, and follows a vibrant cast of characters who are changing the game. From executive producer Morgan Freeman comes THE C WORD, a bold new film that will forever change the way we view cancer. At its heart are powerful twin narratives: one from  celebrated French neuroscientist and cancer revolutionary Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, the other from THE C WORD’s own director, Meghan  L. O’Hara. After braving the journey from diagnosis to  wellness, Meghan and David join forces to expose systematic failings in our society, which reinforce the bad habits that predispose us to disease. Together, they lead us on a wild ride of discovery, which reveals crucial hidden scientific evidence, exposes the absurdity of the status quo, and follows a vibrant cast of characters who are changing the game. Despite decades of drug development and treatment innovations, the rise of cancer is outpacing our ability to fight back. Billions of dollars have been put into the elusive search for “the cure”, but today each of us has a one in two chance of being diagnosed at some point in our life. Until recently, we thought that cancer was only due to a genetic predisposition, or to an unlucky draw. THE C WORD irrevocably establishes the connection between the current cancer epidemic and our western lifestyle from a scientific, documented and optimistic point of view. The latest research findings clearly show that up to 70% of cancer deaths are linked to our daily behaviors: smoking, a diet of processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle, excessive stress, and a continued exposure to daily contaminants. Catalytic in its revelations, THE C WORD is also an indictment of a trillion-dollar processed food industry that thrives while we get sick and relies on an economic model that chooses profit over people, leaving us undernourished and overweight, especially in our underserved communities. THE C WORD delivers a message of hope. It urges us to stop being afraid and gives us the tools to take immediate action to reclaim our health and improve our outcomes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g4gx_dnLUc
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Observational Doc SCHOOL OF BABEL, Follows Newly Immigrant Teens Entering French Educational System

School of Babel (La Cour de Babel), Julie Bertuccelli’s observational documentary follows a group of newly arrived immigrant teens as they begin their studies at La Grange-aux-Belles secondary school in Paris and prepare for entry into the French educational system. At the center of this dramatic transition is teacher Brigitte Cervoni, a wise and patient woman charged with guiding a diverse class of 11- to 15-year-olds hailing from countries including Tunisia, Ireland, Senegal, China, Serbia and Brazil. Part psychologist and part surrogate mother, Cervoni helps her students cope with problems ranging from homesickness to emotional trauma while instilling in her students a sense of self-worth and mutual respect. As the teens adjust—and some begin to blossom—the results are illuminating, moving and exhilarating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4yHTfbYaEI School of Babel is screening as part of the Northwest Film Center’s Global Classroom program, which presents new international cinema for high-school students throughout the Portland, Oregon, metro area.
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Human Rights Documentary “The Man Who Mends Women” Opens ADIFF 2015 | TRAILER

Human Rights documentary The Man Who Mends Women will have its US Premiere on November 27 at the Opening Night of the 23rd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival. Presented by US distributor ArtMattan Films, THE MAN WHO MENDS WOMEN is the portrait of the impressive life and work of internationally renowned gynecologist Dr. Denis Mukwege from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He received the 2014 prestigious Sacharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, for his struggle against sexual violence. Dr. Mukwege medically assisted over 40,000 sexually abused women in sixteen years of professional practice. Sexual violence against women has been used as a weapon of war for years in the violence-ridden and poverty-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo. In order to provide medical, psychological and emotional aid to the victims, Dr. Mukwege founded the Panzi hospital in Bukavu in 1999. Besides his work as a physician Dr. Mukwege also defends human rights and seeks to raise global awareness on the issue of sexual violence in his country. He condemns the political reluctance to tackle the problem and is not afraid to hit the nail on the head. His work is not without danger, as Dr. Mukwege experienced in 2012, when armed men entered his home and started shooting. Dr. Mukwege and his family survived the attack, but his guard was killed. The doctor now lives cloistered in his hospital in Bukavu under the protection of the United Nation peacekeepers. The women, whose physical and emotional integrity and dignity have been restored, stand beside him, true activists for peace, and hungry for justice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU62X6iV1ZI The 23rd African Diaspora Film Festival is to be held in Manhattan, New York City from November 27 to December 13 at MIST Harlem, Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas and Teachers College, Columbia University with the presentation of more than 50 films, including 26 US and NY Premieres.
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Kelly Ripa Produced “American Cheerleader” Documentary In U.S. Theaters Nov. 5 & 8

