A striking film that evokes a wave of emotions, Natalie Rae and Angela Patton’s Daughters is another picture––à la Rudy Valdez’s The Sentence, Garrett Bradley’s Time, and Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville’s A Women on the Outside––focusing directly on the impact prison sentences have on families. All three films discuss the direct and indirect costs of keeping in touch with loved ones “inside,” from visiting far-flung facilities across the state or country to the exorbitant rates charged by companies (e.g. Secures Technologies) for video visits and emails. Daughters is an oft-poetic look at the impact this separation has on four girls, ages five to 15: Aubrey, Santana, Ja’Anna, and Raziah.
Early on we learn from Clinique Chapman, a prison social worker overseeing this project, that a group of girls have petitioned the local sheriff overseeing the prison in Washington, DC, for...
Early on we learn from Clinique Chapman, a prison social worker overseeing this project, that a group of girls have petitioned the local sheriff overseeing the prison in Washington, DC, for...
- 1/26/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
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
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
The festival has dropped its international competition in favour of a South Asia focus.
The Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival has unveiled a South Asia-focused revamp for its first in-person event since 2019, set to run October 27 to November 5.
The festival has dropped its international and India Gold competitions and will launch its first South Asia competitive section as part of a new approach to become a hub for cinema and talent from the region and diaspora.
The 14 films in the South Asia Competition are from first and second-time filmmakers from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as well as diaspora filmmakers from the UK and Germany,...
The Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival has unveiled a South Asia-focused revamp for its first in-person event since 2019, set to run October 27 to November 5.
The festival has dropped its international and India Gold competitions and will launch its first South Asia competitive section as part of a new approach to become a hub for cinema and talent from the region and diaspora.
The 14 films in the South Asia Competition are from first and second-time filmmakers from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as well as diaspora filmmakers from the UK and Germany,...
- 10/9/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
After a three-year hiatus, the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival is returning with a larger lineup and an expanded focus on South Asian cinema.
The festival will feature 250 films including 40 world premieres, 45 Asia premieres and 70 South Asia Premieres. The opening and closing films have not been finalized yet.
The festival’s new vision is to become a hub for South Asian and South Asian diaspora cinema and talent and, in keeping with this, the main competition is for 14 films from the region. These include the world premieres of Leesa Gazi’s “A House Named Shahana” (Bangladesh-u.K.), Dibakar Das Roy’s “Dilli Dark” (India), Sumanth Bhat’s “Mithya” (India) and Fazil Razak’s “The Sentence” (India). The new focus will also include 46 non-competition films from South Asia.
The Icons South Asia strand features Anand Patwardhan’s Toronto title “The World is Family”; “Indi(r)a’s Emergency” by Vikramaditya Motwane...
The festival will feature 250 films including 40 world premieres, 45 Asia premieres and 70 South Asia Premieres. The opening and closing films have not been finalized yet.
The festival’s new vision is to become a hub for South Asian and South Asian diaspora cinema and talent and, in keeping with this, the main competition is for 14 films from the region. These include the world premieres of Leesa Gazi’s “A House Named Shahana” (Bangladesh-u.K.), Dibakar Das Roy’s “Dilli Dark” (India), Sumanth Bhat’s “Mithya” (India) and Fazil Razak’s “The Sentence” (India). The new focus will also include 46 non-competition films from South Asia.
The Icons South Asia strand features Anand Patwardhan’s Toronto title “The World is Family”; “Indi(r)a’s Emergency” by Vikramaditya Motwane...
- 10/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max’s The Janes was among the top winners at the 44th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday, with the film — centered on a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion network in Chicago — taking home best documentary as well as best social issue documentary.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presented the Documentary category winners during a live ceremony at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and streamed live on NATAS’ viewing platform powered by Vimeo, the second of a two-night celebration. The News category winners were announced in a ceremony held at the Palladium on Wednesday.
Scheduled presenters at the Thursday night Docs ceremony included HBO Documentary & Family Programming’s Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, reporter Jelani Cobb, Nothing Compares director Kathryn Ferguson, NPR host and Is That Black Enough for You?!? writer-director Elvis Mitchell, Doc NYC co-founder Thom Powers and National Geographic correspondent Mariana van Zeller.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presented the Documentary category winners during a live ceremony at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and streamed live on NATAS’ viewing platform powered by Vimeo, the second of a two-night celebration. The News category winners were announced in a ceremony held at the Palladium on Wednesday.
Scheduled presenters at the Thursday night Docs ceremony included HBO Documentary & Family Programming’s Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, reporter Jelani Cobb, Nothing Compares director Kathryn Ferguson, NPR host and Is That Black Enough for You?!? writer-director Elvis Mitchell, Doc NYC co-founder Thom Powers and National Geographic correspondent Mariana van Zeller.
- 9/29/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sony Picture Classics and Trafalgar Releasing have firmed up worldwide release plans for Carlos, their feature documentary on 10-time Grammy-winning musical icon, Carlos Santana.
The film on the father of Latin American jazz fusion will launch in theaters in September with the three-day premiere event, Carlos: The Santana Journey Global Premiere. In addition to the doc itself, the event taking place on September 23rd, 24th and 27th will spotlight exclusive introductory content featuring Santana and pic’s director, two-time Emmy winner Rudy Valdez (The Sentence). The film will then launch into its general theatrical release on September 29th.
A guitarist who has cemented his status as a legend over the last 50 years, Santana continues to be one of the music world’s premiere artists, blending jazz, blues, and the Mariachi sound with a rock n’ roll spirituality and a sense of music’s primal connection to our deepest emotions. SPC...
The film on the father of Latin American jazz fusion will launch in theaters in September with the three-day premiere event, Carlos: The Santana Journey Global Premiere. In addition to the doc itself, the event taking place on September 23rd, 24th and 27th will spotlight exclusive introductory content featuring Santana and pic’s director, two-time Emmy winner Rudy Valdez (The Sentence). The film will then launch into its general theatrical release on September 29th.
A guitarist who has cemented his status as a legend over the last 50 years, Santana continues to be one of the music world’s premiere artists, blending jazz, blues, and the Mariachi sound with a rock n’ roll spirituality and a sense of music’s primal connection to our deepest emotions. SPC...
- 8/17/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Haley Elizabeth Anderson has wrapped production on Jazzy Jumpers, a documentary she was tapped to direct for Indigenous Media, P&g Studios and A Seed & Wings Productions.
The film tells the story of the Brownsville, Brooklyn-based Double Dutch Team Jazzy Jumpers, headed up by Coach Toni Veal, watching as this group — which has, in recent years, attracted national media coverage — works to defend their World Championship title from their headquarters bordering a public housing complex.
