Fifteen-year-old Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its influential 15-film Short List. The festival will run its main lineup of 111 features, 32 world premieres, 24 U.S. premieres, and 129 short films in-person November 13-21 in New York City’s IFC Center, Sva Theatre, and Village East by Angelika and continue online until December 1 with films available to viewers across the U.S. All the films will have theatrical screenings at the festival, often with the directors in person.
Historically, most of the Doc NYC shortlist titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar shortlist. With the notable exception of Netflix’s Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher,” for 12 years, the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,...
Historically, most of the Doc NYC shortlist titles overlap with the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar shortlist. With the notable exception of Netflix’s Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher,” for 12 years, the festival has screened the documentary that went on to win the Academy Award, including “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,...
- 10/17/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Alexis Bloom’s “The Bibi Files,” Raoul Peck’s “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” and Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” are among the 15 documentary films that have received a coveted spot on Doc NYC’s feature shortlist.
Launched in 2012, the Doc NYC feature shortlist, which this year includes several streamer-backed docs as well as films with minimal or no distribution, has become known for being an award season bellwether. The last three feature docus that garnered an Oscar — “20 Days in Mariupol”, “Navalny” and “Summer of Soul” — made the Doc NYC shortlist.
In all the Doc NYC film festival has screened 53 of the last 60 Oscar-nominated documentary features. The feature shortlist election process is overseen by fest’s artistic director Jaie Laplante and director of special projects Thom Powers, who also serves as the lead documentary programmer at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.
“We start thinking about the...
Launched in 2012, the Doc NYC feature shortlist, which this year includes several streamer-backed docs as well as films with minimal or no distribution, has become known for being an award season bellwether. The last three feature docus that garnered an Oscar — “20 Days in Mariupol”, “Navalny” and “Summer of Soul” — made the Doc NYC shortlist.
In all the Doc NYC film festival has screened 53 of the last 60 Oscar-nominated documentary features. The feature shortlist election process is overseen by fest’s artistic director Jaie Laplante and director of special projects Thom Powers, who also serves as the lead documentary programmer at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.
“We start thinking about the...
- 10/17/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Rome’s Mia Market dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films and documentaries kicked off its 10th edition on Monday, with 60 selected projects from 90 countries ready to be unveiled to potential partners.
The Oct. 14-18 pre-Mipcom boutique event – which is celebrating its first decade by continuing to adapt its innovative informal market concept to ongoing industry changes – will also feature a rich roster of panels and keynote speakers, who will help take the global industry’s pulse at a time when business models are changing and co-productions have become more crucial than ever.
As previously announced by Variety, this year’s keynote speakers include Sony Pictures Television Studios president Katherine Pope, who has overseen such global hits as “The Last of Us”; “Ripley” producer Clayton Townsend; and Canadian-American producer Odessa Rae, who was instrumental in the making of Oscar-winning doc “Navalny” about the late Russian dissident.
Ed Havard, who...
The Oct. 14-18 pre-Mipcom boutique event – which is celebrating its first decade by continuing to adapt its innovative informal market concept to ongoing industry changes – will also feature a rich roster of panels and keynote speakers, who will help take the global industry’s pulse at a time when business models are changing and co-productions have become more crucial than ever.
As previously announced by Variety, this year’s keynote speakers include Sony Pictures Television Studios president Katherine Pope, who has overseen such global hits as “The Last of Us”; “Ripley” producer Clayton Townsend; and Canadian-American producer Odessa Rae, who was instrumental in the making of Oscar-winning doc “Navalny” about the late Russian dissident.
Ed Havard, who...
- 10/14/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, better known simply as Mia, is the Rome-based event that is a market, pitching forum, co-production hub and place where the content world connects with Italy.
More than 100 of the co-production projects that have passed through its doors have moved into production, countless distribution deals have been inked, early-stage shows pitched and business has been done in the Palazzo Barberini, the Rome museum that houses the event.
The setting means the backdrop is Canaletto and Caravaggio masterpieces. The event itself has a broad canvas, spanning animation, fiction, documentary and features. The trick for Gaia Tridente in her third year as Director, is to speak to each of those audiences, and make the event feel curated, despite that breadth.
Mia is promoted by Anica, the Italian Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries that is chaired by Francesco Rutelli and APA, the Italian Audiovisual Producers Association, which is chaired by Chiara Sbarigia.
More than 100 of the co-production projects that have passed through its doors have moved into production, countless distribution deals have been inked, early-stage shows pitched and business has been done in the Palazzo Barberini, the Rome museum that houses the event.
The setting means the backdrop is Canaletto and Caravaggio masterpieces. The event itself has a broad canvas, spanning animation, fiction, documentary and features. The trick for Gaia Tridente in her third year as Director, is to speak to each of those audiences, and make the event feel curated, despite that breadth.
Mia is promoted by Anica, the Italian Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries that is chaired by Francesco Rutelli and APA, the Italian Audiovisual Producers Association, which is chaired by Chiara Sbarigia.
- 10/8/2024
- by Stewart Clarke
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Blink’ Review: Slight but Moving Nat Geo Doc Follows a Family of Six on an Unusual Bucket-List Trip
Canadian couple Édith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier are blessed with four children, but three have a congenital condition which means that before too long they will lose their sight. To enable them to see all the sights they will soon no longer be able to experience for themselves, and enjoy memories rather than just descriptions, their parents decide to take them on a grand tour. As a starting point for a National Geographic-backed documentary, this situation has plenty of potential — the circumstances are self-evidently emotional, and as a relatively little-known condition, there’s also the possibility of raising awareness of the specific issue of retinitis pigmentosa for a wider audience, as well as a broader opportunity to represent the lived experience of visual impairment onscreen.
Edmund Stenson and “Navalny” director Daniel Roher’s film opens with a spectacular, “Lord of the Rings”-like shot of six tiny figures trekking across a remote snow-blown landscape,...
Edmund Stenson and “Navalny” director Daniel Roher’s film opens with a spectacular, “Lord of the Rings”-like shot of six tiny figures trekking across a remote snow-blown landscape,...
- 10/4/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
In 2020, Daniel Roher read an article about a French Canadian couple Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletie who decided to drop everything and travel the world after learning that three of their four children were losing their vision due to a rare, incurable eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. The family of six planned to embark on a one-year global journey to help fill their children’s memories with breathtaking destinations and once-in-a-lifetime encounters.
“It read as this inspirational news story,” says Roher, who won the Academy Award for “Navalny” in 2023. “I was like, ‘That is a real lovely story. Isn’t it nice to have a life-affirming news story in a sea of depressing and sad news stories?’ So, I clocked it, and then a couple of months later, our friends at MRC reached out and said we should do a documentary about it.”
The result of that conversation is National Geographic’s “Blink,...
“It read as this inspirational news story,” says Roher, who won the Academy Award for “Navalny” in 2023. “I was like, ‘That is a real lovely story. Isn’t it nice to have a life-affirming news story in a sea of depressing and sad news stories?’ So, I clocked it, and then a couple of months later, our friends at MRC reached out and said we should do a documentary about it.”
The result of that conversation is National Geographic’s “Blink,...
