Mercedes Angelica LeAnza, a film and television producer who had been serving as a lead creative producer at Amazon Studios and Prime Video, died on April 10 of bile duct cancer. She was 40.
Born on Nov. 12, 1981 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to Sandra Voris LeAnza, LeAnza relocated to California with her mother and brother, Kyle, after her parents’ divorce. After living in Los Angeles, the family moved to San Mateo, where LeAnza completed high school. LeAnza attended Loyola Marymount University, where she graduated with honors in theater arts and communications in 2005.
After graduation, LeAnza co-founded Stella Bella Productions, which went on to produce films such as “Jelly,” “The Accidental Death of Joey by Sue” and “Ash Global.” LeAnza also served as a producer and line producer for both scripted and commercial projects across all stages of production. She worked as a producer for Launch Media of Santa Monica and produced independent films,...
Born on Nov. 12, 1981 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to Sandra Voris LeAnza, LeAnza relocated to California with her mother and brother, Kyle, after her parents’ divorce. After living in Los Angeles, the family moved to San Mateo, where LeAnza completed high school. LeAnza attended Loyola Marymount University, where she graduated with honors in theater arts and communications in 2005.
After graduation, LeAnza co-founded Stella Bella Productions, which went on to produce films such as “Jelly,” “The Accidental Death of Joey by Sue” and “Ash Global.” LeAnza also served as a producer and line producer for both scripted and commercial projects across all stages of production. She worked as a producer for Launch Media of Santa Monica and produced independent films,...
- 4/20/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed the 276 feature films that are eligible for consideration at the 94rd Oscars, which are set to air live March 27 on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The number is 90 fewer than last year’s 366, but this year’s eligibility period was only 10 months.
To be eligible for Best Picture consideration, films must have submitted a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards entry as part of the submission requirements. Nominations voting begins January 27 and concludes on February 1. The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Tuesday, February 8.
Today’s news comes about a month after the Academy released its shortlists in the International Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Sound and the Live-Action, Documentary and Animated Shorts categories.
Here is the full list of films eligible for Best Picture at the 94rd annual Academy Awards,...
The number is 90 fewer than last year’s 366, but this year’s eligibility period was only 10 months.
To be eligible for Best Picture consideration, films must have submitted a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards entry as part of the submission requirements. Nominations voting begins January 27 and concludes on February 1. The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Tuesday, February 8.
Today’s news comes about a month after the Academy released its shortlists in the International Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Sound and the Live-Action, Documentary and Animated Shorts categories.
Here is the full list of films eligible for Best Picture at the 94rd annual Academy Awards,...
- 1/20/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Now that Sundance has answered the question looming over the 2022 festival by going all-virtual for the second year in a row, it’s full-steam ahead. And today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the members of its six juries, including Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”), Joey Soloway (“Transparent”), and Payman Maadi (“A Separation”). The 16 jurors will bestow awards upon the festival’s winners January 28, with award-winning movies available for extended online viewing during the festival’s closing weekend.
“These exceptional individuals will come together to offer a collaborative lens on our program,” said Sundance’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani in an official statement. “Their diverse personal perspectives can elevate work above the sum of its parts.” As previously announced, the jury for Alfred P. Sloan jury deliberated in advance of the festival and awarded the prize to “After Yang,” directed by Kogonada.
And audiences will...
“These exceptional individuals will come together to offer a collaborative lens on our program,” said Sundance’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani in an official statement. “Their diverse personal perspectives can elevate work above the sum of its parts.” As previously announced, the jury for Alfred P. Sloan jury deliberated in advance of the festival and awarded the prize to “After Yang,” directed by Kogonada.
And audiences will...
- 1/7/2022
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Garrett Bradley (Time), Joey Soloway (Transparent), Andrew Haigh (Lean on Pete) and Dawn Porter (The Me You Can’t See) have been named as jurors for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, taking place virtually from January 20-30.
Heller, who brought her first feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl to the festival in 2015, will preside over the U.S. Dramatic Competition with C’mon C’mon producer and former Annapurna Pictures exec Chelsea Barnard, and A Separation actor Payman Maadi.
Bradley, whose Sundance-premiering doc Time earned an Oscar nomination in 2021, will oversee the U.S. Documentary Competition with Peter Nicks, the director behind 2021 Sundance title Homeroom, and director-cinematographer Joan Churchill.
Soloway, the Transparent and I Love Dick creator who brought their first feature, Afternoon Delight, to Sundance in 2013, will serve as this year’s sole juror of the Next section, with Reservation Dogs director...
Heller, who brought her first feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl to the festival in 2015, will preside over the U.S. Dramatic Competition with C’mon C’mon producer and former Annapurna Pictures exec Chelsea Barnard, and A Separation actor Payman Maadi.
Bradley, whose Sundance-premiering doc Time earned an Oscar nomination in 2021, will oversee the U.S. Documentary Competition with Peter Nicks, the director behind 2021 Sundance title Homeroom, and director-cinematographer Joan Churchill.
Soloway, the Transparent and I Love Dick creator who brought their first feature, Afternoon Delight, to Sundance in 2013, will serve as this year’s sole juror of the Next section, with Reservation Dogs director...
- 1/7/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Jake Carter and Travis Tammero have joined UTA as agents in the Independent Film Group division.
Carter will be based in the agency’s New York office, with Tammero working out of its headquarters in Los Angeles. Both will report to Jim Meenaghan and Rena Ronson, Partners and Co-Heads of the Independent Film Group.
“Rena, Jim and I are thrilled to welcome these highly regarded agents to our industry-leading Independent Film team,” said UTA Co-President, David Kramer. “Their broad experience will augment the team in a variety of ways and is especially key in helping to expand our rapidly growing documentary business.”