This is the first project on which P&g and Indigenous have partnered, as well as the first feature to emerge from 60 Second Docs, the latter’s three-time Webby Award-winning label, which has to date put out around 1,000 short documentaries about the world’s most interesting and unusual characters. Anderson came to the film as an alum of P&g’s Queen Collective, a longstanding program developed in partnership with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit Entertainment...
The film tells the story of the Brownsville, Brooklyn-based Double Dutch Team Jazzy Jumpers, headed up by Coach Toni Veal, watching as this group — which has, in recent years, attracted national media coverage — works to defend their World Championship title from their headquarters bordering a public housing complex.
This is the first project on which P&g and Indigenous have partnered, as well as the first feature to emerge from 60 Second Docs, the latter’s three-time Webby Award-winning label, which has to date put out around 1,000 short documentaries about the world’s most interesting and unusual characters. Anderson came to the film as an alum of P&g’s Queen Collective, a longstanding program developed in partnership with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit Entertainment...
- 8/8/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Among the nearly 20 documentary films and TV series projects shared with Variety by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, one stands out: Martin Scorsese has a new music documentary in the kiln.
Imagine Docs, which is the entertainment company’s nonfiction unit, said that the documentary will mark a return to familiar territory for “The Irishman” director Scorsese — specifically the 1970s music scene. Scorsese is no stranger to this world, as his 2019 Netflix documentary “Rolling Thunder Revue” explored a legendary 1975 Bob Dylan tour through the eyes and ears of the period. Scorsese’s prior music documentaries include “George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” “No Direction Home,” and “The Last Waltz.” In terms of fiction projects revolving around this turbulent era of music, Scorsese and Mick Jagger were among the co-creators of HBO’s one-season wonder, “Vinyl,” which starred Bobby Cannavale (who stars in “Irishman”) as a decadent ’70s record executive.
Imagine Docs, which is the entertainment company’s nonfiction unit, said that the documentary will mark a return to familiar territory for “The Irishman” director Scorsese — specifically the 1970s music scene. Scorsese is no stranger to this world, as his 2019 Netflix documentary “Rolling Thunder Revue” explored a legendary 1975 Bob Dylan tour through the eyes and ears of the period. Scorsese’s prior music documentaries include “George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” “No Direction Home,” and “The Last Waltz.” In terms of fiction projects revolving around this turbulent era of music, Scorsese and Mick Jagger were among the co-creators of HBO’s one-season wonder, “Vinyl,” which starred Bobby Cannavale (who stars in “Irishman”) as a decadent ’70s record executive.
- 11/28/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
For twelve years now, the Cinema Eye Honors selection committees, comprised of filmmakers from the documentary community, help to whittle down a curated list of must-see non-fiction film and television. At the annual Cinema Eye brunch, Cinema Eye Honors founding director A.J. Schnack and his team unveiled the first in a series of awards announcements, including nominees for two new awards: Outstanding Achievement for a Broadcast Film or Series in Editing and Cinematography.
Netflix, 30 for 30, Hulu and Showtime Documentary Films hosted the lunch at Tartine Bianco in Los Angeles, attended by many filmmakers, including many of this year’s non-fiction contenders: Nanfu Wang + Jialing Zhang, Todd Douglas Miller, Petra Costa, Steven Bognar + Julia Reichert, Lauren Greenfield, and Feras Fayyad.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Homecoming” (Netflix) led the Broadcast honorees with three nominations: Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Other multiple nominees included National Geographic’s “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,...
Netflix, 30 for 30, Hulu and Showtime Documentary Films hosted the lunch at Tartine Bianco in Los Angeles, attended by many filmmakers, including many of this year’s non-fiction contenders: Nanfu Wang + Jialing Zhang, Todd Douglas Miller, Petra Costa, Steven Bognar + Julia Reichert, Lauren Greenfield, and Feras Fayyad.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Homecoming” (Netflix) led the Broadcast honorees with three nominations: Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Other multiple nominees included National Geographic’s “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,...
- 10/24/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
For twelve years now, the Cinema Eye Honors selection committees, comprised of filmmakers from the documentary community, help to whittle down a curated list of must-see non-fiction film and television. At the annual Cinema Eye brunch, Cinema Eye Honors founding director A.J. Schnack and his team unveiled the first in a series of awards announcements, including nominees for two new awards: Outstanding Achievement for a Broadcast Film or Series in Editing and Cinematography.
Netflix, 30 for 30, Hulu and Showtime Documentary Films hosted the lunch at Tartine Bianco in Los Angeles, attended by many filmmakers, including many of this year’s non-fiction contenders: Nanfu Wang + Jialing Zhang, Todd Douglas Miller, Petra Costa, Steven Bognar + Julia Reichert, Lauren Greenfield, and Feras Fayyad.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Homecoming” (Netflix) led the Broadcast honorees with three nominations: Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Other multiple nominees included National Geographic’s “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,...
Netflix, 30 for 30, Hulu and Showtime Documentary Films hosted the lunch at Tartine Bianco in Los Angeles, attended by many filmmakers, including many of this year’s non-fiction contenders: Nanfu Wang + Jialing Zhang, Todd Douglas Miller, Petra Costa, Steven Bognar + Julia Reichert, Lauren Greenfield, and Feras Fayyad.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Homecoming” (Netflix) led the Broadcast honorees with three nominations: Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Other multiple nominees included National Geographic’s “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,...
- 10/24/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Beyonce’s “Homecoming” has landed three nominations to lead all films in the first round of noms for the Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based awards ceremony established in 2007 to honor all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking.
In an announcement made at a luncheon in downtown Los Angeles, Cinema Eye Honors organizers unveiled nominations in seven categories, including new categories for broadcast editing and cinematography. “Homecoming” received nominations in both those new categories, as well as for the outstanding broadcast film of the year.
It faces off in that last category against “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,” “At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal,” “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” “Leaving Neverland” and “The Sentence.”
Also Read: 'Homecoming' Film Review: Beyoncé's Powerful Documentary Captures Her Once-in-a-Lifetime Coachella Triumph
Other shows with multiple nominations were the broadcast series “Salt Fat Acid Heat” and “Tricky Dick,” which received two each.
In an announcement made at a luncheon in downtown Los Angeles, Cinema Eye Honors organizers unveiled nominations in seven categories, including new categories for broadcast editing and cinematography. “Homecoming” received nominations in both those new categories, as well as for the outstanding broadcast film of the year.
It faces off in that last category against “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,” “At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal,” “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” “Leaving Neverland” and “The Sentence.”