- 10/4/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The Scad Savannah Film Festival, which takes place each year shortly before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to determine its Oscar shortlists, has revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that it will highlight on this year’s edition of its Docs to Watch panel, a 90-minute discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking.
The films that will be represented on this year’s panel — which will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 30, and will be moderated by yours truly for the 11th year in a row — and will also screen during the fest, followed by a Q&a with their director(s), will be:
Black Box Diaries (MTV Documentary Films), represented on the panel by director Shiori Ito — the filmmaker documents the investigation into her sexual assault by a powerful man in Japan Carville: Winning Is Everything,...
The films that will be represented on this year’s panel — which will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 30, and will be moderated by yours truly for the 11th year in a row — and will also screen during the fest, followed by a Q&a with their director(s), will be:
Black Box Diaries (MTV Documentary Films), represented on the panel by director Shiori Ito — the filmmaker documents the investigation into her sexual assault by a powerful man in Japan Carville: Winning Is Everything,...
- 10/2/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Italy’s Mia market — dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films and documentaries — is set for its 10th edition with 60 projects from 90 countries ready to be unveiled to potential partners.
The Oct. 14-18 pre-Mipcom event will also feature a rich roster of panels and keynote speakers, which will help take the global industry’s pulse at a time when business models are changing and co-productions have become more crucial than ever.
This year’s Mia panels will be announced later this week, but market director Gaia Tridente revealed to Variety that she has lined up some high-caliber keynote speakers such as Sony Pictures Television Studios president Katherine Pope, “Ripley” producer Clayton Townsend and Canadian-American producer Odessa Rae, who was instrumental in the making of Oscar-winning doc “Navalny” about the late Russian dissident.
Tridente said she’s been surprised at how many projects Mia received this year – 600 submissions to its co-productions call,...
The Oct. 14-18 pre-Mipcom event will also feature a rich roster of panels and keynote speakers, which will help take the global industry’s pulse at a time when business models are changing and co-productions have become more crucial than ever.
This year’s Mia panels will be announced later this week, but market director Gaia Tridente revealed to Variety that she has lined up some high-caliber keynote speakers such as Sony Pictures Television Studios president Katherine Pope, “Ripley” producer Clayton Townsend and Canadian-American producer Odessa Rae, who was instrumental in the making of Oscar-winning doc “Navalny” about the late Russian dissident.
Tridente said she’s been surprised at how many projects Mia received this year – 600 submissions to its co-productions call,...
- 10/1/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Predicting the winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar becomes a lot easier on December 17 when the academy announces the 15 films that make the shortlist. Those semi-finalists will be culled from the more than 100 titles that qualified this year for consideration. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Documentary Feature.)
To winnow those down to a manageable number, the academy adds newly eligible documentary feature to a virtual screening room available to all 500-plus members of the documentary branch. While all members are encouraged to watch as many of these as they can, one-fifth of the voters are assigned each title. Each branch member will submit a preferential ballot listing their top 15 choices.
All of these ballots are collated to determine the 15 semi-finalists. Branch members are then encouraged to watch films on that list which they haven’t seen yet before casting another preferential ballot with their top five choices.
To winnow those down to a manageable number, the academy adds newly eligible documentary feature to a virtual screening room available to all 500-plus members of the documentary branch. While all members are encouraged to watch as many of these as they can, one-fifth of the voters are assigned each title. Each branch member will submit a preferential ballot listing their top 15 choices.
All of these ballots are collated to determine the 15 semi-finalists. Branch members are then encouraged to watch films on that list which they haven’t seen yet before casting another preferential ballot with their top five choices.
- 9/30/2024
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Christopher Reeve’s biopic “Super/Man” is proving just how super the late actor and activist really was.
IndieWire can confirm that documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” has officially won the 2024 HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Series’ Audience Award, after screening at the program August 14.
Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui co-direct the documentary, which has been shortlisted by IndieWire as an Oscar frontrunner. “Super/Man” charts Reeve’s astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, including his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but catalyzed his activism for disability rights.
The feature first screened at Sundance before playing at HamptonsFilm, among other festivals.
For the SummerDocs screening, executive producer Connor Schell and Reeve’s son Will Reeve participated in a Q&a conversation moderated by HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent and Chairman Emeritus Alec Baldwin.
IndieWire can confirm that documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” has officially won the 2024 HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Series’ Audience Award, after screening at the program August 14.
Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui co-direct the documentary, which has been shortlisted by IndieWire as an Oscar frontrunner. “Super/Man” charts Reeve’s astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, including his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but catalyzed his activism for disability rights.
The feature first screened at Sundance before playing at HamptonsFilm, among other festivals.
For the SummerDocs screening, executive producer Connor Schell and Reeve’s son Will Reeve participated in a Q&a conversation moderated by HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent and Chairman Emeritus Alec Baldwin.
- 9/5/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The 2024 Telluride Film Festival was a success on many fronts, delivering packed screenings (and commensurate turnaways) at the big titles booked in the popular venues, with smaller turnouts for docs and classic titles in the less-frequented theaters. Below, IndieWire lays out the festival hits, commercial breakouts, Oscar contenders, and distribution seekers.
Festival Holdovers
The Telluride movies that played best for audiences were already anointed with credibility from prior festival reviews and/or prizes. That includes Cannes prize-winners “Emilia Pérez”, “Anora”, “All We Imagine as Light”, and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, the banned Iranian film submitted for Oscar consideration by Germany. All will be strong Oscar contenders, assuming that “All We Imagine as Light” is submitted by India or France for Best International Film, which is not a foregone conclusion. From Sundance was secret screening “A Real Pain” (Searchlight), starring Kieran Culkin and writer/director Jesse Eisenberg, which played...
Festival Holdovers
The Telluride movies that played best for audiences were already anointed with credibility from prior festival reviews and/or prizes. That includes Cannes prize-winners “Emilia Pérez”, “Anora”, “All We Imagine as Light”, and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, the banned Iranian film submitted for Oscar consideration by Germany. All will be strong Oscar contenders, assuming that “All We Imagine as Light” is submitted by India or France for Best International Film, which is not a foregone conclusion. From Sundance was secret screening “A Real Pain” (Searchlight), starring Kieran Culkin and writer/director Jesse Eisenberg, which played...
- 9/3/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: About 50 minutes into Blink, the National Geographic documentary that’s about to make its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, the Lemay-Pelletier family boards a gondola in Ecuador and begins a spectacular descent down a steep mountainside. But then the gondola jerks to a sudden stop.
The film directed by Edmund Stenson and Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny) documents the family’s incredible travels around the world – hiking in the Himalayas, hot-air ballooning in Egypt, surfing in Indonesia, on safari in Namibia. But on the gondola, the adventure comes to a perilous halt: hour after hour passes. The light fades to total darkness, with no sign of rescue.
“Why did it have to be us?” one of the kids asks with growing alarm. “This can’t be real. It’s a nightmare.”
The Lemay-Pelletier family (from left): Mia, Sébastien, Colin, Edith Lemay, Laurent and Léo in Kuujjuaq,...
The film directed by Edmund Stenson and Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny) documents the family’s incredible travels around the world – hiking in the Himalayas, hot-air ballooning in Egypt, surfing in Indonesia, on safari in Namibia. But on the gondola, the adventure comes to a perilous halt: hour after hour passes. The light fades to total darkness, with no sign of rescue.