Carter comes to UTA from 30West, where he served as Vice President, overseeing production on critically acclaimed films including The Mauritanian, Destroyer, Late Night, Ben is Back, Some Kind of Heaven, and the upcoming Chris Pine thriller The Contractor. Prior to 30West, Carter worked at Black Bear Pictures,...
Carter will be based in the agency’s New York office, with Tammero working out of its headquarters in Los Angeles. Both will report to Jim Meenaghan and Rena Ronson, Partners and Co-Heads of the Independent Film Group.
“Rena, Jim and I are thrilled to welcome these highly regarded agents to our industry-leading Independent Film team,” said UTA Co-President, David Kramer. “Their broad experience will augment the team in a variety of ways and is especially key in helping to expand our rapidly growing documentary business.”
Carter comes to UTA from 30West, where he served as Vice President, overseeing production on critically acclaimed films including The Mauritanian, Destroyer, Late Night, Ben is Back, Some Kind of Heaven, and the upcoming Chris Pine thriller The Contractor. Prior to 30West, Carter worked at Black Bear Pictures,...
- 1/4/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
On a sunny afternoon in L.A., Bryn Mooser, CEO of Xtr, folds his long frame into a patio chair perched above the headquarters of his growing documentary company. His green eyes scan the hilly enclaves of Silver Lake and Los Feliz, spotting landmarks: the Griffith Observatory in the distance, Hyperion Avenue below.
He points down the slope. “This is the Gelson’s right there, where Walt Disney bought that piece of land and built the first Disney studio. Mickey Mouse and Snow White were created in–what’s now a parking lot.”
His index finger inches west along the horizon, indicating bungalows with pitched roofs. “You can see the top of that house right there. It’s called the Snow White Cottages,” he says. “Snow White was based on those cottages. Anyway, I love early Disney stuff.”
Nearly a century after Disney laid the groundwork for his entertainment kingdom in the same vicinity,...
He points down the slope. “This is the Gelson’s right there, where Walt Disney bought that piece of land and built the first Disney studio. Mickey Mouse and Snow White were created in–what’s now a parking lot.”
His index finger inches west along the horizon, indicating bungalows with pitched roofs. “You can see the top of that house right there. It’s called the Snow White Cottages,” he says. “Snow White was based on those cottages. Anyway, I love early Disney stuff.”
Nearly a century after Disney laid the groundwork for his entertainment kingdom in the same vicinity,...
- 12/20/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline has launched the streaming site for Contenders Film: Documentary, featuring all 25 panels from our Sunday event showcasing the filmmakers behind the buzziest nonfiction feature films of the awards season.
The daylong virtual presentation featured participants including Edgar Wright, Liz Garbus, Todd Haynes, Sam Pollard, Selma Blair, Morgan Neville, Matthew Heineman, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and R.J. Cutler among many others.
Click here to go to the streaming site.
A total of 12 studios and streamers took part in the event which spotlighted Amazon Studios’ My Name Is Pauli Murray and Val; Apple Original Films’ Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry and The Velvet Underground; CNN Films’ Citizen Ashe; Discovery+’s Francesco, Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts; Focus Features’ Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and The Sparks Brothers; HBO’s In the Same Breath, Simple As Water and Street Gang: How We...
The daylong virtual presentation featured participants including Edgar Wright, Liz Garbus, Todd Haynes, Sam Pollard, Selma Blair, Morgan Neville, Matthew Heineman, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and R.J. Cutler among many others.
Click here to go to the streaming site.
A total of 12 studios and streamers took part in the event which spotlighted Amazon Studios’ My Name Is Pauli Murray and Val; Apple Original Films’ Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry and The Velvet Underground; CNN Films’ Citizen Ashe; Discovery+’s Francesco, Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts; Focus Features’ Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and The Sparks Brothers; HBO’s In the Same Breath, Simple As Water and Street Gang: How We...
- 11/23/2021
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Homeroom filmmaker Peter Nicks, whose documentary delves into the lives of a high school class in Oakland, CA, dealing with troubling issues ranging from the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic to concerns about their school system’s internal police force, said his Hulu film reveals how the teen generation is eager and capable of using their mastery of social media to drive significant change.
The latest in Nicks’ trilogy of documentaries – including The Waiting Room and The Force – examining struggles within Oakland’s public institutions, Homeroom explores “this sort of confounding dialectic on maybe social media, the role of plays and a lot in the lives of young people,” Nicks said during Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event. “I think a lot of mental health challenges that young people are facing stem from social media, as does this conundrum, this loneliness that kids have despite being so connected,...
The latest in Nicks’ trilogy of documentaries – including The Waiting Room and The Force – examining struggles within Oakland’s public institutions, Homeroom explores “this sort of confounding dialectic on maybe social media, the role of plays and a lot in the lives of young people,” Nicks said during Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event. “I think a lot of mental health challenges that young people are facing stem from social media, as does this conundrum, this loneliness that kids have despite being so connected,...
- 11/21/2021
- by Scott Huver
- Deadline Film + TV
The Cinema Eye Honors has announced the nominations for its 15th annual awards. “Flee” leads the field with seven nominations, while “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” followed with six.
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
Written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the animated documentary “Flee” landed nominations in outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, production, original score, graphic design and animation, audience choice prize and this year’s new category for outstanding achievement in sound design. The film follows the story of Awin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee who is suddenly forced to face the life-altering effects of a secret that he has kept for 20 years.
