Beyond Utopia – Director / Editor Madeleine Gavin

A suspenseful, riveting portrait of the lengths people will go to gain freedom, BEYOND UTOPIA  follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea, one of the most oppressive places  on Earth, a land they grew up believing was a paradise. At the film’s core are a mother desperate to reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind; a family of five — including small children and an elderly grandmother — embarking on a treacherous journey across the Yalu River and into the hostile mountains of China; and a man of God on a mission to help these desperate souls. Leaving their homeland is fraught with danger — severe punishment if caught and possibly even execution — as well as potential exploitation by unscrupulous brokers. Family members who remain behind also may face retribution. Yet these individuals are driven to take the risk. Gripping, visceral, and urgent, BEYOND UTOPIA embeds the viewer with these family members as they attempt their perilous escape, palpably conveying life-or-death stakes. The result is a singular, illuminating, and unforgettable experience.  Director / Editor Madeleine Gavin joins us for a conversation on how she was able to plug herself into the network of incredibly brave people, those willing to risk the consequences of escaping from North Korea and those willing to risk their lives helping them, putting herself in harms way and whether she fears retribution for her spectacularly compelling work.

 

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For more go to: releasing.dogwoof.com/beyond-utopia

Where to watch, go to: beyondutopiadoc.com/find-a-theater

About the filmmakers – Madeleine Gavin has edited award-winning narrative and documentary films that have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Berlinale, and Cannes, among others. Madeleine directed and edited the Netflix Original Documentary, City of Joy, centered around a revolutionary center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. She is in production on a film that follows an indomitable group of octogenarians in New York City who, while facing debilitating illnesses, are finding transcendence through their relationship with an irascible, larger-than-life music coach. Madeleine is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“At all events, it’s an outstanding documentary.” – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

“Unforgiving, high-stakes and clear-eyed about the devastatingly brainwashing powers of elongated oppression, Beyond Utopia will be talked about well into the awards season with its extraordinary vision.” – Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar

“’Beyond Utopia’ is a staggering achievement, the sort of nonfiction project that takes unfathomable guts and skill.” – Lena Wilson, The Playlist

“Instantly essential.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

“Nothing is a recreation in Beyond Utopia. Instead, every image in this stark and urgent documentary is real, often gathered in mortal danger.” – Danny Leigh, Financial Times

The Last Repair Shop – Co-directors Ben Proudfoot & Kris Bowers

In their second collaboration, co-directors Ben Proudfoot & Kris Bowers’ THE LAST REPAIR SHOP introduces us to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s instrument repair facility for all of the LAUSD student musician. Led by the charming general manager, Steve Bagmanyan, the film introduces a technician from each department: Dana Atkinson, in the strings division, who takes us to his personal breaking point as a young man confronting his sexuality; Paty Moreno, in charge of brass and the sole woman in the shop, who chronicles her pursuit of the American dream as a Mexican immigrant and single mother; Duane Michaels, a quirky, self-described hillbilly who fixes the woodwind instruments and shares the rip-roaring tale of how his $20 fiddle took him on tour with Elvis; and finally Steve himself, who learned to tune pianos in  America after surviving a harrowing escape from ethnic persecution in Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, a conflict again in the headlines today. THE LAST REPAIR SHOP blends the unexpectedly intimate personal histories of the repair people with emotional, firsthand accounts from the actual student musicians for whom their instruments made all the difference. Porche, 9, shares how her beloved violin helps her cope with her family’s health problems; college-bound Manuel, 18, states that his enormous sousaphone diverted him from the pitfalls of growing up as a low-income kid from Boyle Heights; Ismerai, 15, whose alto sax brought her much-needed discipline and calm; and the bookish Amanda, 17, brought to tears by her profound connection with the piano. Co-director Kris Bowers joins us to talk about the impact the LAUSD has had on his own musical journey, the joy of discovering the amazing stories told by the technicians and the students in the film and the enduring power of music to heal, empower and inspire.

 

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For more go to: breakwaterstudios.com/films/all/

From Oscar® and Grammy®-nominated and Emmy®-winning filmmaker, musician and LAUSD graduate Kris Bowers (A Concerto is a Conversation, Green Book, King Richard, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) and Oscar® winning director Ben Proudfoot (a two-time Oscar® nominee for The Queen of Basketball and A Concerto is a Conversation)

About the filmmaker – Kristopher Bowers (born 1989) is an American composer and pianist who has composed scores for films, video games, television and documentaries including, “Green Book,” Madden NFL, “Dear White People,” and Kobe Bryant’s “Muse.” He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, and José James. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition in 2011 and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in 2017 for The Snowy Day. Bowers worked on the score of Ava DuVernay’s Netflix mini-series When They See Us as well as the current Netflix hit Bridgerton. For more go to: krisbowers.com

About the filmmaker – Academy Award® winning director and 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur Ben Proudfoot is the founder and creative force behind Breakwater Studios. Once a world champion in sleight-of-hand magic, Ben now brings that spirit of wonder to filmmaking, directing or producing more than fifty original short documentaries a year. The Nova Scotia native drives Breakwater’s humanist storytelling across documentary, narrative, and branded mediums.Breakwater produces bespoke branded content for individual, governmental, and corporate clients, including Charles Schwab & Co., LA Phil, Amazon.com, Unity Technology, Kelly Services, and Annapurna Pictures.In addition to a long list of awards and distinctions, festival successes, and placement on television shows, such as Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, Breakwater won an Emmy for the PBS documentary  Montage: Great Film Composers and the Piano. His original film, That’s My Jazz, had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and won a James Beard Award. His work has also received eight Vimeo Staff Picks.In 2021, Proudfoot was nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards for his short documentary A Concerto Is a Conversation, a collaboration launched at Sundance with his friend and co-director Kris Bowers and executive produced by Ava DuVernay. Proudfoot’s anthologyAlmost Famous was released with The New York Times to widespread acclaim. The series profiles figures adjacent to history in his signature style of intimate direct address interviews. In 2021, Proudfoot’s The Queen of Basketball, recounts the career of women’s basketball legend Lusia “Lucy” Harris. The film was executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. Ben lives in Los Angeles. For more go to: breakwaterstudios.com/team/ben-proudfoot

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Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely – Director Yael Melamede

FLOYD ABRAMS: SPEAKING FREELY explores America’s dedication to the foundational principles of free speech and free press through the groundbreaking work of attorney Floyd Abrams. A biopic of the First Amendment told through Abrams’ important cases, we reveal how this legal giant helped transform the First Amendment from an oft-ignored principle into a bulwark of American democracy. Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely follows the 50-year career of preeminent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams. See how his landmark cases—from the Pentagon Papers to Citizens United to Clearview AI—helped define free speech as it is known today. Join Dan Abrams, Ari Melber,  Nina Totenberg and more as they explore how Abrams’ career has shaped major changes in law, public discourse and civic action since the 1960s. Political discourse in the United States is shaped by audacious ideas of what a society should be. But who are the influencers and disrupters of American political thought that have paved the way for the systems that we currently have—and those still to come? Director Yael Melamede joins us for a conversation on the many reasons why Floyd Abramis rightfully regarded as one of the most consequential advocates for this battered Anerican civil right. as well as how we came to this moment where free speech issues have never felt more complicated and urgent, and where the nation is wondering anew: what price are we willing to pay for free speech?

 

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For more about the film go to: speakingfreelyfilm.com

For more go to: pbs.org/americanmasters

About the filmmaker – Yael Melamede (Director) – Yael Melamede is the co-founder of SALTY Features, an independent production company based in New York City whose goal is to create media that is thought-provoking, vital, and enhances the world. Melamede’s documentary credits include PAY OR DIE (2023), 1341 FRAMES OF LOVE AND WAR (2022), the Jigsaw Productions/Amblin Entertainment six-part series WHY WE HATE (2019), WHEN I WALK (News & Documentary Emmy Award Winner, 2015), DESERT RUNNERS (2015), INOCENTE (Academy Award Winner, Best Doc Short, 2013), and MY ARCHITECT (Academy Award Nominee, 2004). Her directorial debut was (DIS)HONESTY—THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES (2015). Yael was an architect before becoming a filmmaker and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.For more go to: saltyfeatures.com

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“Few people have done as much to shape the first amendment as it exists today.” – Jameel Jaffer

“If there were the history of defense of the first amendment in modern times, there probably wouldn’t be a chapter about Floyd Abrams, it would be part one.” – Nina Totenberg

Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of a Man If He Was an Idea – Director Leslie Buchbinder

Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea is a 3-D documentary film about the life and work of artist and marine H.C. (“Cliff”) Westermann. As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who struggled with the ramifications of modern warfare, Westermann’s dramatic personal history can be traced through his beguiling, surreal artworks. Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of a Man If He Was an Idea explores the themes of Westermann’s life and work, including resiliency, hope, and humor. Westermann used art as a means of processing the trauma of war, and in spite of these horrors, he adopted an empathic and hopeful spirit that  courses through his artwork and relationships,  becoming an inspiration to many young artists. The film features featuring interviews with Ed Ruscha, Frank Gehry, William T. Wiley, Billy Al Bengston, and other artist-pals. The film is executive produced by the internationally acclaimed artist, KAWS, along with award-winning documentary producer Caryn Capotosto. Westermann features music by legendary artists Laurie Anderson (with the Kronos Quartet) and Terry Allen. MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner Tomeka Reid composed the original score. Director Leslie Buchbinder joins us for a conversation on enlisting Academy Award nominated actor Ed Harris to voice the writings of Westermann, the enduring influence that H.C. Westerman had on his chosen pursuit of sculptor as well as his philosophical approach to art and work ethic that continues impact other accomplished artists.