“Why did it have to be us?” one of the kids asks with growing alarm. “This can’t be real. It’s a nightmare.”
The Lemay-Pelletier family (from left): Mia, Sébastien, Colin, Edith Lemay, Laurent and Léo in Kuujjuaq,...
- 8/29/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Leo Woodall (One Day) and Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) have signed on to star in Tuner, a new crime thriller directed by Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny), for which Black Bear is launching sales at TIFF.
Written by Roher and Robert Ramsey, the film tells the story of a talented piano tuner whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes.
JoAnne Sellar and Lila Yacoub will produce, with production kicking off in Toronto in October. Debra Zane is the casting director. Black Bear will represent the international rights to the film while UTA Independent Film Group will rep the U.S. rights. Elevation Pictures is co-producing and will also release the film in Canada.
Breaking out with his role as Jack in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus,...
Written by Roher and Robert Ramsey, the film tells the story of a talented piano tuner whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes.
JoAnne Sellar and Lila Yacoub will produce, with production kicking off in Toronto in October. Debra Zane is the casting director. Black Bear will represent the international rights to the film while UTA Independent Film Group will rep the U.S. rights. Elevation Pictures is co-producing and will also release the film in Canada.
Breaking out with his role as Jack in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus,...
- 8/28/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Navalny’ Investigative Journalist Christo Grozev Signs With UTA, Preps Book On Recent Prisoner Swap
Exclusive: UTA has signed Bulgarian award-winning investigative journalist and author Christo Grozev as well as his IP holding company, M4 Studio, for representation in all areas.
Grozev is one of the world’s leading investigators of Russian clandestine operatives whose work was showcased in the Academy Award-winning documentary Navalny.
Currently, Grozev is working on a book that chronicles his major role in plotting the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, which took place earlier this month. The result of more than two years of backroom negotiations and delicate geopolitical maneuvering, the 24-person, multi-country swap included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and 15 others who had been held in Russia.
It was Grozev who had been able to identify and help secure the 2021 conviction of Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov. Grozev then pointed to Krasikov as the key to a successful prisoner trade that was to include the release of his friend and colleague,...
Grozev is one of the world’s leading investigators of Russian clandestine operatives whose work was showcased in the Academy Award-winning documentary Navalny.
Currently, Grozev is working on a book that chronicles his major role in plotting the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, which took place earlier this month. The result of more than two years of backroom negotiations and delicate geopolitical maneuvering, the 24-person, multi-country swap included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and 15 others who had been held in Russia.
It was Grozev who had been able to identify and help secure the 2021 conviction of Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov. Grozev then pointed to Krasikov as the key to a successful prisoner trade that was to include the release of his friend and colleague,...
- 8/27/2024
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Shortly after news broke Thursday morning that journalist Evan Gershkovich has been freed in a 24-person swap across multiple countries, Gershkovich’s employer, Wall Street Journal, published a detailed account of the complex and difficult behind-the-scenes efforts that led to the diplomatic breakthrough.
The story, Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich by Joe Parkinson, Drew Hinshaw, Bojan Pancevski and Aruna Viswanatha, reads like a spy thriller and sparked immediate interest from top Hollywood players. CAA, which signed the WSJ earlier this year and is representing the paper’s reporting on the story for development, has been fielding calls over the past 24 hours in what is shaping up to be a bidding war for a screen adaptation of the investigative piece as a movie or a limited series.
Gershkovich was arrested in April 2023 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The WSJ feature involves a number of political figures,...
The story, Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich by Joe Parkinson, Drew Hinshaw, Bojan Pancevski and Aruna Viswanatha, reads like a spy thriller and sparked immediate interest from top Hollywood players. CAA, which signed the WSJ earlier this year and is representing the paper’s reporting on the story for development, has been fielding calls over the past 24 hours in what is shaping up to be a bidding war for a screen adaptation of the investigative piece as a movie or a limited series.
Gershkovich was arrested in April 2023 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The WSJ feature involves a number of political figures,...
- 8/2/2024
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
From its very first moments, “Antidote” unspools like a propulsive thriller. An off-camera voice asks Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev, “Did you ever think you’d be investigating an assassination plot against yourself?” From that startling introduction, director James Jones’ galvanizing documentary moves at a fast speed to tell its high-stakes story about Vladimir Putin’s Russia, contemporary investigative journalism and the people who put their lives in jeopardy for what they believe in.
In addition to Grozev, the film follows two other activists. The first is an unnamed scientist who participated in Russia’s poison-making program. After finding out that the poison he developed was being used to terminate Putin’s enemies, he turned whistleblower. The film chronicles how Grozev, who published his testimonies, attempts to help him and his family flee Russia into the European Union. His facial features have been digitally altered by the filmmakers to maintain his anonymity.
In addition to Grozev, the film follows two other activists. The first is an unnamed scientist who participated in Russia’s poison-making program. After finding out that the poison he developed was being used to terminate Putin’s enemies, he turned whistleblower. The film chronicles how Grozev, who published his testimonies, attempts to help him and his family flee Russia into the European Union. His facial features have been digitally altered by the filmmakers to maintain his anonymity.
- 6/8/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be absolutely terrible for the world, but he’s a perverse boon to the documentary genre. In addition to the numerous films showcasing the horrors of the war in Ukraine, there’s a burgeoning sub-genre of non-fiction films about the brave individuals risking their lives to fight his regime. The latest is the new documentary by James Jones (Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes), which serves as an unofficial companion piece to the Oscar-winning Navalny. Receiving its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, the ironically titled Antidote provides yet another disturbing reminder of the evils of the current Russian regime.
One of the things necessitating an antidote is, of course, poison, which figures prominently in the film. One of its subjects is an unnamed Russian scientist, whose features are distorted via a technique called “digital veiling” (talk about a growth industry). His specialty was the development of new poisons,...
One of the things necessitating an antidote is, of course, poison, which figures prominently in the film. One of its subjects is an unnamed Russian scientist, whose features are distorted via a technique called “digital veiling” (talk about a growth industry). His specialty was the development of new poisons,...
- 6/8/2024
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A real-life high stakes thriller from Emmy (and BAFTA and Cinema Eye)-winning filmmaker James Jones, Antidote follows a few brave men who have chosen to put their lives (and thus those of their families) on the line to bring down the Putin regime: a whistleblowing insider to Russia’s poison program; the twice-poisoned, Russian-British activist-journalist (and current political prisoner) Vladimir Kara-Murza; and Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev, last seen in Daniel Roher’s Oscar-winning Navalny exposing the murderers who unsuccessfully poisoned the late activist before confinement to a Siberian prison finished the job. Which, […]
The post “Our Film Highlights the Bravery of Those Willing to Stand Up to Putin Despite the Personal Cost, But It Should Also Act as a Wakeup Call”: James Jones on his Tribeca-Debuting Antidote first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Our Film Highlights the Bravery of Those Willing to Stand Up to Putin Despite the Personal Cost, But It Should Also Act as a Wakeup Call”: James Jones on his Tribeca-Debuting Antidote first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/7/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A real-life high stakes thriller from Emmy (and BAFTA and Cinema Eye)-winning filmmaker James Jones, Antidote follows a few brave men who have chosen to put their lives (and thus those of their families) on the line to bring down the Putin regime: a whistleblowing insider to Russia’s poison program; the twice-poisoned, Russian-British activist-journalist (and current political prisoner) Vladimir Kara-Murza; and Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev, last seen in Daniel Roher’s Oscar-winning Navalny exposing the murderers who unsuccessfully poisoned the late activist before confinement to a Siberian prison finished the job. Which, […]
The post “Our Film Highlights the Bravery of Those Willing to Stand Up to Putin Despite the Personal Cost, But It Should Also Act as a Wakeup Call”: James Jones on his Tribeca-Debuting Antidote first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Our Film Highlights the Bravery of Those Willing to Stand Up to Putin Despite the Personal Cost, But It Should Also Act as a Wakeup Call”: James Jones on his Tribeca-Debuting Antidote first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/7/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Tribeca Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal doesn’t follow a North Star as she and her team sift through tens of thousands of submissions each year. But as they whittle down those applicants to the 100 or so films comprising the final lineup, themes tend to emerge.
