Madeleine Gavin’s Sundance award-winning documentary “Beyond Utopia” has garnered the best documentary and best doc editing honors at the 24th annual Woodstock Film Festival.
The documentary, which was recently acquired by Roadside Attractions, is vying for Academy Award attention.
Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”) and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”).
“This year’s winner is an astonishingly intimate, white-knuckle thriller following families trying to escape North Korea,” the jurors said in a joint statement. “Stitched together from raw, first person footage, it is impossible not to feel the heart-breaking courage as a family clings to each other during a nighttime crossing of the Mekong River.
The documentary, which was recently acquired by Roadside Attractions, is vying for Academy Award attention.
Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”) and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”).
“This year’s winner is an astonishingly intimate, white-knuckle thriller following families trying to escape North Korea,” the jurors said in a joint statement. “Stitched together from raw, first person footage, it is impossible not to feel the heart-breaking courage as a family clings to each other during a nighttime crossing of the Mekong River.
- 10/1/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Stacey Offman, Jigsaw Production’s exec VP of development and production, is exiting the company to work as an independent producer, Variety has confirmed. Longtime Jigsaw producer Erin Edeiken to serve as head of production for Alex Gibney’s shingle going forward.
Offman, who is exiting on May 19, joined Jigsaw Productions in 2012. In her 11-year tenure at the documentary production company, Offman was part of the team that launched Jigsaw’s television branch as well as the creation of a vertical of non-fiction series and documentaries for an array of studios and broadcast partners.
Offman’s recent projects include Jigsaw’s “Dirty Money,” a six-part investigative series which exposed corruption and financial malfeasance in some of the most influential companies and industries. The series began streaming on Netflix in January 2018. In addition, Offman developed “Salt, Fat, Acid Heat,” a 2018 four-part Netflix culinary travel series based on Samin Nosrat’s book by the same name,...
Offman, who is exiting on May 19, joined Jigsaw Productions in 2012. In her 11-year tenure at the documentary production company, Offman was part of the team that launched Jigsaw’s television branch as well as the creation of a vertical of non-fiction series and documentaries for an array of studios and broadcast partners.
Offman’s recent projects include Jigsaw’s “Dirty Money,” a six-part investigative series which exposed corruption and financial malfeasance in some of the most influential companies and industries. The series began streaming on Netflix in January 2018. In addition, Offman developed “Salt, Fat, Acid Heat,” a 2018 four-part Netflix culinary travel series based on Samin Nosrat’s book by the same name,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Jigsaw Productions evp of development and production Stacey Offman is leaving the company after 11 years, Jigsaw said Wednesday.
During her time at The Inventor and Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker producer led by documentarian Alex Gibney, the creative executive headed up the launch of company’s television branch and played a significant role in developing Dirty Money, the Netflix series focused on corporate corruption. She also was a prime mover in the development of the Netflix series Salt Fat Acid Heat, based on the Samin Nosrat book, and Showtime’s U.S.-Saudi Arabia doc Kingdom of Silence and Apple TV’s The Line, about a 2018 war crimes case.
Offman is said to be leaving to pursue new opportunities, although she will remain as an executive producer on select Jigsaw projects and is planning on working with Jigsaw as an independent producer going forward.
“I depart Jigsaw with...
During her time at The Inventor and Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker producer led by documentarian Alex Gibney, the creative executive headed up the launch of company’s television branch and played a significant role in developing Dirty Money, the Netflix series focused on corporate corruption. She also was a prime mover in the development of the Netflix series Salt Fat Acid Heat, based on the Samin Nosrat book, and Showtime’s U.S.-Saudi Arabia doc Kingdom of Silence and Apple TV’s The Line, about a 2018 war crimes case.
Offman is said to be leaving to pursue new opportunities, although she will remain as an executive producer on select Jigsaw projects and is planning on working with Jigsaw as an independent producer going forward.
“I depart Jigsaw with...
- 5/17/2023
- by Katie Kilkenny
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Update The Joburg Film Festival defiantly went ahead with a screening of Ousmane Sembène’s “Black Girl” on Thursday, refusing to bow to political pressure after South Africa’s Film and Publications Board (Fpb) denied it permission to hold a public screening of the Senegalese director’s groundbreaking debut.
In a decision that shocked festival organizers and many of the African filmmakers in attendance, a Fpb reviewer recommended the film be submitted for “full classification” — a process that would determine its suitability for public viewing — “due to prejudicial element that contains acts of hate speech which is degrading of a human being.”
Within hours of this story’s publication on Friday morning in Johannesburg, Variety received word that the Fpb had reversed course and granted the festival permission to screen the film. The board has not yet responded to repeated requests for additional comment.
The decision came one day too...
In a decision that shocked festival organizers and many of the African filmmakers in attendance, a Fpb reviewer recommended the film be submitted for “full classification” — a process that would determine its suitability for public viewing — “due to prejudicial element that contains acts of hate speech which is degrading of a human being.”