“Summer of Soul” is nominated for outstanding nonfiction feature, direction, editing, sound design, audience choice prize and debut. The documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the first directorial effort by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Other films with multiple nominations include “Ascension,” “Faya Divi” and “The Rescue” with five nominations,...
- 11/10/2021
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking, today announced the full slate of nominees for its 15th Annual Awards Ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. Leading the pack of nominees are two Sundance premieres: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated “Flee” and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul,” which was nominated for six awards.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
A trio of other lauded docs are nominated for five awards apiece, including Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi,” and E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue.” Both Kingdon and Beshir are first-time feature filmmakers, while Vasarhelyi and Chin are long-time Cinema Eye faves, and Chin currently ranks as the most-winning Cinema Eye honoree in the event’s history, with five wins.
Historically, films nominated for Cinema Eye will often go on to other nominations and critics prizes.
- 11/10/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The 12th edition of Doc NYC kicks off today — exactly one month before the AMPAS documentary branch begins voting to determine the 2022 Oscar documentary shortlist.
The nine-day affair, which runs until Nov. 18, will feature over 125 short docus and 127 feature-length nonfiction films that will screen at New York City’s IFC Center, Sva Theater and Cinépolis Chelsea. (The fest will be available online until Nov. 28)
Penny Lane’s “Listening to Kenny G,” will serve as the opening night film while Matthew Heineman’s “The First Wave” will close the festival. Sam Pollard and Rex Miller’s “Citizen Ashe” and Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner’s “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” are both fest Centerpiece docs.
Festivities commence with the fest’s annual Visionaries Tribute Honoree luncheon at Gotham Hall. While kudos will be given to cinematographer Joan Churchill, Oscar nominated director Raoul Peck (“I Am Not Your Negro”), Emmy Award-winning...
The nine-day affair, which runs until Nov. 18, will feature over 125 short docus and 127 feature-length nonfiction films that will screen at New York City’s IFC Center, Sva Theater and Cinépolis Chelsea. (The fest will be available online until Nov. 28)
Penny Lane’s “Listening to Kenny G,” will serve as the opening night film while Matthew Heineman’s “The First Wave” will close the festival. Sam Pollard and Rex Miller’s “Citizen Ashe” and Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner’s “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” are both fest Centerpiece docs.
Festivities commence with the fest’s annual Visionaries Tribute Honoree luncheon at Gotham Hall. While kudos will be given to cinematographer Joan Churchill, Oscar nominated director Raoul Peck (“I Am Not Your Negro”), Emmy Award-winning...
- 11/10/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Concordia Studio has named industry veteran Lori Rovner, formerly of Imagine Entertainment and Skydance Media, as its COO and general counsel, overseeing all operational, business, financial and legal aspects of the company, as well as serving as key liaison with Emerson Collective, one of its founders.
She reports to Davis Guggenheim and Jonathan King, who launched Concordia in partnership with Laurene Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective, an organization Jobs founded to focused on issues from education, immigration reform and the environment to media, journalism and health.
Rovner most recently served as EVP and head of Business & Legal Affairs for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Previously, she worked at Skydance Media’s SVP and Deputy General Counsel. She has also held posts at Fox 21 Television Studios and Lionsgate Entertainment, and began her career as a litigator.
“We are a small but growing company, so Lori’s breadth...
She reports to Davis Guggenheim and Jonathan King, who launched Concordia in partnership with Laurene Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective, an organization Jobs founded to focused on issues from education, immigration reform and the environment to media, journalism and health.
Rovner most recently served as EVP and head of Business & Legal Affairs for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Previously, she worked at Skydance Media’s SVP and Deputy General Counsel. She has also held posts at Fox 21 Television Studios and Lionsgate Entertainment, and began her career as a litigator.
“We are a small but growing company, so Lori’s breadth...
- 11/5/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
A feature-length documentary about the legacy of “Reading Rainbow,” the beloved children’s show featuring LeVar Burton, is in production now from non-fiction studio Xtr called “Butterfly in the Sky.”
The “Reading Rainbow” film is named for the iconic theme song for the series, which ran for 26 years beginning in 1983 and picked up 26 Emmys and a Peabody Award throughout its run.
LeVar Burton himself, who hosted the program during its run and helped make it a classroom staple, sat down for new interviews with the filmmakers to discuss the show’s legacy. And in the vein of recent nostalgia-driven documentaries such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” “Butterfly in the Sky” will also cobble together archival footage and new interviews with broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who have all been involved with “Reading Rainbow” over the past 30 years.
“Reading Rainbow” has...
The “Reading Rainbow” film is named for the iconic theme song for the series, which ran for 26 years beginning in 1983 and picked up 26 Emmys and a Peabody Award throughout its run.
LeVar Burton himself, who hosted the program during its run and helped make it a classroom staple, sat down for new interviews with the filmmakers to discuss the show’s legacy. And in the vein of recent nostalgia-driven documentaries such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” “Butterfly in the Sky” will also cobble together archival footage and new interviews with broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who have all been involved with “Reading Rainbow” over the past 30 years.
“Reading Rainbow” has...
- 9/2/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Director Peter Nicks just wants people to listen to kids.
“Homeroom,” Nicks’ Hulu documentary about Oakland High School’s senior class of 2020 and their fight to disband the school police department, sets out to do just that. It’s the third in a trilogy about the city’s social institutions, after 2012’s “The Waiting Room” about Highland Hospital, and 2017’s “The Force,” about the Oakland Police Department.
When Nicks started shooting the vérité piece, he didn’t know what kinds of stories the 17 and 18-year-olds would have to tell him. He just knew he wanted to make a film that would reveal “the emotional lives of students.” But after meeting the school’s two “student directors,” who represented their classmates’ interests in front of the school board, he began to understand the student body in a way he hadn’t expected.