Also Read: 'Homecoming' Film Review: Beyoncé's Powerful Documentary Captures Her Once-in-a-Lifetime Coachella Triumph
Other shows with multiple nominations were the broadcast series “Salt Fat Acid Heat” and “Tricky Dick,” which received two each.
- 10/24/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Ahead of the Primetime telecast on Sunday, September 22, winners for the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys were announced at two ceremonies on Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15 in Downtown Los Angeles. (See a full list of Saturday’s winners here and a full list of Sunday’s winners here.) Over the last few months, Gold Derby has conducted video chats with 27 of the lucky victors, including Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Dan Reed (“Leaving Neverland” director) and Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).
See Creative Arts Emmys 2019 (Sunday): 13 exclusive red carpet interviews with Natasha Lyonne, Michael McKean, Carice van Houten… [Watch]
Click on any name below to be taken to their full interview.
Hisham Abed – Best Directing (Reality), “Queer Eye”
Marco Beltrami – Best Score (Documentary), “Free Solo”
Rachel Bloom – Best Music and Lyrics, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Nicholas Britell – Best Main Title Theme, “Succession”
RuPaul Charles – Best Reality Host,...
See Creative Arts Emmys 2019 (Sunday): 13 exclusive red carpet interviews with Natasha Lyonne, Michael McKean, Carice van Houten… [Watch]
Click on any name below to be taken to their full interview.
Hisham Abed – Best Directing (Reality), “Queer Eye”
Marco Beltrami – Best Score (Documentary), “Free Solo”
Rachel Bloom – Best Music and Lyrics, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Nicholas Britell – Best Main Title Theme, “Succession”
RuPaul Charles – Best Reality Host,...
- 9/17/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The Primetime Emmys may not be airing until Sunday, September 22, but the first wave of winners have been announced thanks to the Creative Arts Emmys.
These awards were handed out Saturday and Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Fxx will actually air a presentation of these awards on Saturday, September 21 at 8/7c -- a whole day before the official awards show.
Over the weekend, several shows scored wins, including Game of Thrones, Chernobyl, and RuPaul's Drag Race.
Lets run down the winners.
Outstanding Cinematography For A Reality Program
Life Below Zero (Nat Geo)
Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program
Free Solo (Nat Geo)
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Competition Program
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction...
These awards were handed out Saturday and Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Fxx will actually air a presentation of these awards on Saturday, September 21 at 8/7c -- a whole day before the official awards show.
Over the weekend, several shows scored wins, including Game of Thrones, Chernobyl, and RuPaul's Drag Race.
Lets run down the winners.
Outstanding Cinematography For A Reality Program
Life Below Zero (Nat Geo)
Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program
Free Solo (Nat Geo)
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Competition Program
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction...
- 9/16/2019
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
“Rbg” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen did planks onstage at the Creative Arts Emmys Saturday night to honor the fitness routine of Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and said the 86-year-old Supreme Court justice is still going strong.
“Her level of determination and stamina is like nothing we’ve ever seen from anyone we’ve ever met,” Cohen told TheWrap backstage.
The “Rbg” filmmakers shared the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking with HBO’s “The Sentence” in a rare Emmy tie.
Also Read: 'Three Identical Strangers' Becomes Most-Watched CNN Films TV Premiere With 2 Million Viewers
The filmmakers said Ginsburg, with whom they have kept in close touch since the documentary, is still going strong even after health scares this year, which included radiation treatment for pancreatic cancer last month.
“We saw Justice Ginsburg this summer and she looked fantastic, she looked really good,” West said. “She has…...
“Her level of determination and stamina is like nothing we’ve ever seen from anyone we’ve ever met,” Cohen told TheWrap backstage.
The “Rbg” filmmakers shared the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking with HBO’s “The Sentence” in a rare Emmy tie.
Also Read: 'Three Identical Strangers' Becomes Most-Watched CNN Films TV Premiere With 2 Million Viewers
The filmmakers said Ginsburg, with whom they have kept in close touch since the documentary, is still going strong even after health scares this year, which included radiation treatment for pancreatic cancer last month.
“We saw Justice Ginsburg this summer and she looked fantastic, she looked really good,” West said. “She has…...
- 9/15/2019
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Add an Emmy to the growing list of acclaim for the documentary on the life and career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Rbg.” Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s film on the current Supreme Court justice was previously nominated for an Oscar back in January. In a rare category tie, Rudy Valdez’s HBO film “The Sentence,” which focuses on federal and state mandatory minimum sentencing laws, also shared the victory in this year’s category.
To take home the prize for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, “The Sentence” and “Rbg” bested “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” another film that was nominated at this year’s Oscars as well. This is Valdez’s first year as an Emmy nominee. Cohen and West, first-time nominees as well, were also nominated in the Best Nonfiction/Documentary Directing category.
“Rbg” was one of a pair of films to air on CNN that were recognized in this category,...
To take home the prize for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, “The Sentence” and “Rbg” bested “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” another film that was nominated at this year’s Oscars as well. This is Valdez’s first year as an Emmy nominee. Cohen and West, first-time nominees as well, were also nominated in the Best Nonfiction/Documentary Directing category.
“Rbg” was one of a pair of films to air on CNN that were recognized in this category,...
- 9/15/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The Primetime Emmys don’t air until Sunday, Sept. 22, but the Television Academy is whetting our appetites by way of the Creative Arts awards.
Recognizing remarkable creative and technical achievements in television, the Creative Arts Emmys are being handed out Saturday and Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The full presentation will then air Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8/7c on Fxx.
More from TVLineEmmys 2019: TVLine Readers Pick Their Favorites in 15 Key CategoriesEmmys Binge Guide: 14 Nominees You Can Catch Up on Before the Big NightCreative Arts Emmys Night 2: GoT Dominates, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Chernobyl Also Win Big...
Recognizing remarkable creative and technical achievements in television, the Creative Arts Emmys are being handed out Saturday and Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The full presentation will then air Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8/7c on Fxx.
More from TVLineEmmys 2019: TVLine Readers Pick Their Favorites in 15 Key CategoriesEmmys Binge Guide: 14 Nominees You Can Catch Up on Before the Big NightCreative Arts Emmys Night 2: GoT Dominates, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Chernobyl Also Win Big...
- 9/15/2019
- TVLine.com
“Free Solo,” “Queer Eye,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Saturday Night Live” were among the big winners Saturday after the first night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
“Free Solo,” the National Geographic feature documentary that already claimed the Oscar earlier this year, lead the field on the night largely devoted to unscripted programming with seven big wins. On Sunday, the remaining Creative Arts Emmys will be handed out for shows largely in the scripted genre.
