It’s true! No, seriously: it’s true. And by “it” we of course mean the stories at the heart of Film Independent’s 2024 Doc Story Lab. A one-week intensive designed to provide support for filmmakers whose projects are in post-production, the Doc Story Lab is one of two Documentary Labs amid the larger Film Independent Artist Development umbrella of talent incubators, which for over 30 years have been the place to spot future media-visionary movers-and-shakers.
This year’s participants will engage in five days’ worth of workshops, guest speaker sessions, and one-on-one mentorship with leading professionals in the nonfiction film space. including Doc Story Lab Lead Creative Mentors Chris Shellen (Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces) and Anayansi Prado (Paraiso for Sale) and Editing Mentors Christy Denes (Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult) and Sara Newens (Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields). Not to mention plenty of networking opportunities with advice on the...
This year’s participants will engage in five days’ worth of workshops, guest speaker sessions, and one-on-one mentorship with leading professionals in the nonfiction film space. including Doc Story Lab Lead Creative Mentors Chris Shellen (Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces) and Anayansi Prado (Paraiso for Sale) and Editing Mentors Christy Denes (Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult) and Sara Newens (Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields). Not to mention plenty of networking opportunities with advice on the...
- 4/10/2024
- by Film Independent
- Film Independent News & More
Opening today in 20 markets across the United States is Tracy Droz Tragos’s Plan C, a documentary about social scientist Francine Coeytaux and her team’s work on expanding access to abortion pills online. With Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul opening today, and New York’s IFC Center run beginning October 13, we are reposting the director’s answer to our annual Sundance Question about the various challenges she faced while making the film. — Editor Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, […]
The post “Raising Funds for a Film ‘About Abortion’ Is Never Easy” | Tracy Droz Tragos, Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Raising Funds for a Film ‘About Abortion’ Is Never Easy” | Tracy Droz Tragos, Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/6/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Opening today in 20 markets across the United States is Tracy Droz Tragos’s Plan C, a documentary about social scientist Francine Coeytaux and her team’s work on expanding access to abortion pills online. With Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul opening today, and New York’s IFC Center run beginning October 13, we are reposting the director’s answer to our annual Sundance Question about the various challenges she faced while making the film. — Editor Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, […]
The post “Raising Funds for a Film ‘About Abortion’ Is Never Easy” | Tracy Droz Tragos, Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Raising Funds for a Film ‘About Abortion’ Is Never Easy” | Tracy Droz Tragos, Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/6/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Francine Coeytaux and Elisa Wells have been at this for awhile. In the ’90s, the pair were part of the team that helped bring Plan B, Aka the “morning-after pill,” over the counter to anyone who needed it. Even after the initial Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 — which made abortion a protected right in the United States — the pro-life versus pro-choice fault lines remained in America and extended even to medically safe (and legal) oral contraceptives and abortion medications.
But that was Plan B. These days, it’s all about Plan C. Founded in 2015 and led by Coeytaux, Wells, and Amy Merrill, the organization was designed with one pressing mission: to envision and help establish “a near future in which the ability to end an early pregnancy is directly in the hands of anyone who seeks it.” Easier said than done.
For “Plan C,” filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos embeds with...
But that was Plan B. These days, it’s all about Plan C. Founded in 2015 and led by Coeytaux, Wells, and Amy Merrill, the organization was designed with one pressing mission: to envision and help establish “a near future in which the ability to end an early pregnancy is directly in the hands of anyone who seeks it.” Easier said than done.
For “Plan C,” filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos embeds with...
- 10/5/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Actor-producers Nicholas Cirillo (Poker Face) and Matthew Montemaro (Jesus Revolution) have today announced the launch of Enzo Entertainment, an independent production company with a primary focus on original, theatrically released feature films.
The mission of the company will be to create character-driven titles that reinvigorate younger generations’ relationship with cinema and moviegoing. Its founders, who struck up a friendship while working together in front of the camera, will be active in both Atlanta and Los Angeles. The first project to come out of Enzo is the proof-of-concept short Two Shovels and a Will, written and directed by Cirillo, and starring both Enzo founders, which was nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2023 Atlanta Shortsfest. Other films on the dance card at the shingle include the comedy Dirty Myrtle, written by Cirillo, and the thriller Town Zero which he scripted with Montemaro. Also in development is a series that has...
The mission of the company will be to create character-driven titles that reinvigorate younger generations’ relationship with cinema and moviegoing. Its founders, who struck up a friendship while working together in front of the camera, will be active in both Atlanta and Los Angeles. The first project to come out of Enzo is the proof-of-concept short Two Shovels and a Will, written and directed by Cirillo, and starring both Enzo founders, which was nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2023 Atlanta Shortsfest. Other films on the dance card at the shingle include the comedy Dirty Myrtle, written by Cirillo, and the thriller Town Zero which he scripted with Montemaro. Also in development is a series that has...
- 7/28/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"We are not going to become more quiet, we're going to become louder." This film is more important than ever right now. A trailer has debuted for an abortion rights documentary titled Plan C, from director Tracy Droz Tragos. It first premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and it's also playing at SXSW right now in Austin, TX. "Plan C" is actually a secret grassroots organization that persistently fights to expand access to abortion pills across the USA keeping hope alive during a global pandemic and the fall of Roe v. Wade. The film is about what happens when abortion safety becomes a major issue for Americans, and how they continue to make a difference by doing what is right and just and necessary. It features the co-founders of Plan C, Francine Coeytaux and Elisa Wells, plus plenty of other special guests out on the front-line helping and supporting women.
- 3/14/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Festival runs in Austin, Texas, from March 10-19.
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
- 2/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
During a period of horrifying restrictions on women’s reproductive rights, Francine Coeytaux’s grassroots organization Plan C is actively fighting back by aiding individuals across the country gain access to vital abortion medication. Documentary filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos follows the plight of Coeytaux and her allies in the aptly titled Plan C, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Editor Meredith Perry tells Filmmaker about how her experience working on Plan C ultimately solidified her understanding of reproductive justice as a whole, and much more. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
The post “Rules Are Perhaps the Most Useful Ally in Creativity”: Editor Meredith Perry on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Rules Are Perhaps the Most Useful Ally in Creativity”: Editor Meredith Perry on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
During a period of horrifying restrictions on women’s reproductive rights, Francine Coeytaux’s grassroots organization Plan C is actively fighting back by aiding individuals across the country gain access to vital abortion medication. Documentary filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos follows the plight of Coeytaux and her allies in the aptly titled Plan C, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Editor Meredith Perry tells Filmmaker about how her experience working on Plan C ultimately solidified her understanding of reproductive justice as a whole, and much more. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
The post “Rules Are Perhaps the Most Useful Ally in Creativity”: Editor Meredith Perry on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Rules Are Perhaps the Most Useful Ally in Creativity”: Editor Meredith Perry on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
When a marked increase in abortion restrictions and bans began unfolding across the country, Francine Coeytaux knew she had to step up and do something. As a result, she formed the grassroots organization Plan C, which lends its name to Tracy Droz Tragos’s documentary about Coeytaux’s fight for everyone’s right to abortion medication and broader reproductive health services. Cinematographer Derek Howard tells Filmmaker all about his experience shooting Plan C. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that […]
The post “Rendering American Urban Landscapes as a Character”: Dp Derek Howard on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Rendering American Urban Landscapes as a Character”: Dp Derek Howard on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
When a marked increase in abortion restrictions and bans began unfolding across the country, Francine Coeytaux knew she had to step up and do something. As a result, she formed the grassroots organization Plan C, which lends its name to Tracy Droz Tragos’s documentary about Coeytaux’s fight for everyone’s right to abortion medication and broader reproductive health services. Cinematographer Derek Howard tells Filmmaker all about his experience shooting Plan C. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that […]
The post “Rendering American Urban Landscapes as a Character”: Dp Derek Howard on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Rendering American Urban Landscapes as a Character”: Dp Derek Howard on Plan C first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/27/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In post-Roe America, it goes without saying that there are a lot of obstacles to obtain an abortion. But even before legislation outlawed the procedure in certain states and made it difficult to access across the country, pro-choice activists have been fighting a lack of information.
Abortion can bring up so many questions: Where can I get one? When is the soonest I can get it? How expensive will it be? Is it safe? How do I talk to my partner about it? If I go to a clinic, will there be protesters there? Does getting an abortion make me a bad person? The organization Plan C aims to disseminate clear, correct knowledge about access to medication abortions, including which online pharmacies are legit and who you can call with questions during the process.
It’s a shame, then, that “Plan C,” a Sundance-premiering documentary about the organization’s efforts,...
Abortion can bring up so many questions: Where can I get one? When is the soonest I can get it? How expensive will it be? Is it safe? How do I talk to my partner about it? If I go to a clinic, will there be protesters there? Does getting an abortion make me a bad person? The organization Plan C aims to disseminate clear, correct knowledge about access to medication abortions, including which online pharmacies are legit and who you can call with questions during the process.
It’s a shame, then, that “Plan C,” a Sundance-premiering documentary about the organization’s efforts,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
Documentary filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos has been bracing for the worst since 2018.
That’s the year that Brett Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court, a decision that she feared would have reverberating effects on abortion access. “The writing was on the wall that Roe v. Wade may fall,” she remembers.
So, when the landmark case was overturned in 2022, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, Tragos was already far into filming her latest documentary “Plan C,” a look at the grassroots organization that’s fighting to expand access to at-home abortion pills across the United States. The group wants people who are pregnant to know there’s a safe way to get an abortion without leaving the house.
Plan C’s mission proved even timelier after the pandemic forced people to stay at home, posing yet another threat to the safe termination of unwanted pregnancies. The quest to not only distribute,...
That’s the year that Brett Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court, a decision that she feared would have reverberating effects on abortion access. “The writing was on the wall that Roe v. Wade may fall,” she remembers.
So, when the landmark case was overturned in 2022, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, Tragos was already far into filming her latest documentary “Plan C,” a look at the grassroots organization that’s fighting to expand access to at-home abortion pills across the United States. The group wants people who are pregnant to know there’s a safe way to get an abortion without leaving the house.
Plan C’s mission proved even timelier after the pandemic forced people to stay at home, posing yet another threat to the safe termination of unwanted pregnancies. The quest to not only distribute,...
- 1/19/2023
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
The annual IndieWire Studio at Sundance returns this year in person to Main Street in historic Park City, Utah.
Presented by Dropbox, the IndieWire Studio at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival will serve as a hub for video interviews with the top attending talent from the hottest indie films presented at the fest. Actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and documentary subjects will be interviewed by IndieWire’s senior staff for exclusive video and social media content.
Dropbox is the perfect partner for IndieWire — and for Sundance — because it’s a brand that recognizes the power of collaborative effort. Their tools keep creative teams on the same page, whether sharing dailies, shooting schedules, costume specs, or film finance spreadsheets, so everyone’s marching toward the same goal. This year 60 percent of the films at the Sundance Film Festival were made with the help of Dropbox.
In addition, our Premiere Partner Adobe will host...
Presented by Dropbox, the IndieWire Studio at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival will serve as a hub for video interviews with the top attending talent from the hottest indie films presented at the fest. Actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and documentary subjects will be interviewed by IndieWire’s senior staff for exclusive video and social media content.
Dropbox is the perfect partner for IndieWire — and for Sundance — because it’s a brand that recognizes the power of collaborative effort. Their tools keep creative teams on the same page, whether sharing dailies, shooting schedules, costume specs, or film finance spreadsheets, so everyone’s marching toward the same goal. This year 60 percent of the films at the Sundance Film Festival were made with the help of Dropbox.
In addition, our Premiere Partner Adobe will host...
- 1/18/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Sundance Institute has announced the lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival Beyond Film conversations, all of which are open to the public. Made up of three series called Power of Story, Cinema Café, and The Big Conversation, Beyond Film rounds out the festival experience, providing a place for the community to engage through artist conversations, filmmaker panels, and audience discourse. Beyond Film will take place in-person from January 19–23, with the Beyond Film offerings becoming available to audiences across the country on the online festival platform starting January 24.
Beyond Film speakers will include talent from festival films, such as Barry Jenkins, Dakota Johnson, Jonathan Majors (“Magazine Dreams”), Randall Park (“Shortcomings”), Ruth Reichl (“Food and Country”), and Adrian Tomine (“Shortcomings”), as well as compelling speakers including Dr. Orna Guralnik, Marlee Matlin, and Lisa Taddeo.
More details about the lineup are below, with language courtesy of the festival.
Power Of Story
Power of Story: On Intimacy
Sunday,...
Beyond Film speakers will include talent from festival films, such as Barry Jenkins, Dakota Johnson, Jonathan Majors (“Magazine Dreams”), Randall Park (“Shortcomings”), Ruth Reichl (“Food and Country”), and Adrian Tomine (“Shortcomings”), as well as compelling speakers including Dr. Orna Guralnik, Marlee Matlin, and Lisa Taddeo.
More details about the lineup are below, with language courtesy of the festival.
Power Of Story
Power of Story: On Intimacy
Sunday,...
- 1/6/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Sundance Institute has unveiled its lineups of Beyond Film and Partner Programming for the hybrid 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the in-person component of which is taking place in Utah from January 19-29.
The Beyond Film program consists of chats with notable creatives across three separate series: Power of Story, Cinema Café, and The Big Conversation. Some of the artists taking part this year include Barry Jenkins, Dakota Johnson, Jonathan Majors, Randall Park, Marlee Matlin and W. Kamau Bell — most of whom have films premiering at Sundance 2023. The program will take place in-person from January 19–23, with Beyond Film offerings to become available via the online Festival Platform starting on the 24th.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Oscar-winning Summer of Soul helmer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson are just a couple of the A-listers set for panels to be put on by Festival partners between the 19th and the 24th...
The Beyond Film program consists of chats with notable creatives across three separate series: Power of Story, Cinema Café, and The Big Conversation. Some of the artists taking part this year include Barry Jenkins, Dakota Johnson, Jonathan Majors, Randall Park, Marlee Matlin and W. Kamau Bell — most of whom have films premiering at Sundance 2023. The program will take place in-person from January 19–23, with Beyond Film offerings to become available via the online Festival Platform starting on the 24th.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Oscar-winning Summer of Soul helmer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson are just a couple of the A-listers set for panels to be put on by Festival partners between the 19th and the 24th...
- 1/6/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The world’s most famous domino toppling artist has bowled over discovery+.
The streaming service on Friday announced the acquisition of Lily Topples the World, the SXSW Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary about Lily Hevesh, a 20-year-old domino dropping sensation whose videos have attracted more than 1 billion views on YouTube.
The film, directed by Jeremy Workman, will premiere on discovery+ this summer, part of a robust slate of nonfiction programming announced by the platform ahead of the May TV Upfronts next week.
Lily Topples the World was filmed over three years and includes appearances by Jimmy Fallon, Katy Perry, Will Smith, and YouTuber Casey Neistat. Discovery+ describes it as “a unique portrait of an artist, a story of how passion and artistry can make dreams come true, and an unlikely American tale of a quiet Chinese adoptee who transforms into a global artistic force.”
Actress Kelly Marie Tran serves as an executive producer on the documentary.
“Lily is an absolute force. She is an incredible artist who believes in the magic of her own dreams, and her story is one every person will be able to see themselves in,” Tran commented. “She’s the role model I wish I had growing up, and I can’t wait for the world to hear her story.”
Lisa Holme, group SVP, head of content & commercial strategy for Discovery Inc., observed, “Lily is one of the most talented young artists in the world and we are so excited to share this heart-warming documentary alongside a compelling slate of new original docs. The combination of Lily’s visually stunning projects, complemented by her inspiring personal story makes this a can’t miss doc.”
Lily Topples the World joins a lineup of new documentary films that discovery+ promises “will take audiences on a diverse and enlightening journey this year.” Launching June 17 on the service is My Name Is Bulger, about former Massachusetts political figure William Bulger, younger brother of James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston crime boss. Brendan J. Byrne directed the film that is said to strip “away the hysteria of daily print headlines” about the Bulgers to reveal “a unique American family.”
The Smartest Kids in the World, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos and launching on discovery+ August 16, chronicles “the journey of four American teenagers who study abroad in countries that dramatically outperform the United States in education.”
Launching August 23 is Generation Growth from director Mu Sun, a documentary about Bronx teacher and “urban farmer” Stephen Ritz, who “developed an incredibly successful indoor gardening curriculum that allows children to grow vegetables in the classroom, helping them eat better, be more engaged with school and give them pathways for jobs.”
Set to launch October 18 is the documentary Crutch, directed by Sachi Cunningham and Vayabobo, about the “gravity-defying life” of Bill Shannon, an artist and dancer who performs on crutches.
The previously announced documentaries Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts are also set to premiere on discovery+ in 2021.
In addition to claiming the top prize at SXSW, Lily Topples the World won the audience award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Jeremy Workman produced, directed and edited the film. Robert J. Lyons produced; executive producers include the aforementioned Kelly Marie Tran, as well as Allen Altman, Cathie Altman, Marnie Black, Scott Black, and Jane Lee.
“This film documents the most pivotal moments of my life, professionally and personally,” domino toppler Hevesh said in a video released ahead of SXSW. “This documentary means so much to me and I cannot wait for you to see it when it gets publicly released.”...
The streaming service on Friday announced the acquisition of Lily Topples the World, the SXSW Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary about Lily Hevesh, a 20-year-old domino dropping sensation whose videos have attracted more than 1 billion views on YouTube.
The film, directed by Jeremy Workman, will premiere on discovery+ this summer, part of a robust slate of nonfiction programming announced by the platform ahead of the May TV Upfronts next week.
Lily Topples the World was filmed over three years and includes appearances by Jimmy Fallon, Katy Perry, Will Smith, and YouTuber Casey Neistat. Discovery+ describes it as “a unique portrait of an artist, a story of how passion and artistry can make dreams come true, and an unlikely American tale of a quiet Chinese adoptee who transforms into a global artistic force.”
Actress Kelly Marie Tran serves as an executive producer on the documentary.
“Lily is an absolute force. She is an incredible artist who believes in the magic of her own dreams, and her story is one every person will be able to see themselves in,” Tran commented. “She’s the role model I wish I had growing up, and I can’t wait for the world to hear her story.”
Lisa Holme, group SVP, head of content & commercial strategy for Discovery Inc., observed, “Lily is one of the most talented young artists in the world and we are so excited to share this heart-warming documentary alongside a compelling slate of new original docs. The combination of Lily’s visually stunning projects, complemented by her inspiring personal story makes this a can’t miss doc.”
Lily Topples the World joins a lineup of new documentary films that discovery+ promises “will take audiences on a diverse and enlightening journey this year.” Launching June 17 on the service is My Name Is Bulger, about former Massachusetts political figure William Bulger, younger brother of James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston crime boss. Brendan J. Byrne directed the film that is said to strip “away the hysteria of daily print headlines” about the Bulgers to reveal “a unique American family.”
The Smartest Kids in the World, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos and launching on discovery+ August 16, chronicles “the journey of four American teenagers who study abroad in countries that dramatically outperform the United States in education.”
Launching August 23 is Generation Growth from director Mu Sun, a documentary about Bronx teacher and “urban farmer” Stephen Ritz, who “developed an incredibly successful indoor gardening curriculum that allows children to grow vegetables in the classroom, helping them eat better, be more engaged with school and give them pathways for jobs.”
Set to launch October 18 is the documentary Crutch, directed by Sachi Cunningham and Vayabobo, about the “gravity-defying life” of Bill Shannon, an artist and dancer who performs on crutches.
The previously announced documentaries Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts are also set to premiere on discovery+ in 2021.
In addition to claiming the top prize at SXSW, Lily Topples the World won the audience award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Jeremy Workman produced, directed and edited the film. Robert J. Lyons produced; executive producers include the aforementioned Kelly Marie Tran, as well as Allen Altman, Cathie Altman, Marnie Black, Scott Black, and Jane Lee.
“This film documents the most pivotal moments of my life, professionally and personally,” domino toppler Hevesh said in a video released ahead of SXSW. “This documentary means so much to me and I cannot wait for you to see it when it gets publicly released.”...
- 5/14/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Labs organised by Michelle Satter, director Ilyse McKimmie, and N. Bird Runningwater.
Sundance Institute on Monday (May 10) named the artists and projects selected for the first group of the upcoming signature summer Labs including 12 fellows for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and nine participating in the Native Lab. One fellow will participate in both Labs.
Directors Lab (June 1-July 2) fellows and projects are: Erica Tremblay (co-writer/director) and Miciana Alise (co-writer) with Fancy Dance; Cris Gris (director) and Mary Ann Anane (Writer) with forward; Tracy Droz Tragos (writer/director) with The Macrobiotic Toker; Diego Céspedes (writer/director) with The Mysterious...
Sundance Institute on Monday (May 10) named the artists and projects selected for the first group of the upcoming signature summer Labs including 12 fellows for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and nine participating in the Native Lab. One fellow will participate in both Labs.
Directors Lab (June 1-July 2) fellows and projects are: Erica Tremblay (co-writer/director) and Miciana Alise (co-writer) with Fancy Dance; Cris Gris (director) and Mary Ann Anane (Writer) with forward; Tracy Droz Tragos (writer/director) with The Macrobiotic Toker; Diego Céspedes (writer/director) with The Mysterious...
- 5/10/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Celebrated Lab graduates include Chloé Zhao, Radha Blank, Eliza Hittman.
Fifteen emerging storytellers from Chile, India, Kenya, Tunisia and the US have been selected to participate in Sundance Institute’s January Screenwriters Lab starting today (January 11).
The fellows will develop 12 original projects in collaboration with creative advisors from the industry, under the leadership of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program founding director Michelle Satter.
The projects and fellow/s include: Black Comic-Con (USA), Natasha Rothwell (writer/director); The Catch Rishi Chandna (writer/director); Chariot (USA), Alyssa Loh; Fancy Dance (USA), Erica Tremblay (co-writer/director), Miciana Alise (co-writer) ; forward (USA), Mary Ann Anane...
Fifteen emerging storytellers from Chile, India, Kenya, Tunisia and the US have been selected to participate in Sundance Institute’s January Screenwriters Lab starting today (January 11).
The fellows will develop 12 original projects in collaboration with creative advisors from the industry, under the leadership of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program founding director Michelle Satter.
The projects and fellow/s include: Black Comic-Con (USA), Natasha Rothwell (writer/director); The Catch Rishi Chandna (writer/director); Chariot (USA), Alyssa Loh; Fancy Dance (USA), Erica Tremblay (co-writer/director), Miciana Alise (co-writer) ; forward (USA), Mary Ann Anane...
- 1/11/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Independent Filmmaker Project on Wednesday announced the slate for its upcoming Project Forum, to take place during its long-running signature event, IFP Week, running September 20 – 25. The sales and development forum — which is going fully virtual this year — includes 144 feature and series projects, and for the first time 36 audio projects.
Among the featured narrative projects are “Mouse” from Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, whose “Saint Frances” won Jury and Audience awards at last year’s SXSW. Producer Emile Lesclaux, who produced the Cannes Jury Prize-winning “Bacurau,” will be at the forum with “Heartless.”
Producers Cait Panesgroux and Elias Ribero, who produced the Sundance award winner “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection,” will be there with “The Spirit Guest.” And “Short Term 12” producer Asher Goldstein will have “First Generation.”
Notable nonfiction producers will also be there with new documentary projects, including “Bitterbrush” from Oscar-nominated Su Kim, plus “Cain and Abel...
Among the featured narrative projects are “Mouse” from Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, whose “Saint Frances” won Jury and Audience awards at last year’s SXSW. Producer Emile Lesclaux, who produced the Cannes Jury Prize-winning “Bacurau,” will be at the forum with “Heartless.”
Producers Cait Panesgroux and Elias Ribero, who produced the Sundance award winner “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection,” will be there with “The Spirit Guest.” And “Short Term 12” producer Asher Goldstein will have “First Generation.”
Notable nonfiction producers will also be there with new documentary projects, including “Bitterbrush” from Oscar-nominated Su Kim, plus “Cain and Abel...
- 7/29/2020
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
What's in store for TV in April, you ask? NBC will see if they still remember how to successfully launch a half-hour comedy. HBO unveils a one-two punch (one doc, one based-on-a-true-story drama) about women's-health issues. FX brings back one of its Mvp anthology shows. AMC tries their hand (again) at a Western, and Fox launches millions of utterances of "Oh yeah, I remember Prison Break ... wasn't that the one where they break out of the prison?" Here's what you'll be watching this month; check out our Best Movies and...
- 3/29/2017
- Rollingstone.com
While best documentary conversations start to take shape in January at the Sundance Film Festival, making the transition from rapturous festival play to awards-season contender is a harrowing road. A documentary must be truly extraordinary to make the final Oscar five.
The number of Sundance docs with awards potential is breathtaking: Breaking out of Sundance 2016 were U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” (IFC), an entertaining portrait of a politician brought down by his weakness for sexting, which turned into a summer hit; U.S. Documentary Directing Award winner “Life, Animated” (The Orchard), a moving portrait of an autistic child who grows up with Disney movies; and HBO’s Audience Award winner “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
Scoring great reviews were Ezra Edelman’s five-part movie “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn), an exhaustive examination of O.J. Simpson and race relations in Los Angeles from the ’60s through the Trial of...
The number of Sundance docs with awards potential is breathtaking: Breaking out of Sundance 2016 were U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” (IFC), an entertaining portrait of a politician brought down by his weakness for sexting, which turned into a summer hit; U.S. Documentary Directing Award winner “Life, Animated” (The Orchard), a moving portrait of an autistic child who grows up with Disney movies; and HBO’s Audience Award winner “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
Scoring great reviews were Ezra Edelman’s five-part movie “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn), an exhaustive examination of O.J. Simpson and race relations in Los Angeles from the ’60s through the Trial of...