Within hours of this story’s publication on Friday morning in Johannesburg, Variety received word that the Fpb had reversed course and granted the festival permission to screen the film. The board has not yet responded to repeated requests for additional comment.
The decision came one day too...
- 2/3/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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Showtime will officially begin streaming “The Chi” Season 4 finale at midnight on Sunday. If you’re not already subscribed to the cable network, there’s still time to join so that you can watch the finale for free.
Jacob Latimore, Yolanda Ross, Michael V. Epps, Alex R. Hibbert, Shamon Brown Jr., and Luke James star in Lena Waithe’s drama series exploring life on the South Side of Chicago.
Whether you’re new to “The Chi,” or catching up on older episodes, Showtime gives you unlimited streaming access and you won’t pay a dime for the first month. The network is offering a 30-day free trial for new subscribers, which means you...
Showtime will officially begin streaming “The Chi” Season 4 finale at midnight on Sunday. If you’re not already subscribed to the cable network, there’s still time to join so that you can watch the finale for free.
Jacob Latimore, Yolanda Ross, Michael V. Epps, Alex R. Hibbert, Shamon Brown Jr., and Luke James star in Lena Waithe’s drama series exploring life on the South Side of Chicago.
Whether you’re new to “The Chi,” or catching up on older episodes, Showtime gives you unlimited streaming access and you won’t pay a dime for the first month. The network is offering a 30-day free trial for new subscribers, which means you...
- 8/1/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
PBS led all networks in nominations for the 42nd annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, landing 52 overall — thanks to the strength of signature series “Frontline,” “Independent Lens,” “Pov,” “Nova,” “PBS News Hour” and “Nature.”
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced this year’s nominees on Tuesday morning, noting that more than 2,200 submissions were entered, from content that premiered in calendar year 2020. CNN was next with 41 nods, including five each for “AC360,” CNN Films and “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” CNN Films docs earning nominations included three for “John Lewis: Good Trouble.”
When combined with various partnerships, “Frontline” landed the most nominations overall, with 19. Next in line, with 16 each, were CBS’ “60 Minutes” and Vice’s “Vice News Tonight.”
Best documentary nominations included three for PBS: Frontline’s “Once Upon A Time In Iraq,” Independent Lens’ “Belly of the Beast” and Pov’s “Advocate.” They’re up against Netflix’s “Athlete A,...
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced this year’s nominees on Tuesday morning, noting that more than 2,200 submissions were entered, from content that premiered in calendar year 2020. CNN was next with 41 nods, including five each for “AC360,” CNN Films and “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” CNN Films docs earning nominations included three for “John Lewis: Good Trouble.”
When combined with various partnerships, “Frontline” landed the most nominations overall, with 19. Next in line, with 16 each, were CBS’ “60 Minutes” and Vice’s “Vice News Tonight.”
Best documentary nominations included three for PBS: Frontline’s “Once Upon A Time In Iraq,” Independent Lens’ “Belly of the Beast” and Pov’s “Advocate.” They’re up against Netflix’s “Athlete A,...
- 7/27/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Archie Bunker might call this “Meathead vs. Maga.”
Rob Reiner said in an interview today that he is working on a “10- to 13-episode” TV project about the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Watch a clip from the sit-down above.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind films ranging from This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride and A Few Good Men to Lbj and Shock and Awe told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah that he is prepping a project called The Spy and the Asset.
“It’s all about Putin and Trump, and it takes them from their childhoods up to the point where they cross and what happens to democracy as a result of this convergence,” he said on the satcaster’s The Dean Obeidallah Show. Reiner later added: “I wanna do it because, for me, it’s like … taking the first real cut in history.”
Reiner noted that he...
Rob Reiner said in an interview today that he is working on a “10- to 13-episode” TV project about the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Watch a clip from the sit-down above.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind films ranging from This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride and A Few Good Men to Lbj and Shock and Awe told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah that he is prepping a project called The Spy and the Asset.
“It’s all about Putin and Trump, and it takes them from their childhoods up to the point where they cross and what happens to democracy as a result of this convergence,” he said on the satcaster’s The Dean Obeidallah Show. Reiner later added: “I wanna do it because, for me, it’s like … taking the first real cut in history.”
Reiner noted that he...
- 6/30/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Ted Lasso,’ ‘I May Destroy You,’ ‘Small Axe,’ Stephen Colbert Among Peabody Awards 2021 Nominations
“I May Destroy You,” “Small Axe,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Good Lord Bird” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” are among this year’s entertainment nominees for the Peabody Awards.
The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors on Tuesday announced this year’s nominees for entertainment, documentaries, news, podcast/radio, children’s & youth, public service and arts. A total of 60 nominees were revealed as representing “the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2020.”
PBS once again led the nominations with 12 programs, followed by Netflix with nine. HBO was next with five, and then Amazon and Showtime with three each, and Apple TV Plus and CBS with two apiece. Out of the nominees, half will be named winners and recognized during a virtual celebration in June.
A unanimous vote by the Peabody Awards Board’s 19 jurors is necessary to include on the final lists, which is how...