 

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For more go to: pentimentiproductions.org/hc-westermann

About the filmmaker – Leslie Buchbinder is a Chicago-based writer, director, and founder/Artistic Director of Pentimenti Productions, an arts non-profit dedicated to producing, supporting, and exhibiting films about art and artists. Prior to film-making, Buchbinder was a professional dancer in companies in Chicago and San Francisco, then pivoted to a career in international arts public relations in NYC and Chicago, where she established her own company working with local and international museums. Her directorial debut was the award-winning, critically acclaimed Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists, a 2014 documentary chronicling the history and impact of an iconoclastic group of young artists from the School of the Art Institute, often referred to as Chicago’s answer to Pop Art. Buchbinder’s second feature, Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea, is being released in 2023.

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The Mission – Co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss

In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: a young American missionary, John Chau, was killed by arrows while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island. From Emmy winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (“Boys State”) with Oscar winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn of Lightbox, comes National Geographic Documentary Films’ THE MISSION, which uncovers the gripping story beyond the headlines. Through exclusive interviews and with unprecedented access to Chau’s secret plans, personal diaries, and video archives, THE MISSION examines the mythology of exploration that inspired him, the evangelical community that supported his quest, and reveals his own father’s heartbreak as Chau’s youthful thirst for adventure became a fatal obsession. Co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Mayor Pete, The Bandit, The Overnighters) join us for a conversation on their approach to telling a story fraught with questions regarding our collective perceptions on indigenous culture, the consequences of religious zealotry, and where does one’s selfless devotion end and a blinding messiah complex begin.

 

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For more go to: nationalgeographic.com/the-mission

About the filmmakers – Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss have been filmmaking partners for 20 years. They directed “Boys State,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Apple Original Films and A24. The film won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Nonfiction Film and received DGA and Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. Their previous film, “The Overnighters,” won the Special Jury Prize for Intuitive Filmmaking at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by Drafthouse Films and Netflix. “Boys State” and “The Overnighters” were both shortlisted for the Academy Award® for Feature Documentary. Jesse also directed “The Family,” a five-part series for Netflix, as well as the “Payday” episode of the Netflix series “Dirty Money.” Their recent film about Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for president, “Mayor Pete,” was released by Amazon Studios. Upcoming projects include “Girls State” for Apple and, as producers, an independent film about the reintroduction of wild bears in the French Pyrénées.

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92% on RottenTomatoes

“There’s something wonderfully Herzogian about “The Mission,” a philosophical quest in which wild ambition goes hand in hand with folly at the very limits of so-called civilization.”

“It’s a troubling, smart, must-see documentary.” – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“It’s a challenging investigation of the line between madness and faith that leaves so much to think about.” – Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture

“a riveting narrative … [that] proves most enticing when it questions romanticized narratives about unexplored lands. … In showing the seductive power of certain stories … The Mission crafts a tale that’s hard to forget.“ – Peter Debruge, Variety

“This is a marvelous documentary. Absolutely marvelous.” – Amy Nicholson, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

Periodical – Director Lina Lyte Plioplyte & Executive Producer Amanda Spain

PERIODICAL, Director Lina Lyte Piloplyte and Executive Producer Amanda Spain’s new feature documentary from XTR and MSNBC Films, tells the unexpected story of the human body by exploring the marvel and mystery of the menstrual cycle, from first period to last. But this is not your middle school sex-ed class. Bringing you stories from soccer champion Megan Rapinoe who reveals how members of the U.S. Soccer team track their cycles when training for the Women’s World Cup (which they won), to scientists who are discovering the power and possibilities of stem cells found in period blood, to young activists flipping the bill on period tax one state at a time, we uncover the shocking truths, challenge taboos, and celebrate the untapped potential of this special nutrient-dense blood. Through innovative mixed media storytelling, “Periodical” is for everyone who wants to know more about the menstrual cycle, and especially for those who don’t. In our era of social media-empowered feminism, after centuries of societal-enforced stigma, menstruation has finally begun to bleed out into the mainstream. We’re finally using red liquid instead of blue in period product ads, seeing beauty influencers use their period blood for facials on social media, and even the most daring period scenes are being depicted on tv — but we still know alarmingly little when it comes to menstruation. Director Lina Lyte Plioplyte and Executive Producer Amanda Spain join us to talk about the long over-do recognition that menstruation, should never be a reason for shame, discrimination or become a barrier to a full life.   

 

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For more go to: happyperiod.org

Bloody. Beautiful. Normal. “Periodical” airs Sunday, Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on MSNBC and is streaming on Peacock.

Periodical at the Los Feliz 3 – October 14, 15, & 18

About the filmmaker – Lina Lyte Plioplyte’s passion for moving images started while studying journalism in Lithuania and later at the University of Colorado Boulder. The best film school has been New York city, where Lina established herself in 2008 making films for NYLON magazine and fashion brands. For the past 10 years, Lina has been working as a freelance director & cinematographer, making numerous documentaries, commercials, travel content and short films that have been shown on MTV, PBS, Venice Biennale, and various film festivals, including Hot Docs, MIFF and IDFA. Lina’s directorial debut was Advanced Style, a feature documentary about stylishly eternal women of the certain age, currently streaming on Amazon, after a successful run on Netflix. Her second feature Periodical, a feature documentary about the science, mystery and politics of menstrual cycle, will air on MSNBC and Peacock. Lina’s cinematography, acknowledged with an Emmy, champions the natural light and intimacy with those she films. Her goal as a storyteller is to bring more balance into the world and to remember the mystery and awe. Understanding both camera and the story makes Lina a skillful collaborator in crafting documentaries. She believes in integral filmmaking, by hiring women and minorities, mentoring young filmmakers, and making her film sets plastic-free. Lina Lyte Plioplyte is an Emmy, Clio and a Silver Lion winning director/Director of Photography.

About the filmmaker – Executive Producer Amanda Spain recently joined MSNBC Films as the Vice President of Longform Acquisitions. Revitalized under MSNBC President Rashida Jones and Amanda Spain, MSNBC Films, distributes a slate of dynamic documentaries, including Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Civil War, Four Seasons Total Documentary, award-winning In the Dark of the Valley, and Paper & Glue a project by acclaimed French artist JR. Before joining MSNBC Films she was the Director of Non-Fiction for Blumhouse Television. Other recent credits – Executive Producer Pray Away, Exposure and In the Dark of the Valley, Producer – Television Event, On the Divide, After Antarctica, and Krimes. In addition to her most recent credits, Amanda produced the audience favorite and award-winning documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway, which was nabbed by Focus Features, as well as a number of films, shorts, and series for numerous outlets including Netflix, ESPN, A&E, PBS, MTV, Discovery, and the Sundance Channel. She was a 2016-2017 Sundance Producing Fellow and is a current member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), and the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA). 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Whether you feel pretty in the know or that you have some holes in your knowledge, this is a must-see film that answers questions you may not have realized you needed to ask.” – Sarah Gopaul, Digital Journal

“Covers a lot of ground and can feel overwhelming, but there’s never been another documentary that examines all things period-related as well as (or as entertaining) as this.” – Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots

“Destigmatizing and providing a historical context allows Periodical to serve several masters, both as entertainment and as a genuine teaching tool.” – Alan French, Sunshine State Cineplex

“While women’s rights are being rolled back and an active campaign exists to deny women agency over their bodies, this documentary about how women’s bodies have been perceived, persecuted, legislated, and shamed over the years is timely and vital.” – Stephanie Malone, Morbidly Beautiful

My Love Affair with Marriage – Director Signe Baumane

From Signe Baumane, director of Rocks in My Pockets, comes a new award-winning animated feature about a spirited young woman determined to find love in the bewildering world. MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE follows Zelma on her 23-year quest for perfect love and lasting marriage set against a backdrop of historic events in Eastern Europe. From an early age, songs and fairy tales convince Zelma that Love would solve all her problems as long as she abides by societal expectations of how a girl should act. But as she grows older, something doesn’t seem right with this concept of love: the more she tries to conform, the more her body resists. A story of inner-female rebellion. Told from a woman’s point of view, the film blends historical, biological, societal, and emotional arcs with a lively sense of humor and musical numbers. This animated film for adults tackles the issues of love, gender norms, domestic violence, fantasies and toxic relationships to propel a woman’s journey toward independence and liberation. Director Signe Baumane (Rocks in My Pockets) joins us for a lively conversation on love, identity, marriage, her unique journey to becoming an artist / animator and the joy of having artistic and commercial control over her work.

 

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For more go to: myloveaffairwithmarriagemovie.com

Opening 10/12 Laemmle Royal in LA & 10/13 Laemmle Glendale

My Love Affair with Marriage screens at Laemmle Royal on Oct 12 (she’ll be there for Q&A), and then film opens for a full week run at Laemmle Glendale on Oct 13 (Signe will do Q&A Oct 13-15).

About the filmmaker – Signe Baumane was born and raised in Latvia when it was still part of the Soviet Union. At age 14, she began publishing short stories. At 16 she won poetry reciting competitions. At 18 she was singing and dancing with the folk group Skandenieki. Signe received a BA in Philosophy from Moscow State University. After graduating she started to work at Riga’s Animated Film Studio as a cel painter and later as a writer, director and designer. Signe directed three animated shorts in Latvia before moving to New York. There she worked for independent animator Bill Plympton as art director and production manager. In 1998, Signe received her U.S. green card as an ‘extraordinary ability alien’ and began making films at her own studio. In 2005 she became a U.S. citizen. As a former philosophy student, Signe is not afraid to reach behind the surface in her stories. As a former performer she enjoys connecting with an audience through surprise and humor. Signe has written, directed and animated 16 shorts and one feature film, many of them with a strong female point of view. She passionately believes that animation is a perfect medium for adult storytelling. Her films collectively have screened at over 560 film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Venice and Karlovy Vary. Rocks In My Pockets (2014), Signe’s first animated feature film, is based on true events involving five women of Signe’s family, including herself, and their battles with suicide and depression. It played internationally at 150 film festivals, was distributed in the U.S. by Zeitgeist Films, and has been screened by many colleges and mental health organizations. Signe is a Guggenheim Fellow and a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow in Film.

