Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis will receive the Outstanding Performers of the Year Award at the 37th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Smith and Ellis will be honored at an in-person conversation about their cinematic careers leading up to their outstanding performances in this year’s King Richard from Warner Bros Pictures. .
Filmocracy will reprise its groundbreaking Film Festival with the second Festival set to run December 9th through December 12th. Filmocracy will present a robust slate of features and shorts, many of them award winners and social impact documentaries.
LIFE OF CRIME: 1984-2020, is the culmination of 36 years of work from multiple Emmy Award-winning producer/director Jon Alpert (HBO’s “Baghdad ER”). The third and final part of an epic documentary trilogy, LIFE OF CRIME: 1984-2020 tells the full story of three friends from Newark, New Jersey whose lives have been defined by and torn apart by their addictions. With unfettered access, LIFE OF CRIME: 1984-2020 bears witness to each of their journeys in and out of prison, rehab and in occasional jobs as they struggle to end the vicious cycles of drug use and to connect with the families they left behind. Authentic to true vérité filmmaking techniques, Alpert’s camera is observational, immersive, deeply intimate and unfiltered; the vast scope of the timeline allows for an extensive window into the tragic toll that addiction can take on substance abusers and their loved ones.
Netflix released the official trailer for The Hand of God, Italy’s official submission for International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, starring newcomer Filippo Scotti, Sorrentino staple Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo and Betti Pedrazzi.
HBO released the official trailer for Jagged, the new documentary on singer Alanis Morissette, exploring her beginnings as a young Canadian pop star and the rocky path she faced navigating the male-dominated music industry. The documentary takes viewers to 1995, when a 21-year-old Alanis Morissette burst onto the music scene with the first single off her ground-breaking album, “Jagged Little Pill.”
The animated documentary Flee from Danish/French filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen lead the nominations for the 15th Cinema Eye Honors awards with seven nominations, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Direction.
King Richard starring and produced by Will Smith and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, is the winner of the MIAMI GEMS 2021 Audience Award. The film served as the Centerpiece screening for the Miami Film Festival’s annual fall event which took place from November 4-10 at MDC’s Tower Theater Miami.
AMC+ and RLJE Films released the new official trailer for Silent Night, the darkly comedic drama starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Roman Griffin Davis, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp, Ṣọpé Dìrísù, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones and Trudie Styler among others.
Here is the official trailer for Project Space 13, Michael Bilandic’s pandemic-set comedy film opening in theatres in NYC at The Roxy on December 3rd followed by its debut exclusively on MUBI starting December 10th. Project Space 13 stars Keith Poulson, Hunter Zimny, Jason Grisell, Theodore Bouloukos, and Kyle Brown; and is Bilandic’s 4th feature following the cult comedies Jobe’z World, Hellaware and Happy Life.
Poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator Kathleen Collins will receive the inaugural Icon Tribute posthumously during the 2021 Gotham Awards Ceremony. Nina Lorez Collins will accept the inaugural Gotham Icon Tribute on behalf of her mother.
The Cannons, a new documentary on America’s oldest minority hockey program in Southeast, Washington DC, directed by Steven Hoffner and AJ Messier will World Premiere at DOC NYC film festival.
Finally, Amazon released the new official trailer for Being the Ricardos the upcoming drama film about the relationship between I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, starring Nicole Kidman as Lucille, and Javier Bardem as Desi along with Jake Lacy, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat.