DocLands Documentary Film Festival hosted its annual DocPitch forum this past weekend and awarded director Chris Temple and editor Alejandro Valdés-Rochin with a $25,000 cash prize, provided by Project No. 9, for their documentary film currently in development, Five Years North.
AFI DOCS 2019 will open with the world premiere of HBO’s TRUE JUSTICE: BRYAN STEVENSON’S FIGHT FOR EQUALITY, directed by Peter Kunhardt, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt, and will close with RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS, directed by Janice Engel. AFI DOCS runs June 19–23, 2019, in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD.
Sheffield Doc/Fest announced the line-up of 180+ documentary features and shorts for its 26th edition, which runs from 6 to 11 June, 2019, under the tagline “Ways of Seeing” inspired by John Berger’s television series and book of the same name. The festival opens on Thursday June 6 with Diego Maradona, a wild and irreverent look at one of the world’s most iconic sportsmen, both on and off the pitch, during his infamous time in Naples.
Multitalented film, television and music video artist Melina Matsoukas (AFI Class of 2005) will receive the 2019 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal at the AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Denzel Washington in Hollywood on June 6, 2019. This honor recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of AFI Conservatory alumni who embody the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television.
Winner of the award for Best Documentary at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival For Sama documents Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to her daughter Sama. The documentary film takes the form of a letter from Waad al-Kateab to Sama. For Sama directed by Waad al-Kateab along with Edward Watts opens in US theaters on July 26.
Actors Sean Patrick Flanery of The Boondock Saints and Lew Temple from The Walking Dead have joined the cast of the upcoming horror film Spirit Reckoning from Heart Fire Productions and Spirit Reckoning LLC. In this horror-western epic, Sean will play gunfighter Lawson Lovette whose psychotic tendencies and skills with a revolver make him the perfect candidate to aid our hero Sam Conley AKA The Skull Cowboy on his blood-soaked journey of revenge. While Lew Temple will play Ottis Clement who is just as crazed as Lawson, sparking an intense rivalry between the two men. Ottis causes chaos and anarchy in the Wild West alongside his brother Ed and leader of their posse Savage Bill. Spirit Reckoning will begin filming this year in both Colorado and California.
Dark Star Pictures will premiere the Spanish Civil War whimsical comedy The Bastards Fig Tree in theaters this May. The theatrical season kicks off with a Los Angeles run on May 10, with the title to expand to other markets in the weeks following.
After her husband dies, an elderly woman embarks on a trip to fulfill her longtime dream of climbing a mountain in Edie, the uplifting feature film directed by Simon Hunter (Lighthouse, Mutant Chronicles), and starring British actress Sheila Hanc (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Carry On Cleo). The film will receive a theatrical release this fall followed by a home entertainment release via Music Box Films.
Being Frank (formerly known As You Can Choose Your Family) from director Miranda Bailey will open theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on June 14, 2019. The indie comedy starring Jim Gaffigan, Logan Miller, Danielle Campbell, Anna Gunn, Samantha Mathis and Alex Karpovsky is about a normal father’s family life turned upside down when his son discovers he has another family.
Fresh off the heels of winning a Tribeca X award for best episodic short series, HP Inc. struck a deal to distribute its film series The History of Memory through Cinedigm’s dedicated documentary channel Docurama by July.
Back to the Fatherland from filmmakers Kat Rohrer and Gil Levanon, follows the journey of three families in transition; Israeli grandchildren from the “Third Generation” and their respective grandparents. The film deals with both sides of the historic tragedy and the attempt to build their own future, without ignoring the past.