- 9/23/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
While best documentary conversations start to take shape in January at the Sundance Film Festival, making the transition from rapturous festival play to awards-season contender is a harrowing road. A documentary must be truly extraordinary to make the final Oscar five.
The number of Sundance docs with awards potential is breathtaking: Breaking out of Sundance 2016 were U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” (IFC), an entertaining portrait of a politician brought down by his weakness for sexting, which turned into a summer hit; U.S. Documentary Directing Award winner “Life, Animated” (The Orchard), a moving portrait of an autistic child who grows up with Disney movies; and HBO’s Audience Award winner “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
Scoring great reviews were Ezra Edelman’s five-part movie “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn), an exhaustive examination of O.J. Simpson and race relations in Los Angeles from the ’60s through the Trial of...
The number of Sundance docs with awards potential is breathtaking: Breaking out of Sundance 2016 were U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” (IFC), an entertaining portrait of a politician brought down by his weakness for sexting, which turned into a summer hit; U.S. Documentary Directing Award winner “Life, Animated” (The Orchard), a moving portrait of an autistic child who grows up with Disney movies; and HBO’s Audience Award winner “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
Scoring great reviews were Ezra Edelman’s five-part movie “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn), an exhaustive examination of O.J. Simpson and race relations in Los Angeles from the ’60s through the Trial of...
- 9/23/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Months ago, I got the crazy idea to write, produce and direct my first documentary. I wasn’t completely unrealistic — I knew enough to start small with a short, micro-budgetfilm. I also knew I could count on a supportive network of documentary filmmakers — including pros such as Doug Block, Marshall Curry, Laura Nix, Tracy Droz Tragos, Robert Greene, and others — to help guide me through the process. Later in this piece, I’ll share some of their invaluable wisdom. But first, here’s a bit about my film and my process so far. I had been on the lookout for a subject that […]...
- 8/25/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In one of the first scenes in “Abortion: Stories Women Tell,” a pro-life religious leader exclaims to his congregation: “We now have the ability to look into the womb.” This important, comprehensive and heartrending documentary probes even deeper. Director Tracy Droz Tragos (“Rich Hill”) explores a range of complicated emotions as women cope with increasingly diminishing rights over their own wombs. “Stories Women Tell” seeks to shows how multi-faceted the issue can be, while retaining a keen eye for regional specificity. Dozens of women — teenage to elderly — offer honest testimonies about their varying experiences surrounding terminated pregnancies. The...
- 8/10/2016
- by Claudia Puig
- The Wrap
Advocates against abortion in the United States have so far been unsuccessful at overturning the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, and re-criminalizing the procedure nationwide. But over the past decade especially, the pro-life movement has made significant progress at the state level, by adding waiting periods and restrictions that have simultaneously reduced the number of clinics and have made it increasingly difficult for patients to get treated. More importantly, protestors and politicians have largely controlled the conversation surrounding abortion, making it so that even after women weigh their decision carefully and jump through all the regulatory hoops, they’re made to feel ashamed. The result is that those who’ve made the choice are less willing to talk about it openly—which in turn has led to those who are following in their footsteps feeling isolated and embarrassed.
Tracy Droz Tragos’ documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell gives women...
Tracy Droz Tragos’ documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell gives women...
- 8/9/2016
- by Noel Murray
- avclub.com
Top brass at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival presented by At&T have announced selections in the Us Narrative, International Narrative and Documentary Competition strands.
The films comprise 55 out of 110 features that will play during the 15th edition of the New York festival from April 13-24. The festival will present features films in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections on March 8.
Also included in Wednesday’s announcement are the out-of-competition Viewpoints titles.
The world premiere of Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ Contemporary Color will open the World Documentary competition on April 14, while the world premiere of Kicks by Justin Tipping will open the Us Narrative competition.
The world premiere of Madly directed by Gael García Bernal, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Silva, Anurag Kashyap, Sion Sono, and Natasha Khan will open the International Narrative Competition. Viewpoints will open with the world premiere of Nerdland directed by Chris Prynoski.
One third of the festival’s feature films are directed by women...
The films comprise 55 out of 110 features that will play during the 15th edition of the New York festival from April 13-24. The festival will present features films in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections on March 8.
Also included in Wednesday’s announcement are the out-of-competition Viewpoints titles.
The world premiere of Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ Contemporary Color will open the World Documentary competition on April 14, while the world premiere of Kicks by Justin Tipping will open the Us Narrative competition.
The world premiere of Madly directed by Gael García Bernal, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Silva, Anurag Kashyap, Sion Sono, and Natasha Khan will open the International Narrative Competition. Viewpoints will open with the world premiere of Nerdland directed by Chris Prynoski.
One third of the festival’s feature films are directed by women...
- 3/2/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
It’s been a couple months since the last edition of What’s Up Doc? placed Michael Moore’s surprise world premiere of Where To Invade Next at the top of this list and in the meantime much shuffling has taken place and much time has been spent on various new endeavors (namely my Buffalo-based film series, Cultivate Cinema Circle). Finally taking its rightful place at the top, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hagedus’ Unlocking the Cage is in the midst of being scored by composer James Lavino, according to Lavino’s own personal site. Though the project has been taking shape at its own leisurely pace, I’d expect to see the film making its festival debut in early 2016.
Right behind, the American direct cinema masters is a Texan soon to make his non-fiction debut with Voyage of Time. Just two weeks ago indieWIRE reported that Ennio Morricone, who scored...
Right behind, the American direct cinema masters is a Texan soon to make his non-fiction debut with Voyage of Time. Just two weeks ago indieWIRE reported that Ennio Morricone, who scored...
- 11/5/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Though it’s a harder film festival to regulate and therefore tabulate a comprehensively genuine list reflecting the totality of the fest’s offering per any individual’s perspective, the Toronto Film Festival manages to be a healthy platform for new and developing voices for those willing to sift through the multitude of titles. Of course, many new exciting voices were present that debuted at earlier film festivals, like Berlin, Sundance, and Cannes. From Guy Maddin’s co-director Evan Johnson on The Forbidden Room and Josh Mond’s stunning debut James White out of Sundance, to notable Cannes berths like Laszlo Nemes of Son of Saul, Deniz Gamz Erguven of Mustang, and Thomas Bidegain’s Les Cowboys, 2015 brought a wide variety of new filmmakers to light. In deliberating the Top Ten New Voices out of Tiff, we focused on offerings either unique to the festival or near concurrent premieres with Locarno and Venice.