RuPaul earned his fourth consecutive trophy as reality host for his work out front on VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Netflix’s “Queer Eye” nabbed four wins, including its second consecutive trophy for structured reality program. “The Simpsons” added more hardware to its trophy case with the win for animated program. And the late Anthony Bourdain earned two more Emmys for his CNN series “Parts Unknown,...
“Free Solo,” the National Geographic feature documentary that already claimed the Oscar earlier this year, lead the field on the night largely devoted to unscripted programming with seven big wins. On Sunday, the remaining Creative Arts Emmys will be handed out for shows largely in the scripted genre.
RuPaul earned his fourth consecutive trophy as reality host for his work out front on VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Netflix’s “Queer Eye” nabbed four wins, including its second consecutive trophy for structured reality program. “The Simpsons” added more hardware to its trophy case with the win for animated program. And the late Anthony Bourdain earned two more Emmys for his CNN series “Parts Unknown,...
- 9/15/2019
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards are upon us, and with them, they bring a whole host of questions, not the least of which include: The Emmys are tonight? Why can’t I find them on TV? Why isn’t “Stranger Things” nominated? I bet my house on Outstanding Period Costumes, did I make a mistake?
While some of those queries will remain a mystery, here are a few things to keep an eye on headed into two nights of honoring the best of what television has to offer.
Watch the ‘Thrones’
Every Emmy story this year seems to boil down to “Game of Thrones.” At the Creative Arts Emmys, the question is if the HBO behemoth can break the single season record for Emmy wins before the Primetime Emmys even begin. While it’s not likely, it is possible, with the series boasting 18 nominations in 16 separate categories, this weekend alone.
While some of those queries will remain a mystery, here are a few things to keep an eye on headed into two nights of honoring the best of what television has to offer.
Watch the ‘Thrones’
Every Emmy story this year seems to boil down to “Game of Thrones.” At the Creative Arts Emmys, the question is if the HBO behemoth can break the single season record for Emmy wins before the Primetime Emmys even begin. While it’s not likely, it is possible, with the series boasting 18 nominations in 16 separate categories, this weekend alone.
- 9/14/2019
- by Libby Hill
- Indiewire
The Primetime Emmy telecast will take place on Sunday night, September 22, but die-hard Emmy connoisseurs know most of the awards are handed out the weekend before. On Saturday, September 14, and Sunday, September 15, the television academy held its Creative Arts Awards, honoring the best behind-the-scenes artists as well as achievements in animation, documentaries, reality TV, variety, short form programming and more. Scroll down for the complete list of nominees and winners on Saturday night.
Don’t look for a “Game of Thrones” stampede to start here. Saturday’s awards focused on achievements like Best Animated Program, Best Documentary Series and Special, and Best Structured and Unstructured Reality Program, to name a few. These races are where RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) might have taken home a fourth Best Reality Host award to tie “Survivor” emcee Jeff Probst for the most ever.
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Don’t look for a “Game of Thrones” stampede to start here. Saturday’s awards focused on achievements like Best Animated Program, Best Documentary Series and Special, and Best Structured and Unstructured Reality Program, to name a few. These races are where RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) might have taken home a fourth Best Reality Host award to tie “Survivor” emcee Jeff Probst for the most ever.
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest...
- 9/14/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
“I wasn’t a filmmaker when I started making this. I didn’t even know what I was doing at the beginning,” reveals Rudy Valdez about his HBO documentary, “The Sentence,” which is nominated at this year’s Emmys for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. He began filming his nieces after his sister, Cindy Shank, was sent to prison so that she could see moments that she was missing from their lives.
In our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above), he says there was one specific instance that made him realize that he needed to make this into something bigger than just something for his sister. He adds, “I happened to be home for her oldest daughter, Autumn’s, first dance recital. Completely organically as Autumn was getting ready my sister calls and she says to Autumn, ‘Do you know what mommy’s going to do when you go to dance?...
In our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above), he says there was one specific instance that made him realize that he needed to make this into something bigger than just something for his sister. He adds, “I happened to be home for her oldest daughter, Autumn’s, first dance recital. Completely organically as Autumn was getting ready my sister calls and she says to Autumn, ‘Do you know what mommy’s going to do when you go to dance?...
- 8/12/2019
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Emmy Contenders: ‘The Sentence’ Director Rudy Valdez On Making Documentary About Incarcerated Sister
“Missing my daughters growing up. That’s what I was sentenced to.”
Cindy Shank voices those words in The Sentence, an HBO documentary directed by her younger brother, Rudy Valdez, that explores the impact of mandatory minimum drug sentences on one tight-knit family.
In 2007 Shank was married and raising three daughters—the youngest of them just a few months old—when a knock came at the door. It was police there to arrest her for something she had hoped was consigned to her distant past—failing to report the activities of a previous boyfriend, who had been involved in the drug trade.
“I don’t like to say that she’s innocent. She made poor choices with who she was in relationships with,” Valdez concedes. “But by no means was she the kingpin, was she the person pushing the drugs or selling the drugs…She was there enough for the prosecutors to say,...
Cindy Shank voices those words in The Sentence, an HBO documentary directed by her younger brother, Rudy Valdez, that explores the impact of mandatory minimum drug sentences on one tight-knit family.
In 2007 Shank was married and raising three daughters—the youngest of them just a few months old—when a knock came at the door. It was police there to arrest her for something she had hoped was consigned to her distant past—failing to report the activities of a previous boyfriend, who had been involved in the drug trade.
“I don’t like to say that she’s innocent. She made poor choices with who she was in relationships with,” Valdez concedes. “But by no means was she the kingpin, was she the person pushing the drugs or selling the drugs…She was there enough for the prosecutors to say,...
- 6/10/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Panama City — Posting a record in admissions, said festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron, the 8th Iff Panama wrapped Wednesday with the closing film “The Sentence,” screened in the presence of actor Edward James Olmos.
Gustavo Pizzi’s “Benzinho” won best Ibero-American fiction film, Mauro Colombo’s “Tierra Adentro” Best Documentary, about the endangered jungle on the border between Panama and Colombia, and Sebastian and Rodrigo Barriuso’s “Un Traductor,” about Chernobyl victims being treated in 1989 Havana, won best film from Central America and the Caribbean, sponsored by Copa Airlines, Revista K and Master Card respectively.
In the 5th Primera Mirada, Iff Panama’s pix-in-post sidebar, Ana Elena Tejera’s “Panquiaco” scooped a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to Cannes Film Market and Fernando F. Blanco Rivas’ “Por eso vengo al río” a $5,000 prize. The sidebar screened five films from Central America and the Caribbean.
“Panquiaco,” about Cebaldo – a reincarnation of...