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85% on Rotten Tomatoes

“Funny, moving, and visually stunning throughout” – RogerEbert.com

“One of the best female resistance films of the year” – HuffPost

“A joyfully exuberant piece of work that manages to conduct some serious examination of human behavior whilst always being nothing less than gloriously entertaining.” – Cineuropa

“A masterclass in human behavior” – Cartoon Brew

“My Love Affair With Marriage is an incredibly detailed animated feature chronicling the life of one young woman, and it also just so happens to be one of the best films of the year.” – Caillou Pettis Movie Reviews

“Both poignant and deeply funny in the way only the best films can be. This animated feature film is a must watch” – Animation for Adults

“An outstanding feminist film that will undoubtedly win over audiences everywhere.“ – ReelNewsDail

“Un voyage fantastique au centre du corps humain” – Le Monde

Into the Weeds – Director Jennifer Baichwal

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? On October 3, 2023, Film Movement and Fathom Events invite audiences to discover for themselves with a special one-night only nationwide theatrical release of INTO THE WEEDS, which follows the story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrichemical giant Monsanto (now Bayer, which bought the company in 2018), the manufacturer of the weed killer, Roundup. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” A year later, Johnson filed a lawsuit claiming that Ranger Pro, a commercial-grade variant of Roundup, was a substantial contributing factor in causing his Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Johnson’s was the first “bellwether case” in a mass tort against Monsanto involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs: gardeners, golfers, farmers, groundskeepers, and ordinary people, following and trusting the instructions on the label. Director Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch) seamlessly blends together interviews, testimonials, trial footage, news coverage, and vérité, the film follows the progression of this groundbreaking lawsuit, while also stepping back to consider the systemic impact of glyphosate-based herbicides on human health, our food systems, and the biodiversity of our planet.

 

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For more go to: intotheweedsimpact.com

Check out: filmmovement.com/into-the-weeds

The nationwide theatrical event on October 3 opening on more than 600 screens is being supported by the following NGO Official Screening Partners: Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Re:wild Your Campus, Pesticide Action Network North America, Green America’s Soil & Climate Alliance and the Center for Food Safety.

About the filmmaker – Jennifer Baichwal has been directing and producing documentaries for 25 years. Among other films, installations and lens-based projects, she has made nine features which have played all over the world and won multiple awards nationally and internationally. Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles won an International Emmy in 1999. The Holier It Gets, a documentary filmed in Canada and India, won Best Cultural and Best Independent Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs, 2000, and won Geminis for best writing, directing, and editing in a documentary series. The True Meaning of Pictures, a meditation on the work of Shelby Lee Adams, won a Gemini for Best Arts Documentary in 2003, and continues to be used widely as a pedagogical tool in photography and film studies throughout North America. Manufactured Landscapes won, among others, TIFF’s Best Canadian Film and Al Gore’s Reel Current Award. It played theatrically in over 15 territories worldwide, after a prolonged and successful run in Canada, and was named as one of 150 Essential Works In Canadian Cinema History by TIFF in 2016. Act of God, about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning, opened the Hot Docs Film Festival in May 2009. Payback, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Massey Lectures produced by Ravida Din and the National Film Board, premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012 and was released in Canada and the U.S. that spring. The feature documentary Watermark, made with Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas de Pencier, premiered at TIFF 2013, was released in Canada by Mongrel Media and won the Toronto Film Critics Association prize for Best Canadian Film in January 2014. It has since been released in eleven countries. Baichwal and de Pencier co-directed Long Time Running, a feature documentary on the Tragically Hip’s 2016 summer tour. The documentary, produced by Banger Films, premiered as a gala at TIFF 2017, was subsequently released by Elevation Pictures, and was broadcast by Bell and Netflix. The Anthropocene Project, Baichwal’s most recent collaboration with de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, includes a major touring exhibition which debuted simultaneously at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada; an art book published by Steidl; an educational program in partnership with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a feature documentary film, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, that premiered at TIFF 2018, played Sundance and Berlin, then won the Toronto Film Critics Association Prize for Best Canadian Film and a Canadian Screen Award in 2019. Baichwal sits on the board of Swim Drink Fish Canada, and is a member of the Ryerson University School of Image Arts Advisory Council. She has been a Director of the Board of the Toronto International Film Festival since 2016. Into the Weeds is Baichwal’s tenth feature documentary. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Through deft editing and a keen sense of detail, Baichwal manages to compress the case of Johnson vs. Monsanto Company into a superbly paced, tightly wound thriller.” – Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
“Provides another illustration of coldblooded corporate denialism in the face of widespread harm.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety
“Into the Weeds effectively drives home the message that corporate greed and the lack of regulation makes victims of everyday people.” – Raquel Stecher, Quelle Movies
“Extremely important, essential viewing that affects every one of us.” – Anne Brodie, What She Said
“Into the Weeds is a cautionary environmental story that raises unsettling questions about what’s in the food we eat, and how our farming practices are affecting the biosphere.” – Karen Gordon, Original Cin
“Compulsively watchable….” – Marc Glassman, POV Magazine

Invisible Beauty – Co-directors Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng

Naomi Campbell, Kimora Lee Simmons, Tyra Banks, Tyson Beckford were dazzling, barrier-breaking supermodels of color in the ’90s. But two decades earlier, Bethann Hardison burst onto French and American runways with a defiant strut and sui generis personality. In this intimate and insightful documentary, INVISIBLE BEAUTY, fashion revolutionary and co-director Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity. Catalyzing change requires continuous championing, and as the next generation takes the reins, Hardison reflects on her personal journey and the cost of  being a pioneer, as well as the satisfaction of being the first Black woman to own a racially diverse modeling agency, Hardison called out fashion houses around the world (including Prada and Calvin Klein) for the lack of models of color in their shows and the exclusionary casting calls that had become rampant in the industry (“No Blacks, no ethnics”), while profiting from Black consumers. In tandem with Frédéric Tcheng (Halston, Dior and I), Bethann Hardison and her co-director trace her impact on fashion from runway shows in New York and Paris in the ’70s to roundtables about lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Interviews with industry players speak to the state of fashion, while friends and family attest to Hardison’s rebellious and ambitious spirit. INVISIBLE BEAUTY is an absorbing record of Hardison’s accomplishments and a rare contemplation on the life of a radical thinker. The co-directors Bethann Hardison and Frederic Tcheng join us for a conversation on the cinematic and personal journey that the film has taken them on.

 

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For more go to: magpictures.com/invisiblebeauty

Opening 9/22 in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal

For all other screenings go to: Magpictures.com

About the filmmaker – Bethann Hardison – former model, advocate, and founder of the modeling and management agency that bears her name – has long been a groundbreaker in the world of fashion. She has helped guide the careers of some of the most prominent models in recent times and through her decades of advocacy work has challenged and helped change common notions of beauty by consistently championing diversity in the fashion industry. For more go to: bethannhardison.com

About the filmmaker – Frédéric Tcheng is a French-born filmmaker. Dior and I, his award-winning directorial debut, premiered at the Tribeca film festival in 2014. Tcheng directed the 2019 documentary Halston, a CNN Films and Amazon Original production. His most recent film Invisible Beauty premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Tcheng had previously co-produced and co-edited the 2009 hit documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor, and co-directed the 2011 documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Riveting. Hardison’s remarkable and fabulous life serves an inspiring lesson in effecting radical change from within the system.” – Jude Dry, IndieWire

“An appreciative self-portrait of the fashion world maverick, a reflective story of how one woman worked to move her industry’s stubborn needle of progress. (Bethann Hardison’s) charisma… made her a natural leader and problem solver. Warm anecdotes, glittering testimonies and fond memories. An illuminating and sturdy paean to an influential industry leader.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

“Invisible Beauty is a riveting tale of how to implement and maintain effective change within a system known for its blatant racism.” – Jose Solís, The Film Stage

“It was Hardison’s activism in the industry that cemented her position as a true advocate and icon in fashion. [She] has always been at the forefront of change and representation. [She] is direct and authentic about who she is.” – Kovie Biakolo, Essence Magazine

Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court – Director Dawn Porter

Dawn Porter’s DEADLOCKED: How America Shaped the Supreme Court is a four-part SHOWTIME documentary series  traces the modern history of the Supreme Court, the people, decisions and confirmation battles that have shaped America. From our right to privacy, to access to the ballot, and all rights protected by the Constitution, the nine unelected justices of the Supreme Court have the final word on issues that shape our democracy and daily lives. The series unfolds during a profoundly consequential year, unlike any in recent memory—the historic confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the fallout of an unprecedented leak from inside the Court’s chambers, and a Supreme Court, remade by Donald Trump, on the brink of overturning Roe v. Wade. To understand this critical moment and how we got here, we go back to the 1950s, when the Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren heralded an era of progressive legal decisions that set us upon the zigzagging path we are still walking today, as the Court’s role in American society has become increasingly prominent and bitterly contested. Supreme reveals how much of the country’s story is wrapped up in the Supreme Court’s deliberations, and considers what this means for America’s future. Director and producer Dawn Porter (Gideon’s Army, Spies of Mississippi, The Lady Bird Diaries, Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer) joins us for a conversation on fifty years of a methodical, calculated and concerted effort on the part of the most radical elements of the “conservative” judicial movement have wrought on the integrity and public confidence of the branch of governance that is the “last word” on what is legal and what is illegal in America.

 

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Watch at: sho.com/deadlocked-how-america-shaped-the-supreme-court

Dawn Porter (THE LADY BIRD DIARIES, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE) will be available for interviews on Tuesday, September 19. Let me know if you’re interested in coverage! DEADLOCKED will stream on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME on Friday, September 22nd and premiere that day at 8 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.

