Utopia has acquired Participant’s feature documentary “Unseen Skies,” which the U.S. distributor will release on Sept. 13.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem, “Unseen Skies” explores the evolution of state and corporate surveillance. The film follows American artist and geographer Trevor Paglen as he launches an artwork called “Orbital Reflector” into space, visible with the naked eye from Earth, to highlight the global impact of technology in the modern world.
Having achieved international notoriety for his conceptual art, which fuses photography and large-scale multidisciplinary events, Paglen’s work reveals the largely unseen power structures of technology and surveillance that shape, impact and increasingly define the framework of our lives.
A MacArthur Genius award winner and author, Paglen is known for his photography documenting the black ops sites of government surveillance and data collection, as well as installations such as Sight Machine, in which the musical group Kronos Quartet...
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem, “Unseen Skies” explores the evolution of state and corporate surveillance. The film follows American artist and geographer Trevor Paglen as he launches an artwork called “Orbital Reflector” into space, visible with the naked eye from Earth, to highlight the global impact of technology in the modern world.
Having achieved international notoriety for his conceptual art, which fuses photography and large-scale multidisciplinary events, Paglen’s work reveals the largely unseen power structures of technology and surveillance that shape, impact and increasingly define the framework of our lives.
A MacArthur Genius award winner and author, Paglen is known for his photography documenting the black ops sites of government surveillance and data collection, as well as installations such as Sight Machine, in which the musical group Kronos Quartet...
- 8/30/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (Cph:dox), which runs in-person from March 23 to April 3, has unveiled its Science sidebar, a program consisting of 15 science-related films.
Among the films are “A.I. at War,” which takes the viewer on a journey with an A.I. robot to some of the world’s conflict zones, “Pleistocene Park,” which follows a Russian geophysicist’s quest to recreate the ecosystem of the last ice age through radical rewilding, and “How to Survive a Pandemic,” a look behind the scenes of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.
Also included are “Going Circular,” which urges us to rethink the entire economic system by respecting the planet’s limited resources, “Unseen Skies,” which suggests ways to resist state surveillance, and “Healers,” which looks at the relationship between doctors and their patients, and examines the latest trends in alternative medicine.
Niklas Engstrøm, artistic director at Cph:Dox, said: “Science and its...
Among the films are “A.I. at War,” which takes the viewer on a journey with an A.I. robot to some of the world’s conflict zones, “Pleistocene Park,” which follows a Russian geophysicist’s quest to recreate the ecosystem of the last ice age through radical rewilding, and “How to Survive a Pandemic,” a look behind the scenes of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.
Also included are “Going Circular,” which urges us to rethink the entire economic system by respecting the planet’s limited resources, “Unseen Skies,” which suggests ways to resist state surveillance, and “Healers,” which looks at the relationship between doctors and their patients, and examines the latest trends in alternative medicine.
Niklas Engstrøm, artistic director at Cph:Dox, said: “Science and its...
- 2/22/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Utopia Snaps Up Distribution Rights to Participant’s Yaara Bou Melhem Doc ‘Unseen Skies’ (Exclusive)
Sales and distribution company Utopia, co-founded by filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, has swooped on the distribution rights to documentary “Unseen Skies” by Yaara Bou Melhem, a two-time Un Peace Award-winning filmmaker and investigative journalist.
“Unseen Skies” follows conceptual artist Trevor Paglen, known for combining photography and large-scale art, on the final phase of his 10-year endeavor to launch a work of art into space via satellite. Paglen’s art often touches on the issues of mass surveillance and data collection.
“Trevor’s work dispels myths about A.I., including that it is neutral and objective,” said Melhem, who also wrote and produced the feature-length doc.
“We are excited to work with Utopia to share this film with audiences, and hope they come away from the film with the tools to recognize how technologies are opaquely making decisions about our lives,” he continued. “It’s only when we can peer inside the...
“Unseen Skies” follows conceptual artist Trevor Paglen, known for combining photography and large-scale art, on the final phase of his 10-year endeavor to launch a work of art into space via satellite. Paglen’s art often touches on the issues of mass surveillance and data collection.
“Trevor’s work dispels myths about A.I., including that it is neutral and objective,” said Melhem, who also wrote and produced the feature-length doc.
“We are excited to work with Utopia to share this film with audiences, and hope they come away from the film with the tools to recognize how technologies are opaquely making decisions about our lives,” he continued. “It’s only when we can peer inside the...
- 1/21/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Magnolia Pictures International has acquired international sales rights outside of the US for Yaara Bou Melhem’s Unseen Skies.
The In Films and Participant Media documentary follows artist Trevor Paglen during the final stretch of his decade-long journey to put a work of art into space.
Melhem, a two-time Un Peace Award-winning filmmaker, and investigative journalist, highlights the global impact of technology in the 21st century and its adverse impact on privacy through Paglen’s story as a geographer and a former punk rock musician working to launch the Orbital Reflector.