From there, the film’s characters began to emerge,...
“Homeroom,” Nicks’ Hulu documentary about Oakland High School’s senior class of 2020 and their fight to disband the school police department, sets out to do just that. It’s the third in a trilogy about the city’s social institutions, after 2012’s “The Waiting Room” about Highland Hospital, and 2017’s “The Force,” about the Oakland Police Department.
When Nicks started shooting the vérité piece, he didn’t know what kinds of stories the 17 and 18-year-olds would have to tell him. He just knew he wanted to make a film that would reveal “the emotional lives of students.” But after meeting the school’s two “student directors,” who represented their classmates’ interests in front of the school board, he began to understand the student body in a way he hadn’t expected.
From there, the film’s characters began to emerge,...
- 8/30/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
Xtr — the documentary studio behind titles including Hulu’s Homeroom and Neon’s Ailey — is getting into podcasting with new division Xtr Radio.
The division will launch with the documentary deep-dive show Human Drama Thing, hosted by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker This American Life contributor Davy Rothbart and Kcrw’s David Weinberg. Set to premiere this fall, the series will delve into titles like Paris is Burning, Roger & Me and Wild, Wild Country with Oscar-winning filmmakers, doc fanatics and subjects.
“As a lifelong documentary junkie, making a podcast where we can take a magnifying glass to our all-time favorite docs — and ...
The division will launch with the documentary deep-dive show Human Drama Thing, hosted by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker This American Life contributor Davy Rothbart and Kcrw’s David Weinberg. Set to premiere this fall, the series will delve into titles like Paris is Burning, Roger & Me and Wild, Wild Country with Oscar-winning filmmakers, doc fanatics and subjects.
“As a lifelong documentary junkie, making a podcast where we can take a magnifying glass to our all-time favorite docs — and ...
- 8/27/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Xtr — the documentary studio behind titles including Hulu’s Homeroom and Neon’s Ailey — is getting into podcasting with new division Xtr Radio.
The division will launch with the documentary deep-dive show Human Drama Thing, hosted by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker This American Life contributor Davy Rothbart and Kcrw’s David Weinberg. Set to premiere this fall, the series will delve into titles like Paris is Burning, Roger & Me and Wild, Wild Country with Oscar-winning filmmakers, doc fanatics and subjects.
“As a lifelong documentary junkie, making a podcast where we can take a magnifying glass to our all-time favorite docs — and ...
The division will launch with the documentary deep-dive show Human Drama Thing, hosted by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker This American Life contributor Davy Rothbart and Kcrw’s David Weinberg. Set to premiere this fall, the series will delve into titles like Paris is Burning, Roger & Me and Wild, Wild Country with Oscar-winning filmmakers, doc fanatics and subjects.
“As a lifelong documentary junkie, making a podcast where we can take a magnifying glass to our all-time favorite docs — and ...
- 8/27/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
By Glenn Dunks
I think it’s fair to say that when Frederick Wiseman directed High School in 1968 he wouldn’t have expected the modern version of education with its prevalence of technology and virtual teaching. Charles Guggenheim, too, who in 1984 also made a documentary titled High Schools, that time an Oscar nominee, surely could not have perceived of metal detectors and mass field trips for teachers dressed in chinos to shooting ranges where they learn how to shoot an armed gunman.
But 50 years after Wiseman captured debates over skirt length and observed awkward sexual education classes, Homeroom and Bulletproof both offer very contemporary looks at what it is like to be a student in 2021...
I think it’s fair to say that when Frederick Wiseman directed High School in 1968 he wouldn’t have expected the modern version of education with its prevalence of technology and virtual teaching. Charles Guggenheim, too, who in 1984 also made a documentary titled High Schools, that time an Oscar nominee, surely could not have perceived of metal detectors and mass field trips for teachers dressed in chinos to shooting ranges where they learn how to shoot an armed gunman.
But 50 years after Wiseman captured debates over skirt length and observed awkward sexual education classes, Homeroom and Bulletproof both offer very contemporary looks at what it is like to be a student in 2021...
- 8/18/2021
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Image Source: YouTube user Hulu
Hulu's Homeroom documentary tells the inspiring story of Oakland High School's 2020 graduating class. Taking place during the 2019-2020 school term, the film follows a group of students as they navigate their senior year amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement and raise their voices to make a difference in their community. Much like how the students overcame adversity throughout their unprecedented senior year, the film's production also stems from personal loss. The end of the film features a dedication to Karina Sivilay Nicks, who is the late daughter of director Peter Nicks.
At the start of filming in September 2019, Karina died suddenly at the age of 16. Instead of shutting down production, Nick vowed to continue with the film in her memory. "Everything kind of stopped and then I decided that I had to keep moving for my own mental health . . . for my own spiritual health,...
Hulu's Homeroom documentary tells the inspiring story of Oakland High School's 2020 graduating class. Taking place during the 2019-2020 school term, the film follows a group of students as they navigate their senior year amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement and raise their voices to make a difference in their community. Much like how the students overcame adversity throughout their unprecedented senior year, the film's production also stems from personal loss. The end of the film features a dedication to Karina Sivilay Nicks, who is the late daughter of director Peter Nicks.
At the start of filming in September 2019, Karina died suddenly at the age of 16. Instead of shutting down production, Nick vowed to continue with the film in her memory. "Everything kind of stopped and then I decided that I had to keep moving for my own mental health . . . for my own spiritual health,...