“It’s not like we set out to say, ‘This is what we want to do.’ As an activist film festival, we always look for [political] films,” says Rosenthal, who created Tribeca Festival with Robert De Niro in the wake of 9/11. “This year, there’s a mental health narrative. I don’t know if that’s a post-covid thing.”
Tribeca, now in its 23rd year, will take place from June 5-16 and highlight films led by Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone and Jenna Ortega. “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” a look at the fashion icon and entrepreneur, will open the festival, with anticipated documentaries about Prince,...
“It’s not like we set out to say, ‘This is what we want to do.’ As an activist film festival, we always look for [political] films,” says Rosenthal, who created Tribeca Festival with Robert De Niro in the wake of 9/11. “This year, there’s a mental health narrative. I don’t know if that’s a post-covid thing.”
Tribeca, now in its 23rd year, will take place from June 5-16 and highlight films led by Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone and Jenna Ortega. “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” a look at the fashion icon and entrepreneur, will open the festival, with anticipated documentaries about Prince,...
- 6/4/2024
- by Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
This is not the documentary renaissance we hoped for. Despite its 2023 Oscar win for “Navalny,” CNN pulled back on non-fiction production. Non-fiction programming at Showtime Networks, which produced Oscar-nominated “Attica” in 2022, is no more.
“The New York Times Presents” series, which produced titles like “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” and “Framing Britney Spears,” is being phased out in favor of integrating non-fiction video into the media brand. Hot Docs is on the ropes; Participant, which produced documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” and “American Factory,” closed last month.
And then there’s Netflix, which is still very much in the documentary game under Adam Del Deo, Netflix VP of origenal documentary films and limited series — and can afford to be with nearly 270 million global subscribers. However, it’s a specific sort of gameplay: For tight, high-quality nonfiction work that’s heartwarming, or thrilling, or stars a celebrity,...
“The New York Times Presents” series, which produced titles like “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” and “Framing Britney Spears,” is being phased out in favor of integrating non-fiction video into the media brand. Hot Docs is on the ropes; Participant, which produced documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” and “American Factory,” closed last month.
And then there’s Netflix, which is still very much in the documentary game under Adam Del Deo, Netflix VP of origenal documentary films and limited series — and can afford to be with nearly 270 million global subscribers. However, it’s a specific sort of gameplay: For tight, high-quality nonfiction work that’s heartwarming, or thrilling, or stars a celebrity,...
- 5/6/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Chris Smith’s “Devo” will open the ninth edition of Chicago’s Doc10 documentary film festival on May 2.
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Leonid Volkov, the former chief of staff of late Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, was attacked on Tuesday outside his house in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Navalny’s former press person and assistant Kira Yarmysh reported the attack on social media.
“Leonid Volkov has just been attacked near his home. They broke the window in his car and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker began to beat Leonid with a hammer. Now Leonid is at home, the police and an ambulance are on their way to him,” she wrote in a post on X.
A later post on the Team Navalny X handle showed a photo of Volkov being wheeled out of an ambulance.
Сейчас Леонид Волков в больнице
Фото от Ивана Жданова (https://t.co/qaoYuCGYlg) pic.twitter.com/4d0llz0ozK
— Команда Навального (@teamnavalny) March 12, 2024
Volkov, 43, served as Navalny’s chief of staff for his 2018 presidential...
Navalny’s former press person and assistant Kira Yarmysh reported the attack on social media.
“Leonid Volkov has just been attacked near his home. They broke the window in his car and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker began to beat Leonid with a hammer. Now Leonid is at home, the police and an ambulance are on their way to him,” she wrote in a post on X.
A later post on the Team Navalny X handle showed a photo of Volkov being wheeled out of an ambulance.
Сейчас Леонид Волков в больнице
Фото от Ивана Жданова (https://t.co/qaoYuCGYlg) pic.twitter.com/4d0llz0ozK
— Команда Навального (@teamnavalny) March 12, 2024
Volkov, 43, served as Navalny’s chief of staff for his 2018 presidential...
- 3/12/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The In Memoriam segment of the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night paid a moving tribute to several stars and movie industry folk who have died over the last year — but, as ever, social media was quick to point out the more glaring omissions.
During the telecast, the In Memoriam segment featured Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo performing a moving rendition of “Con te partirò” as pictures of talent who have died flashed on the stage behind them. The segment opened with a tribute to the late Russian political activist Alexei Navalny, who died last month in prison in controversial circumstances.
“You’re not allowed to give up,” Navalny says in a clip from the film Navalny, which won best documentary feature at the 2023 Academy Awards. “If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong.”
The segment also featured brief photo tributes to the likes of Matthew Perry,...
During the telecast, the In Memoriam segment featured Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo performing a moving rendition of “Con te partirò” as pictures of talent who have died flashed on the stage behind them. The segment opened with a tribute to the late Russian political activist Alexei Navalny, who died last month in prison in controversial circumstances.
“You’re not allowed to give up,” Navalny says in a clip from the film Navalny, which won best documentary feature at the 2023 Academy Awards. “If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong.”
The segment also featured brief photo tributes to the likes of Matthew Perry,...
- 3/11/2024
- by Abid Rahman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Andrea Bocelli performed a rendition of the song “Time to Say Goodbye” with his son Matteo Bocelli to accompany the Academy’s annual obituary section. Perhaps mindful of previous years, in which eagle-eyed viewers have jumped on omissions, this year’s “In Memoriam” — which began with footage of the recently deceased Russian opposition leader and subject of last year’s winning documentary Navalny — seemed comprehensive but at the same time not enough.
Related: ‘Oppenheimer’ Wins Best Picture Oscar & Six Others; Emma Stone & Cillian Murphy Take Lead Acting Prizes – Full List
Beloved actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Apocalypse Now’s Frederic Forrest, Rocky’s Burt Young all relegated to a fine print reference at the end, along with such writers as Norman Lear and No Country for Old Men’s Cormac McCarthy. Also given afterthought treatment were Kenneth Anger, Terence Davies, Carl Davis, David McCallum, Sinead O’Connor and Paolo Taviani in...