The documentary, “American Cheerleader,” will screen in more than 400 movie theaters across the U.S. on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 8 at 12:55 p.m. “American Cheerleader” screened at several national film festivals last year, including the Louisville Film Festival where it won the Audience Favorite Award. The film offers unprecedented access and follows the journey of two high school cheerleading teams vying for the National High School Cheerleading Championship title. After months of hard work and preparation, cheerleaders from Southwestern High School in Somerset, Kentucky, and Burlington Township High School in Burlington, New Jersey, advance through regionals and earn a place in the Championship Finals to compete for the coveted white jacket – the prestigious symbol of tireless dedication in high school competitive cheerleading. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZIyfyf7qg “American Cheerleader” is directed by filmmakers James Pellerito and David Barba of Retribution Media, and produced by Milojo Productions, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ production company. The film is being released by Varsity Spirit, in partnership with Fathom Events. Now in its 35th year, the National High School Cheerleading Championship is a two-day event held at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando. The event hosts more than 600 teams from 38 states that are judged on crowd-leading abilities, stunting and tumbling skills, and overall performance. The competition also hosts more than 50,000 spectators each year and is televised worldwide on ESPN and ESPN2 to more than 100 million homes in 32 countries.
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Wildlife Documentary HUNTWATCH to World Premiere at 2015 DOC NYC | TRAILER

Actor Ryan Reynolds has lent his voice to the wildlife documentary Huntwatch, that follows the 50 year battle for baby seals on the ice floes of Canada, and making its world premiere at 2015 DOC NYC. The sound of newborn seals on pristine white ice is shattered by helicopter blades thumping overhead, gunshots, cameras snapping and the smell of boat diesel. The stakes are high for both the hunters and the watchers – get the shot and get out. One leaves with fur pelts, the other evocative images. This is Huntwatch. “The Canadian seal hunt is a very intense and complicated issue,” said Huntwatch director Brant Backlund. “From the get-go, my goal was to tell an honest story bringing both sides of this conflict to life. We were really excited to have Ryan Reynolds on board because as a Canadian he brings an authentic voice to the film.” Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Mississippi Grind) calls Huntwatch “incredible, thoughtful and moving” in a behind the scenes video scheduled to be released soon. The movie is a window into the ongoing saga that unfolds each year. Using the power of cinematography, Huntwatch exposes the cruelty of the ongoing hunt while bringing the audience close to the seals in their natural environment. https://vimeo.com/136225719
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Kim Beamish “Tentmakers of Cairo” and Iiris Harma “Leaving Africa: A Story of Friendship and Empowerment” Win 2015 Margaret Meade Filmmaker Award

For the first time in the festival’s history, two filmmakers Kim Beamish for “Tentmakers of Cairo” and Iiris Harma for “Leaving Africa: A Story of Friendship and Empowerment” are winners of the 2015 Margaret Meade Filmmaker Award. The award honors documentary filmmakers who have made films that present a new perspective on a foreign nation or culture. A documentary filmed over three years, “Tentmakers of Cairo” tells the story of Egypt’s struggle with democracy through the lives of a community of artisans whose craft has remained largely unchanged since Pharaonic times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve_L_0JYHvE In “Leaving Africa: A Story of Friendship and Empowerment” Riitta from Finland and Kata from Uganda, aged 66 and 63 respectively, run sexual health and gender equality education in Uganda. The pair find themselves in a difficult situation however, when an anonymous letter, addressed to the Ugandan parliament, accuses them of organizing workshops that are promoting and recruiting children to homosexuality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2aqqXcZkBk The festival also presented a Special Mention Award to Aldona Watts for her film “Land of Songs.” In a region of Lithuania known as the “Land of Songs,” five charming grandmothers are the bearers of their village’s ancient folk singing tradition. Singing has nourished their lifelong friendships, and helped them to cope with decades of war and occupation. As the village’s youth move away, the grandmothers struggle to keep their songs alive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqFzzfYJDMc
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Documentary IRAQI ODYSSEY, Switzerland’s Oscar Entry for Best Foreign Language Film, Sets Fall Release Date | TRAILER

The documentary Iraqi Odyssey, Switzerland’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film will be released in New York and Los Angeles on November 27 before expanding nationwide in 2016. Typecast Films will release the English-language version of the film in US theaters, but the version that has qualified as the Swiss Oscar entry is in German. While there are no precise statistics, it is estimated that four to five million Iraqis live outside Iraq today. Award-winning filmmaker Samir was born in Baghdad and has lived in Switzerland since he was child, while the members of his extended family are scattered all over the world — Abu Dhabi, Auckland, Sydney, Los Angeles, Buffalo, London, Paris, Zurich, and Moscow — with only a handful remaining in Iraq. Recounting his family’s stories of departures and uprootings, in Iraqi Odyssey Samir also chronicles how Iraqis’ dreams of building a modern and just society after their nation achieved independence in the 1950s were brutally dashed over the course of half a century. Loosely organized in three acts, the film begins with Samir’s grandfather and his role in the struggle against British colonialism. The second act traces the successive waves of emigration as his relatives sought safe havens around the globe to escape from the series of coups and counter-coups in the 1960s and 1970s that resulted in the establishment of Saddam Hussein’s three-decade dictatorship over the country. Saddam’s deposition by the 2003 US invasion, and the iconic image of his statue being toppled in Firdos Square, signals the film’s final act, and the last tale of departure. Weaving together the ironic, wistful, and witty testimonies of Samir’s relatives with rare documents from private and state archives, Ottoman film footage and 3D technology, Iraqi Odyssey is a riveting epic that creates a genuine people’s history of Iraq, at once humble and majestic. Shedding a new light on a grossly misrepresented country, Iraqi Odyssey is the veteran director’s most personal, ambitious, and accomplished feature to date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTs2IMlv7rY
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TRANSFATTY LIVES, Patrick O’Brien’s Battle with ALS, Sets Fall 2015 Release Date