The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors on Tuesday announced this year’s nominees for entertainment, documentaries, news, podcast/radio, children’s & youth, public service and arts. A total of 60 nominees were revealed as representing “the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2020.”
PBS once again led the nominations with 12 programs, followed by Netflix with nine. HBO was next with five, and then Amazon and Showtime with three each, and Apple TV Plus and CBS with two apiece. Out of the nominees, half will be named winners and recognized during a virtual celebration in June.
A unanimous vote by the Peabody Awards Board’s 19 jurors is necessary to include on the final lists, which is how...
- 5/4/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors announced this year’s crop of nominees today, singling out 60 stories from more than 1,300 submissions for its prestigious award honoring broadcasting and streaming media during 2020. The Peabody Awards recognize the finest work produced for television, podcasts/radio and the web in entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service and multimedia programming.
“During an incredibly turbulent and difficult year, these nominees rose to the occasion and delivered compelling and empowering stories,” said chair of the Peabody Board of Jurors Martha Nelson. “From Covid-19 coverage to poignant explorations of identity, each nominee not only told a powerful story but also made a significant impact on media programming and the cultural landscape. We’re thrilled to recognize their outstanding and inspiring work.”
Perhaps unsurprising given the landscape of the last 18 months, the Peabody honorees skewed more heavily towards news programs, with only 10 Entertainment selections, as...
“During an incredibly turbulent and difficult year, these nominees rose to the occasion and delivered compelling and empowering stories,” said chair of the Peabody Board of Jurors Martha Nelson. “From Covid-19 coverage to poignant explorations of identity, each nominee not only told a powerful story but also made a significant impact on media programming and the cultural landscape. We’re thrilled to recognize their outstanding and inspiring work.”
Perhaps unsurprising given the landscape of the last 18 months, the Peabody honorees skewed more heavily towards news programs, with only 10 Entertainment selections, as...
- 5/4/2021
- by Libby Hill
- Indiewire
After being branded as “the enemy of the people” in recent years, both here and in some other countries, journalists may be surprised to find themselves portrayed as heroes in a number of recent documentaries, including an Oscar-contending film.
Collective, the Romanian film nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Film, centers in large part on reporter Catalin Tolontan, who exposed a shocking corruption scandal precipitated by a deadly fire at a Bucharest nightclub. Tolontan and his colleagues got to the bottom of why burn victims kept mysteriously dying in Romanian hospitals in the weeks and months after the blaze.
“These journalists,” notes director Alexander Nanau, “were the only ones who started to investigate all the lies and the manipulation within the health care system and the political class.”
Tolontan’s investigation uncovered a scheme by a pharmaceutical company to sell secretly diluted disinfectant to hospitals. The weakened cleaning...
Collective, the Romanian film nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Film, centers in large part on reporter Catalin Tolontan, who exposed a shocking corruption scandal precipitated by a deadly fire at a Bucharest nightclub. Tolontan and his colleagues got to the bottom of why burn victims kept mysteriously dying in Romanian hospitals in the weeks and months after the blaze.
“These journalists,” notes director Alexander Nanau, “were the only ones who started to investigate all the lies and the manipulation within the health care system and the political class.”
Tolontan’s investigation uncovered a scheme by a pharmaceutical company to sell secretly diluted disinfectant to hospitals. The weakened cleaning...
- 4/9/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed the 366 feature films that are eligible for consideration at the 93rd Oscars, which are set to air April 25 live on ABC.
The total number of films is up from last year’s 344 films in contention.
This year’s list was compiled based on tweaked eligibility rules implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the ceremony to its latest date ever. For this year, feature films had to open by February 28 in a commercial motion picture theater for a seven-day qualifying run in at least one of six metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Drive-in theaters open nightly were included as qualifying venues, as were films intended for theatrical release but because of the lockdown made available first via streaming, VOD service or other broadcast.
Today’s news comes...
The total number of films is up from last year’s 344 films in contention.
This year’s list was compiled based on tweaked eligibility rules implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the ceremony to its latest date ever. For this year, feature films had to open by February 28 in a commercial motion picture theater for a seven-day qualifying run in at least one of six metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Drive-in theaters open nightly were included as qualifying venues, as were films intended for theatrical release but because of the lockdown made available first via streaming, VOD service or other broadcast.
Today’s news comes...
- 2/25/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The number of films available to Oscar voters in a screening room devoted to the Best Picture category hit the 200 mark on Wednesday, which means that $2.5 million has entered the Academy coffers from films paying $12,500 each to be represented in the screening room.
The members-only Academy Screening Room hit the milestone with the addition of more than a dozen movies this week, including Fisher Stevens’ “Palmer,” Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things,” the Russo brothers’ “Cherry,” Josh Trank’s “Capone,” the documentary “Coup 53,” the Studio Ghibli animated film “Earwig and the Witch,” the international films “Funny Boy” and “Bacarau” (neither eligible in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category) and some off-the-wall selections, including “Snake White – Love Endures” and “Soorarai Pottru.”