Gustavo Pizzi’s “Benzinho” won best Ibero-American fiction film, Mauro Colombo’s “Tierra Adentro” Best Documentary, about the endangered jungle on the border between Panama and Colombia, and Sebastian and Rodrigo Barriuso’s “Un Traductor,” about Chernobyl victims being treated in 1989 Havana, won best film from Central America and the Caribbean, sponsored by Copa Airlines, Revista K and Master Card respectively.
In the 5th Primera Mirada, Iff Panama’s pix-in-post sidebar, Ana Elena Tejera’s “Panquiaco” scooped a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to Cannes Film Market and Fernando F. Blanco Rivas’ “Por eso vengo al río” a $5,000 prize. The sidebar screened five films from Central America and the Caribbean.
“Panquiaco,” about Cebaldo – a reincarnation of...
- 4/11/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
The Public Mastercard Award for best Central America and the Caribbean story goes to A Translator.
Panamanian director Ana Elena Tejera won the Works in Progress prize for Panquiaco at the Iff Panama closing ceremony on Wednesday (10), hours after festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron announced a $15,000 fund to support films by Central American and Caribbean women.
Panquiaco was the only selection from Panama this year and is inspired by the country’s tradition of oral storytelling and indigenous characters before colonization.
Inter-American Development Bank (Idb) head of strategic communication Paul Constance presented the award, and handed out the second prize...
Panamanian director Ana Elena Tejera won the Works in Progress prize for Panquiaco at the Iff Panama closing ceremony on Wednesday (10), hours after festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron announced a $15,000 fund to support films by Central American and Caribbean women.
Panquiaco was the only selection from Panama this year and is inspired by the country’s tradition of oral storytelling and indigenous characters before colonization.
Inter-American Development Bank (Idb) head of strategic communication Paul Constance presented the award, and handed out the second prize...
- 4/10/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
This week’s question: What 2018 movie was everyone else wrong about?
Sarah Marrs (@Cinesnark), LaineyGossip.com, Freelance
People did not pay enough attention to “Bad Times at the El Royale”. Drew Goddard’s sophomore film is a moody piece of Lynchian dread, not quite horror but not quite thriller, which is perhaps why it flew under the radar and didn’t cause much of a stir–it defies easy, audience-friendly expectation. But it has one of the best ensemble casts of the year, some of the most memorable scenes, and while Cynthia Erivo is great in “Widows”, she is Unbelievable in “Bad Times”. And Jeff Bridges starts out doing a riff on The Dude, only to pull out on his better, emotional performances in recent memory. It’s just fantastic performance after fantastic performance,...
This week’s question: What 2018 movie was everyone else wrong about?
Sarah Marrs (@Cinesnark), LaineyGossip.com, Freelance
People did not pay enough attention to “Bad Times at the El Royale”. Drew Goddard’s sophomore film is a moody piece of Lynchian dread, not quite horror but not quite thriller, which is perhaps why it flew under the radar and didn’t cause much of a stir–it defies easy, audience-friendly expectation. But it has one of the best ensemble casts of the year, some of the most memorable scenes, and while Cynthia Erivo is great in “Widows”, she is Unbelievable in “Bad Times”. And Jeff Bridges starts out doing a riff on The Dude, only to pull out on his better, emotional performances in recent memory. It’s just fantastic performance after fantastic performance,...
- 12/10/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In 2008, Cynthia Shank was sentenced, as a first-time offender, to 15 years in prison on drug-conspiracy charges. She had once been the girlfriend of Alex Humphrey, a Lansing, Michigan, drug dealer, who was shot and killed in a drug bust in 2002. In the years since she’d lived with Humphrey, she had completely rehabilitated her life: She had a job at a restaurant chain as a manager, was married and had two children, with a third on the way.
But because Shank had shared a past life and home with a drug dealer,...
But because Shank had shared a past life and home with a drug dealer,...
- 11/18/2018
- by Matt Alston
- Rollingstone.com
By Glenn Dunks
If I told you The Sentence was a documentary about the frustratingly pedantic injustice of the American judicial system and how it directly targets minorities and in particular one specific mother of three in Michigan, you would probably think there is much ground to cover and any number of directions the film could go. Unfortunately for viewers intrigued by the subject, The Sentence isn’t that film. In its place is a documentary that too often feels like just a collection of home movies strung together with little insight into the processes and machinations of the system.
The Sentence follows the story of director Rudy Valdez's own sister, Cynthia, and the efforts that eventually lead to her pardon in 2016 on drug charges. Cynthia was jailed in the mid-2000s due to something of a loophole known as “the girlfriend problem” despite years apart from the man...
If I told you The Sentence was a documentary about the frustratingly pedantic injustice of the American judicial system and how it directly targets minorities and in particular one specific mother of three in Michigan, you would probably think there is much ground to cover and any number of directions the film could go. Unfortunately for viewers intrigued by the subject, The Sentence isn’t that film. In its place is a documentary that too often feels like just a collection of home movies strung together with little insight into the processes and machinations of the system.
The Sentence follows the story of director Rudy Valdez's own sister, Cynthia, and the efforts that eventually lead to her pardon in 2016 on drug charges. Cynthia was jailed in the mid-2000s due to something of a loophole known as “the girlfriend problem” despite years apart from the man...
- 10/23/2018
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (Jim Hosking)
Writer-director Jim Hosking seems determined to entertain–and divide. From a segment in The ABCs of Death 2 to his feature debut The Greasy Strangler, it was made crystal clear that Hosking has a fascination for deviants and dark comedy. With An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, he lands on a sort of strange hybrid between David Lynch and Napoleon Dynamite. Incorporating the uncanny valley of the former and the indie ineptitude of the latter, the result is an off-kilter, at times hilarious film that nevertheless loses some of its impact as it stumbles through its own delirium. – Mike M.
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (Jim Hosking)
Writer-director Jim Hosking seems determined to entertain–and divide. From a segment in The ABCs of Death 2 to his feature debut The Greasy Strangler, it was made crystal clear that Hosking has a fascination for deviants and dark comedy. With An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, he lands on a sort of strange hybrid between David Lynch and Napoleon Dynamite. Incorporating the uncanny valley of the former and the indie ineptitude of the latter, the result is an off-kilter, at times hilarious film that nevertheless loses some of its impact as it stumbles through its own delirium. – Mike M.
- 10/19/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi‘s “Free Solo” leads the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards with six bids, including Best Documentary and Best Director. Also nabbing nominations in those two top categories is Bing Liu‘s “Minding the Gap,” which is also in the running for Best First Time Director, as well as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” “Dark Money,” “Hitler’s Hollywood,” and “Three Identical Strangers.” In all 10 films were nominated for the top prize at these awards bestowed by the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. (Bfca). The other four are “Crime + Punishment,” “Hal,” “Rbg,” and “Wild Wild Country.”