- 10/12/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The fall festival rush is upon us. Locarno is currently ramping up. Venice has released their line-up and Thom Powers and the Toronto International Film Festival team have dropped a bomb with a previously unannounced new feature from powerhouse docu-provocateur Michael Moore. It is truly a miracle that the production of a film such as Moore’s upcoming Where To Invade Next (see still above) managed to go completely undetected by the filmmaking community until it was literally announced to world premiere at one of the largest film festivals in the world. Programmed as a one of the key films in the Special Presentations section at Tiff, the film sees Moore telling “the Pentagon to ‘stand down’ — he will do the invading for America from now on.” Also announced to premiere at Tiff was Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, which has slowly been rising up this list, as well as...
- 8/7/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
It’s been a surprisingly interesting month of moving and shaking in terms of doc development. Just a month after making his first public funding pitch at Toronto’s Hot Docs Forum, legendary doc filmmaker Frederick Wiseman took to Kickstarter to help cover the remaining expenses for his 40th feature film In Jackson Heights (see the film’s first trailer below). Unrelentingly rigorous in his determination to capture the American institutional landscape on film, his latest continues down this thematic rabbit hole, taking on the immensely diverse New York City neighborhood of Jackson Heights as his latest subject. According to the Kickstarter page, Wiseman is currently editing the 120 hours of rushes he shot with hopes of having the film ready for a fall festival premiere (my guess would be Tiff, where both National Gallery and At Berkeley made their North American debut), though he’s currently quite a ways away from his $75,000 goal.
- 7/6/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Well folks, after a rather long and brutal winter (at least for me here in Buffalo), we are finally heading into the wonderful warmth of summer, but with that blast of sunshine and steamy humidity comes the mid-year drought of major film fests. After the Sheffield Doc/Fest concludes on June 10th and AFI Docs wraps on June 21st, we likely won’t see any major influx in our charts until Locarno, Venice, Telluride and Tiff announce their line-ups in rapid succession. In the meantime, we can look forward to the intriguing onslaught of films making their debut in Sheffield, including Brian Hill’s intriguing examination of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, The Confessions of Thomas Quick, and Sean McAllister’s film for which he himself was jailed in the process of making, A Syrian Love Story, the only two films world premiering in the festival’s main competition.
- 6/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
If you're an aspiring filmmaker, it seems that everyone including your grandma has advice to share with you -- and often, it's not very helpful. Ultimately, you have to forge your own career path. But advice from the pros can be helpful and inspiring when it comes from the right people. We reached out to some of our favorite narrative and documentary filmmakers to ask them what advice they wish they had received before they began their career. The filmmakers who responded are listed below (along with the titles of their most recent films): Read More: Is Diversity Important? And What's the Best Way to Achieve It? Tracy Droz Tragos ("Rich Hill") Do not wait for anyone else to give you permission to make your film, to validate your credentials, to recognize your worth. Don't get sucked into a "day job" or the mode of "being a good student...
- 5/6/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
It should come as no surprise that Cannes Film Festival will play host to Kent Jones’s doc on the touchstone of filmmaking interview tomes, Hitchcock/Truffaut (see photo above). The film has been floating near the top of this list since it was announced last year as in development, while Jones himself has a history with the festival, having co-written both Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy P. and Martin Scorsese’s My Voyage To Italy, both of which premiered in Cannes. The film is scheduled to screen as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar alongside the likes of Stig Björkman’s Ingrid Bergman, in Her Own Words, which will play as part of the festival’s tribute to the late starlet, and Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna’s Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (see trailer below). As someone who grew up watching road races with my dad in Watkins Glen,...
- 5/1/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Now that the busy winter fest schedule of Sundance, Rotterdam and the Berlinale has concluded, we’ve now got our eyes on the likes of True/False and SXSW. While, True/False does not specialize in attention grabbing world premieres, it does provide a late winter haven for cream of the crop non-fiction fare from all the previously mentioned fests and a selection of overlooked genre blending films presented in a down home setting. This year will mark my first trip to the Columbia, Missouri based fest, where I hope to catch a little of everything, from their hush-hush secret screenings, to selections from their Neither/Nor series, this year featuring chimeric Polish cinema of decades past, to a spotlight of Adam Curtis’s incisive oeuvre. But truth be told, it is SXSW, with its slew of high profile world premieres being announced, such as Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs...
- 2/27/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
A little more than a year after "Rich Hill" co-directors Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos won the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in Documentary, Palermo is making his directorial debut in narrative fiction with the world premiere of "One & Two" at the Berlin International Film Festival. Screening in the festival's Generations category, "One & Two" is a coming-of-age family drama that supposedly incorporates elements of the supernatural. Check out the poster for the film below, exclusively on Indiewire. Read More: The 2015 Indiewire Berlin International Film Festival Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During Run of Festival...
- 2/9/2015
- by Shipra Gupta
- Indiewire
My look at 2014 continues as I review the best documentaries of 2014. Documentaries can serve a multitude of purposes. You will have your change the world docs that pick a certain cause and attempt to spread the word so people will rise up and do something. You have those that are just about a particular story that is just too incredible to believe. You also have those experimental docs that are all about playing with the perimeters with film and experience. My list covers those categories and much more. It shows documentaries can really be used to do just about anything.
10. Kids for Cash Directed By: Robert May
Synopsis: Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, Kids For Cash exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small...
10. Kids for Cash Directed By: Robert May
Synopsis: Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, Kids For Cash exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small...
- 1/6/2015
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
The holidays are winding down and that means we at Ioncinema.com are gearing up for our annual pilgrimage to Park City where an A-list of documentaries is now set to premiere. Earlier this month Tabitha Jackson and the Sundance doc programming team let the cats out of the bag, unsurprisingly announcing much anticipated Us Doc Competition titles such as the Ross Brothers’ Western, Louie Psihoyos’ Racing Extinction, Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes and Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s (T)Error, along with some surprises like Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel’s bizarro Kickstarted doc Finders Keepers (see trailer below). Having been produced by the fine folks behind The King of Kong and Undefeated, the film bears all the markings of its well regarded pedigree, yet appears to be of even odder ilk, following the story that unfolded when a severed human foot was discovered in a grill bought at a North Carolina auction.