- 8/16/2021
- by Kelsie Gibson
- Popsugar.com
Peter Nicks’s Homeroom, which is now streaming on Hulu, is the third entry in the director’s “Oakland Trilogy,” which began in 2012 with the healthcare-centered The Waiting Room and reached its midpoint with 2017’s The Force, a close-up view of the Oakland police. Homeroom’s focus is on Oakland High School’s class of 2020, but this, too, is a film about policing, among other things, because the students at the film’s center — bright, political, vocal — want to do something about Oakland Unified School District’s budget, which, we’re told,...
- 8/14/2021
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
NBA star Steph Curry will be the subject of a new documentary from A24 and producer Ryan Coogler.
Titled “Underrated,” the film will chronicle Curry’s historic rise to prominence during March Madness when he played for the Davidson Wildcats. The all-star athlete, considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, currently plays for the Golden State Warriors and has won three national championships with the team. In college, Curry set the single-season NCAA record for three-pointers made and was drafted for the NBA in 2009.
A24 will produce and fully finance the film, marking the indie studio’s first project in development with Unanimous Media, the production company formed by Curry. Additional producers on “Underrated” include Curry, Pete Nicks and Unanimous Media’s Erick Peyton.
Nicks is directing the documentary, having previously helmed “Homeroom,” a non-fiction film about the lives of the Oakland High School class of 2020 as they balance budget cuts,...
Titled “Underrated,” the film will chronicle Curry’s historic rise to prominence during March Madness when he played for the Davidson Wildcats. The all-star athlete, considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, currently plays for the Golden State Warriors and has won three national championships with the team. In college, Curry set the single-season NCAA record for three-pointers made and was drafted for the NBA in 2009.
A24 will produce and fully finance the film, marking the indie studio’s first project in development with Unanimous Media, the production company formed by Curry. Additional producers on “Underrated” include Curry, Pete Nicks and Unanimous Media’s Erick Peyton.
Nicks is directing the documentary, having previously helmed “Homeroom,” a non-fiction film about the lives of the Oakland High School class of 2020 as they balance budget cuts,...
- 8/10/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
NBA star Steph Curry will be the subject of a new documentary feature film called “Underrated” that will be produced by A24 and “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler.
The film will document Curry’s rise during his historic March Madness career in college up through his three-time championship career with the Golden State Warriors.
Curry will also produce “Underrated” with Erick Peyton on behalf of their Unanimous Media banner. And Coogler and Pete Nicks will produce for Proximity Media. A24 is also producing and will fully finance.
“Underrated” is named for Steph Curry’s Underrated Tour, in which Curry provides training regimens specifically for high school athletes who have been given a three-star prospect rating and are being overlooked by most colleges or scouts, just as he was when he was a senior in high school in North Carolina. The news comes also shortly after Curry signed a historic four-year,...
The film will document Curry’s rise during his historic March Madness career in college up through his three-time championship career with the Golden State Warriors.
Curry will also produce “Underrated” with Erick Peyton on behalf of their Unanimous Media banner. And Coogler and Pete Nicks will produce for Proximity Media. A24 is also producing and will fully finance.
“Underrated” is named for Steph Curry’s Underrated Tour, in which Curry provides training regimens specifically for high school athletes who have been given a three-star prospect rating and are being overlooked by most colleges or scouts, just as he was when he was a senior in high school in North Carolina. The news comes also shortly after Curry signed a historic four-year,...
- 8/10/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
While the other streaming services set up recurring franchises, Hulu has opted to get a bit more experimental with its original offerings in August 2021.
Hulu’s list of new releases this month is highlighted by three original series concepts with promise. Reservation Dogs premieres on August 9. Co-created by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), this story will follow four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma as they stave off boredom and adulthood. Next up is Nine Perfect Strangers on August 18. This miniseries, based on a book of the same name, is produced by David E. Kelley and features staggering cast of Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, and more.
Only Murders in the Building is likely the biggest thing to look forward to in August though. Premiering on August 31, this comedy stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three true crime-obsessed friends who stumble into a true crime of their own.
Hulu’s list of new releases this month is highlighted by three original series concepts with promise. Reservation Dogs premieres on August 9. Co-created by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), this story will follow four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma as they stave off boredom and adulthood. Next up is Nine Perfect Strangers on August 18. This miniseries, based on a book of the same name, is produced by David E. Kelley and features staggering cast of Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, and more.
Only Murders in the Building is likely the biggest thing to look forward to in August though. Premiering on August 31, this comedy stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three true crime-obsessed friends who stumble into a true crime of their own.
- 8/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
August is traditionally a weird month, both for film and television. It’s when studios usually release blockbusters that seem a little too odd for the first stretch of summer and the last moment before networks premiere their shows in the fall. But Covid-19 — to say nothing of viewers’ changing habits — has thrown a lot of those traditions out the window, at least up to a point. The month’s biggest multiplex movies, for instance, include a video game-themed comedy that looks more like The Truman Show than Mortal Kombat...
- 8/1/2021
- by Tim Chan
- Rollingstone.com
August brings a handful of new originals to Hulu, with plenty of classics to sift through as well. Here’s everything coming and leaving the platform. August is almost here and with it an all new lineup of TV shows and movies coming to Hulu Plus. There are 3 Hulu Originals this month – Homeroom, a […]
The post New to Hulu in August 2021 appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
The post New to Hulu in August 2021 appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
- 7/28/2021
- by Rob Bayne
- Cinelinx
Hulu has debuted a new trailer for the powerful and inspiring new documentary ‘Homeroom.’
Directed by Peter Nicks and executive produced by Ryan Coogler, the doc focuses on Oakland High School’s class of 2020 as they confront an unprecedented year. Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to uncertainty springing from a rapidly developing pandemic. Efforts to eliminate the school district’s police force unfold against the backdrop of growing nationwide demands for systemic change.