Other late additions to the screening room have included “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The White Tiger” and “Cherry,” which were not added until January.
The members-only Academy Screening Room hit the milestone with the addition of more than a dozen movies this week, including Fisher Stevens’ “Palmer,” Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things,” the Russo brothers’ “Cherry,” Josh Trank’s “Capone,” the documentary “Coup 53,” the Studio Ghibli animated film “Earwig and the Witch,” the international films “Funny Boy” and “Bacarau” (neither eligible in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category) and some off-the-wall selections, including “Snake White – Love Endures” and “Soorarai Pottru.”
Other late additions to the screening room have included “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The White Tiger” and “Cherry,” which were not added until January.
- 1/28/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The killers of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have hoped his 2018 assassination would quickly fade from memory, but that hasn’t been the case. In fact, his journalistic legacy gets renewed attention in the Showtime documentary Kingdom of Silence.
“The scope of his life was just epic,” director Rick Rowley says during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event. “He was more than just a journalistic witness. He lived his life at the center of a whirlwind and was a participant in events that shaped history.”
Khashoggi cut his teeth reporting on Osama bin Laden. Later, he became a quasi-government spokesman, defending Saudi Arabia abroad. But the kingdom’s role squashing the Arab Spring, and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to crush dissent, disillusioned him.
“He allowed these moments to wound him,” Rowley says, “and he was changed by them.”
Changed so much...
“The scope of his life was just epic,” director Rick Rowley says during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event. “He was more than just a journalistic witness. He lived his life at the center of a whirlwind and was a participant in events that shaped history.”
Khashoggi cut his teeth reporting on Osama bin Laden. Later, he became a quasi-government spokesman, defending Saudi Arabia abroad. But the kingdom’s role squashing the Arab Spring, and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to crush dissent, disillusioned him.
“He allowed these moments to wound him,” Rowley says, “and he was changed by them.”
Changed so much...
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The coronavirus pandemic pushed the release of a slew of narrative films into 2021, reducing the number of Best Picture contenders this Oscar season. But it’s a completely different story with documentary. Streaming platforms and other players didn’t hold back their nonfiction slate, and with the Academy relaxing qualification rules, the record for films in contention for Best Documentary is about to be shattered this year.
That makes this the perfect time to launch Deadline’s first Contenders Documentary, a virtual showcase of top nonfiction films this awards season. The event kicks off today at 8 a.m. Pt. Click here to register and join the livestream, and follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
The Contenders Documentary program, featuring conversations with a raft of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmakers including Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Ron Howard,...
That makes this the perfect time to launch Deadline’s first Contenders Documentary, a virtual showcase of top nonfiction films this awards season. The event kicks off today at 8 a.m. Pt. Click here to register and join the livestream, and follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
The Contenders Documentary program, featuring conversations with a raft of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmakers including Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Ron Howard,...
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Following the continuing success of its long-running Contenders events during Oscar and Emmy seasons, Deadline is making new additions to the franchise with Contenders Documentary, focusing on the year’s most noteworthy non-fiction films, and Contenders International, with its eye on a great lineup of foreign-language entries. Both of these events, designed to put the spotlight on worthy movies that don’t always get the attention they deserve, will be presented virtually due to the pandemic — as we did for the Emmys — in their inaugural year over the course of one weekend, with International taking place on Saturday, January 9, and Documentary on Sunday, January 10. Both will be starting their livestreams at 8 a.m. Pt.
Fifteen studios, streamers and distributors will be participating in the kickoff for Contenders International, with an impressive and varied presentation involving clips and filmmaker/talent Q&As from a total of 23 films from around the world...
Fifteen studios, streamers and distributors will be participating in the kickoff for Contenders International, with an impressive and varied presentation involving clips and filmmaker/talent Q&As from a total of 23 films from around the world...
- 1/1/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Gold Derby senior editor Joyce Eng recently conducted fascinating, in-depth discussions with the directors and/or producers of eight of the leading contenders for Best Documentary at many major awards in 2021, including the Oscars. Watch her one-on-one chats with each creator plus group roundtable talks about the creative challenges they all faced while making their films.
Discussions include “Rebuilding Paradise” Nat Geo; “Miss Americana” Netflix; “Boys State” Apple TV+; “40 Years a Prisoner” HBO; “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Amazon Prime Video; “On the Record” HBO; “Kingdom of Silence” Showtime; and “A Most Beautiful Thing” 50 Egg Films.
Discussions include “Rebuilding Paradise” Nat Geo; “Miss Americana” Netflix; “Boys State” Apple TV+; “40 Years a Prisoner” HBO; “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Amazon Prime Video; “On the Record” HBO; “Kingdom of Silence” Showtime; and “A Most Beautiful Thing” 50 Egg Films.
- 12/26/2020
- by Tom O'Neil
- Gold Derby
For years the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked a tightrope—balancing his access to powerful Saudi Royals while pushing for reform in the kingdom—until the tightrope became a noose.