- 12/30/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Last year, Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos’ Rich Hill walked away with U.S. Grand Jury Prize while Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters was perhaps the section’s most buzzed about film. The sixteen titles offerings for 2015 include a first docu offering from Bobcat Goldthwait, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare director Matthew Heineman, the return of Oscar winning director Morgan Neville (for Twenty Feet from Stardom) with Best of Enemies and the latest from Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love director E. Chai Vasarhelyi. Here are the sweet sixteen:
U.S. Documentary Competition
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.
U.S. Documentary Competition
3½ Minutes / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Being Evel / U.
- 12/3/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Voting ends today for the Academy’s documentary branch who must narrow the list of 134 documentaries vying for a spot in the Oscar race to a shortlist of 15 films, which will be released in December. Of the 15 films, five Oscar nominees will be chosen in January.
Though a number of film festivals, such as the Savannah Film Fest, are becoming documentary hotspots, a number of Oscar-nominated documentaries premiere at the Sundance Film Festival each year. In the 21st century, seven of the Oscar winners have debuted in Utah: Born into Brothels (2004), March of the Penguins (2005), An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Man on Wire (2008), The Cove (2009), Searching for Sugar Man (2012) and 20 Feet from Stardom (2013).
The rest of the documentary winners were unveiled in the states (2000’s Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport and 2001’s Murder on Sunday Morning) and at the Cannes, (2002’s Bowling for Columbine,...
Managing Editor
Voting ends today for the Academy’s documentary branch who must narrow the list of 134 documentaries vying for a spot in the Oscar race to a shortlist of 15 films, which will be released in December. Of the 15 films, five Oscar nominees will be chosen in January.
Though a number of film festivals, such as the Savannah Film Fest, are becoming documentary hotspots, a number of Oscar-nominated documentaries premiere at the Sundance Film Festival each year. In the 21st century, seven of the Oscar winners have debuted in Utah: Born into Brothels (2004), March of the Penguins (2005), An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Man on Wire (2008), The Cove (2009), Searching for Sugar Man (2012) and 20 Feet from Stardom (2013).
The rest of the documentary winners were unveiled in the states (2000’s Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport and 2001’s Murder on Sunday Morning) and at the Cannes, (2002’s Bowling for Columbine,...
- 11/21/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Amy Berg's An Open Secret
While the world premiere of Marjorie Sturm's The Cult Of Jt Leroy joins Doc NYC, Amy Berg's An Open Secret is still up in the air.
Gracie Otto's The Last Impresario on Michael White, Andrea B. Scott's Florence, Arizona, Keva Rosenfeld's All American High Revisited, Thomas Wirthensohn's Homme Less, Dave Jannetta's Love And Terror On The Howling Plains Of Nowhere, Norah Shapiro's Miss Tibet: Beauty In Exile, Rich Hill by Tracy Droz Tragos, Little White Lie by Lacey Schwartz and Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden's Almost There, connect with Richard Gere's performance in Oren Moverman's Time Out Of Mind, Marion Cotillard in Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Two Days, One Night to Michael Keaton's Birdman in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance, turning questions of identity into passages of time.
While the world premiere of Marjorie Sturm's The Cult Of Jt Leroy joins Doc NYC, Amy Berg's An Open Secret is still up in the air.
Gracie Otto's The Last Impresario on Michael White, Andrea B. Scott's Florence, Arizona, Keva Rosenfeld's All American High Revisited, Thomas Wirthensohn's Homme Less, Dave Jannetta's Love And Terror On The Howling Plains Of Nowhere, Norah Shapiro's Miss Tibet: Beauty In Exile, Rich Hill by Tracy Droz Tragos, Little White Lie by Lacey Schwartz and Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden's Almost There, connect with Richard Gere's performance in Oren Moverman's Time Out Of Mind, Marion Cotillard in Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Two Days, One Night to Michael Keaton's Birdman in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance, turning questions of identity into passages of time.
- 11/12/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Doc NYC Director of Programming Basil Tsiokos Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
What do Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado's portrait of Sebastião Salgado in The Salt Of The Earth, Ben Cotner and Ryan White's The Case Against 8, Rory Kennedy's Last Days In Vietnam, Life Itself, based on Roger Ebert's memoir directed by Steve James, D.A. Pennebaker and William Ray's David on jazz trumpeter David Allen, Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo's Rich Hill and Divide In Concord directed by Kris Kaczor and Dave Regos have in common?
All of these documentaries and more are screening in the 2014 Doc NYC Film Festival.
David
Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards, Citizenfour director Laura Poitras will receive the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence and Dan Cogan the Leading Light Award which honours "an individual making a crucial...
What do Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado's portrait of Sebastião Salgado in The Salt Of The Earth, Ben Cotner and Ryan White's The Case Against 8, Rory Kennedy's Last Days In Vietnam, Life Itself, based on Roger Ebert's memoir directed by Steve James, D.A. Pennebaker and William Ray's David on jazz trumpeter David Allen, Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo's Rich Hill and Divide In Concord directed by Kris Kaczor and Dave Regos have in common?
All of these documentaries and more are screening in the 2014 Doc NYC Film Festival.
David
Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards, Citizenfour director Laura Poitras will receive the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence and Dan Cogan the Leading Light Award which honours "an individual making a crucial...
- 11/10/2014
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The art of the documentarian is getting close to your subjects and catching the moments as they come. There is no finer a portrait of what grinding, incompetent poverty can do to a family, no matter how well-intentioned, than first cousins Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo's self-funded "Rich Hill." That's the name of yet another wrong-side-of-the-tracks town in rural America, in this case depressed one-time mining town Rich Hill, Missouri, seventy miles south of Kansas City, home to some 1300 residents trying to scratch out a living. The streets are deserted, the kids are poor, with sadass parents. We follow three boys, including cheery, bright-eyed, athletic Andrew, who gets up every day and tries to get ahead, despite his helpless, over-medicated mom and under-employed dad, who mean well but no matter how many times they start over, keep sliding back to near homelessness. It's heartbreaking when you see...
- 11/4/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Directed by: Andrew Droz Palermo, Tracy Droz Tragos
Rich Hill is a rich portrait of poverty stricken youth culture in rural America. Directors Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos never ask you to pity their subjects rather they are more content on making you aware of their existence. With unfettered access they are able to craft a documentary full of intimate moments that showcase the power an environment can hold on a person, and how broken the American dream can become. There is this dichotomous streak that runs throughout where desire and reality are always at odds. One that serves as a reminder that desperation does not always diminish hope. Even if a person is eternally trapped in their situation there is a glimmer of faith that life will somehow turn out better.
Nothing better displays that than the town of Rich Hill, Missouri itself. Located about an hour...