Last year the Bfca nominated 16 films for this award, three of which –“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” “Faces Places,” and “Strong Island” — went on to contend at the Oscars. And in 2016 the Bfca shared its Best Documentary winner (“O.J.: Made in America”) with the Academy...
Last year the Bfca nominated 16 films for this award, three of which –“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” “Faces Places,” and “Strong Island” — went on to contend at the Oscars. And in 2016 the Bfca shared its Best Documentary winner (“O.J.: Made in America”) with the Academy...
- 10/16/2018
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Free Solo,” a National Geographic documentary about Alex Honnold’s attempt to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan rock formation without any ropes or protective equipment, leads all films in nominations for the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Associations announced on Monday.
“Free Solo” received five nominations, including Best Documentary and Best Director, and an additional honor for subject Honnold, who was one of eight subjects singled out in the Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary category.
Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap” and Chapman Way and Maclain Way’s “Wild Wild Country” each received five nominations, while Kimberly Reed’s “Dark Money,” Rüdiger Suchsland’s “Hitler’s Hollywood” and Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” received four each.
Also Read: 'Fahrenheit 11/9' Director Michael Moore to Receive Critics' Choice...
“Free Solo” received five nominations, including Best Documentary and Best Director, and an additional honor for subject Honnold, who was one of eight subjects singled out in the Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary category.
Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap” and Chapman Way and Maclain Way’s “Wild Wild Country” each received five nominations, while Kimberly Reed’s “Dark Money,” Rüdiger Suchsland’s “Hitler’s Hollywood” and Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” received four each.
Also Read: 'Fahrenheit 11/9' Director Michael Moore to Receive Critics' Choice...
- 10/15/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s “Free Solo,” which captured rock climber Alex Honnold’s hair-raising ascent of Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-foot El Capitan rock formation, led the nominations for the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, it was revealed Monday. The film netted six nominations including best documentary and best director.
Close behind with five mentions each were “Minding the Gap” and “Wild Wild Country,” from Hulu and Netflix respectively.
Voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics and Television Journalists Assns., the awards will be presented at a gala event hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Bric in Brooklyn, New York.
The nominees are:
Best Documentary
“Crime + Punishment” – Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu)
“Dark Money” – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)
“Free Solo” – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films)
“Hal” – Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope)
“Hitler’s Hollywood” – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland...
Close behind with five mentions each were “Minding the Gap” and “Wild Wild Country,” from Hulu and Netflix respectively.
Voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics and Television Journalists Assns., the awards will be presented at a gala event hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Bric in Brooklyn, New York.
The nominees are:
Best Documentary
“Crime + Punishment” – Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu)
“Dark Money” – Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)
“Free Solo” – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films)
“Hal” – Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope)
“Hitler’s Hollywood” – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland...
- 10/15/2018
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (Bfca) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (Btja) have announced the nominees for the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. The winners will be presented their awards at a gala event, hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye, on Saturday, November 10 at Bric in Brooklyn, New York.
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s “Free Solo” leads this year with six nominations and one honor, including Best Documentary, Best Directors, Best Sports Documentary, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and a Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary honor for Alex Honnold. “Minding the Gap” and “Wild Wild Country” follow with five nominations each, with “Dark Money,” “Hitler’s Hollywood,” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” each earning four nods.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s outstanding documentary work at the upcoming event,” said Broadcast Film Critics Association President...
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s “Free Solo” leads this year with six nominations and one honor, including Best Documentary, Best Directors, Best Sports Documentary, Most Innovative Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and a Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary honor for Alex Honnold. “Minding the Gap” and “Wild Wild Country” follow with five nominations each, with “Dark Money,” “Hitler’s Hollywood,” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” each earning four nods.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s outstanding documentary work at the upcoming event,” said Broadcast Film Critics Association President...
- 10/15/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The collateral damage from the war on drugs hits a picturesque family in The Sentence.
Culture
Uncle Rudy Valdez can't afford to be depressed. His sister, Cindy Shank, has been in prison for as long as his nieces can remember. Cindy was sentenced to a mandatory fifteen years on drug charges because of President Reagan's war on drugs, and Rudy has been holding her family together. Sometimes he can barely hold it together himself, but he took the most heart-rending bits of family footage in HBO's feature-length documentary The Sentence. The results are equal parts harrowing, sad and affirming as he tracks the progress of her incarceration and appeals.
Valdez’s The Sentence is a purposeful tear-jerker, but it's no Terms of Endearment. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year on its own terms. Cindy was sentenced for crimes committed...
Culture
Uncle Rudy Valdez can't afford to be depressed. His sister, Cindy Shank, has been in prison for as long as his nieces can remember. Cindy was sentenced to a mandatory fifteen years on drug charges because of President Reagan's war on drugs, and Rudy has been holding her family together. Sometimes he can barely hold it together himself, but he took the most heart-rending bits of family footage in HBO's feature-length documentary The Sentence. The results are equal parts harrowing, sad and affirming as he tracks the progress of her incarceration and appeals.
Valdez’s The Sentence is a purposeful tear-jerker, but it's no Terms of Endearment. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year on its own terms. Cindy was sentenced for crimes committed...
- 10/12/2018
- Den of Geek
Features selection includes Free Solo, Rbg, Quincy.
John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm will open Doc NYC on November 8 following a strong reception at the recent world premiere in Telluride and the Canadian premiere in Tiff.
Neon acquired Us rights in Toronto to the film about Chester and his wife as they create a sustainable family farm in California, and will be release next spring.
The festival has also announced its 2018 Doc NYC Short List: Features and Short List: Short Films selections.
The Features selection is in its seventh year, and includes 15 entries, while the Short Films selection is...
John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm will open Doc NYC on November 8 following a strong reception at the recent world premiere in Telluride and the Canadian premiere in Tiff.
Neon acquired Us rights in Toronto to the film about Chester and his wife as they create a sustainable family farm in California, and will be release next spring.
The festival has also announced its 2018 Doc NYC Short List: Features and Short List: Short Films selections.
The Features selection is in its seventh year, and includes 15 entries, while the Short Films selection is...
- 9/27/2018
- by Jenn Sherman
- ScreenDaily
Do you want to know what film is going to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature next February?