About the filmmaker – Dawn Porter has emerged in the entertainment industry as a leader in the art of storytelling; directing and producing critically acclaimed films and series. A two-time Sundance film festival director, Porter’s work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, ESPN, Discovery, National Geographic, and others. Porter’s recent film, The Lady Bird Diaries, an all-archival documentary about Lady Bird Johnson debuted at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival. Her newest project “Supreme,” is a four-part docuseries, exploring the history of the United States Supreme Court, the justices, decisions, and confirmation battles that have shaped America. Other current projects include the next installment of the historic civil rights documentary series Eyes on the Prize for HBO. Additional credits include  The Me You Can’t See (Apple TV+), Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer  (National Geographic), The Way I See It (Focus Features, MSNBC), John Lewis: Good Trouble (CNN, Magnolia Pictures), 37 Words (ESPN),  Un(re)solved  (Frontline PBS), and Gideon’s Army (HBO).

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Rebel – Co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah

Co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life, Ms. Marvel and Batgirl) deliver their most intimate and personal film, REBEL. The film focuses on Kamal Wasaki (Aboubakr Bensaihi) an idealistic Belgian rapper who after getting busted for drugs in his home country flees to Syria to volunteer to help the victims of the war. Upon his arrival, he is left stranded in Raqqa. Soon after he is kidnapped by ISIS where he is forced to shoot their propaganda videos thanks to his experience shooting his own hip-hop videos. Then one day to prove his loyalty, he is charged to kill a US soldier in front of the camera. When this clip is played on the news his family is reluctantly brought into the story.  While Kamal’s mother Leila (Lubna Azabal) struggles with what drove her eldest son down that path that has branded her an outcast in her community. She starts to notice Kamal’s younger brother Nassim (Amir El Arbi) has become the target of local ISIS recruiters who wish to use his brother and video games to lure in him. REBEL co-directors, co-writers and co-executive producers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah join us for a conversation on the atrocities of war, the path to radicalization, finding the fragmented humanity in people trapped in these conflicts and why it was so important for them as filmmakers and storytellers to intersperse music and theatre into an otherwise scathing cavalcade of inhumanity.

 

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For more go to: rebelmotionpicture.com

About the filmmakers – Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah met during their film studies at the Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunsten in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium. During their studies, the first project that they directed was a short film named Broeders (2011), which was appreciated by critics; their later films, Black (2015) and Patser (2018), also received positive reception.  They directed the first two episodes in the TV series Snowfall, which aired on July 5 and 12 in 2017, as well as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike‘s music video “When I Grow Up”, which features American rapper Wiz Khalifa. Besides directing Bad Boys for Life, the duo were also attached to direct Beverly Hills Cop IV, the fourth installment of the Beverly Hills Cop film series, in which Eddie Murphy is set to reprise his role. The duo also directed and executive produced Ms. Marvel for Disney+. In May 2021, it was announced that the duo would direct a film based on Batgirl for HBO Max. In April 2022, it was announced that the duo will no longer direct Beverly Hills Cop IV. In August 2022, after Warner Bros. Discovery made the decision to write the film off for tax purposes, it was announced that the movie Batgirl would not be released. With a reported $90 million budget, Batgirl is one of the highest budget movies in history to be produced, but not released. By February 2023, the duo signed on to direct Bad Boys IV.

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89% on RottenTomatoes

“Over the course of its 135-minute sprawl, “Rebel” remains dynamic by weaving a host of standard genre elements into its many subplots.” – Jessica Kiang, Variety

“It’s a movie that must be seen to be believed. This fascinating work proves why it’s essential for cinema to have a diverse range of voices telling the stories, and that’s what brings about these incredible shocks and surprises.’ – Kaleem Aftab, Cineuropa

“Mixes raw emotions with unexpected blasts of artful expression that keeps viewers invested in material that would otherwise be extraordinarily difficult to watch.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com

“A harrowing depiction of the insidious nature of militant fanaticism, Rebel tells its story with verve, sympathy, and a sense of style that’s as unapologetic as its horrifyingly logical plot.” – Mark Dujsik, Mark Reviews Movies

26.2 to Life – Director Christine Yoo

The San Quentin Prison Marathon has an unconventional route: 105 dizzying laps around a crowded prison yard. Director Christine Yoo deeply empathetic documentary,  26.2 TO LIFE, tells the story of incarcerated men who are members of the 1000 Mile Club, the prison’s long distance running club. They train all year for 26.2 mile long marathon race, all of which takes place inside the walls of the infamous San Quentin Men’s Prison mile race. For the men who take their places at the starting line on a cool, sunny November morning, completing the marathon means more than entrée into an elite group of athletes. It’s a chance to be defined by more than their crimes. Cheering them on are a small staff of volunteer coaches, veteran marathoners who train with the runners throughout the year. The bonds they forge on the track create a community that transcends prison politics and extends beyond the prison walls as members are released. 26.2 TO LIFE is a story of transformation and second chances. The film offers a rare glimpse into a world out of bounds, as the men navigating life sentences seek redemption and freedom…or something like it. Director Christine Yoo takes us inside the walls, physical and psychological of the men, who readily acknowledge the mistakes and crimes they have committed, work to define the remainder of their lives as positive and worthwhile.

 

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For more go to: sanquentinmarathon.com

*Winner: Audience Choice Award  Santa Barbara Festival 2023*
*Winner: Reel Women Direct Award
 Cleveland International Film Festival 2023*
*Winner: Audience Award for Best Feature
 SF Documentary Film Festival (DocFest) 2023*
*Independent Film Festival of Boston – Grand Jury Prize
Seattle International Film Festival – Winner Golden Space Needle Award
*Runner Up: Audience Award  DOC NYC 2022* 

 

About the filmmaker – Christine Yoo is a director, producer, writer, volunteer at San Quentin State Prison and co-founder of the San Quentin Film Festival. As a producer, she has worked on nonfiction series for National Geographic, History, Oxygen and PBS for Revelations Entertainment, S.M.A.C., The Story Lab, Dick Wolf Films, Shed Media and Prometheus. Her independent work focuses on under-served voices and has been sponsored by Sundance, The Marshall Project, Rogovy Foundation, LGMobile, Hyundai, Korean Air and she is a Logan Nonfiction Fellow. Yoo directed and produced the documentary short, A Conversation At Claudia’s, a special project for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA PS1), co-wrote the cult anime series Afro Samurai, starring Samuel L. Jackson, and directed, produced and co-wrote the award-winning Korean-American rom-com Wedding Palace, starring Brian Tee and S. Korean actress Kang Hy-jung (Oldboy) in her English language debut. 26.2 TO LIFE is Yoo’s first feature documentary. 

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80% on RottenTomatoes

“The film’s leads—a father, a former track star, and a journalist—are not glorified but humanized, and their captivating stories are told with the unflinching conviction that their lives could use more than loaned running shoes.” – Sam Machkovech, The Stranger

“Hopefully, 26.2 to Life will change some hearts and minds of lawmakers.” – Jason Delgado, Film Threat

“Though not specifically political in nature, Yoo’s film may just change a few minds regarding the purpose of prison as a rehabilitative tool rather than a punitive one.” – Douglas Davidson, Elements of Madness

“Christine Yoo’s hopeful nonfiction feature strikes the right balance in telling the stories of San Quentin inmates who are participating in the prison-supported 1,000 Mile running club.” – Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

Mr. Jimmy – Director Peter Michael Dowd

In snowbound Tokamachi, Japan, teenaged Akio Sakurai took refuge in his room, escaping to another world with a pair of headphones and a pile of Led Zeppelin records. Moving to Tokyo, Akio worked as a kimono salesman by day, but by night became “Mr. Jimmy,” adopting the guitar chops and persona of Jimmy Page. For 30 years, Akio recreated vintage Zeppelin concerts note-for-note in small Tokyo clubs, until the real Jimmy Page stopped by one night and Akio’s life changed forever. Inspired by Mr. Page’s ovation, Akio quits his “salary man” job, leaving behind his family to move to Los Angeles and join “Led Zepagain.” Soon cultures clash, and Akio’s idyllic vision of America is met with reality. Until Jason Bonham (son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham) calls and invites Akio to audition, and later join his  ‘Led Zeppelin Evening’ tour. Director Peter Michael Dowd joins us for a lively conversation on the incredible level of dedication Akio has put into his craft, meticulously fine tuning precision of everything from the amps, frets, cables to the stitching on the “dragon” cape to faithfully replicate the Jimmy Page experience as well as my misspent youth back in 1972, for missing the chance to see the “greatest rock and roll band” at the zenith of their artistic prowess.

 

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For more go to: mrjimmymovie.com

About the filmmaker – “Mr. Jimmy” is Director, Producer and Editor Peter Michael Dowd follow-up to his short documentary “The King of Size”.  It screened at festivals including the Austin Film Festival, the New Orleans Film Festival, and the Little Rock Film Festival, where it won the World Shorts competition. Previously, Dowd was the Curator of Film at the Museum of the Moving Image and Film Programmer at George Eastman House. He has organized film exhibitions and retrospectives for festivals including the Vienna International Film Festival and Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival. He has written about film for publications including the New York Sun, Spirit & Flesh, and Moving Image Quarterly, and is based in Los Angeles. His voice is still hoarse from singing/screaming throughout Mr. Page and Mr. Plant’s 1995 performance at Boston Garden.