Khashoggi’s murder in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul—where a “kill team” allegedly dispatched by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman suffocated and then dismembered him—brought a gruesome end to a career of remarkable firsts. Among Kashoggi’s journalistic scoops had been reporting on his fellow Saudi Osama bin Laden, long before anyone in the West paid much attention to the radical Islamist.
“He was right there at the beginning when al-Qaeda was being formed, the first journalist to ever take a photograph of Bin Laden,” notes Rick Rowley, director of Kingdom of Silence, the Showtime documentary about Khashoggi. “He was right there in the halls of power in London and in Washington and in Riyadh after September 11th,...
Khashoggi’s murder in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul—where a “kill team” allegedly dispatched by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman suffocated and then dismembered him—brought a gruesome end to a career of remarkable firsts. Among Kashoggi’s journalistic scoops had been reporting on his fellow Saudi Osama bin Laden, long before anyone in the West paid much attention to the radical Islamist.
“He was right there at the beginning when al-Qaeda was being formed, the first journalist to ever take a photograph of Bin Laden,” notes Rick Rowley, director of Kingdom of Silence, the Showtime documentary about Khashoggi. “He was right there in the halls of power in London and in Washington and in Riyadh after September 11th,...
- 12/24/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy has added 93 more films to the members-only screening room devoted to entries in the Best Documentary Feature category, bringing the total number of eligible contenders to a record-shattering 215.
The previous record for entries was 170 in 2017. And this year’s crop of nonfiction films is expected to pass that number by an even bigger margin — at least 50 — once a final, smaller group of films is added to the screening room in January.
New eligibility rules that were passed in the wake of the Covid-19 theater closings made it easier for documentaries to qualify this year by allowing them to do so by playing at film festivals, even virtual ones, and by easing requirements for theatrical runs. In an email to members detailing the new additions, the Academy said, “The Documentary Branch Executive Committee felt it was important to be inclusive and supportive of documentary filmmakers in this unprecedented and challenging year.
The previous record for entries was 170 in 2017. And this year’s crop of nonfiction films is expected to pass that number by an even bigger margin — at least 50 — once a final, smaller group of films is added to the screening room in January.
New eligibility rules that were passed in the wake of the Covid-19 theater closings made it easier for documentaries to qualify this year by allowing them to do so by playing at film festivals, even virtual ones, and by easing requirements for theatrical runs. In an email to members detailing the new additions, the Academy said, “The Documentary Branch Executive Committee felt it was important to be inclusive and supportive of documentary filmmakers in this unprecedented and challenging year.
- 12/22/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
“Speaking truth to power, social justice documentaries are really part of a cutting edge of documentary,” argues filmmaker Kirby Dick about the wave of investigative nonfiction films we’ve seen in recent years, including those from our “Meet the Experts” documentary panelists. Watch our group discussion with those directors above.
SEEWatch our chats with top cinematographers, costume designers, documentary filmmakers and other crafts leaders
Dick and Amy Ziering exposed sexual abuse in the music business in “On the Record.” Rick Rowley investigated the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in “Kingdom of Silence.” Tommy Oliver followed a man’s journey to free his parents from an unjust prison sentence in “40 Years a Prisoner.” And Mary Mazzio explored racial inequality through the eyes of a team of high school rowers in “A Most Beautiful Thing.”
“All of the films here on this panel are great examples of what has been core...
SEEWatch our chats with top cinematographers, costume designers, documentary filmmakers and other crafts leaders
Dick and Amy Ziering exposed sexual abuse in the music business in “On the Record.” Rick Rowley investigated the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in “Kingdom of Silence.” Tommy Oliver followed a man’s journey to free his parents from an unjust prison sentence in “40 Years a Prisoner.” And Mary Mazzio explored racial inequality through the eyes of a team of high school rowers in “A Most Beautiful Thing.”
“All of the films here on this panel are great examples of what has been core...
- 12/22/2020
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
“We began this film thinking that it was a murder mystery,” says director Rick Rowley about his Showtime documentary “Kingdom of Silence,” which tells the story of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In 2018 Khashoggi was assassinated by the Saudi government after publicly criticizing the regime. “But the more we discovered, the clearer it became that the far more interesting question and story was just below the surface … Who was this man who was so dangerous that the kingdom would risk so much to silence him?” Rowley joined us for our “Meet the Experts” documentary panel. Watch our video interview with him above.
“The story that we uncovered was epic in scope,” Rowley explains. “It spans decades, and it spanned continents. Jamal Khashoggi lived his life at the center of a whirlwind.” He was an early acquaintance of Osama bin Laden and a former defender of the Saudi royal family, but the...
“The story that we uncovered was epic in scope,” Rowley explains. “It spans decades, and it spanned continents. Jamal Khashoggi lived his life at the center of a whirlwind.” He was an early acquaintance of Osama bin Laden and a former defender of the Saudi royal family, but the...
- 12/22/2020
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
By Glenn Dunks — No column next week as I will be taking a week off for rest and relaxation over the Christmas season.