It’ll either be Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s “Rgb,” Tim Wardle’s “Three Identical Strangers,” Susan Lacy’s “Jane Fonda: A Life in Five Acts,” Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” or one of these 10 other docs:
“Crime + Punishment,” Stephen Maing; “Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin; “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross; “Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu; “On Her Shoulders,” Alexandra Bombach; “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” Wim Wenders; “Quincy,” Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks; “Reversing Roe,” Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern; “The Sentence,” Rudy Valdez; “Shirkers,” Sandi Tan.
Those, at least, are the 15 films on the annual Short List compiled by the documentary festival Doc NYC. Since its inception in 2012, the list has...
It’ll either be Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s “Rgb,” Tim Wardle’s “Three Identical Strangers,” Susan Lacy’s “Jane Fonda: A Life in Five Acts,” Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” or one of these 10 other docs:
“Crime + Punishment,” Stephen Maing; “Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin; “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross; “Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu; “On Her Shoulders,” Alexandra Bombach; “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” Wim Wenders; “Quincy,” Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks; “Reversing Roe,” Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern; “The Sentence,” Rudy Valdez; “Shirkers,” Sandi Tan.
Those, at least, are the 15 films on the annual Short List compiled by the documentary festival Doc NYC. Since its inception in 2012, the list has...
- 9/27/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
- 9/27/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
- 9/27/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
"Missing my daughters grow up - that's what I was sentenced to." HBO has debuted the official trailer for a documentary titled The Sentence, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It's a very big win for this film: a powerful, emotional, personal look at the life of a woman sentence to 15 year's in prison for her deceased ex-boyfriend's crimes. The title – The Sentence – is a reference to the mandatory minimum 15 year federal prison sentence she received for her tangential involvement with a Michigan drug ring years earlier. The film follows the story of Cindy Shank's family, and her three young children, who patiently wait for their mother to finally be released. "This intimate portrait of mandatory minimum drug sentencing's devastating consequences, captured by Cindy's brother, follows her and her family over the course of ten years." There's a good reason...
- 9/26/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
With the recent exploding popularity of true crime documentaries and series, audiences have seen people wrongfully convicted for crimes they didn’t commit, killers who have wreaked incredible havoc, and just a variety of various criminals that have been involved in such incredible situations. However, one thing that isn’t really touched on much in these documentaries or series is the effect that a conviction can have on the family of the criminal. HBO’s upcoming Sundance Award-winning doc “The Sentence” changes that.
Continue reading ‘The Sentence’ Trailer: Sundance True Crime Doc Focuses On Three Kids & Life Without Their Imprisoned Mother at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Sentence’ Trailer: Sundance True Crime Doc Focuses On Three Kids & Life Without Their Imprisoned Mother at The Playlist.
- 9/25/2018
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
First-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez gets extremely personal in his debut documentary, The Sentence.
The harrowing film tells the story of his sister Cindy Shank, a mother of three who received a 15-year mandatory sentence for conspiracy charges related to her deceased ex-boyfriend’s crimes — and People has the exclusive trailer.
“So basically I lived in the home,” Shank can be heard saying in the preview. “I didn’t buy these drugs. I didn’t sell these drugs. Any crimes that he committed while we lived together, I was charged with.”
“I want to try and tell your story, to try...
The harrowing film tells the story of his sister Cindy Shank, a mother of three who received a 15-year mandatory sentence for conspiracy charges related to her deceased ex-boyfriend’s crimes — and People has the exclusive trailer.
“So basically I lived in the home,” Shank can be heard saying in the preview. “I didn’t buy these drugs. I didn’t sell these drugs. Any crimes that he committed while we lived together, I was charged with.”
“I want to try and tell your story, to try...
- 9/24/2018
- by Nigel Smith
- PEOPLE.com
Universal Pictures’ “Night School,” starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, will open the 22nd annual Urbanworld Film Festival.
“Night School” is one of more than 60 films and TV shows being screened at the fest — an annual showcase of diverse culture — including the debut of the Fox show “Rel.” “Get Out’s” Lil Rel Howery stars in the series and will take part in a Q&A following the screening at New York City’s AMC Empire 25.
HBO will also screen two spotlight selections: first-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” a documentary about mandatory minimum sentencing, and Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s “United Skates,” a doc about some of America’s last standing roller rinks.
Passes for the festival, which runs from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23, are available at the Urbanworld website, and tickets for official selections and spotlights will be available in September.
Here’s the full list of...
“Night School” is one of more than 60 films and TV shows being screened at the fest — an annual showcase of diverse culture — including the debut of the Fox show “Rel.” “Get Out’s” Lil Rel Howery stars in the series and will take part in a Q&A following the screening at New York City’s AMC Empire 25.
HBO will also screen two spotlight selections: first-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” a documentary about mandatory minimum sentencing, and Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s “United Skates,” a doc about some of America’s last standing roller rinks.
Passes for the festival, which runs from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23, are available at the Urbanworld website, and tickets for official selections and spotlights will be available in September.
Here’s the full list of...
- 8/28/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
The Reagan administration’s War on Drugs had many effects, almost none of them including an actual reduction of illegal drug use or trade. One of the most destructive was the impact of mandatory minimum sentences designed to discourage drug dealing, but which instead mostly served to crowd the penal system with nonviolent offenders whose long terms often seemed inappropriate to their crimes. This frequently had the effect of breaking up families over one youthful “mistake” that in a prior era would’ve met with a far less severe punishment, allowing perps to straighten up, fly right and otherwise get on with their still-young lives.
“The Sentence” provides a good illustration of the consequences of these policies. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez documents the struggles of his immediate family during a sister’s lengthy incarceration for “conspiracy”: She was found guilty not of actual drug dealing, but of knowing about her...
“The Sentence” provides a good illustration of the consequences of these policies. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez documents the struggles of his immediate family during a sister’s lengthy incarceration for “conspiracy”: She was found guilty not of actual drug dealing, but of knowing about her...
- 8/1/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Washington — Cindy Shank was raising her three young daughters with her husband, Adam, when her life was turned upside down in 2007: She was prosecuted on conspiracy charges tied to her long-past relationship with a her late boyfriend, a drug dealer.
Because of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, she was given 15 years in federal prison.
Her story is the basis for the documentary “The Sentence,” set to air on HBO on Oct. 15, which screened on Capitol Hill this week. Far more than just another issue-oriented project, it’s the type of project that some lawmakers hope will create momentum for sentencing reform.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) hopes it will be a “transformative event for so many people across the country,” as it personalizes an issue in a way that speeches and think-tank panels cannot.
He and Sen. Cory Booker (D-n.J.), who are championing pending legislation, co-hosted the screening at the Kennedy Caucus Room,...
Because of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, she was given 15 years in federal prison.