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92% on RottenTomatoes

“Through an exploration of the life of an ex-kimono salesman who has dedicated his life to emulating Jimmy Page, Mr. Jimmy is a unique look at what it means to pay tribute to the things you love.’ – Miyako Pleines, Spectrum Culture

“In our current universe, where followers give themselves over to their entertainment or culture-warrior heroes with undying devotion and zero questioning, his devotion to honoring this particular house of the old is sweet, almost noble.” – David Browne, Rolling Stone

“It is an incredible story and one marvels at the level of detail Sakurai goes to, learning about the ‘texture’ solder in an amp gives to the music or how the wear on a pickup guard might influence things.” – Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

“It’s… the very slipperiness of Sakurai’s passion – to humbly become the god he worships – that continually compels.” – Keith Uhlich, Hollywood Reporter

“If you’re a fan of Led Zeppelin or this particular era of classic rock in general, you’ll be sure to enjoy Mr. Jimmy.” – Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies

The Mountain – Director Thomas Salvador

Director, writer and lead actor, Thomas Salvador’s beguiling new film, THE MOUNTAIN, follows Pierre, a Parisian in his forties, on his emerging quest to break from his daily routine of morning coffee in a run-down apartment, his phones, his keys, and his computer on the train to work. During a business meeting to  demonstrate the capability of a robot to some clients he is distracted by the sight of a mountain. Shortly after his enigmatic encounter with the natural world Pierre begins to act on an unfathomable journey into the unexplored mountainous terrain.  He gears up very cautiously, gets informed and takes the cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi, in the Mont-Blanc Massif, with its spectacular view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Setting up his small tent slightly below, he slowly learns about hiking on the glacier, then climbs the passes with and then without guidance. Days pass, more or less easily and comfortably, in his introspective observation of the environment. Pierre feels good, there, in his place, with the essentials and forms only one meaningful connection with the chef of the Aiguille du Midi restaurant (Louise Bourgoin). But this drastic return to nature soon takes a turn when a mountain wall collapses and attracts his attention to very strange lights… Director, writer and lead actor, Thomas Salvador (VINCENT) stops by to talk about the inherent challenges that come with shooting a feature film on a mountainside, what drew him to make this visually stunning ode to the inexorable pull of nature and how little we understand about the world we live in.

 

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For more go to: strandreleasing.com/films/the-mountain

An official selection of the Directors’ Fortnight at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

About the filmmaker – Thomas Salvador is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor in his own films. He has directed 6 short films that have been selected and awarded in numerous festivals, including PETITS PAS (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) and DE SORTIE (Jean Vigo Prize 2006). Hosted at the Villa Medici in Rome, he wrote his first feature film VINCENT, released in 2015 and screened at more than forty festivals in France and abroad. THE MOUNTAIN is his second feature film. 

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“The beautiful cinematography, courtesy of Alexis Kavyrchine … makes the Alps come alive (in every way, as we discover), and the emotional restraint of both Salvador and Bourgoin serve to heighten the eventual catharsis at the end.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail

“Salvador’s creation is a gorgeous, pensive, humble film…” – Alex Billington, FirstShowing.net

“In a work in which nature, landscape and climate take starring roles, Salvador’s muted performance of a man who is attempting to lose himself in his surroundings feels right.” – Lee Marshall, Screen International

“Although Pierre’s intentions remain debatable, the story becomes a subtle treatise on solitude, ecology and, it would seem, following your bliss.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

IO STO BENE – Director Donata Rotunno

Director, producer and writer Donato Rotunno’s third feature film, IO STO BENE (I Am Fine) focuses on the life of Antonio, a man who has spent his whole life away from his home country ofItaly. Antonio is facing down his own mortality when he crosses paths with Leo, a young Italian artist who is trying to make it abroad. The old man and the young woman’s destinies mirror each other. Memories from the past are awoken and end up offering a more peaceful future to the both of them.  This multi-layered film follows Antonio Spinelli growing up with Vito, his cousin of the same age, and their friend Giuseppe. At the end of the 1960s, pushed out of South Italy by a catastrophic economic situation, they decide to leave the country to work abroad. What’s initially supposed to be a short stay to make ends meet will end up determining their individual paths. While Vito works in Belgium and Giuseppe in Germany, Antonio is the only one who goes to a little country called Luxembourg. There, he meets Mady, who becomes his continued support and gives him the strength to be who he really is. Leopoldina prefers to be called Leo. She has finished her graphic design studies and dreams of an artistic career where she could mix graphic design creations and music. She wants to take her future in her own hands and make a living out of her passion. That’s why she decides to leave Italy with her boyfriend and dreams of going on tour all over Europe to perform in clubs as a visual jockey. But they break up and Leo’s boyfriend goes back to Italy, leaving Leo on her own in Luxembourg. She hasn’t told him that she is pregnant. Director and writer Donato Rotunno joins us for a conversation on his affinity for complex stories that illuminate many of the basic truths about love, family, friends and the capricious outcome of the paths we choose to follow.

 

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For more go to: mpmpremium.com/catalogue/io-sto-bene

About the director – Donato Rotunno was born in Luxembourg in 1966 and graduated from IAD in Belgium in 1992. He founded Tarantula Luxembourg in 1995, through which, to date, he has produced over 30 feature films. His career as a film director started with his graduation film Nebbiolo Rosso and continued with documentaries on specific themes to Luxembourg, including immigration (Terra Mia Terra Nostra, Les Mesures du rectangle), multi cultural society (Blà Blä Blá) ; questionning the role of politics with André et les voix dissidentes, and the relationship between contemporary art and film through Making of a picture,  Landscape with a corpse, Dreams have a language. His first fiction film, In a Dark Place, won the award for best artistic contribution at the Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis in 2007. His second film, Baby(a)lone, an adaptation of the novel Amok by Tullio Forgiarini, was selected in many international film festivals and was chosen to represent Luxembourg at the 88th Academy Awards for Best foreign language film award. Io sto bene is his 3rd feature.

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Judy Becker – Production Designer

Award winning Production Designer JUDY BECKER is one of the many gifted artists who have made significant contributions to cinema’s most iconic films.  But their work often flies under the radar, in large part because journalist and critics more often focus their attention on directors and stars rather than that the work of production designers. But these production designer’s sometimes unheralded art consists of nothing less than building the world of a movie, and in the process do a great deal to create those distinct cinematic environments that film lovers wants to visit again and again. Production Designer JUDY BECKER, recent subject of a film retrospective at New York’s Metrograph Theatre, gave all the film lovers who attended an opportunity to better appreciate the painstaking research and crucial creative contribution that goes into the work of a production designer as well as the films that inspired her. Becker 25-year career as a lead production designer includes collaborations with directors Todd Haynes, David O. Russell, and Ang Lee. Production Designer Judy Becker (Carol, American Hustle, We Need to Talk About Kevin) joins us for a conversation on her introduction into the world of production design, the artist who’s work inspired her and how she approaches each new project with the same zeal and attention to detail she brought to her very first project.

 

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For more go to:instagram.com/beckerdesign2000

About the filmmaker – Judy Becker is a production designer in the film industry. Cited as one of “25 to Watch” in the summer 2002 issue of Filmmaker, Judy Becker came to her career in production design from a background in fine arts, including several years as an “underground” comics artist. She started in the props department and worked her way up to production design in independent films in New York. Notable films to her credit include, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005), Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There (2007), David O. Russell’s The Fighter (2010), Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk Kevin (2011), David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock  (2012) and David O. Russell’s American Hustle (2013), Todd Haynes’s Carol (2015), David O. Russell’s Joy (2015), David O. Russell’s Amsterdam (2022). 

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Our Father, The Devil – Director Ellie Foumbi

Nominated for the 2023 “Best Feature” Independent Spirit Award, Ellie Foumbi’s elegant moral thriller and debut feature OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL (“Mon père, le diable”) stars a riveting Babetida Sadjo, (Ritual), as Marie, the head chef at a retirement home in small-town France. Her easy day-to-day life spent caring for residents, hanging out with her co-worker and best friend Nadia (Jennifer Tchiakpe), and teasing a potential new romance is disrupted by the arrival of Father Patrick (former Spirit Award nominee Souleymane Sy Savané, (Goodbye Solo), an African priest whom she recognizes from a terrifying episode in her homeland. As he further endears himself to the residents and staff, Marie is forced to decide how best to deal with this reminder of her troubled past. Writer / Director Ellie Foumbi joins us for a conversation on her intense and fearless dissection of trauma, power, revenge, guilt, and the devils hiding within all of us  and the Oscar-worthy performances by Babetida Sadjo and Souleymane Sy Savané, OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL is a stunning showcase for the impeccable talents of everyone involved.

 

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2023 Spirit Award Nominee: Best Picture

Tribeca Film Festival, Audience Award Winner: Best Narrative

Sept 1 in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal

About the filmmaker – Ellie Foumbi is an award-winning Cameroonian-American filmmaker whose debut film, Our Father, the Devil, went on to win 25 prizes at international film festivals and was nominated for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. She’s a BAFTA Breakthrough USA Fellow and was named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. Ellie’s stories often explore pressing social-political issues within the African diaspora through a genre lens, aiming to shine a light on marginalized populations. She holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in Directing.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Cutting… the enigmatic drama goes places you almost certainly won’t expect.”  – Michael Nordine, Variety

“Providing a rare treatment of trauma that is both thrilling and intelligent, Our Father, the Devil is profound and deeply moving.” – Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

“This is quite simply the best performance of the year, blowing everything else out of the water.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

“Ellie Foumbi’s explosive debut can’t be denied; neither can the  performances here, notably the one from Sadjo, who cycles through a juggernaut of raw, intense emotions.” – Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“…An impressive feat of storytelling.” – Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest

“Defies genre and expectations. it’s not the kind of psychological thriller we’ve come to expect.”  – Sharai Bohannon, Dread Central

Fremont – Director Babak Jalali

In Babak Jalali’s playfully eccentric FREMONT focuses on a beautiful and troubled 20-something Donya, an Afghan translator who used to work with the U.S. government and now has trouble sleeping. Each morning Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) leaves her tight-knit community of Afghan immigrants in Fremont, California. She crosses the Bay to work at a family-run fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Donya drifts through her routine, struggling to connect with the culture and people of her new, unfamiliar surroundings while processing complicated feelings about her past as a translator for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. Unable to sleep, she finagles  her way into a regular slot with a therapist (Gregg Turkington) who grasps for prospective role models. When an unexpected promotion at work thrusts Donya  into the position to write her own story, she communicates her loneliness and longing through a concise medium: the fortunes inside each cookie. Donya’s koans travel, making a humble social impact and expanding her world far beyond Fremont and her turbulent past, including an encounter with a quiet auto mechanic (Jeremy Allen White) who could stand to see his own world expanded. Tenderly sculpted and lyrically shot in black-and-white, Jalali’s FREMONT is a wry, deadpan vision of the universal longing for home. Director and writer Babak Jalali joins us for a conversation on the (Radio Dreams) moment he knew that casting an unknown actor, Anaita Wali Zada as Donya could carry his film, his instinctual decision, in collaboration with cinematographer Laura Valladao, to go black and white, the calming effect of Gregg Turkington, and the joy of spending time in the vibrant Afghan community of Fremont, California. 

