Documentary

Pan Nalin’s feature documentary FAITH CONNECTIONS which had its World Premiere at the 2014 Toronto FIlm Festival, and the U.S. Premiere scheduled for this week at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, will be released in the U.S. by Kino Lorber. In Faith Connections, filmmaker Pan Nalin travels to Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s most extraordinary religious events. There, he encounters remarkable men of mind and meditation, some facing an inextricable dilemma; to embrace the world or to renounce it. FAITH CONNECTIONS explores such diverse and deeply moving stories as a young runaway kid, a Sadhu, a mother desperately looking for her lost son, a yogi who is raising an abandoned baby, and an ascetic who keeps his calm by smoking cannabis – all connected by one faith against the spectacular display of devotion.

A spectacular exploration of varied paths of devotion that converge at one of the world’s most extraordinary religious events — the Kumbh Mela — Pan Nalin’s thoughtful documentary is a genuinely spiritual journey.Precious few films bring genuine curiosity and reverence to the subject of spirituality. Fewer still approach the subject with anything like the diligence of Faith Connections, a spectacular, openhearted documentary that explores the frontiers of devotion.

Kumbh Mela is a sprawling religious event that occurs once every three years at one of four rotating locations. It is the world’s largest gathering, a destination for some 100 million Hindu pilgrims. Indian director Pan Nalin visited Kumbh Mela and found within that impossible throng of travellers the stories that make up Faith Connections. Nalin’s many subjects include naked holy men, taciturn policemen, desperate pilgrims in search of missing family members, a yogi ascetic who took it upon himself to raise an abandoned baby, and another who explains the usefulness of pot-smoking as a method of renouncing the world. But no single subject is more compelling — and heart-rending — than nine-year-old Kishan Tiwari, a tobacco chewing runaway who sometimes half jokingly claims he wants to grow up to be a Mafia Don. In more serious moments, Kishan says his real ambition is to be a sadhu, or wandering monk.

Nalin complements his collection of personal narratives with images rife with mystery and beauty: portraits of hands and faces, vistas of busy footbridges receding into the hazy distance, and bodies performing seemingly impossible contortions. Faith Connections gives us glimpses of lives lived in pursuit of closer proximity to God — and each of those glimpses is itself a startling vision to behold.  [ via Toronto International Film Festival ]

http://youtu.be/eGKOLvyPl1U

via Screen Daily

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Tom’s Restaurant was the locale that inspired Suzanne Vega’s 1987 song “Tom’s Diner” but it is probably more known for its exterior which became famous worldwide thanks to the popular sitcom Seinfeld,  since Jerry Seinfeld’s and his friends regularly gathered to eat and chat at the diner. However, Tom’s Restaurant is a diner located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Frequented by artists, musicians, comedians, students and faculty of nearby Columbia University, it has been owned and operated by the Greek-American family of Minas Zoulis since the 1940s.

The documentary highlights past and present owners, clientèle and pop culture references. When President Barack Obama was a student at Columbia, he frequently used to eat at Tom’s Restaurant, and Senator John McCain often ate at Tom’s when he visited his daughter Meghan when she was a student at Columbia. 

http://youtu.be/7mphrlxJl5k

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Netflix has released the trailer for the Mitt Romney documentary, “MITT,” scheduled to premiere exclusively online on Friday, January 24, 2014. The Netflix original documentary,  provides an intimate, rarely seen, behind-the-scenes look at a candidate running for the presidency.

From director Greg Whiteley (“New York Doll,” “Resolved”) and executive producer Seth Gordon (“Undefeated,” “The King of Kong”), “Mitt,” which will make its feature debut at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival as the Salt Lake City Gala on Friday, January 17th, follows Romney’s presidential aspirations beginning Christmas 2006 to his initial run to become the Republican nominee in 2008 and through his Presidential concession speech in 2012. Given unprecedented access by Mitt and his family, Whiteley travels alongside the campaign through interactions with potential voters, preparations for the debates, personal moments with his family, and concluding with final presidential election night results.“It feels like a full circle moment to premiere this movie at Sundance,” said filmmaker, Greg Whiteley. “I first met and filmed the Romney family in Park City in 2006 as they gathered to discuss whether Mitt should run for President. Over the next 7 years I couldn’t believe I was filming inside rooms and situations I had no business being in. Now that I’ve finished I couldn’t be more pleased to share this experience with audiences around the world through Netflix.”