Not for the first time this year, the story of Jamal Khashoggi has been told in a documentary that tries—excessively, exhaustively—to be as thrill-a-minute as a Hollywood blockbuster. I wasn’t a fan of it last time and I’m not a fan of it this time, either. Bryan Fogel’s The Dissident is better than that earlier title, Rick Rowley’s Kingdom of Silence; it’s better than his 2018 Oscar winner, Icarus, too, but that isn’t saying much.
What is it about Khashoggi that makes filmmakers think they’re directing an episode of Homeland? Is it simply the key settings of Saudi Arabia and Turkey that inspires such busy and scattered movies?...
Not for the first time this year, the story of Jamal Khashoggi has been told in a documentary that tries—excessively, exhaustively—to be as thrill-a-minute as a Hollywood blockbuster. I wasn’t a fan of it last time and I’m not a fan of it this time, either. Bryan Fogel’s The Dissident is better than that earlier title, Rick Rowley’s Kingdom of Silence; it’s better than his 2018 Oscar winner, Icarus, too, but that isn’t saying much.
What is it about Khashoggi that makes filmmakers think they’re directing an episode of Homeland? Is it simply the key settings of Saudi Arabia and Turkey that inspires such busy and scattered movies?...
- 12/21/2020
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Six top film documentary directors will reveal the secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Oscar contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to be published on Tuesday, December 15, at 5:00 p.m. Pt; 8:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a group chat with Daniel and all of the group together.
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Oscar contenders:
“All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Prime): Liz Garbus
Garbus is a two-time Oscar nominee for “What Happened, Miss Simone?...
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This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Oscar contenders:
“All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Prime): Liz Garbus
Garbus is a two-time Oscar nominee for “What Happened, Miss Simone?...
- 12/8/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The Academy dropped another 33 feature films into the online screening room for members of its Documentary Branch on Oct. 30, giving the Oscars doc race its biggest influx of new films to date. The branch now has 86 films to consider, with two or three more batches of films (and potentially more than 50 additional contenders) likely to be added to the field by early January.
Coming the same week that the Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced its nominees and the International Documentary Association’s Ida Documentary Awards revealed the 30-film shortlist from which it will make its final choices, the Academy move kicked the Oscar doc race into another gear in a year that promises to be highly competitive.
Among the docs that were made available to voters this week were Bryce Dallas Howard’s film about fatherhood, “Dads,” which means she’ll be competing against her father, Ron Howard, who is...
Coming the same week that the Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced its nominees and the International Documentary Association’s Ida Documentary Awards revealed the 30-film shortlist from which it will make its final choices, the Academy move kicked the Oscar doc race into another gear in a year that promises to be highly competitive.
Among the docs that were made available to voters this week were Bryce Dallas Howard’s film about fatherhood, “Dads,” which means she’ll be competing against her father, Ron Howard, who is...
- 11/2/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Alex Gibney is setting his sights on serial killers in “Crazy, Not Insane,” the latest documentary from the high-profile filmmaker.
Per HBO, the documentary profiles Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a veteran psychiatrist who has studied various infamous murderers. Her research includes videotaped death row interviews and examines the formative experiences and neurological dysfunction of such infamous murderers as Arthur Shawcross and Ted Bundy. Her work challenges the very notion of evil, proposing that murderers are made, not born.
The film also explores the death penalty itself, highlighting research that indicates states with the death penalty tend to have higher murder rates than those without, questioning the theory of the death penalty as a deterrent to violence. The film asks an important question: Once dangerous killers are locked away and the public is protected, why is society so determined to execute these human beings?
“Crazy, Not Insane,” which was recently showcased at Doc NYC,...
Per HBO, the documentary profiles Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a veteran psychiatrist who has studied various infamous murderers. Her research includes videotaped death row interviews and examines the formative experiences and neurological dysfunction of such infamous murderers as Arthur Shawcross and Ted Bundy. Her work challenges the very notion of evil, proposing that murderers are made, not born.
The film also explores the death penalty itself, highlighting research that indicates states with the death penalty tend to have higher murder rates than those without, questioning the theory of the death penalty as a deterrent to violence. The film asks an important question: Once dangerous killers are locked away and the public is protected, why is society so determined to execute these human beings?
“Crazy, Not Insane,” which was recently showcased at Doc NYC,...
- 10/27/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Alex Gibney is driving from his home in New Jersey to Philadelphia Stadium for Neon’s drive-in premiere of “Totally Under Control,” his hard-hitting exposé about how President Donald Trump and his administration’s response to Covid-19 cost the lives of over 210,000 Americans. Eight months ago, this movie wasn’t even a notion; now it’s one of three non-fiction projects from the Oscar-winning documentarian (“Taxi to the Dark Side”) on multiple platforms this fall. “Totally Under Control” is available On Demand October 13 and hits Hulu October 20.
The pandemic has done little to slow down Gibney and his prolific Jigsaw Prods. His HBO documentary “Crazy, Not Insane” was supposed to debut at SXSW; instead, his intimate profile of forensic psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis who diagnosed high-profile killers with multiple personality disorders debuted at Venice and will finally reach HBO in November.