TransFatty Lives, directed by Patrick O’Brien, a DJ and internet personality who goes by ‘TransFatty’, and winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in theaters and On Demand on November 20, 2015 via FilmBuff. Ten years in the making, TransFatty Lives has quietly been amassing 35mm footage in filmmaker Patrick O’Brien’s epic battle with ALS. At 30, Patrick O’Brien was TransFatty, a New York City DJ, internet personality, and filmmaker. He spent his days as a beer-drinking creative force, making art films about perverts, vulnerable souls, and Howard Johnson’s restaurants. Then his legs started shaking. Defying sentimentality, TRANSFATTY LIVES takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from Patrick’s wild, fun-loving days into the dark heart of ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease). Given 2 to 5 years to live, Patrick first loses his ability to walk, then move his arms, then to swallow, and even to breathe. With the support of his bewildered friends and family Patrick braves the unthinkable and turns his camera onto himself. As the director and star of his own documentary, Patrick films every step of his debilitating journey from first diagnosis through his current paralysis. Forcefully lacking self-pity, he captures the emotion, humor, and absurdity of real life as he makes art, gets political, falls in love, fathers a son, and fights extreme depression and paranoia. At 40, Patrick has completed this film by typing directions to his editors with the movements of his pupils. Miraculously, TRANSFATTY LIVES is not a movie about death. Because, while Patrick’s brain stopped being able to control his muscles, it remains brilliantly alive, allowing him to ask: “What if my diminishing physical abilities can be inversely proportional to my journey inward? And, more importantly, “will there be bacon and unicorns once I get there?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqPqbpHageQ
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10 Documentary Shorts on 2015 Oscar’s Shortlist | TRAILERS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 88th Academy Awards® has been narrowed to 10 films, of which five will earn Oscar® nominations. Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 74 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation. The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: “Body Team 12,” RYOT Films and Vulcan Productions (pictured above) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eT2P1TfB8 “Chau, beyond the Lines,” Cynasty Films “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah,” Jet Black Iris America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJPWP3udqE8 “50 Feet from Syria,” Spin Film https://vimeo.com/141567000 “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” SOC Films “Last Day of Freedom,” Living Condition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5diBuNHV75U “Minerita,” Kanaki Films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY5mbbmN0V4 “My Enemy, My Brother,” Fathom Film Group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42YFUwCnWzE “Starting Point,” Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAUTn6q2TVo “The Testimony,” Atria Film in association with Escape Artists The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
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Benjamin Barber to Present Film Program at 2015 IDFA Reflecting on Jihad vs. McWorld

The 1995 book Jihad vs. McWorld by American political theorist Benjamin Barber forms the starting point for the special program Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015 at the upcoming 2015 IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. This year a new 20th anniversary edition of the book will be published with the subtitle ‘ISIS on the Internet’. At IDFA, Benjamin Barber, an internationally renowned political theorist and the author of eighteen books, will present his own selection of documentaries from the IDFA program that engage with many contemporary themes, including global capitalism, terrorism, the politics of fear, refugees, populism and economic inequality. 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA) by Marc Silver A Syrian Love Story (UK) by Sean McAllister Among the Believers (Pakistan/USA/India) by Mohammed Ali Naqvi & Hemal Trivedi At Home in the World (Denmark) by Andreas Koefoed Cartel Land (USA/Mexico) by Matthew Heineman Checks and Balances (France/Algeria) by Malek Bensmaïl The Chinese Mayor (China) by Hao Zhou The Dybbuk: A Tale of Wandering Souls (Poland/Ukraine/Sweden) by Krzysztof Kopczynski For Kibera! (Finland) by Kati Juurus Land Grabbing (Austria) by Kurt Langbein Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (USA) by Alex Gibney This Is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees (England) by Mani Y. Benchelah (pictured above) Ukrainian Sheriffs (Ukraine/Latvia/Germany) by Roman Bondarchuk We Are Not Alone (Spain) by Pere Joan Ventura Welcome to Leith (USA) by Christopher K. Walker & Michael Nichols
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