Rich Hill is a rich portrait of poverty stricken youth culture in rural America. Directors Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos never ask you to pity their subjects rather they are more content on making you aware of their existence. With unfettered access they are able to craft a documentary full of intimate moments that showcase the power an environment can hold on a person, and how broken the American dream can become. There is this dichotomous streak that runs throughout where desire and reality are always at odds. One that serves as a reminder that desperation does not always diminish hope. Even if a person is eternally trapped in their situation there is a glimmer of faith that life will somehow turn out better.
Nothing better displays that than the town of Rich Hill, Missouri itself. Located about an hour...
- 10/16/2014
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Timothée Chalamet (Homeland, Interstellar), Grant Bowler (True Blood, Defiance), and Elizabeth Reaser (Twilight, True Detective) will star in One & Two, the next feature from director Andrew Droz Palermo. Palermo, a Dp whose credits include You’re Next, V/H/S, and Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher, made his helming debut with co-director Tracy Droz Tragos on Rich Hill, the 2014 documentary about youngsters growing up in an impoverished Midwestern town that won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize. One & Two follows a family of four who live peacefully in purposeful isolation in a mysterious farmhouse, where siblings Zac and Eva begin to explore unusual abilities and dark family secrets when their mother falls ill. Palermo co-wrote the film with Neima Shahdadi and will begin filming soon in North Carolina. Kim Sherman is producing with Bow + Arrow Entertainment’s Matthew Perniciaro and Michael Sherman. Bow + Arrow and Protagonist Pictures are executive producers.
- 8/28/2014
- by Jen Yamato
- Deadline
A portrait of small-town American poverty in which compassion for its subjects is matched only by a caustic undercurrent of rage at the utter collapse of the American dream. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Rich Hill isn’t a person but a place: a rather ironically named “city” of 1,300-someodd souls in Missouri where hopelessness appear to reign even among the cheery fireworks and patriotic parades complete with countless waving Stars and Stripes and enthusiastic but off-key high-school marching band renditions of “God Bless America.”
Local filmmakers Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for this portrait of a year in the life of three teenaged Rich Hill boys, and their compassion for the trials of their subjects’ lives is...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Rich Hill isn’t a person but a place: a rather ironically named “city” of 1,300-someodd souls in Missouri where hopelessness appear to reign even among the cheery fireworks and patriotic parades complete with countless waving Stars and Stripes and enthusiastic but off-key high-school marching band renditions of “God Bless America.”
Local filmmakers Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for this portrait of a year in the life of three teenaged Rich Hill boys, and their compassion for the trials of their subjects’ lives is...
- 8/27/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Here are some International Documentary Association (Ida) News:
The Ida Documentary Screening Series brings some of the year's best documentaries to the Ida community and members of industry guilds and organizations. Screenings conclude with Q&A discussions with filmmakers, moderated by journalists from Media Partners Indiewire and The Nation.
Series kicks off September 11, 2014 with "Keep On Keepin' On" at the Landmark in L.A.
See what's screening and RSVP today!
Take the Lisa Kirk Colburn Challenge : Ida Board Member to Triple Your Gift's Impact
Help the Ida build and serve the needs of a thriving documentary culture! Now through Labor Day (September 1), nonfiction filmmaker and Ida Board member Lisa Kirk Colburn will triple the impact of your tax-deductible donation to the Ida with her personal contribution of up to $10,000.
If you give $50, she?ll give $100. If you give $250, she?ll give $500. That?s a pretty sweet deal, and will help the Ida provide the resources and support that all documentarians need to practice their art form.
While supplies last, donors of $100 or more are eligible to receive a DVD of 2014 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Rich Hill by Ida members Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero!
Thanks for helping us take full advantage of Lisa? amazing offer by giving as generously as your budget allows.
The Ida Documentary Screening Series brings some of the year's best documentaries to the Ida community and members of industry guilds and organizations. Screenings conclude with Q&A discussions with filmmakers, moderated by journalists from Media Partners Indiewire and The Nation.
Series kicks off September 11, 2014 with "Keep On Keepin' On" at the Landmark in L.A.
See what's screening and RSVP today!
Take the Lisa Kirk Colburn Challenge : Ida Board Member to Triple Your Gift's Impact
Help the Ida build and serve the needs of a thriving documentary culture! Now through Labor Day (September 1), nonfiction filmmaker and Ida Board member Lisa Kirk Colburn will triple the impact of your tax-deductible donation to the Ida with her personal contribution of up to $10,000.
If you give $50, she?ll give $100. If you give $250, she?ll give $500. That?s a pretty sweet deal, and will help the Ida provide the resources and support that all documentarians need to practice their art form.
While supplies last, donors of $100 or more are eligible to receive a DVD of 2014 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Rich Hill by Ida members Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero!
Thanks for helping us take full advantage of Lisa? amazing offer by giving as generously as your budget allows.
- 8/25/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In the summer of 2011, Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo, first cousins, both filmmakers, sat in an idling car at Lax, trying to come up with a project. Talk turned to Rich Hill, their family's hometown in southwestern Missouri. "It was actually a conversation about our Uncle Paul, who still lives there and our love of him and, by extension, our love of this town," Tragos says. "But it was also the acknowledgment that it's a hard place. It clicked."
Three years later, their astonishing documentary, Rich Hill, has...
Three years later, their astonishing documentary, Rich Hill, has...
- 8/13/2014
- Rollingstone.com
One of the Playlist's picks for Best Documentaries Of 2014 So Far and an award winner at Sundance for Best Documentary "Rich Hill" has since been even more widely lauded. Today we have an exclusive clip from the film. Directed by Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos, the doc follows the hopes, dreams and challenges of teenagers Andrew, Harley and Appachey in Rich Hill, Missouri. It's a straight-forward concept that rewards viewers with what we called an "important film" and a "tough but tender journey...and a sort of state of the union address of Middle America in the twenty-teens." In the clip, you can see one of the film's quaint slices of life. "Rich Hill" is now in theaters and on VOD. Watch below. ...
- 8/6/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
It is difficult to watch the penetrating documentary Rich Hill without imposing your own values and prejudices. I did. Watching the case-studies of three impoverished Missouri male adolescents, my despair over the degeneration of life in small-town America led to a constant inner dialogue with the film and its subjects: Why, child, I asked, are they giving you so many meds? Why the hell are you chain-smoking at age 13? Why did your parents bring you into the world when they were so young and so evidently unable (or unwilling) to care for you? What can you do in such a bleak place to keep your mind from turning to mush?Directors Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos have chosen their young (white) subjects from among a population of 1,396: two problem boys and one who’s more “normal,” more primed to escape his world — except his mother has fled...
- 8/1/2014
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
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