Her story is the basis for the documentary “The Sentence,” set to air on HBO on Oct. 15, which screened on Capitol Hill this week. Far more than just another issue-oriented project, it’s the type of project that some lawmakers hope will create momentum for sentencing reform.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) hopes it will be a “transformative event for so many people across the country,” as it personalizes an issue in a way that speeches and think-tank panels cannot.
He and Sen. Cory Booker (D-n.J.), who are championing pending legislation, co-hosted the screening at the Kennedy Caucus Room,...
- 7/19/2018
- by Ted Johnson
- Variety Film + TV
The Traverse City Film Festival is celebrating its 14th year in 2018 by bringing together some of the year’s best indies and documentaries, plus classics from Jonathan Demme, Hal Ashby, and more. The Michigan-set festival, backed by Michael Moore, is being run in 2018 by directors Susan Fisher and Meg Weichman, who have worked on the festival for nearly a decade and have been at the helm since December.
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
- 6/29/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Nantucket, Mass. — Andrew Heckler’s “Burden” and the documentary “Bathtubs Over Broadway” took top film honors at the 23rd annual Nantucket Film Festival.
“Burden,” the story of a man’s attempt to break from the Kkk, won for narrative feature. “Juliet, Naked,” Jesse Peretz’s sweet-natured romantic comedy starring Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd, and Ethan Hawke, was runner up for narrative feature. Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” the story of a woman’s “Orange Is the New Black”-esque odyssey through the criminal justice system, was runner up in the documentary field.
“Bathtubs,” directed by Dava Whisenant, tells the story of “Late Show With David Letterman” writer Steve Young whose life is changed when he stumbles into the “hidden world” of corporate musicals, or Broadway-style musical recordings commissioned to burnish corporate images and promote their products.
The short film nod went to “Homeless: The Soundtrack” from Irene Taylor Brodsky.
“Burden,” the story of a man’s attempt to break from the Kkk, won for narrative feature. “Juliet, Naked,” Jesse Peretz’s sweet-natured romantic comedy starring Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd, and Ethan Hawke, was runner up for narrative feature. Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” the story of a woman’s “Orange Is the New Black”-esque odyssey through the criminal justice system, was runner up in the documentary field.
“Bathtubs,” directed by Dava Whisenant, tells the story of “Late Show With David Letterman” writer Steve Young whose life is changed when he stumbles into the “hidden world” of corporate musicals, or Broadway-style musical recordings commissioned to burnish corporate images and promote their products.
The short film nod went to “Homeless: The Soundtrack” from Irene Taylor Brodsky.
- 6/25/2018
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Andrew Heckler's Burden won the audience award for best narrative feature at the 23rd annual Nantucket Film Festival. The awards, unveiled today as the five-day festival wrapped, saw Jesse Peretz's Juliet, Naked, written by Evgenia Peretz, Jim Taylor and Tamara Jenkins, take home the runner-up prize.
Dava Whisenant's Bathtubs Over Broadway won the best documentary feature award, while Rudy Valdez’s The Sentence was named the runner-up. Irene Taylor Brodsky’s Homeless: The Soundtrack was awarded best short film, and Randall Christopher’s The Driver Is Red is the runner-up.
In addition, Nff revealed its Best of Fest selections, special repeat screenings determined ...
Dava Whisenant's Bathtubs Over Broadway won the best documentary feature award, while Rudy Valdez’s The Sentence was named the runner-up. Irene Taylor Brodsky’s Homeless: The Soundtrack was awarded best short film, and Randall Christopher’s The Driver Is Red is the runner-up.
In addition, Nff revealed its Best of Fest selections, special repeat screenings determined ...
- 6/25/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Andrew Heckler's Burden won the audience award for best narrative feature at the 23rd annual Nantucket Film Festival. The awards, unveiled today as the five-day festival wrapped, saw Jesse Peretz's Juliet, Naked, written by Evgenia Peretz, Jim Taylor and Tamara Jenkins, take home the runner-up prize.
Dava Whisenant's Bathtubs Over Broadway won the best documentary feature award, while Rudy Valdez’s The Sentence was named the runner-up. Irene Taylor Brodsky’s Homeless: The Soundtrack was awarded best short film, and Randall Christopher’s The Driver Is Red is the runner-up.
In addition, Nff revealed its Best of Fest selections, special repeat screenings determined ...
Dava Whisenant's Bathtubs Over Broadway won the best documentary feature award, while Rudy Valdez’s The Sentence was named the runner-up. Irene Taylor Brodsky’s Homeless: The Soundtrack was awarded best short film, and Randall Christopher’s The Driver Is Red is the runner-up.
In addition, Nff revealed its Best of Fest selections, special repeat screenings determined ...
- 6/25/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Sundance has long delivered a few Oscar documentary contenders each year, most recently with “Last Men in Aleppo,” “Icarus” and Strong Island.” This year, the festival introduced a plethora of leading hopefuls, led by Morgan Neville’s heart-tugging portrait of the late PBS children’s host Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (Metascore: 83), which Focus Features scooped up last summer; it goes into release June 8. The Sundance audience was in tears, slayed by a portrait of a beloved cultural figure who tried to do good. At Sundance, Oscar-winner Neville (“Twenty Feet From Stardom”) told me that he hopes this movie about a well-meaning conservative Republican Presbyterian minister will reach a wider swath than the usual liberal moviegoer. Count on it. This zeitgeist-hitter will be hard to beat.
Two other well-reviewed Sundance biodocs could emerge from the HBO broadcast realm: Susan Lacy biography “Jane Fonda in Five Acts” and...
Two other well-reviewed Sundance biodocs could emerge from the HBO broadcast realm: Susan Lacy biography “Jane Fonda in Five Acts” and...
- 6/6/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
A powerful Diy film cobbled together from testimonials, iPhone videos, and home movies, Rudy Valdez’s personal documentary The Sentence explores the personal toll of mandatory minimum drug sentences on a family. Cindy, the one who pays the highest price, was not a mastermind behind a drug empire, she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Six years after the death of her drug-dealing boyfriend, a happily married mother of three who has turned her life around is charged and arrested by the Us Marshals and sent to federal prison for a 15-year sentence imposed by a judge who lacks the latitude to see the injustice.
The family, including Uncle Rudy and Cindy’s mind mannered handyman husband Adam, are left to raise three incredible daughters who grow up with a virtual mother. As Cindy is moved for undisclosed reasons from federal facility to federal facility, it...
The family, including Uncle Rudy and Cindy’s mind mannered handyman husband Adam, are left to raise three incredible daughters who grow up with a virtual mother. As Cindy is moved for undisclosed reasons from federal facility to federal facility, it...
- 5/18/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
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