 

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For more go to: musicboxfilms.com/film/fremont

About the filmmaker – Babak Jalali was born in 1978 in Gorgan in northern Iran, but has lived mainly in London since 1986. He has a master’s degree in politics from the University of London as well as a diploma from the London Film School. During his course there he made three short films: A Trip to the Coast (2002), Nadja (2003), and Boxes (2004). His graduation film, Heydar, an Afghan in Teheran, told the story of a young Afghan working for a rich Iranian, spending his free time learning English in order to work as a translator in Afghanistan. The film was short-listed in the Best Short Film category at BAFTA in 2006. That same year Babak Jalali had a residency at the Cannes Festival’s Cinéfondation where he was able to develop his first feature film, Frontier Blues.

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97% on RottenTomatoes

“A drama with a spare, wry tone that belies its earnest and ample substance.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“A cross-cultural comedy that explores the freedom of being lost and the exhilaration of finding oneself” – Mark Olsen, LA Times

“A coolly deadpan comedy. Fremont is reminiscent of Aki Kaurismaki and Jim Jarmusch.” – Amy Taubin, Artforum

“Fremont‘s variation is that its performances are low-key naturalistic rather than hollowed-out deadpan, and it gains a lot from the specificity of its characters and their unglamorous milieus.” Vadim Rizov, Filmmaker Magazine

“The story is suffused with an uncommon blend of radiance and resignation, nowhere more rapturously than in the final shot.” – Anthony Lake, New Yorker

“Honest and hopeful. An ode to the universal beauty and restless pull of human connection.” – Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar

Before, Now & Then – Director Kamila Andini

Set amid the political violence of late-1960s Indonesia, Kamila Andini’s intoxicating film BEFORE, NOW & THEN follows Raden Nana Suhani, a Sundanese woman in the 1960s lost and father and son to the war in West Java. Now the beautiful wife of a wealthy plantation owner, always looked down on her. For Nana, her inner life remains with her deceased first husband, murdered in the civil war a decade prior. A survivor, Nana values her safety and material comforts, but carries out a haunted existence, dreaming of her lost love. Forced to confront her husband’s blatant infidelity, Nana makes an unusual connection with his younger mistress, Ino. The two women, sharing their secrets and desires, discover a newfound freedom and intimacy withheld from them both by the strictures of patriarchal society. Together, these two women seek hope for independence. Director and screenwriter Kamila Andini (Nusa Yang Hilang, Yuni,) joins us for a conversation on how the enveloping stranglehold of patriarchy informs every aspect of these women’s lives, drawing out sublime performances from actors Happy Salma (Nana) and Laura Basuki (Ino), capturing the subversive beauty of a land gripped by violence and upheaval.

 

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For more go to: filmmovement.com/before-now-then

See in a theatre: filmmovement.com/before-now-then

About the filmmaker – Kamila Andini is a mother and filmmaker based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Concerns with social culture, gender equality and environmental issues led to her passion to make films with a distinctive narrative perspective.Her debut feature film The Mirror Never Lies (2011) recounts the life of sea nomad on the Pacific Ocean off Indonesia. Her second, The Seen and Unseen (2017) portrays a dualistic cinematic universe based on the Balinese philosophical concept of Sekala / Niskala. Both films have screened in over 50 film festivals around the world and received some 30 national and international awards, including the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film, Berlinale Generation Kplus in 2018. She has also directed a number of short films. After Following Diana (2015), Memoria (2016) and Sekar (2019), her short Back Home (2019) formed part of the omnibus production Angel Sign (2019). Recently, she has expanded her directing work into theatre; her debut, based on her second feature ‘The Seen and Unseen’, was staged at the Esplanade Singapore 2018 and Asia Topa Melbourne in 2019. Her most recent theatrical production is the stage and virtual performance monologue, Nusa Yang Hilang (2021). Her third feature, Yuni, (2021) won the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. Before, Now & Then is her fourth feature film.

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Andini captures complex female emotions and relationships in nuanced and fascinating detail, as well as the secrets we all keep, whether in knotted buns or not. Subtly stirring, it’s a sensitively crafted, immersive cinematic experience that lingers on the senses well after the credits roll.” – Sarah Bradbury, The Upcoming

“Aesthetic flourishes… betray Wong Kar-Wai’s influence on Before, Now & Then and elevate it … to the intoxicating sensory experience it is.” – Michael Nordine, Variety 

“Gorgeous, complex, and wonderfully melancholy…highly rewarding to watch” – Jean Henegan, Pop Culture Maniacs

“A precisely calibrated, emotionally nuanced exploration of one woman going through a mid-life crisis in rural Indonesia during the 1960s  that both looks and sounds stunning.” – Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter

The Owners (Vlastnici) – Director Jiří Havelka

A timely metaphor for failing democracy, Jiří Havelka’s THE OWNERS takes a seriocomic look at the most local form of self-governance: the co-op apartment building meeting. It includes a curious cast of characters, all of whom own apartments in the same building in Prague, as they attempt to tolerate each others’ presence long enough to try and make some important decisions about the building’s future. Mrs. Zahrádková (Teresa Ramba) wants to save the old crumbling building she shares with other apartment owners. She hopes to find supporters for her plan in young newlyweds with their idealistic enthusiasm, who have just moved in and are astonished by the co-owners’ inability to agree on anything. Mrs. Roubíčková (Klára Melíšková) vigilantly controls the proper course of the meeting, not allowing the slightest deviation from the rules; Mrs. Procházková and her proclaimed business partner Mr. Novak are looking for ways to increase the value of their property by subletting the apartment to African students; Mr. Nitranský tries to get a hold of the attic to expand his own flat; and frustrated Mr. Kubát sabotages any and all decisions. Will the neighbors reach an agreement, or will the building become the casualty of their self-centered interests? Director Jiří Havelka (Prague Orgies, Desperate People) joins us for a conversation on his personal connection to the story, pulling together a cast of terrific actors and how striking the right tone to accentuate the dramatic and comedic elements that make THE OWNERS work so beautifully.

 

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For more go to: bigworldpictures.org/theowners

Opens 8/25/23 Laemmle’s Royal, West Los Angeles, CA

Opens 8/25/23 Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL

Big World Pictures is proud to present THE OWNERS, a film written and directed by Jiří Havelka. Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Actress award at the 27th Czech Lion Awards and winner of two Czech Film Critics’ Awards, THE OWNERS was based on a play, The Society of Owners, which Havelka also wrote and directed. The film will open at Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles on August 25. 

About the filmmaker – Respected theater director, playwright, actor and and film director Jiří Havelka is also a founding personality of the TV station Óčko. He is also the main creative personality of the Vosto5 theater based on improvisation (Pérák, Proton or the Society of Owners) and also organizes the Festival of Cute Playwrights. He is also one of the founders of the civic association JSAF – the organizer of the International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava, where he comes from. After graduating from the Jihlava grammar school, he studied directing at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theater at the DAMU in Prague. Already during his studies he started acting and directing in Prague’s Ypsilonka and in several other theaters, e.g. Dejvické Divadlo. In 2007, he won the Alfréd Radok Award as talent of the year. He appears as an actor in many films, e.g. in the tragicomedies Desperate People (2009) and Tiger Theory (2016), in the comedy Po čem muži touží (2018) or in the tragicomedies Mars (2018) or Prague Orgies (2019). Viewers also know him from the TV series, e.g. Up to the ears (2014- 2017). The Owners is his film debut under which he is signed as a screenwriter and director. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“As the frustration of the group gets more intense and the issues get more controversial … it becomes clear that the film is making a larger point about the inability of governments, citizens, human beings, to solve long-term problems.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

“Comic gold…the script is top-notch, the performances terrific, the timing perfect…If only Hollywood still made them like this!” – American Spectator

“The universality of personalities and intentions is like every HOA Board Meeting – but more amusing because it’s not yours. This lets the audience have the distance to see the human comedy in their interactions for an allegory of any capitalist society.” – Nora Lee Mandel, Maven’s Nest

“It’s a home or condo-owner’s nightmare of sincere, smart and reasonable people outnumbered by obstinate skinflints, greedheads, obstructionists and shortsighted idiots. Sound like any voting/elected bodies you know?” – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

“The film took home three Czech Lions and two Czech Film Critics’ Awards, and with fine performances from the leading cast, sharp dialogue, and painfully relevant political overtones, it’s not difficult to see why..Beneath the dry wit and jaded, world-weary cynicism, and even before we reach the obligatory bittersweet, tragicomic ending, there is some profound allegory at work in Vlastníci, familiar from the brave and subversive Czech comedies of the 1960s, by which, with a choice phrase here, a verbal nod-and-a-wink there, Havelka holds a mirror up to Czech society… and doesn’t reflect its best side.” – Czech Film Review

King Coal – Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon

A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, KING COAL meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has built, and the myths it has created. Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a spectacularly beautiful and deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life, imagining the ways a community can re-envision itself. Central Appalachia is a place of mountains and myth and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon knows this well, calling those mountains home. KING COAL has had a profound influence on this community’s identity, but Sheldon dares to consider what future stories might look like out of the shadow of coal, now that relationships to coal are changing. She takes us on an alluring cinematic journey through the past, present, and future of Appalachia. Sheldon’s distinct vision remixes present-day moments of life in a coal-mining town with archival footage and atmospheric invocations of the land to alchemize something new — a rare, nuanced depiction of this community. A young girl learning the story of coal anchors the journey while Sheldon’s poetic voiceover guides us through the experience and an expressive score differentiates the reality of coal from a more imaginative world. This hybrid approach allows our guest, Elaine McMillion Sheldon to explore the act of storytelling itself and is a magical reclamation of the power of stories to shape how a region sees itself. Emerging from the long shadows of the coal mines, KING COAL untangles the pain from the beauty, and illuminates the innately human capacity for change.