http://youtu.be/rLHxbemvpxY

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Netflix has released the trailer for its original documentary, “THE SQUARE,” described as a riveting, deeply human chronicle of the Egyptian protest movement from director/producer Jehane Noujaim (“Control Room”; “Startup.com”; “Rafea: Solar Mama”) and producer Karim Amer (“Rafea: Solar Mama”). THE SQUARE is set to premiere exclusively on Netflix territories on January 17, 2014.

Winner of this year’s Best Documentary Award at 2013 International Documentary Awards, the Best Documentary at the Dubai International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival Documentary People’s Choice Award and the Audience Award at the Montreal International Documentary Festival, “The Square” is an epic documentary that tells the behind-the-headlines story of the Egyptian Revolution through the eyes of young activists who have sought for the last two years to build a better Egypt.  An earlier version of “The Square” won the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film was also an Official Selection at the 2013 New York Film Festival.

The film captures the immediacy and intensity of the protests in Tahrir Square from the 2011 overthrow of military leader Hosni Mubarak through the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in 2013, providing a kaleidoscopic, visceral portrait of the events as they unfold before Magdy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khalid Abdalla, an Egyptian actor who played the lead in “The Kite Runner” and the charismatic Ahmed, whose poetic storytelling carries the narrative. Armed with nothing more than cameras, social media, deep consciousness, and a resolute commitment to change, these young revolutionaries give us a front-line perspective of the ongoing struggle fought with new weapons.

http://youtu.be/6eWBmVprInQ

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Amir Ramses’ award-winning controversial documentary film JEWS OF EGYPT from the 21st Annual New York African Diaspora International Film Festival, will be released in the U.S. by ArtMattan Films.  Banned in Egypt for a year by Egyptian authorities, JEWS OF EGYPT is described as a documentary that captures fragments of the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the twentieth century until their second grand exodus after the tripartite attack of 1956 

With this film, director Amir Ramses attempts to understand the change in the identity of the Egyptian society that turned from a society full of tolerance and acceptance of one another to a rejection of the minorities. 

The film asks the question: “How did the Jews of Egypt turn in the eyes of Egyptians from partners in the same country to enemies?” 

http://youtu.be/cYFwtgeOypQ

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Oprah Winfrey recently held a private LA screening of a documentary she’s executive producing called RUNNING FROM CRAZY, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, American Dream). The film, which goes behind the long history of mental illness and suicide in the famed Hemingway family, is currently in theaters in select cities and will air on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in 2014. 

Hailed as one of the most distinguished families in American literature, the Hemingways have always exposed their brilliance while often living in the shadows of deep emotional struggle. Two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple’s newest documentary focuses on Mariel Hemingway, a granddaughter of the legendary writer Ernest, as she explores her family’s disturbing history of mental illness and suicide. As a child, Mariel grew up on the Hemingway family farm in Idaho, the same place her famous grandfather took his own life months before she was born. The youngest of the three sisters, Mariel followed her older sister Margaux into acting and modeling, while her oldest sister Muffet struggled with mental illness and drifted in and out of mental hospitals. Kopple’s bold film intertwines haunting archival footage of the three Hemingway sisters with scenes from Mariel’s life today as she seeks to live a rigorously healthy lifestyle to combat what appears to be a difficult family birthright. Mariel’s courageous journey of introspection and reflection allows her to view her family that has shaped her life through new eyes and, for the first time, strive for peace and acceptance.

Image: (L-R) Sheri Salata, president of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Harpo Studios; Oprah Winfrey, chairman and CEO of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Harpo Studios; Barbara Kopple, filmmaker and Mariel Hemingway at the LA premiere screening of “Running From Crazy.”