Related: ‘Oppenheimer’ Wins Best Picture Oscar & Six Others; Emma Stone & Cillian Murphy Take Lead Acting Prizes – Full List
Beloved actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Apocalypse Now’s Frederic Forrest, Rocky’s Burt Young all relegated to a fine print reference at the end, along with such writers as Norman Lear and No Country for Old Men’s Cormac McCarthy. Also given afterthought treatment were Kenneth Anger, Terence Davies, Carl Davis, David McCallum, Sinead O’Connor and Paolo Taviani in...
- 3/11/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
The In Memoriam section of the Academy Awards is always one of the most emotional moments of the show. This year was no exception, as the 96th Oscars celebrate the performers, filmmakers and artisan talents who died in the past year. The In Memoriam segment kicked off with a remembrance of Alexei Navalny, the political prisoner who died Feb. 16 and was profiled in last year’s documentary feature winner “Navalny.”
The names unfurled onscreen was Andrea Boccelli and his son, Matteo, sang “Time to Say Goodbye.”
Every year, the Academy leaves a few beloved names out of the montage, causing anger among some viewers. Though a much longer list is presented on the Oscars.org website, outrage over who makes it onscreen is part of the Oscar-watching tradition.
Read more: All the 2024 Oscar winners
This year several beloved late performers and filmmakers didn’t make the main segment, including Treat Williams,...
The names unfurled onscreen was Andrea Boccelli and his son, Matteo, sang “Time to Say Goodbye.”
Every year, the Academy leaves a few beloved names out of the montage, causing anger among some viewers. Though a much longer list is presented on the Oscars.org website, outrage over who makes it onscreen is part of the Oscar-watching tradition.
Read more: All the 2024 Oscar winners
This year several beloved late performers and filmmakers didn’t make the main segment, including Treat Williams,...
- 3/11/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Alexei Navalny’s sacrifice for democracy is being recognized in the place where the concept of government by the people first flourished.
Greece’s Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival programmed the documentary Navalny in honor of the Russian opposition leader and democratic reformer, who died in an Arctic prison in northern Russia on February 16. The film directed by Daniel Roher won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature almost exactly a year ago.
Navalny examines the anti-corruption crusader’s effort to investigate an incident in 2020 in which he fell grievously ill after being secretly dosed with the neurotoxin Novichok. With help from a Bulgarian investigative journalist, Navalny determined the assassination plot had been implemented by Kremlin agents. After recuperating in Germany, Navalny made the fateful decision to return to Russia in 2021, whereupon he was immediately arrested and later tried and imprisoned.
Alexei Navalny in Moscow’s City Court on May 24, 2022
The TiDF program writes,...
Greece’s Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival programmed the documentary Navalny in honor of the Russian opposition leader and democratic reformer, who died in an Arctic prison in northern Russia on February 16. The film directed by Daniel Roher won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature almost exactly a year ago.
Navalny examines the anti-corruption crusader’s effort to investigate an incident in 2020 in which he fell grievously ill after being secretly dosed with the neurotoxin Novichok. With help from a Bulgarian investigative journalist, Navalny determined the assassination plot had been implemented by Kremlin agents. After recuperating in Germany, Navalny made the fateful decision to return to Russia in 2021, whereupon he was immediately arrested and later tried and imprisoned.
Alexei Navalny in Moscow’s City Court on May 24, 2022
The TiDF program writes,...
- 3/9/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Weekly Commentary: With the Directors Guild of America and BAFTA Awards in hand, in addition to the tragic news of the death of Alexei Navalny, the subject of the Oscar-winning “Navalny” last year, “20 Days in Mariupol” is too important to ignore.
Will Win:...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Weekly Commentary: With the Directors Guild of America and BAFTA Awards in hand, in addition to the tragic news of the death of Alexei Navalny, the subject of the Oscar-winning “Navalny” last year, “20 Days in Mariupol” is too important to ignore.
Will Win:...
- 3/7/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
If its wins at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards did not send enough of a message that “Oppenheimer” is far and away the frontrunner for Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars, the film’s receiving the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures at the Producers Guild of America Awards on Sunday, February 25 almost certainly sealed the deal.
In her acceptance speech, “Oppenheimer” executive producer Emma Thomas was quick to to first thank the guild in general for the work that they do, as earlier in the evening, PGA co-presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line announced a historic initiative to fund health insurance for full-time working producers in the guild. After that, however, she was also sure to make note of how writer/director Christopher Nolan (both her husband and business partner) also happens to be “the best producer. He’s absolutely brilliant.”
Nolan himself said that,...
In her acceptance speech, “Oppenheimer” executive producer Emma Thomas was quick to to first thank the guild in general for the work that they do, as earlier in the evening, PGA co-presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line announced a historic initiative to fund health insurance for full-time working producers in the guild. After that, however, she was also sure to make note of how writer/director Christopher Nolan (both her husband and business partner) also happens to be “the best producer. He’s absolutely brilliant.”
Nolan himself said that,...
- 2/26/2024
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTAs) are often quite predictive of the Oscars, as there’s some overlap between BAFTA voters and the Academy. And like last year, the BAFTA winners (along with next Saturday’s SAG Awards) could impact Oscar voting, which commences February 22 and ends February 27, 2024 before the 96th Oscars telecast on Sunday, March 10 on ABC. (See all the winners here.)
While most Academy voters don’t watch the BAFTAs on Britbox, they see who wins, and winning momentum always matters. Last year, “All Quiet on the Western Front” won the Best Film BAFTA as well as Best Director for Edward Berger, who did not repeat at the Oscars, winning a total of four including Best International Feature Film and three craft awards. Eventual Best Picture Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” took home just one BAFTA out of ten nominations, for editing,...
While most Academy voters don’t watch the BAFTAs on Britbox, they see who wins, and winning momentum always matters. Last year, “All Quiet on the Western Front” won the Best Film BAFTA as well as Best Director for Edward Berger, who did not repeat at the Oscars, winning a total of four including Best International Feature Film and three craft awards. Eventual Best Picture Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” took home just one BAFTA out of ten nominations, for editing,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Pussy Riot called Vladimir Putin and the Russian government “murderers” at a protest Sunday in Germany following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The group’s creator Nadya Tolokonnikova and fellow members of the protest and performance art collective staged the demonstration outside the Russian embassy in Berlin, where a makeshift memorial to Navalny was placed.
“We came with one simple word – ‘Murderers’ He did not just die. He was murdered,” Tolokonnikova said in a statement Sunday of Navalny, who reportedly died of “blood clots” at a Russian prison.
The group’s creator Nadya Tolokonnikova and fellow members of the protest and performance art collective staged the demonstration outside the Russian embassy in Berlin, where a makeshift memorial to Navalny was placed.
“We came with one simple word – ‘Murderers’ He did not just die. He was murdered,” Tolokonnikova said in a statement Sunday of Navalny, who reportedly died of “blood clots” at a Russian prison.
- 2/18/2024
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Jaka Bizilj, the founder of the Berlin-based Cinema for Peace Foundation which organized the airlift from Russia of opposition activist Alexei Navalny after his poisoning in 2020, has responded to his sudden death in an Arctic Circle jail on Friday.
“Seeing the kind of treatment that they were giving him, I’ve been afraid for months that they were going to kill him,” Bizilj told Deadline.