 

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For more go to: kingcoalfilm.com

Los Angeles, CA – August 25 @ Laemmle Glendale

About the filmmaker – Elaine McMillion Sheldon is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker. She is the director of two Netflix Original Documentaries – “Heroin(e)” and “Recovery Boys” – that explore America’s opioid crisis. “Heroin(e)” was nominated for a 2018 Academy Award and won the 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary. In 2013, she released “Hollow,” an interactive documentary that examines the future of rural America through the eyes and voices of West Virginians. Hollow received a Peabody, Emmy nomination and 3rd Prize in the World Press Photo Multimedia Awards. Sheldon has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Anthony Bourdain’s CNN Show Parts Unknown and Meet The Press with Chuck Todd. She was recently named a 2018 USA Fellow by United States Artists, one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine and one of “50 People Changing The South” by Southern Living Magazine. In 2016, Chicken & Egg Pictures awarded her with the inaugural “Breakthrough Filmmaker” award. She’s a founding member of All Y’all Southern Documentary Collective. She has been commissioned by Netflix, Frontline PBS, The Center for Investigative Reporting, The New York Times Op-Docs, TEDWomen, Field of Vision, and The Bitter Southerner.  elainemcmillionsheldon.com

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85% on RottenTomatoes

“Filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon, a native of [West Virginia], has done a breathtakingly expressive job of capturing the strangeness, the beauty and the devastation of her homeland in the poetic, entrancing documentary King Coal.” – Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal

“harsh, haunted, and spiritual but hopeful still…[told] from the POV of a girl both loyal and inquisitive about the reign of what she calls “King Coal,” the film is an artwork and a tribute told with poetic and visual lyricism.” – Sherin Nicole, Geek Girl Riot

“As a work of cinema, King Coal proves aesthetically stunning, while also holding our attention as cultural anthropology.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“Pleasingly difficult to pin down when the narrative truly feels moved by the spirit, the fact that “King Coal” comes alive in the mind full of possibility makes one think the same potential exists on the ground.” – Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest

“Sheldon also locates the beauty, potentiality and sorrow of the region to its surrounding mountain ranges, from forested rolling hills to the mounds of coal on river barges.” – Robert Daniels, New York Times

Talk to Me – Co-directors Danny and Michael Philippou

Filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou step away from their wildly successful career video work via YouTube and by bringing a sharp edged sensibility to the world of horror in TALK TO ME. Conjuring spirits has become the latest local party craze, and looking for a distraction on the anniversary of her mother’s death, teenage Mia (Sophie Wilde) is determined to get a piece of the otherworldly action. When her group of friends gathers for another unruly séance with the mysterious embalmed hand that promises a direct line to the spirits, they’re unprepared for the consequences of bending the rules through prolonged contact. As the boundary between worlds collapses and disturbing supernatural visions increasingly haunt Mia, she rushes to undo the horrific damage before it’s irreversible. Filmmaking duo (and twin brothers) Danny and Michael Philippou of @RackaRacka YouTube channel fame suspend us in the foreboding and nightmarish realm of their debut feature film.  Making the most of their twisted propensity for the surreal and grotesque while effortlessly blending the creepiness of a ghost tale with the modern sensibilities of a horror-thriller for the Insta-generation, TALK TO ME exposes an uncanny reality where the dead roam eerily close to the living. Co-directors Danny and Michael Philippou join us for a lively conversation on their very popular YouTube video work, why and how they have been so successful in their short form videos, and the importance of creating a completely believable world for their characters to inhabit.

 

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For more go to: bankside-films.com/talk-to-me

For even more go to: a24films.com/films/talk-to-me

About the filmmakers – Filmmaking twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou are RackaRacka, on-line purveyors of comic horror and action. Their YouTube videos have been watched over 1.5 billion times and amassed over 6.6 million subscribers. In 2015, their channel was awarded Best International YouTube Channel at the 6th Streamy Awards. Named one of Variety’s 2016 Fame Changers and ranked 5th on Financial Review’s Cultural Power List, the brothers have won numerous awards, including Best Overall at the Online Video Awards and the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for the Best Web Show. Talk to Me is their debut feature film.

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95% on RottenTomatoes

“The concept is deftly and artfully executed by the Philippou brothers, who don’t fall back on cheap jump scares, but rely on a dexterous cinematic style and grisly imagery to make a film that is truly dark and terrifying.” – Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

“Talk to Me’s unique take on possession cleverly depicts the struggles associated with grief and depression. It’s also scary, often invoking a sense of dread through an impressive use of sound, practical effects, and meaningful cinematography.” – Kenneth Seward Jr., IGN Movies

“Talk to Me is a terrifically scary horror offering thanks to powerful performances, creepy creature designs, a splash of blood and gore, and practical effects that’ll blow your mind and chill your spine.” – Kristy Puchko, Mashable

“The reason the film works so well is in its well-established teenage relationships – the Philippous show the attraction of being in with the cool kids and that the dangers this presents are particularly acute for those who are emotionally vulnerable” – Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

“One of the scariest horror films in recent years! Impressive practical effects, superb makeup, hypnotizing performances – Sophie Wilde clearly stands out the most – and impeccable execution of truly shocking, gory, unpredictable moments of violence.” – Manuel São Bento, FirstShowing.net

The Eternal Memory – Director Maite Alberdi

THE ETERNAL MEMORY tells a profound and moving love story that balances vibrant individual and collective remembrance with the longevity of an unbreakable human bond. Augusto and Paulina have been together and in love for 25 years. Eight years ago, their lives were forever changed by Augusto’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As one of Chile’s most prominent cultural commentators and television presenters, Augusto is no stranger to building an archive of memory. Now he turns that work to his own life, trying to hold on to his identity with the help of his beloved Paulina, whose own pre-eminence as a famous actress and Chilean Minister of Culture predates her ceaselessly inventive manner of engaging with her husband. Day by day, the couple face this challenge head-on, relying on the tender affection and sense of humor shared between them that remains, remarkably, fully intact. THE ETERNAL MEMORY was the winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Documentary in 2023. Oscar nominated director Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent) joins us for a conversation on her first encounter with Paulina and Augusto together and how seeing the fully integrated lives they were living inspired her, watching them embrace the withering psychological, emotional and physically journey they were both on, and the connected themes of love, compassion, empathy and devotion that The Mole Agent and The Eternal Memory share.

 

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For more go to: facebook.com/mtvdocs

About the filmmaker – An Academy Award® Nominated Director and Producer, Maite Alberdi is the first Chilean woman to be nominated for an Oscar®. She has developed a particular style that is characterized by the intimate portrayal of small worlds and her unique approach has led her to become one of the most important voices in Latin American documentary. In 2011, she released her first feature film, THE LIFEGUARD. Through Micromundo, her production company, Maite directed her second film, TEA TIME (La Once), which has won more than a dozen international awards and was nominated for the 2016 Goya for Best Ibero-American Film. In 2016, she released the short film I AM NOT FROM HERE, which was nominated for the European Film Awards, and she also premiered her third feature film, THE GROWN-UPS, which received 10 international awards. In Sundance 2020, she premiered THE MOLE AGENT, the first Chilean documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award®. Her latest film, THE ETERNAL MEMORY premiered at Sundance 2023, where it won the Grand Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary, and had its international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. 

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92% on RottenTomatoes

“Balances personal reflection and historical consciousness……the warm, gentle touch of Alberdi’s filmmaking” – Variety

“A beautiful and affecting love story.”  Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

“An intimate, understated and often wrenching portrayal” – Screen

“Witnessing the grief Augusto has for his own life and Pauli for their life together is absolutely heartbreaking.  Yet, one will walk away longing for the type of love they have been so fortunate to experience in this lifetime if only for a moment.” – Carla Renata, The Curvy Film Critic

“Get tissues ready to witness one of the most selfless and patient forms of love that graced our screens, shared and magnified through pockets of joy that Alberdi’s camera celebrates with a generous side of empathy and sense of humor.” – Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar

“A moving chronicle” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Could any film completely capture such a private dynamic? Surely not, but at moments, “The Eternal Memory” appears to come close.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

“Perhaps the greatest feat of the courageous The Eternal Memory is Alberdi, Góngora and Urrutia’s ability to broach the subject with an emphasis on life, not death.” – Aurora Amidon, Paste Magazine

Carpet Cowboys – Co-directors Emily Mackenzie & Noah Collier

Filmmakers Emily Mackenzie and Noah Collier’s divinely off-kilter documentary explores the world of psychedelic carpets that line our hotel hallways, casinos, and  convention centers can be traced to one  town: Dalton, Georgia, the “Carpet Capital of the World.” In this bastion of American manufacturing we find an interwoven set of locals who are the unsung creators and developers behind the majority of the country’s carpets, always looking at the ground for their next big break. Among them is Roderick James, a Scottish expat and freelance textile designer living his life as a modern-day cowboy with an ambitious slew of eclectic business ventures. Through Rod’s journey chasing after The American Dream and the experiences of his peers in Dalton, CARPET COWBOYS explores the tensions between personal and national identity, and the rapidly changing global economic model of theUnited States that too often leaves so many behind. Where does the myth of American identity begin and where does it end, and who ultimately gets to cash in? Co-directors Emily Mackenzie & Noah Collier stop by to talk about the circumstances that brought them to Dalton, Georgia, meeting Roderick James and the other very colorful array of people who call the “carpet capitol of the world” home, and why it was vital that all the people we meet in Carpet Cowboys are be seen as authentic.

