Arena Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood’s acclaimed home for arthouse, genre, and independent cinema, announced today that it will be the first physical movie theater in Los Angeles to re-open on Friday, June 19, 2020 with special engagements of classic BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award winner The Unbearable Lightness of Being and the 2020 festival winner Babyteeth starring Ben Mendelsohn.
Palm Springs International ShortFest has selected 332 short films in their Official Selection of the 26th edition that will be eligible for jury award consideration. These films represent 69 countries and were selected from more than 6,000 submissions received this year. While ShortFest will not hold an in-person event, a number of the official selection films will be available to screen for free online from June 16-22, 2020.
The life and legacy of the late Tony® Award-Winning playwright and LGBTQ activist Terrence McNally who passed away from COVID-19 complications on March 24, 2020, will be celebrated through the award-winning American Masters documentary Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life, streaming on pbs.org/americanmasters from June 15 – August 31, 2020. In addition, special virtual online discussions and talkbacks with some of Broadway’s brightest stars will take place beginning June 17 as they remember and honor the legendary McNally.
CNN Films has acquired North American broadcast rights to the documentary film Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President. The documentary was created by the award-winning director Mary Wharton, producer Chris Farrell, and writer Bill Flanagan. Originally set to open the 19th annual Tribeca Film Festival in April, the feature will now be the closing film for AFI DOCS film festival on June 21st.
The Peabody Awards recognized 30 programs including documentary films Apollo 11, For Sama, Hale County, This Morning This Evening and The Edge of Democracy as the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and digital media during 2019. Actress Cicely Tyson was named winner of the Peabody Career Achievement Award.
Jack & Yaya, the acclaimed documentary from filmmakers Jennifer Bagley and Mary Hewey, will be available On Demand June 19th from Freedom Cinema LLC.
Ahead of the world premiere as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Digital Edition in the Ghosts and Apparitions selection, the documentary Me and the Cult Leader debuted the new trailer. In the film, director Atsushi Sakahara chronicles his intimate journey of confronting the doomsday cult behind the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo metro system on March 20th, 1995.
From veteran award-winning filmmakers Albert Nerenberg (You Are What You Act, Laughology) and Nik Sheehan (FLicKeR, No Sad Songs), Who Farted? takes audiences on a rollicking ride into understanding human emissions of all kinds – and also provides some possible answers to the climate crisis.
Emmy-winning documentarian Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders, The Murder of Emmett Till) will direct a new documentary titled Attica, that details the five-day prison rebellion that transpired in the fall of 1971 in upstate New York and still stands as the largest and deadliest the country has ever witnessed. The film is set to premiere on Showtime in 2021, the 50th anniversary of the uprising.
Imagining the Indian, a documentary film currently in production at The Ciesla Foundation about the movement to eradicate Native American names, logos and mascots in the world of sports and beyond, unveiled its trailer and website. The trailer connects the centuries’ old dehumanization of Native Americans to the racism being protested on American streets today.
The American Film Institute revealed its full slate of films being presented online for the AFI DOCS 2020 festival which runs runs June 17–21. The lineup features 59 films from 11 countries and 12 virtual World Premieres, with 61% of the films directed by women, 25% by POC directors and 14% by LGBTQ directors.
Timed with World Refugee Day – Saturday, June 20, director Bill Gallagher’s award-winning documentary ‘Runner‘ will have its virtual cinema release starting Friday, June 19. Runner follows the incredible story of Guor Marial the South Sudanese Lost Boy who survived slavery and a brutal war that took 8 of his 9 siblings to become an Olympic athlete.