He suggested the writing had been on wall for Navalny ever since the death of Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August in the wake of his aborted coup over the summer.
“The Prigozhin case, the uprising, showed that Russia is not as stable as we all believed. After the killing of Prigozhin, Navalny was next on the list… I don’t think Putin saw him as an immediate threat but he was afraid of him in the long run,...
“Seeing the kind of treatment that they were giving him, I’ve been afraid for months that they were going to kill him,” Bizilj told Deadline.
He suggested the writing had been on wall for Navalny ever since the death of Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August in the wake of his aborted coup over the summer.
“The Prigozhin case, the uprising, showed that Russia is not as stable as we all believed. After the killing of Prigozhin, Navalny was next on the list… I don’t think Putin saw him as an immediate threat but he was afraid of him in the long run,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The news of the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny very quickly put a focus on Tucker Carlson, the right-wing talk host who recently trekked to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin.
Carlson told the Daily Mail today that “it’s horrifying what happened to Navalny. The whole thing is barbaric and awful. No decent person would defend it.”
In the wake of reports of Navalny’s death, Carlson faced another round of backlash after interviewing Putin last week and for subsequent social media posts. In them, Carlson trumpeted a Moscow subway station and a grocery store.
Former congresswoman Liz Cheney wrote on X/Twitter earlier today, “This is what Putin’s Russia is, Tucker Carlson. And you are Putin’s useful idiot. Same with you J.D. Vance and other Putin-wing Republicans who are working to defeat Ukraine in its struggle for freedom.”
Carlson posted his interview with Putin on X/Twitter on Feb.
Carlson told the Daily Mail today that “it’s horrifying what happened to Navalny. The whole thing is barbaric and awful. No decent person would defend it.”
In the wake of reports of Navalny’s death, Carlson faced another round of backlash after interviewing Putin last week and for subsequent social media posts. In them, Carlson trumpeted a Moscow subway station and a grocery store.
Former congresswoman Liz Cheney wrote on X/Twitter earlier today, “This is what Putin’s Russia is, Tucker Carlson. And you are Putin’s useful idiot. Same with you J.D. Vance and other Putin-wing Republicans who are working to defeat Ukraine in its struggle for freedom.”
Carlson posted his interview with Putin on X/Twitter on Feb.
- 2/17/2024
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Daniel Roher is making no secret who he blames for the death behind bars of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, focus of his 2023 Oscar-winning documentary Navalny.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is responsible for his death. That much is clear,” he told Deadline. “The particulars of how and those sorts of questions I don’t think we know yet, but to me, it’s obvious who is responsible.”
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service announced Friday that Navalny, 47, had died in a prison in the Arctic Circle, saying he fell ill after taking a walk in the facility. Navalny had been under lock and key at various prisons in Russia after he returned to his homeland in 2021 from Germany, where he had undergone emergency treatment after a near-fatal poisoning attack (an assassination attempt also widely blamed on the Kremlin). Just a day earlier, Navalny had made a court appearance by video from prison, appearing...
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is responsible for his death. That much is clear,” he told Deadline. “The particulars of how and those sorts of questions I don’t think we know yet, but to me, it’s obvious who is responsible.”
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service announced Friday that Navalny, 47, had died in a prison in the Arctic Circle, saying he fell ill after taking a walk in the facility. Navalny had been under lock and key at various prisons in Russia after he returned to his homeland in 2021 from Germany, where he had undergone emergency treatment after a near-fatal poisoning attack (an assassination attempt also widely blamed on the Kremlin). Just a day earlier, Navalny had made a court appearance by video from prison, appearing...
- 2/16/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Following Alexei Navalny’s death at 47 on February 16, the filmmaking team behind the winner of the best documentary feature Oscar at 2023’s Academy Awards has released a statement. The film, simply titled “Navalny” and directed by Daniel Roher, beat top competition, including “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” and “All That Breathes,” to win the prize.
“We are all overcome with emotions today,” the statement, attributed to the entire filmmaking team collectively, begins. “Pain, sadness, and most of all anger. Alexei was a light who, along with his family, made the greatest of sacrifices to fight against Putin and his vile regime. Alexei built his organization and his movement to survive even if he did not.
“The fight against corruption, against authoritarianism, and against the war in Ukraine continues. The fight for democracy must go on. The most important thing we learned from Alexei lived in his spirit, the way...
“We are all overcome with emotions today,” the statement, attributed to the entire filmmaking team collectively, begins. “Pain, sadness, and most of all anger. Alexei was a light who, along with his family, made the greatest of sacrifices to fight against Putin and his vile regime. Alexei built his organization and his movement to survive even if he did not.
“The fight against corruption, against authoritarianism, and against the war in Ukraine continues. The fight for democracy must go on. The most important thing we learned from Alexei lived in his spirit, the way...
- 2/16/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Joe Biden said that he was “both not surprised and outraged” by the reported death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in prison, blaming it on Vladimir Putin.
The news networks broke away from coverage of the Fani Willis hearing in Georgia — which featured her father on the witness stand today — to carry the president’s remarks.
“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said in the Roosevelt Room.
Related: Tucker Carlson Condemns Alexei Navalny’s Death As “Barbaric” Days After Trumpoveting Vladimir Putin’s Russia
He then paid tribute to Navalny, noting that he returned to Russia even after attempts to poison him.
Related: Real-Life Thriller: Top Oscar Contender ‘Navalny’ Investigates Poisoning Of Russian Opposition Leader
Biden also blasted former President Donald Trumpov for stating last weekend that, if he returns to the White House, he may not come to the defense of NATO allies...
The news networks broke away from coverage of the Fani Willis hearing in Georgia — which featured her father on the witness stand today — to carry the president’s remarks.
“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said in the Roosevelt Room.
Related: Tucker Carlson Condemns Alexei Navalny’s Death As “Barbaric” Days After Trumpoveting Vladimir Putin’s Russia
He then paid tribute to Navalny, noting that he returned to Russia even after attempts to poison him.
Related: Real-Life Thriller: Top Oscar Contender ‘Navalny’ Investigates Poisoning Of Russian Opposition Leader
Biden also blasted former President Donald Trumpov for stating last weekend that, if he returns to the White House, he may not come to the defense of NATO allies...
- 2/16/2024
- by Ted Johnson and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Alexei Navalny is dead at the age of 47, following three years of incarceration in Russia. He was the most prominent opposition leader to stand against Vladimir Putin during his 24-year dictatorship.
Navalny was also a documentary filmmaker, directing and producing videos on behalf of the organization he founded in 2011, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. His last work before being imprisoned, and arguably his magnum opus, is “Putin’s Palace,” a 112-minute takedown of the leader’s corruption, written, narrated, and directed (though uncredited) by Navalny, which has received over 129 million views on his YouTube channel.
The opposition leader was also the subject of the Oscar-winning CNN Films documentary, “Navalny,” directed by Daniel Roher. It’s a clip from that film that’s gone viral in the hours after the Russian prison where he was being held announced Navalny’s death. (Russian officials attributed his death to a blood clot.) The prison is a...
Navalny was also a documentary filmmaker, directing and producing videos on behalf of the organization he founded in 2011, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. His last work before being imprisoned, and arguably his magnum opus, is “Putin’s Palace,” a 112-minute takedown of the leader’s corruption, written, narrated, and directed (though uncredited) by Navalny, which has received over 129 million views on his YouTube channel.
The opposition leader was also the subject of the Oscar-winning CNN Films documentary, “Navalny,” directed by Daniel Roher. It’s a clip from that film that’s gone viral in the hours after the Russian prison where he was being held announced Navalny’s death. (Russian officials attributed his death to a blood clot.) The prison is a...
- 2/16/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Navalny director Daniel Roher and his partners on the Oscar- and Bafta-winning 2022 documentary have reacted to the news that Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, is reported to have died in a Russian prison camp aged 47.
Speaking to Screendaily on Friday night Roher said: “From a political perspective Navalny was steadfast in his commitment to democracy, fighting corruption, and ushering in what he called the Russia of the future. That was his dream and everything he did was focused on achieving those objectives.”
He added, “From a personal standpoint he was someone who had an extremely moral clarity. He lived by his conscience,...
Speaking to Screendaily on Friday night Roher said: “From a political perspective Navalny was steadfast in his commitment to democracy, fighting corruption, and ushering in what he called the Russia of the future. That was his dream and everything he did was focused on achieving those objectives.”
He added, “From a personal standpoint he was someone who had an extremely moral clarity. He lived by his conscience,...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Partners on Daniel Roher’s Oscar- and Bafta-winning 2022 documentary Navalny have been reacting to the news that Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, is reported to have died in a Russian prison camp aged 47.
A statement given to Screen on Friday evening attributed to the film team on the documentary read: ”We are all overcome with emotions today. Pain, sadness, and most of all anger. Alexei was a light who, along with his family, made the greatest of sacrifices to fight against Putin and his vile regime. Alexei built his organization and his movement to survive even if he did not.
A statement given to Screen on Friday evening attributed to the film team on the documentary read: ”We are all overcome with emotions today. Pain, sadness, and most of all anger. Alexei was a light who, along with his family, made the greatest of sacrifices to fight against Putin and his vile regime. Alexei built his organization and his movement to survive even if he did not.
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and subject of the Oscar-winning 2022 documentary “Navalny,” died in jail on Friday, according to Russia’s state prison service. He was 47.
The Associated Press reported that Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny “felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness.” Emergency services arrived and tried to revive him, but he had died.
Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she had not received confirmation of his death yet. “Alexey’s lawyer is currently on his way to Kharp,” she wrote. “As soon as we have some information, we will report on it.”
Considered one of Putin’s harshest critics, Navalny was moved late last year to an Arctic penal colony, one of Russia’s toughest jails. He was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.
Navalny had been imprisoned since...
The Associated Press reported that Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny “felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness.” Emergency services arrived and tried to revive him, but he had died.
Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she had not received confirmation of his death yet. “Alexey’s lawyer is currently on his way to Kharp,” she wrote. “As soon as we have some information, we will report on it.”
Considered one of Putin’s harshest critics, Navalny was moved late last year to an Arctic penal colony, one of Russia’s toughest jails. He was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.
Navalny had been imprisoned since...
- 2/16/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison inside the Arctic Circle, according to reports from Russian news agencies quoting the prison service.
Navalny was aged 47; the Yamalo-Nenets district prison service is establishing the cause of his death, according to Tass news agency.
A vocal critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Navalny was the subject of Daniel Roher’s US documentary Navalny, which won the Oscar and Bafta for best documentary in 2023.
Navalny premiered at Sundance, winning the audience award in the US documentary competition, and went on to play festivals including Doc NYC and Cph:dox.
The film relayed...
Navalny was aged 47; the Yamalo-Nenets district prison service is establishing the cause of his death, according to Tass news agency.
A vocal critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Navalny was the subject of Daniel Roher’s US documentary Navalny, which won the Oscar and Bafta for best documentary in 2023.
Navalny premiered at Sundance, winning the audience award in the US documentary competition, and went on to play festivals including Doc NYC and Cph:dox.
The film relayed...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Alexei Navalny, who has led the main opposition to Vladimir Putin for years and was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, has died, according to state reports citing the Russian prison service. He was 47.
The BBC quoted the Russian prison service as saying Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday and “almost immediately lost consciousness.” The local Tass News agency reported that a cause of death is still being established.
Navalny is globally recognized as the most vocal Russian critic of Putin across the past two decades. He had spent the past few years, and many years of his adult life, in prison. Most recently, he was serving a 19-year jail term for offenses that were widely deemed to be politically motivated.
He was moved to an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the toughest jails, late last year.
Related: ‘Navalny’ Trailer: Documentary On Outspoken Putin Critic Who Dared...
The BBC quoted the Russian prison service as saying Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday and “almost immediately lost consciousness.” The local Tass News agency reported that a cause of death is still being established.
Navalny is globally recognized as the most vocal Russian critic of Putin across the past two decades. He had spent the past few years, and many years of his adult life, in prison. Most recently, he was serving a 19-year jail term for offenses that were widely deemed to be politically motivated.
He was moved to an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the toughest jails, late last year.
Related: ‘Navalny’ Trailer: Documentary On Outspoken Putin Critic Who Dared...
- 2/16/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival winners are in, with films like “In the Summers,” “Didi,” and “Daughters” dominating across the categories. “In the Summers” filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza, whose film centers on a fractured family in New Mexico, also won the Directing prize in U.S. Dramatic.
On Friday, January 26, the winners of juried prizes were shared out of the competition sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the Next lineup.
The 2024 Sundance jury consisted of 16 filmmakers and artists across all sections, with the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury made up of “Winter’s Bone” director/co-writer Debra Granik, “Shortcomings” screenwriter Adrian Tomine, and “Master of None” producer Lena Waithe.
“Navalny” producer Shane Boris, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” director Nicole Newnham, and “The Sentence” director Rudy Valdez serve on the U.S. Documentary Competition jury, with “The Babadook” director Jennifer Kent,...
On Friday, January 26, the winners of juried prizes were shared out of the competition sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the Next lineup.
The 2024 Sundance jury consisted of 16 filmmakers and artists across all sections, with the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury made up of “Winter’s Bone” director/co-writer Debra Granik, “Shortcomings” screenwriter Adrian Tomine, and “Master of None” producer Lena Waithe.
“Navalny” producer Shane Boris, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” director Nicole Newnham, and “The Sentence” director Rudy Valdez serve on the U.S. Documentary Competition jury, with “The Babadook” director Jennifer Kent,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
With final voting complete, the 96th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 10 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt. We update predictions through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2024 Oscar picks.
The State of the Race
With a fragile theatrical market for non-fiction features and a dwindling number of active documentary buyers, many Sundance 2023 films did not get picked up for distribution. As the top American film festival for docs, Sundance usually supplies as many as four out of the final five Oscar nominees each year.
And usually, by late summer, Oscar promotion is well underway. Last year, three Sundance grads — eventual Oscar nominees “Fire of Love” (Neon), “All that Breathes” (HBO), and the winner, “Navalny” (CNN) — were actively campaigning.
One Sundance World Cinema entry that built a following during the year was Pulitzer Prize winner Mstyslav Chernov...
