The 24th annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) set for August 21-30, 2020 will take place online at abff.com. The ABFF Online Edition will continue the tradition of the live festival, featuring the best of independent black cinema, studio premieres, conversations and panels, business of entertainment seminars, along with virtual networking events.
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.
With Dutch cinemas now re-opening, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is looking to hold the 33rd edition of the festival in theaters from November 18th to 29th, with potentially reduced capacity. The festival’s competitions will remain intact, to be presented in cinemas and extended with limited virtual cinema screenings and events.
Jack & Yaya, the acclaimed documentary from filmmakers Jennifer Bagley and Mary Hewey, will be available On Demand June 19th from Freedom Cinema LLC.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival which was postponed due to the COVID19 pandemic today announced that the 44th edition of the festival (HKIFF44) will now take place from August 18-30, 2020.
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.
Calgary Underground Film Festival announced its lineup for the 17th edition of the festival. Originally scheduled to take place in April, like many other festivals around the world, CUFF has shifted to an online model for the 2020 edition. From June 22-28 CUFF fans will have the opportunity to get their eyes on the newest genre-defying independent films not streaming anywhere else, and ensure that these films find an audience while film festivals are paused and cinemas remain closed.
The 24th edition Fantasia International Film Festival taking place online from August 20 through September 2, 2020, revealed a selected first wave of film titles.
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.