Courtesy: OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

http://youtu.be/kfGYqdTAxEk 

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DOCUMENTED, a feature-length film that explores the life – and journey out of the shadows – led by undocumented immigrant and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas, will premiere on CNN/U.S. in the second quarter of 2014 following its World Premiere at the  2013 International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA) and its theatrical distribution in the United States.  DOCUMENTED is written and directed by Vargas, with technology entrepreneur Sean Parker, Matthew Hiltzik (“Paper Clips”), Scott Budnick (“The Hangover” series), and philanthropist Liz Simons as executive producers.

“Immigration, to me, is not a political issue, it’s not a Latino or Asian issue – it’s an American story,” said writer-director Jose Antonio Vargas.  “The film is in honor of 11 million undocumented immigrants – many of us Americans in all but papers.  And, the film is dedicated to parents everywhere who dream of better futures for their children.  It is a privilege to be associated with CNN Films in bringing DOCUMENTED to television,” Vargas said.

Filmmaker Vargas began working on the documentary shortly before “outing” himself as undocumented in a ground-breaking New York Times Magazine essay, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.”  Vargas then traveled around America, telling his story in solidarity with the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country.  As he connected with his subjects through the similarities of their journeys, particularly those who, like Vargas, came to the United States as children, his personal reflections compelled him to reconnect with his mother, whom he had not seen in 20 years.

In 2008, Vargas was awarded a Pulitzer as part of the team of Washington Post journalists who reported on the 2007 shooting massacre at Virginia Tech University.  His own immigrant journey began at age 12 when he was sent to the United States from the Philippines by his mother to live with his grandparents in Mountain View, Calif.  After attending San Francisco State University, he pursued a print journalism career – landing jobs at newspapers in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC for the Post – all the while, managing to keep his true citizenship status a secret.

“We have followed Jose’s story closely since 2011 and are very pleased we will be able to offer U.S. viewers a window into the experiences of recent immigrants through his story.  Jose also reports this story from a journalist’s point of view – which makes it a great fit for distribution on our network,” said Amy Entelis, senior vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide.

 http://youtu.be/w7F8uw9hw_A

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The basketball documentary LENNY COOKE which World Premiere earlier this year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will open in theaters on December 6th, 2013.   In the documentary, filmmaking brothers Joshua and Benny Safdie take a candid look and track the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only out of reach.

 In 2001, Lenny Cooke was the most hyped high school basketball player in the country, ranked above future greats LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. In an era when high school stars were forgoing college hoops in favor of the potential multi-million dollar contracts promised in the NBA draft, Lenny was supposed to be the next superstar. He had the world at his fingertips. But over a decade later, while his peers are taking home MVP awards and championship trophies, Lenny has never played a minute in the NBA. What went wrong? 

With incredible access to Lenny’s story as it unfolded over the past decade, filmmaking brothers Joshua and Benny Safdie follow Lenny from his run-down home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to the New Jersey suburbs where he spent his high school career through to the present day, with the friends and family who shared in his dreams and aspirations. Lenny Cooke is a quintessentially American story about dreaming big, the fickle nature of sports celebrity and the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only just out of reach.  

LENNY COOKE marks the first feature length documentary by the Safdie brothers, who received the John Cassavetes Award at The Independent Spirit Awards for DADDY LONGLEGS.   DADDY LONGLEGS premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as did their first feature THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED.  

The film was executive produced by two time NCAA champion and Chicago Bull Joakim Noah.

http://youtu.be/ne61w4R20QE

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LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY, the acclaimed documentary about JFK’s presidency which premiered at 2013 AFI DOCS film festival, will air at 9/8c on Sunday, November 17, 2013 on TLC. Directed and written by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bill Couturié, the film features 18 stars, including Anne Hathaway, Bérénice Bejo, Michelle Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Chris Cooper, reading from letters sent to Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the loss of John F. Kennedy. 

LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY is based on the book “Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation” by Ellen Fitzpatrick. For two months after President Kennedy’s assassination, the White House received more than 800,000 letters for the first lady, who lost her husband and the father of her children. In this special two-hour event, selections from this collection are read by celebrities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination. Readers include: Berenice Bejo, Demian Bichir, Jessica Chastain, Chris Cooper, Viola Davis, Zooey Deschanel, Kirsten Dunst, Anne Hathaway, Allison Janney, John Krasinski, Melissa Leo, Laura Linney, Frances McDormand, Chlo Grace Moretz, Mark Ruffalo, Octavia Spencer, Hailee Steinfeld, Channing Tatum, Betty White, Michelle Williams.

http://youtu.be/YYeV-F5IMi8

 images via TLC

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Marc Silver’s documentary “WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?”, winner of 2013 Sundance Film Festival cinematography award and an official selection at 2013 New York Film Festival, will be released in the U.S in Spring 2004 by Kino Lorber.  The body of an unidentified immigrant is found in the Arizona Desert. In an attempt to retrace his path and discover his story, director Marc Silver and Gael Garcia Bernal embed themselves among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border, providing rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Following a team of dedicated staff from the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, director Marc Silver seeks to answer these questions and give this anonymous man an identity. As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal retraces this man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America. In an effort to understand what it must have felt like to make this final journey, he embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border. He experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes and fears. As we travel north, these voices from the other side of the border wall give us a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Who Is Dayani Cristal? tells the story of a migrant who found himself in the deadly stretch of desert known as “the corridor of death” and shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration. As the real-life drama unfolds we see this John Doe, denied an identity at his point of death, become a living and breathing human being with an important life story.

http://youtu.be/RdJQWmvtmqQ

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HERBLOCK: THE BLACK & THE WHITE, directed by Michael Stevens (HBO’s “Thurgood”) will debut Monday, January 27, 2014 on HBO.  The film traces the life of Herbert L. Block, who started cartooning in his teens in Chicago and went on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his 55 years at the Washington Post.

“Michael and I are happy that this film has found a home at HBO, where Herblock’s remarkable story will be presented to a new generation of viewers,” says George Stevens.

“This is the story of a courageous journalist who stood ready to take on the big guys on behalf of the little guy,” says Michael Stevens. “He stood for fairness and justice and was unafraid to challenge Senator Joe McCarthy, expose Nixon’s duplicity in Watergate, or attack corruption in government or the corrosive influence of money in politics.”

HERBLOCK traces the life of Herbert L. Block, who started cartooning in his teens in Chicago and went on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his 55 years at the Washington Post. For the better part of the 20th century, his cartoons were a must read for those in Washington and Syndicated across the country. The film features interviews with political and journalism luminaries such as Ted Koppel, David Brooks, Gwen Ifill, Tom Brokaw, Jules Feiffer, Tom Friedman and Bob Schieffer, as well as comedians Lewis Black and Jon Stewart, who describes Block as a “touchstone” for political comics and satirists today.

The documentary journeys through Block’s career as his cartoons comment on everything from World War II, the Red Scare and the fight for Civil Rights, to Vietnam and Watergate and the conflicted media world of today, concluding with an unexpected end to the journey of the cartoonist-journalist known to millions as simply Herblock.

http://youtu.be/J3fTy8S6Jmc

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THE DOG, directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival is set to be released in Summer 2014 by Drafthouse Films and Cinedigm.  THE DOG is described as a documentary portrait of the late John Wojtowicz, whose attempted robbery of a Brooklyn bank to finance his male lover’s sex-reassignment surgery was the real-life inspiration for the classic Al Pacino film “Dog Day Afternoon”.

THE DOG is a feature-length documentary about John Wojtowicz, the real-life bank robber behind the film Dog Day Afternoon. In August 1972, John robbed a bank in Brooklyn to pay for the sex-change operation of his lover, Ernie. Things didn’t go as planned, and as John and his collaborator Sal Naturile tried to leave the bank with the loot, they found themselves surrounded by the New York City Police Department, the FBI, and hundreds of spectators. What was supposed to last only a few minutes became a 14-hour standoff, involving 9 hostages and unfolding live on television. The story would later reach an even broader audience through Al Pacino’s unforgettable performance in Sidney Lumet’s classic 1975 film.

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