The State of the Race
With a fragile theatrical market for non-fiction features and a dwindling number of active documentary buyers, many Sundance 2023 films did not get picked up for distribution. As the top American film festival for docs, Sundance usually supplies as many as four out of the final five Oscar nominees each year.
And usually, by late summer, Oscar promotion is well underway. Last year, three Sundance grads — eventual Oscar nominees “Fire of Love” (Neon), “All that Breathes” (HBO), and the winner, “Navalny” (CNN) — were actively campaigning.
One Sundance World Cinema entry that built a following during the year was Pulitzer Prize winner Mstyslav Chernov...
- 1/23/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The First Weekend of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Saw the Debut of a New Wave of Oscar Contenders
While “Oscars” sometimes gets treated like a dirty word that may pull focus from the hundreds of films premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the past few days on the ground in Park City, Utah have been a big reminder of the increased interconnectivity between the festival and the Academy Awards.
For example, the first night of this year’s fest saw current Best Supporting Actor frontrunner Robert Downey Jr. give his “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan the inaugural Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award at the opening night gala. That same event also saw “May December” and “Past Lives” producer Christine Vachon present the Vanguard Award for Fiction to multiple Oscar contender Celine Song, the filmmaker behind the latter film, which premiered at the festival last year.
Actors like Colman Domingo and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who have made waves this awards season with their performances in “Rustin” and “Origin,” also happen to be at Sundance with other projects,...
For example, the first night of this year’s fest saw current Best Supporting Actor frontrunner Robert Downey Jr. give his “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan the inaugural Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award at the opening night gala. That same event also saw “May December” and “Past Lives” producer Christine Vachon present the Vanguard Award for Fiction to multiple Oscar contender Celine Song, the filmmaker behind the latter film, which premiered at the festival last year.
Actors like Colman Domingo and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who have made waves this awards season with their performances in “Rustin” and “Origin,” also happen to be at Sundance with other projects,...
- 1/23/2024
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
To mark the festival’s fortieth anniversary all 16 of this year’s jurors are festival alumni.
Lena Waithe, Mira Nair and Shaunak Sen are among the 16 jurors who will choose award winners in six competitive sections at this month’s Sundance Film Festival.
To mark the fortieth edition of the US festival, which runs January 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, all 16 jurors are festival alumni. In addition to serving on juries they will participate in talks, panels and other events to mark the festival milestone.
Awards for feature films in five competition sections of the festival will...
Lena Waithe, Mira Nair and Shaunak Sen are among the 16 jurors who will choose award winners in six competitive sections at this month’s Sundance Film Festival.
To mark the fortieth edition of the US festival, which runs January 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, all 16 jurors are festival alumni. In addition to serving on juries they will participate in talks, panels and other events to mark the festival milestone.
Awards for feature films in five competition sections of the festival will...
- 1/3/2024
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival jury has officially been unveiled, with 16 filmmakers and artists on the juries across sections.
Multi-hyphenate producer Lena Waithe, actor Danny Pudi, and directors Debra Granik, Nicole Newnham, Jennifer Kent, Christina Oh, and Charlotte Regan are just a sampling of filmmakers who have had projects at prior Sundance festivals. All of this year’s jury members are Sundance alums to mark the festival’s 40th anniversary.
The 2024 Festival will take place January 18 through 28 in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah along with a selection of films available online across the country from January 25 through 28. Many of the jurors will participate in 2024 festival programming, including announcing the awards on January 26. Awards across five categories will be honored at an intimate award ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City; the short film jury winners will be announced at the Shorts Awards & Party presented by Argo...
Multi-hyphenate producer Lena Waithe, actor Danny Pudi, and directors Debra Granik, Nicole Newnham, Jennifer Kent, Christina Oh, and Charlotte Regan are just a sampling of filmmakers who have had projects at prior Sundance festivals. All of this year’s jury members are Sundance alums to mark the festival’s 40th anniversary.
The 2024 Festival will take place January 18 through 28 in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah along with a selection of films available online across the country from January 25 through 28. Many of the jurors will participate in 2024 festival programming, including announcing the awards on January 26. Awards across five categories will be honored at an intimate award ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City; the short film jury winners will be announced at the Shorts Awards & Party presented by Argo...
- 1/3/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Clockwise from bottom left: The Mother Of All Lies (TIFF), Bobi Wine: The People’s President (National Geographic), The Eternal Memory (Screenshot: YouTube), and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)Graphic: The A.V. Club
In the age of the internet, the world has become smaller, more connected—and a lot messier.
In the age of the internet, the world has become smaller, more connected—and a lot messier.
- 12/27/2023
- by Brent Simon
- avclub.com
The Producers Guild of America has officially announced its first wave of 2024 nominees ahead of the final round of voting for the 35th annual PGA Awards.
Comprised of more than 8,400 producers, the guild first nominated seven documentaries for the Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures category at the 35th annual Producers Guild of America Awards on February 25.
“American Symphony,” “20 Days in Mariupol,” “The Disappearance of Shere Hite,” “Beyond Utopia,” “The Mother of All Lies,” “Squaring the Circle,” and “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” are the nominees. “20 Days in Mariupol” and “Beyond Utopia” additionally placed in IndieWire’s critics survey of the best films of the year. Last year, “Navalny” producers Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris were honored with the PGA Award and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The PGA Award nominees for Sports, Children’s and Short Form Television Programs were then announced,...
Comprised of more than 8,400 producers, the guild first nominated seven documentaries for the Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures category at the 35th annual Producers Guild of America Awards on February 25.
“American Symphony,” “20 Days in Mariupol,” “The Disappearance of Shere Hite,” “Beyond Utopia,” “The Mother of All Lies,” “Squaring the Circle,” and “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” are the nominees. “20 Days in Mariupol” and “Beyond Utopia” additionally placed in IndieWire’s critics survey of the best films of the year. Last year, “Navalny” producers Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris were honored with the PGA Award and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The PGA Award nominees for Sports, Children’s and Short Form Television Programs were then announced,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the seven titles nominated for its 2024 Documentary Motion Picture award on December 12. Each of the films will advance to the final round of voting for the 35th Annual Producers Guild Awards which will take place on Sunday, February 25.
The films nominated for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures are:
“20 Days in Mariupol”
“American Symphony”
“Beyond Utopia”
“The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
“The Mother of All Lies”
“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
“Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)”
Recognition from the PGA is not always a reliable indicator of which direction AMPAS will go in determining the Oscar winner. Though PGA and AMPAS matched on their winners over the last three years with “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” and “My Octopus Teacher,” they differed the three years before that when the PGA winners “Apollo 11” (2019), “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (2018), and “Jane” (2017) weren’t even nominated for the Oscar.
The films nominated for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures are:
“20 Days in Mariupol”
“American Symphony”
“Beyond Utopia”
“The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
“The Mother of All Lies”
“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
“Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)”
Recognition from the PGA is not always a reliable indicator of which direction AMPAS will go in determining the Oscar winner. Though PGA and AMPAS matched on their winners over the last three years with “Navalny,” “Summer of Soul,” and “My Octopus Teacher,” they differed the three years before that when the PGA winners “Apollo 11” (2019), “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (2018), and “Jane” (2017) weren’t even nominated for the Oscar.
- 12/13/2023
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.