The Australia/US production, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw, premiered at this San Francisco International Film Festival in April. Last week it was announced as one of the films set to compete for the Documentary Australia Foundation (Daf) Award for Australian Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival in November.
‘Unseen Skies’.
Producer Ivan O’Mahoney, of In Films,...
The In Films and Participant Media documentary follows artist Trevor Paglen during the final stretch of his decade-long journey to put a work of art into space.
Melhem, a two-time Un Peace Award-winning filmmaker, and investigative journalist, highlights the global impact of technology in the 21st century and its adverse impact on privacy through Paglen’s story as a geographer and a former punk rock musician working to launch the Orbital Reflector.
The Australia/US production, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw, premiered at this San Francisco International Film Festival in April. Last week it was announced as one of the films set to compete for the Documentary Australia Foundation (Daf) Award for Australian Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival in November.
‘Unseen Skies’.
Producer Ivan O’Mahoney, of In Films,...
- 9/6/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Participant is yet to announce US distribution plans.
Magnolia Pictures International has acquired Yaara Bou Melhem’s documentary Unseen Skies from Participant and will commence sales during Toronto next week.
The film follows contemporary artist Trevor Paglen during the final stretch of his decade-long journey to put a work of art into space.
Paglen, who served as a cinematographer on Participant’s Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, is known for his work that focuses on the impact of largely unseen monolithic power structures of technology and surveillance and documents black ops sites that gather government surveillance and data collection.
Participant has not...
Magnolia Pictures International has acquired Yaara Bou Melhem’s documentary Unseen Skies from Participant and will commence sales during Toronto next week.
The film follows contemporary artist Trevor Paglen during the final stretch of his decade-long journey to put a work of art into space.
Paglen, who served as a cinematographer on Participant’s Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, is known for his work that focuses on the impact of largely unseen monolithic power structures of technology and surveillance and documents black ops sites that gather government surveillance and data collection.
Participant has not...
- 9/2/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sydney Film Festival has announced the films to compete for the Documentary Australia Foundation (Daf) Award for Australian Documentary, with a 12-strong line-up to mark the prize’s 12th anniversary.
The winning film will be presented with $10,000 at the festival’s closing night in November.
All docs were selected for the festival’s original August date, but the move to later in the year means a number of the films, such as Sbs’s Australia Uncovered projects Strong Female Lead, The Bowraville Murders, The Department and Incarceration Nation, will have broadcast already. Others, like Gracie Otto’s Under the Volcano, are in digital release.
Its a challenge for the festival to grapple with, but given the disrupted nature of this year, it may still be first chance for many of the filmmakers to have their work screen in front of a live audience.
And, notably, there is still a world...
The winning film will be presented with $10,000 at the festival’s closing night in November.
All docs were selected for the festival’s original August date, but the move to later in the year means a number of the films, such as Sbs’s Australia Uncovered projects Strong Female Lead, The Bowraville Murders, The Department and Incarceration Nation, will have broadcast already. Others, like Gracie Otto’s Under the Volcano, are in digital release.
Its a challenge for the festival to grapple with, but given the disrupted nature of this year, it may still be first chance for many of the filmmakers to have their work screen in front of a live audience.
And, notably, there is still a world...
- 9/1/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Yaara Bou Melham’s ‘Creating the Nation’ for ‘Witness’.
At next year’s Australian International Documentary Conference (Aidc), up to six early career filmmaking teams will live pitch to win a $100,000 commission a for 25-minute documentary for Al Jazeera English’s flagship documentary strand Witness.
Up to three projects will be commissioned, funded 50/50 by Screen Australia and Al Jazeera. The documentaries will be released across Al Jazeera platforms including television, online and apps.
Applicants will need to be able to present an engaging pitch that demonstrates bold storytelling, includes a strong central character driving the narrative arc, and can make a global impact with a topical global theme as a backdrop.
Screen Australia head of documentary Bernadine Lim said: “We want to inspire and support early career documentary filmmakers to discover and embrace international opportunities in this rapidly changing media landscape. This collaboration with Aje Witness and Aidc offers an...
At next year’s Australian International Documentary Conference (Aidc), up to six early career filmmaking teams will live pitch to win a $100,000 commission a for 25-minute documentary for Al Jazeera English’s flagship documentary strand Witness.
Up to three projects will be commissioned, funded 50/50 by Screen Australia and Al Jazeera. The documentaries will be released across Al Jazeera platforms including television, online and apps.
Applicants will need to be able to present an engaging pitch that demonstrates bold storytelling, includes a strong central character driving the narrative arc, and can make a global impact with a topical global theme as a backdrop.
Screen Australia head of documentary Bernadine Lim said: “We want to inspire and support early career documentary filmmakers to discover and embrace international opportunities in this rapidly changing media landscape. This collaboration with Aje Witness and Aidc offers an...
- 9/17/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
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