The doc is Nicks’ final chapter in a trilogy of films – ‘The Waiting Room’ (2012) and ‘The Force’ (2017) – examining the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland, CA over the past decade.
Also in trailers – “You Saved My Life…” Final trailer drops for ‘Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins’
All three documentaries will be available to stream on Hulu on August 12.
The post Inspiring new trailer arrives for documentary ‘Homeroom’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.
Directed by Peter Nicks and executive produced by Ryan Coogler, the doc focuses on Oakland High School’s class of 2020 as they confront an unprecedented year. Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to uncertainty springing from a rapidly developing pandemic. Efforts to eliminate the school district’s police force unfold against the backdrop of growing nationwide demands for systemic change.
The doc is Nicks’ final chapter in a trilogy of films – ‘The Waiting Room’ (2012) and ‘The Force’ (2017) – examining the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland, CA over the past decade.
Also in trailers – “You Saved My Life…” Final trailer drops for ‘Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins’
All three documentaries will be available to stream on Hulu on August 12.
The post Inspiring new trailer arrives for documentary ‘Homeroom’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 7/21/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"When you've been treated so poorly by the people meant to protect you, you just give up." Hulu has finally unveiled the official trailer for an acclaimed documentary film called Homeroom, an exceptional profile of students going through the 2020 school year. This originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won an award for doc editing. It's also executive produced by filmmaker Ryan Coogler, originally from Oakland. Do not discount the voices of young people. Oakland High School's class of 2020 confronts an unprecedented year, as anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to the uncertainty of a rapidly developing pandemic and growing demands for systemic change. This film is described in glowing reviews as a "compassionate, powerful, and often very funny look at a generation that will never be the same." This really does look like "history in the making," capturing a year unlike any other.
- 7/20/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Updated with trailer: Hulu is continuing its documentary push. The streamer has landed the U.S. rights to Homeroom, a feature doc from Peter Nicks and exec produced by Ryan Coogler. Watch the first trailer above and see the key art below.
Homeroom, which was an official selection at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is the final chapter in a trilogy of films examining the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland, CA over the past decade.
Nicks previously directed 2012’s The Waiting Room, set in a public hospital, and 2017’s The Force, which covers the troubled Oakland Police Department, both of which will also be streaming on Hulu.
The film follows Oakland High School’s class of 2020 as they confront an unprecedented year. Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to uncertainty springing from a rapidly developing pandemic. Efforts to eliminate the school...
Homeroom, which was an official selection at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is the final chapter in a trilogy of films examining the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland, CA over the past decade.
Nicks previously directed 2012’s The Waiting Room, set in a public hospital, and 2017’s The Force, which covers the troubled Oakland Police Department, both of which will also be streaming on Hulu.
The film follows Oakland High School’s class of 2020 as they confront an unprecedented year. Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to uncertainty springing from a rapidly developing pandemic. Efforts to eliminate the school...
- 7/20/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Over the last 18 months, not only as the United States struggled with its response to the pandemic, but America has also found itself in a huge debate about the future of policing, after the death of George Floyd and others at the hands of police officers that are supposed to “serve and protect.” And all of these issues intersect in the new documentary, “Homeroom.”
Read More: ‘Homeroom’ Is A Powerful Verité Look At Policing In Schools [Sundance Review]
And in honor of “Homeroom” coming to Hulu and select theaters in August, we’re happy to give our readers an exclusive trailer for the new documentary.
Continue reading ‘Homeroom’ Exclusive Trailer: Peter Nicks’ Sundance Doc Comes To Hulu In August at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘Homeroom’ Is A Powerful Verité Look At Policing In Schools [Sundance Review]
And in honor of “Homeroom” coming to Hulu and select theaters in August, we’re happy to give our readers an exclusive trailer for the new documentary.
Continue reading ‘Homeroom’ Exclusive Trailer: Peter Nicks’ Sundance Doc Comes To Hulu In August at The Playlist.
- 7/20/2021
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
The Nantucket film festival has announced its line-up, setting Sundance doc and narrative winners Summer of Soul and Coda as the opening and closing night films, respectively. The fest’s centerpiece screening will be the Nat Geo doc Playing with Sharks.
Other titles in the line-up include Sundance selections Homeroom and Luzzu, as well as SXSW titles like Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons. The festival will be a hybrid of online and open-air screenings, as well as drive-ins and conversations.
Also at the fest, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will be the recipients of the excellence in television writing award. Kelsey Grammer will receive the Compass ...
Other titles in the line-up include Sundance selections Homeroom and Luzzu, as well as SXSW titles like Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons. The festival will be a hybrid of online and open-air screenings, as well as drive-ins and conversations.
Also at the fest, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will be the recipients of the excellence in television writing award. Kelsey Grammer will receive the Compass ...
The Nantucket film festival has announced its line-up, setting Sundance doc and narrative winners Summer of Soul and Coda as the opening and closing night films, respectively. The fest’s centerpiece screening will be the Nat Geo doc Playing with Sharks.
Other titles in the line-up include Sundance selections Homeroom and Luzzu, as well as SXSW titles like Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons. The festival will be a hybrid of online and open-air screenings, as well as drive-ins and conversations.
Also at the fest, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will be the recipients of the excellence in television writing award. Kelsey Grammer will receive the Compass ...
Other titles in the line-up include Sundance selections Homeroom and Luzzu, as well as SXSW titles like Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons. The festival will be a hybrid of online and open-air screenings, as well as drive-ins and conversations.
