John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls (2018)

  • 34th IDA Documentary Awards, MINDING THE GAP Wins Best Feature Documentary

    Minding the Gap
    Minding the Gap

    Minding the Gap directed by Bing Liu won the award for Best Feature documentary at the 34th International Documentary Asociation IDA Documentary Awards on Saturday night in Los Angeles. The documentary also won the award for Best Editing.

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  • FREE SOLO Leads Nominations for 3rd Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards

    [caption id="attachment_32176" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]FREE SOLO FREE SOLO[/caption] Free Solo leads the nominees for this year’s  third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations and one honor, including Best Documentary, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi for Best Directors, Best Sports Documentary, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and a Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary honor for Alex Honnold. Recognized with five nominations are Minding the Gap and Wild Wild Country. The nominations for Minding the Gap are Best Documentary, Best Sports Documentary, Bing Liu for Best Director and for Best First Time Director, and Best Cinematography. The nominations for Wild Wild Country are Best Documentary, Chapman Way and Maclain Way for Best First Time Directors, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, and Best Limited Documentary Series. Recognized with four nominations are Dark Money, Hitler’s Hollywood and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? The nominations for Dark Money are Best Documentary, Kimberly Reed for Best Director, Best Political Documentary and Best Editing. The nominations for Hitler’s Hollywood are Best Documentary, Best Political Documentary, Rüdiger Suchsland for Best Director, and Most Innovative Documentary. The nominations for Won’t You Be My Neighbor? are Best Documentary, Morgan Neville for Best Director, Most Innovative Documentary and Best Editing. Three Identical Strangers received three nominations and an honor, including Best Documentary, Tim Wardle for Best Director, Best Editing and an honor for David Kellman and Bobby Shafran for Most Compelling Living Subjects of a Documentary. At the gala ceremony, filmmaker Stanley Nelson will be presented with the Critics’ Choice Impact Award, and multi award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore will be honored with the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award. For the first year, the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards has introduced the Catalyst Sponsorship, a program for industry leaders to support the event. The inaugural sponsors include Focus Features, National Geographic Documentary Films, Netflix, Curiosity Stream, and others. “We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s outstanding documentary work at the upcoming event,” said Broadcast Film Critics Association President Joey Berlin. “The year 2018 has been called ‘The Year of the Documentary’ and we are so happy to give these films and shows the recognition and high praise that they deserve.” The winners will be presented their awards at a gala event, hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye, on Saturday, November 10 at BRIC in Brooklyn, New York. The nominees for the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards are:

    BEST DOCUMENTARY

    Crime + Punishment – Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu) Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films) Hal – Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu) RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Three Identical Strangers – Director: Tim Wardle (Neon, CNN Films) Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)

    BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

    America to Me (Starz) Dirty Money (Netflix) Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television) Flint Town (Netflix) One Strange Rock (National Geographic) The Fourth Estate (Showtime Networks) The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO) Wild Wild Country (Netflix)

    BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES

    30 for 30 (ESPN) American Masters (PBS) Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) Frontline (PBS) Independent Lens (PBS) Making a Murderer (Netflix) POV (PBS) The History of Comedy (CNN)

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film) Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu) Morgan Neville – Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus Features) Kimberly Reed – Dark Money (PBS) Rüdiger Suchsland – Hitler’s Hollywood (Kino Lorber) Tim Wardle – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films)

    BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR

    Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster – Science Fair (National Geographic Documentary Films) Heather Lenz – Kusama – Infinity (Magnolia Pictures) Bing Liu – Minding the Gap (Hulu) Stephen Nomura Schible – Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (MUBI) Rudy Valdez – The Sentence (HBO Documentary Films) Chapman Way and Maclain Way – Wild Wild Country (Netflix)

    BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

    RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS) Fahrenheit 11/9 – Director: Michael Moore (Briarcliff Entertainment) Flint Town – Directors: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, Jessica Dimmock (Netflix) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Directors: George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt (HBO) The Fourth Estate – Directors: Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman (Showtime Networks)

    BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

    Andre the Giant – Director: Jason Hehir (HBO) Being Serena (HBO) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film) John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Director: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu (Hulu) The Workers Cup – Director: Adam Sobel (Passion River)

    BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

    Bad Reputation – Director: Kevin Kerslake (Magnolia Pictures) David Bowie: The Last Five Years – Director: Francis Whately (HBO Documentary Films) Elvis Presley: The Searcher – Director: Thom Zimny (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television) Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow – Director: Stephen Kijak (Showtime Networks) Quincy – Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones (Netflix) Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI) Whitney – Director: Kevin Macdonald (Roadside Attractions, Miramax)

    MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY

    (ALL LISTED IN THE CATEGORY WILL BE HONORED AT THE EVENT) Scotty Bowers – Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Greenwich Entertainment, Kino Lorber, Starz!) Ruth Bader Ginsburg – RBG (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media) Alex Honnold – Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film) Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (Magnolia Pictures) Quincy Jones – Quincy (Netflix) David Kellman and Bobby Shafran – Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films) John McEnroe – John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Leon Vitali – Filmworker (Kino Lorber)

    MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY

    306 Hollywood – Directors: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin (PBS, El Tigre) Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film) Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber) Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI) Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

    306 Hollywood – Cinematographers: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin, Alejandro Mejía (PBS, El Tigre) The Dawn Wall – Cinematographer: Brett Lowell (The Orchard) Free Solo – Cinematographers: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, Mikey Schaefer (National Geographic Documentary Film) Minding the Gap – Cinematographer: Bing Liu (Hulu) Pandas – Cinematographer: David Douglas (Warner Brothers) Wild Wild Country – Cinematographer: Adam Stone (Netflix)

    BEST EDITING

    Dark Money – Editor: Jay Arthur Sterrenberg (PBS) Filmworker – Editor: Tony Zierra (Kino Lorber) Free Solo – Editor: Bob Eisenhardt (National Geographic Documentary Film) John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Editor: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Three Identical Strangers – Editor: Michael Harte (Neon, CNN Films) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Editors: Jeff Malmberg, Aaron Wickenden (Focus Features)

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  • HBO Sets Memorial Day Date for John McCain Documentary JOHN MCCAIN: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

    Sen. John Sidney McCain, III HBO has set the debut date for and confirmed the title – John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls – of the previously announced documentary about Senator John Sidney McCain, III.   Produced and directed by six-time Emmy(R) winner Peter Kunhardt, along with Emmy(R) winners George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt, the film is described as an illuminating, exclusive profile of one of the most influential forces in modern American politics. John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls will debut this Memorial Day, MONDAY, MAY 28 (8:00-9:45 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. Following more than 31 years of public service, the six-term senior Arizona senator agreed to participate in the film shortly after being diagnosed with brain cancer, providing unprecedented access to his daily life in Washington, D.C. and Sedona, Arizona. The film features interviews with family, friends, colleagues and leading political figures such as former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Mesmerized at 12 years old by Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” Sen. McCain has used the book as a guide for his life. This sweeping account draws on his own voice, culled from original interviews, commentary and speeches, archival newsreel and television footage, and previously unseen home movies and photographs. Recounting everything from his years spent as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War to running for president, the documentary paints an important portrait of an American maverick who has never lost courage and has kept his eye on America’s most important goals. John McCain’s life is a story of triumph, defeat and resilience? – ?Six decades of, in his words, “imperfect service to my country,” in which the mistakes he made were redeemed by the risks he took and the sacrifices he made for the county he loves. “I think all of us think about death, but I think more about life,” says Sen. McCain. “There are so many days in my life that are more than coincidental. That it has made me believe that I am here for a reason. I’ve been tested on a number of occasions. I haven’t always done the right thing. And I think I understand given my family’s history and given my experiences, the important thing is not to look back and figure out all the things I should have done? – ?and there’s lots of those? – ?but to look back with gratitude. You will never talk to anyone that is as fortunate as John McCain.” McCain’s recent battle with brain cancer underscores the fighting spirit and resilience of this remarkable man, who continues to crusade for the causes he believes in, despite advancing health issues and daunting odds. Kunhardt Films’ previous HBO credits include the recent “King in the Wilderness,” the Emmy(R) winner “Jim: The James Foley Story,” the PGA nominee “The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee,” “Becoming Warren Buffett,” the Emmy(R) nominated “Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words,” the Emmy(R) nominated “Gloria: In Her Own Words” and the Emmy(R) winner “Teddy: In His Own Words.”

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