Gibney also completed “Agents of Chaos,” his two-part, four-hour...
The pandemic has done little to slow down Gibney and his prolific Jigsaw Prods. His HBO documentary “Crazy, Not Insane” was supposed to debut at SXSW; instead, his intimate profile of forensic psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis who diagnosed high-profile killers with multiple personality disorders debuted at Venice and will finally reach HBO in November.
Gibney also completed “Agents of Chaos,” his two-part, four-hour...
- 10/14/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Alex Gibney is driving from his home in New Jersey to Philadelphia Stadium for Neon’s drive-in premiere of “Totally Under Control,” his hard-hitting exposé about how President Donald Trump and his administration’s response to Covid-19 cost the lives of over 210,000 Americans. Eight months ago, this movie wasn’t even a notion; now it’s one of three non-fiction projects from the Oscar-winning documentarian (“Taxi to the Dark Side”) on multiple platforms this fall. “Totally Under Control” is available On Demand October 13 and hits Hulu October 20.
The pandemic has done little to slow down Gibney and his prolific Jigsaw Prods. His HBO documentary “Crazy, Not Insane” was supposed to debut at SXSW; instead, his intimate profile of forensic psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis who diagnosed high-profile killers with multiple personality disorders debuted at Venice and will finally reach HBO in November.
Gibney also completed “Agents of Chaos,” his two-part, four-hour...
The pandemic has done little to slow down Gibney and his prolific Jigsaw Prods. His HBO documentary “Crazy, Not Insane” was supposed to debut at SXSW; instead, his intimate profile of forensic psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis who diagnosed high-profile killers with multiple personality disorders debuted at Venice and will finally reach HBO in November.
Gibney also completed “Agents of Chaos,” his two-part, four-hour...
- 10/14/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
By Glenn Dunks
It has been a while since I was quite so turned off by a documentary as quickly as I was by Kingdom of Silence. Well-intentioned in its exploration of the special relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how journalist Jamal Khashoggi came to be executed, but built in a fashion that mimics some sort of Tony Scott crime thriller from the 1990s. Using every trick in the book when the story at its core is so interesting only seeks to diminish its impact.
Director Rick Rowley, an Oscar-nominee for Dirty Wars, isn’t just content with verite filmmaking to create a sense of urgency. Rather his film is edited through a woodchipper, it has an over-abundance of unnecessary focus pulling and slow-motion, plus over-the-top zooms and anonymous overhead camerawork of cities and crowds implying menace everywhere you look. All played against an incessant droning...
It has been a while since I was quite so turned off by a documentary as quickly as I was by Kingdom of Silence. Well-intentioned in its exploration of the special relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how journalist Jamal Khashoggi came to be executed, but built in a fashion that mimics some sort of Tony Scott crime thriller from the 1990s. Using every trick in the book when the story at its core is so interesting only seeks to diminish its impact.
Director Rick Rowley, an Oscar-nominee for Dirty Wars, isn’t just content with verite filmmaking to create a sense of urgency. Rather his film is edited through a woodchipper, it has an over-abundance of unnecessary focus pulling and slow-motion, plus over-the-top zooms and anonymous overhead camerawork of cities and crowds implying menace everywhere you look. All played against an incessant droning...
- 10/7/2020
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
For many westerners who keep up with current events, Jamal Khashoggi is remembered mostly as a victim, a name from headlines two years back. The Saudi-born journalist, at the time of his death a columnist for The Washington Post and an American resident, walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, to collect some documents related to his upcoming marriage. Inside the consulate, he was detained, tortured and murdered. His body was dismembered with a bone saw by Saudi intelligence operatives — who, according to the CIA, were obeying orders ultimately from Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs), Saudi Arabia’...
- 10/4/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A thumbnail history of the dysfunctional relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, Rick Rowley’s documentary “Kingdom of Silence” deserves watching already for the briskly authoritative way with which it tells that story. But the two nations’ sordid decades-long exchange of oil, weaponry, and silent treatment of human rights abuses is only the backdrop for Rowley’s real story: the arc from idealist to nationalist to exiled crusader of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdered by his government in Istanbul for speaking his mind about the royal family.
Continue reading ‘Kingdom of Silence’: The Tragedy of Jamal Khashoggi Goes Beyond His Brutal Murder [Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Kingdom of Silence’: The Tragedy of Jamal Khashoggi Goes Beyond His Brutal Murder [Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/2/2020
- by Chris Barsanti
- The Playlist
Showtime is out with its list of everything new coming to the premium cable platform in October, and the list includes the limited series “The Good Lord Bird” starring Ethan Hawke as the abolitionist John Brown.
Other highlights include new episodes of “The Circus,” “Desus & Mero,” and “Our Cartoon President,” along with classic movies like “Legally Blonde,” “Moonstruck,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Schindler’s List” and “Field of Dreams.”