Also at the fest, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will be the recipients of the excellence in television writing award. Kelsey Grammer will receive the Compass ...
“Homeroom” begins with a somewhat inchoate energy. In this regard, Peter Nicks’ engaging documentary about Oakland High School’s senior class of 2020 aptly mimics the start of a school year. Students haven’t yet found their rhythms. Everything feels a little amped. The kids seem to rush around reestablishing old bonds, forging new ones and, for the seniors on whom the film turns its gaze, facing more fully what’s to come.
Sundance’s U.S. Documentary competition jury presented its editing award for to “Homeroom” MVPs Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno. The film swirls with the buzz of classrooms, lunchrooms and hallways before finding a deeply attentive focus once things so profoundly shift for the kids, the nation, the world. Because the students and the filmmakers of this cinéma vérité documentary had to reckon with a year unlike any other.
“Homeroom” completes Nicks’ trilogy that takes a hard but...
Sundance’s U.S. Documentary competition jury presented its editing award for to “Homeroom” MVPs Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno. The film swirls with the buzz of classrooms, lunchrooms and hallways before finding a deeply attentive focus once things so profoundly shift for the kids, the nation, the world. Because the students and the filmmakers of this cinéma vérité documentary had to reckon with a year unlike any other.
“Homeroom” completes Nicks’ trilogy that takes a hard but...
- 2/9/2021
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
The mostly virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close. The festival announced awards winners Tuesday night, trading an in-person ceremony for one broadcast live and hosted by Patton Oswalt. The biggest winner was Sian Heder’s coming of age drama “Coda,” which earned four U.S. Dramatic Competition awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Other Big winners were “Summer of Soul,” which took home the two top U.S. Documentary awards.
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The narrative feature “Coda” and the documentary “Summer of Soul” swept the top categories at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prizes and also taking the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
- 2/3/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Homeroom, the final entry in Peter Nicks’ Oakland trilogy, couldn’t have come at a more bizarre time. Amid the early days of the pandemic and movements to defund the police, Oakland High School’s class of 2020 prepares to graduate into an unforgiving world fighting for justice. Kristina Motwani, one of the film’s co-editors, shares how the film’s arc changed but their goals remained the same as the world around them changed more and more. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired […]
The post "The Resiliency of Youth Is Inspiring": Editor Kristina Motwani on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "The Resiliency of Youth Is Inspiring": Editor Kristina Motwani on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Homeroom, the final entry in Peter Nicks’ Oakland trilogy, couldn’t have come at a more bizarre time. Amid the early days of the pandemic and movements to defund the police, Oakland High School’s class of 2020 prepares to graduate into an unforgiving world fighting for justice. Kristina Motwani, one of the film’s co-editors, shares how the film’s arc changed but their goals remained the same as the world around them changed more and more. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired […]
The post "The Resiliency of Youth Is Inspiring": Editor Kristina Motwani on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "The Resiliency of Youth Is Inspiring": Editor Kristina Motwani on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Homeroom, the final entry in Peter Nicks’ Oakland trilogy, couldn’t have come at a more bizarre time. Amid the early days of the pandemic and movements to defund the police, Oakland High School’s class of 2020 prepares to graduate into an unforgiving world fighting for justice. Dp Sean Havey details filming long school board meetings and the intimacy of camerawork. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Havey: I was the associate producer, assistant editor, second camera unit […]
The post "It's a Balance of Preserving Your Strength": Dp Sean Havey on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "It's a Balance of Preserving Your Strength": Dp Sean Havey on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Homeroom, the final entry in Peter Nicks’ Oakland trilogy, couldn’t have come at a more bizarre time. Amid the early days of the pandemic and movements to defund the police, Oakland High School’s class of 2020 prepares to graduate into an unforgiving world fighting for justice. Dp Sean Havey details filming long school board meetings and the intimacy of camerawork. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Havey: I was the associate producer, assistant editor, second camera unit […]
The post "It's a Balance of Preserving Your Strength": Dp Sean Havey on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "It's a Balance of Preserving Your Strength": Dp Sean Havey on Homeroom first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Following the 2019-2020 school year, Homeroom sets itself up for more than it could have originally anticipated. It’s the senior year for a swath of Oakland High School students in Oakland, California. Many of them are schlepping through the usual fixings: Sat tests, college applications, general senioritis. Several of them take part in extracurricular activities and social causes, not the least of which deal with eliminating police from campus in order to get better school funding. A few of them are even student representatives for the Oakland Unified School District.
Alas, this ends up being a senior year where Covid-19 shutdowns and the killing of Breonna Taylor happen within days of each other. George Floyd’s murder occurs two and a half months later. But while Peter Nicks’ follow-up to The Force begins as a vérité approach to these students, it stumbles upon something even more provocative. In this context,...
Alas, this ends up being a senior year where Covid-19 shutdowns and the killing of Breonna Taylor happen within days of each other. George Floyd’s murder occurs two and a half months later. But while Peter Nicks’ follow-up to The Force begins as a vérité approach to these students, it stumbles upon something even more provocative. In this context,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Rounding out his trilogy of Oakland based verité documentaries, which includes 2012’s “The Waiting Room” and 2017’s “The Force,” Peter Nicks’ newest, “Homeroom,” is a poignant look at the 2019-20 school year in Oakland, CA, in which the compounding issues around defunding the police and Covid-19 force the school district to reevaluate their priorities. Centralizing Denilson Garibo, a high school senior, who serves as one of the student directors on the Board of Education, for the Oakland Unified School District and representative, as he often likes to remind other board members, for the 36,000 students within the district, Nicks tracks Garibo’s pursuit to eliminate police presence within the school system.
Continue reading ‘Homeroom’ Is A Powerful Verité Look At Policing In Schools [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Homeroom’ Is A Powerful Verité Look At Policing In Schools [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 1/29/2021
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
An hour before the first of the Sundance Film Festival’s online premieres began Thursday evening, Sundance Institute Executive Director/CEO Keri Putnam appeared on a welcome video streamed live, admitting that trying to recreate the magic of one of the film community’s most important annual events was a risky proposition.
“We had a choice to make: We could cancel or move the festival,” she said. “Or we could take a risk and imagine a way to recreate the energy of the full festival experience digitally.”
The first report card is in and it suggests the gamble paid off: After the apparently seamless screenings of six opening night films, the online festival platform is sound. Early reviews of those titles were overwhelmingly favorable, negating concerns that an online Sundance would offer a lesser-quality slate. And with Neon making the first deal of the festival for “Flee” just hours after it aired,...
“We had a choice to make: We could cancel or move the festival,” she said. “Or we could take a risk and imagine a way to recreate the energy of the full festival experience digitally.”
The first report card is in and it suggests the gamble paid off: After the apparently seamless screenings of six opening night films, the online festival platform is sound. Early reviews of those titles were overwhelmingly favorable, negating concerns that an online Sundance would offer a lesser-quality slate. And with Neon making the first deal of the festival for “Flee” just hours after it aired,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
‘Homeroom’ Review: Peter Nicks’ Doc Trilogy on Oakland’s Public Institutions Ends on a Personal Note
Drawing to a close with its most personal and difficult chapter, Peter Nicks’ loose trilogy of vérité documentaries about the public institutions of a single American city has now effectively done for Oakland what “The Wire” did for Baltimore, but without the safety net of a script. The tragedy of “Homeroom,” which drops us into a school year at Oakland High with the same degree of watchfulness that characterized “Waiting Room” and “The Force,” is that the chaos of real life is even more disruptive in this upbeat portrait of marginalized teenagers than it was in Nicks’ films about the intake procedures of the city’s underfunded hospital or the systemic violence of its overfunded police.
“Homeroom” is about the senior class of 2020. While these resilient kids may not be aware of the looming health crisis that will shit all over their spring semester and complicate whatever plans they may have,...
“Homeroom” is about the senior class of 2020. While these resilient kids may not be aware of the looming health crisis that will shit all over their spring semester and complicate whatever plans they may have,...
- 1/29/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In Peter Nicks’ documentary Homeroom, premiering today at the Sundance Film Festival, Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf speaks with a small group of students of color from Oakland High School.
A white woman addressing Black and Latino young people, she earnestly tells them, “I want you all to see yourselves as I see you, like the most incredible, powerful, brilliant, amazing, talented human beings on the planet…I just encourage you to, like, know your power and claim it.”
These are the kind of pat “inspiring words” that are supposed to demonstrate sensitivity and respect for minority kids. But the Black and brown students in Homeroom aren’t waiting for permission from a white person to “claim their power.” Later in the film, a group of the same students lead a Black Lives Matter protest outside the mayor’s house, demanding she abolish a school police force operated by the Oakland Unified School District.
A white woman addressing Black and Latino young people, she earnestly tells them, “I want you all to see yourselves as I see you, like the most incredible, powerful, brilliant, amazing, talented human beings on the planet…I just encourage you to, like, know your power and claim it.”
These are the kind of pat “inspiring words” that are supposed to demonstrate sensitivity and respect for minority kids. But the Black and brown students in Homeroom aren’t waiting for permission from a white person to “claim their power.” Later in the film, a group of the same students lead a Black Lives Matter protest outside the mayor’s house, demanding she abolish a school police force operated by the Oakland Unified School District.
- 1/29/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Early in Peter Nicks’ Homeroom, the documentary announces itself as a chronicle of Oakland High School’s 2019-2020 year. This activates an ominous metaphorical ticking clock.
You don’t need heavy-handed foreshadowing to know that the class of 2020 is the Covid Class, to realize that the prom the bright-faced teens are looking forward to will never happen, that the graduation they’re aiming for will be virtual, that the production of In the Heights scheduled to open on March 20 is never going to see its curtain raised.
Homeroom is, in that sense, an inspiring tragedy, a portrait of resilient youth in ...
You don’t need heavy-handed foreshadowing to know that the class of 2020 is the Covid Class, to realize that the prom the bright-faced teens are looking forward to will never happen, that the graduation they’re aiming for will be virtual, that the production of In the Heights scheduled to open on March 20 is never going to see its curtain raised.
Homeroom is, in that sense, an inspiring tragedy, a portrait of resilient youth in ...
- 1/29/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Early in Peter Nicks’ Homeroom, the documentary announces itself as a chronicle of Oakland High School’s 2019-2020 year. This activates an ominous metaphorical ticking clock.
You don’t need heavy-handed foreshadowing to know that the class of 2020 is the Covid Class, to realize that the prom the bright-faced teens are looking forward to will never happen, that the graduation they’re aiming for will be virtual, that the production of In the Heights scheduled to open on March 20 is never going to see its curtain raised.
Homeroom is, in that sense, an inspiring tragedy, a portrait of resilient youth in ...
You don’t need heavy-handed foreshadowing to know that the class of 2020 is the Covid Class, to realize that the prom the bright-faced teens are looking forward to will never happen, that the graduation they’re aiming for will be virtual, that the production of In the Heights scheduled to open on March 20 is never going to see its curtain raised.
Homeroom is, in that sense, an inspiring tragedy, a portrait of resilient youth in ...
- 1/29/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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