Here’s the full list:
Original Series
The Good Lord Bird
Limited Series Premiere Sunday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. Et/Pt
The Good Lord Bird stars Ethan Hawke as controversial abolitionist John Brown. The limited series unfolds from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown’s motley family of abolitionist soldiers during Bleeding Kansas – a time when the state was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces – and eventually finds himself...
Other highlights include new episodes of “The Circus,” “Desus & Mero,” and “Our Cartoon President,” along with classic movies like “Legally Blonde,” “Moonstruck,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Schindler’s List” and “Field of Dreams.”
Here’s the full list:
Original Series
The Good Lord Bird
Limited Series Premiere Sunday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. Et/Pt
The Good Lord Bird stars Ethan Hawke as controversial abolitionist John Brown. The limited series unfolds from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown’s motley family of abolitionist soldiers during Bleeding Kansas – a time when the state was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces – and eventually finds himself...
- 9/30/2020
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
The Washington Post said it will offer a free screening of the Jamal Khashoggi documentary Kingdom of Silence for its subscribers beginning Thursday, the day before the film’s Friday premiere on Showtime.
Friday, October 2 marks the two-year anniversary of the murder of Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi Arabia-born WaPo journalist who had been openly critical of Saudi Arabia’s government and its Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Saudi Arabia and bin Salman denied involvement, but a CIA investigation eventually concluded that the Crown Prince had ordered the murder, which took place at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
The doc, directed by Documenting Hate filmmaker Rick Rowley and executive produced by Alex Gibney in collaboration with Lawrence Wright, explores the history between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to Khashoggi’s death.
For Thursday’s early screening, WaPo subscribers must register early via the newspaper’s website.
Kingdom of Silence...
Friday, October 2 marks the two-year anniversary of the murder of Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi Arabia-born WaPo journalist who had been openly critical of Saudi Arabia’s government and its Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Saudi Arabia and bin Salman denied involvement, but a CIA investigation eventually concluded that the Crown Prince had ordered the murder, which took place at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
The doc, directed by Documenting Hate filmmaker Rick Rowley and executive produced by Alex Gibney in collaboration with Lawrence Wright, explores the history between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to Khashoggi’s death.
For Thursday’s early screening, WaPo subscribers must register early via the newspaper’s website.
Kingdom of Silence...
- 9/30/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings and monthly guide to What’s on Streaming.
With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.
More from TVLineFall TV 2020: Your Handy Calendar of 80+ Season and Series Premiere DatesHallmark Channel's 'Countdown to Christmas'...
With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.
More from TVLineFall TV 2020: Your Handy Calendar of 80+ Season and Series Premiere DatesHallmark Channel's 'Countdown to Christmas'...
- 9/26/2020
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Showtime’s documentary Kingdom of Silence examines the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The film premieres on October 2, the two-year anniversary of Khashoggi’s death.
Kingdom of Silence examines U.S.-Saudi Arabia history in the decades leading up to today’s troubling interactions between the Trump administration and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The film shines a new light on Khashoggi’s remarkable journey – from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the halls of power in Riyadh and Washington, from the Arab Spring to the rise of Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and EP Lawrence Wright expounded on how the film will carry on Khashoggi’s legacy and confronts the dour reality of obtaining justice.
“The killing of Jamal was an attempt to crush [hope]. By bringing his voice back, it...
Kingdom of Silence examines U.S.-Saudi Arabia history in the decades leading up to today’s troubling interactions between the Trump administration and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The film shines a new light on Khashoggi’s remarkable journey – from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the halls of power in Riyadh and Washington, from the Arab Spring to the rise of Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and EP Lawrence Wright expounded on how the film will carry on Khashoggi’s legacy and confronts the dour reality of obtaining justice.
“The killing of Jamal was an attempt to crush [hope]. By bringing his voice back, it...
- 9/10/2020
- by Brandon Choe
- Deadline Film + TV
Alex Gibney has a new documentary film called “Totally Under Control” aimed at President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Neon will release the movie this October ahead of the general election, the distributor announced Thursday.
Gibney, an Oscar winner for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” has been quietly filming the documentary alongside co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger for the past four months. In “Totally Under Control” they ask the simple question as deaths — which currently number 190,000 in the U.S. — have continued to rise, “How did this happen?”
Gibney criticizes carelessly designed lockdowns and how the economic effects of those lockdowns have led to 23 million job losses, not to mention widespread hunger, dislocation and a runaway federal deficit. The documentary asserts that much of this destruction could have been avoided if the federal government had followed guidelines and acted properly, even as the Trump administration makes a...
Gibney, an Oscar winner for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” has been quietly filming the documentary alongside co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger for the past four months. In “Totally Under Control” they ask the simple question as deaths — which currently number 190,000 in the U.S. — have continued to rise, “How did this happen?”
Gibney criticizes carelessly designed lockdowns and how the economic effects of those lockdowns have led to 23 million job losses, not to mention widespread hunger, dislocation and a runaway federal deficit. The documentary asserts that much of this destruction could have been avoided if the federal government had followed guidelines and acted properly, even as the Trump administration makes a...
- 9/10/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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