 

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For more go to: memory.is/carpet-cowboys

About the filmmaker – Emily MacKenzie is a New Orleans based director and producer. She is a graduate of Bard College and the New School’s Documentary Media Studies program. MacKenzie co-wrote and edited Nina Davenport’s feature length HBO Documentary FIRST COMES LOVE (2010) and has produced and directed for Vice, MTV, Fuse, Animal Planet, and WEtv. MacKenzie’s short documentary SCAR STORY was featured on The Atlantic’s website in 2016 and was viewed over 80 thousand times. She is currently completing TAPESTRIES, a feminist audio series depicting queer breast cancer narratives. For more go to: memilymack.com

About the filmmaker – Noah Collier is a director and cinematographer born in New York City. As a Director of Photography, Collier has primarily created non-fiction work, including the Sundance Special Jury Award -winning  JAWLINE (Hulu 2019), SANTA CAMP (HBO 2022), and THE COME UP (Freeform 2022). For more go to: noahcollier.online

About the filmmaker – Executive Producer John Wilson is a documentary filmmaker most well known for his HBO show “How To With John Wilson”

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“If Errol Morris, circa Vernon, Florida, Ricky Gervais and Christopher Guest, after a night of heavy drinking in 1990, having reckoned with the burden of the death of cinema, chipped in to make a movie together about carpets, this would be it.” – Rick Alverson, Director of: The Mountain, Entertainment, The Comedy

“Truly fascinating look at the far reaching American myths and symbols and the fibs that all that represents” – Bill Ross, Co-director of Empty Nose Bloody Pockets, Western

“What a gift to experience a movie exploring dreams, decay and homoeroticism through the lens of delusional “straight” white men… with a healthy heap of cringe to wash it down.” – TJ Martin, Oscar winner Best Documentary 2012, LA92

The Starling Girl – Director Laurel Parmet

Laurel Parmet’s astute feature narrative debut, THE STARLING GIRL zeroes in on the life of seventeen-year-old Jem Starling as she struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community of rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy of dancing with the church group is tempered by worry that her actions are sinful and she is caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and her religious devotion. With the return of Owen, an enigmatic youth pastor, Jem soon finds herself attracted to his worldliness and charm. Slowly, he draws her into a dangerous relationship that could upend their entire community. THE STARLING GIRL centers on Jem’s agency as Scanlen and a gruffly charismatic Lewis Pullman generate a palpable chemistry, even as the film steadily reaffirms Jem’s youthful naivete and Owen’s position of authority. Writer-director Laurel Parmet delicately balances the intoxication and inappropriateness of the pair’s transgressive connection in this morally complex, sensitive coming-of-age story. A stellar Eliza Scanlen beautifully conveys the impetuous, conflicted Jem’s tentative journey toward understanding her growingly complicated ideas about herself, her family, and the faith that has always guided her life.

 

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For more go to: bleeckerstreetmedia.com/the-starling-girl

About the filmmaker – Laurel Parmet is a screenwriter and director whose feature directorial debut, THE STARLING GIRL, will be premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Parmet received her MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has written and directed several award-winning short films; the latest, KIRA BURNING, having premiered at SXSW and screened at MoMA in the Future of Film is Female series. Her previous short film, SPRING, screened at SXSW, Outfest, Palm Springs and many more. Parmet developed THE STARLING GIRL as a fellow of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and was recently named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch for 2023. 

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92% on RottenTomatoes

“Scanlen’s work here is steeped in the feeling of a real-life being lived right in front of you.” – Jason Bailey, The Playlist

“The power of this sensitive and devilishly detailed coming-of-age drama is rooted in the friction that it finds between biblical paternalism and modern personhood.” – David Ehrlich, indieWire

“The language and strictures of their religious community are perfectly rendered by writer and director Laurel Parmet, who captures the complicated interplay of power and immaturity that can blossom in isolated communities.” – Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“At a time when very little nuance is allowed in our culture, Parmet exquisitely manages to tell a complex story in the least judgmental manner, focusing primarily on the inner and outer world of her protagonist, perfectly embodied by Eliza Scanlen.. – Frank J. Avella, Edge Media Network

“Parmet’s strong script and surety behind the camera navigates the audience through this complicated story of religion and sexuality, patriarchy and power, brought to eerily accurate life by the ensemble of excellent actors.” – Katie Walsh, TheWrap

Underdog – Director Tommy Hyde

Tommy Hyde’s beguiling feature documentary debut UNDERDOG follows a hardscrabble Vermont dairy farmer Doug Butler. Doug has an offbeat passion – dog mushing. A local folk hero, Doug trains his team of mutts on the family farm with a dream to compete at the world championships in Alaska. But the demands of being a small-scale family farmer in a changing world are constant. Keenly aware of the fate of the other family farms that used to dot the landscape, Doug has managed for years to play one creditor off against the next to survive another season. But with the debt now insurmountable and Doug’s thoughts plunging into depression, his dogs offer solace…and perhaps a way out. On a cold March morning Doug pulls out of his driveway in a rusted-out truck carrying 22 dogs, bound for Alaska. The journey will prepare him for what he’ll confront when he gets back: the sale of his farm and a race to craft a new destiny. Director, cinematographer, editor Tommy Hyde joins us for a conversation on how met his charismatic subject, being welcomed into Doug’s energetic world, traveling across country with Doug and working how working with UNDERDOG producer and writer, Aaron Woolf and producer Kyra Schaefer from Mosaic Films Productions made this possible.

 

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For more go to: underdogfilm.org

Check out other great films at: First Run Features

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Don’t miss the theatrical premiere of UNDERDOG at Laemmle Royal this Thursday, August 10th. Screening to be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Tommy Hyde and Aaron Woolf, as wells as the film’s unforgettable subject Doug Butler.

About the filmmaker – Tommy Hyde (Director, Camera, Editor) is a documentary filmmaker whose work explores people and stories at the fringes of society. Underdog, a film ten years in the making, is his directorial debut. He frequently collaborates with Mosaic Films, and is currently in production on two docu-series with them as a producer and writer. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and resides in Burlington, VT.

Kyra Schaefer (Co-Producer) is a NY-based documentary producer and editor whose work centers around the intersection of faith and feminism. She holds a B.A. in digital media and video production from Marymount Manhattan College. She is the co-producer of The Happening (in production) and Ordinary Saints (in production), both Mosaic Films Productions.

Aaron Woolf (Producer & Writer) is a Rockie, Logie and Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker who tells stories that depict the human dimension of government policy. His work has been released theatrically in the US, Europe and Japan and broadcast on PBS, the Sundance Channel, and numerous international networks including RAI, ARTE, and SBS. Aaron is active in community and conservation efforts in New York’s Adirondack North Country, and in 2014 he was the Democratic nominee for Congress from the New York’s 21st district.

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“Tommy Hyde’s heartwarming documentary traces the life of an aging Vermont dairy farmer. Hyde’s subtlety as a filmmaker, along with the fabulous, eccentric central figure, bring to mind David Lynch’s The Straight Story. Both films are remarkable for how seemingly unremarkable they are. Stick with it, and the film’s subliminal power will sneak up on you.”-Alex Saveliev, FILM THREAT

Kokomo City – Director D. Smith

In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary KOKOMO CITY, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver – who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession. Holding nothing back, the film vibrates with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom. This vital portrait, edited and shot by Smith in bold black and white, is her feature directorial debut. A two-time Grammy-nominated producer, singer, and songwriter, Smith made history as the first trans woman cast on a primetime unscripted TV show. Executive produced by Lena Waithe, KOKOMO CITY won the Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT Innovator Award and NEXT Audience Award, as well as the Berlinale’s Audience Award in the Panorama Documentary section. Director D. Smith joins us for a conversation on her own journey from the world of music to the world of filmmaking, telling a story that would appeal to people outside the LBGTQ+ community, working with Executive Producer Lena Waithe, sharing the private life of sex workers, morning the loss of a friend and why shooting in black and white was the right choice for KOKOMO CITY.

 

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**WINNER**
NEXT Innovator Award – Sundance FF 2023
NEXT Audience Award – Sundance FF 2023
Panorama Documentary Audience Award – Berlin Int’l FF 2023

 

About the filmmaker – Director/Editor/Cinematographer/Producer D. Smith is a two-time Grammy nominated producer, singer, and songwriter and is now making her film debut as a director of the documentary KOKOMO CITY. Smith’s father was a world-renowned drummer, and she wrote her first song at 10 years-old for the choir at church in Miami, Florida. From 4th grade through High School, Smith was a visual arts student, winning multiple awards for her eye including winning the statewide NAACP Act So award for photography and the statewide Scholastics Congressional award for drawing and was flown to the Capital in D.C. where her work was displayed. After coming out to her father as a teen, Smith was kicked out her house and was taken in by a church member. After graduating High School, Smith used the last of her money on a one-way bus ticket to New York City. She then began singing in the subway where she was first discovered and offered a publishing deal from Sony ATV.  As a producer, Smith teamed with songwriter Stacy Barthe and they began placing records with major artists in the music business. Smith produced “Shoot Me Down” for Lil Wayne’s Carter III album which went 8 times platinum and performed with Lil Wayne on Jimmy Kimmel. Smith then signed a major publishing deal with Universal Music. She has produced and written for Cee-lo Green, Estelle, Katy Perry, Andre 3000, Monica, Lloyd, Fantasia, Nipsey Hussle, Ciara, Neyo, and Billy Porter. She has also collaborated with super producers like Timbaland and Marc Ronson. In 2014, Smith decided to walk in her truth and transition into the woman she always knew she was. She was unaware that living in her truth meant that she would have to sacrifice the thing she loved the most, which was making music for a living. People stopped calling. And eventually after running out of money and options, she knew she had to move on from the life she once knew. The silver lining came with the creation of KOKOMO CITY which has breathed new life into her. She devoted almost 3 years to it while crashing on different friends’ couches. All the while diving into the lives of four trans women who had a story to tell. Smith was over the moon to receive the call that KOKOMO CITY was to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. 

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96% on RottenTomatoes

“Smith’s music and photography instincts carry the film cinematically, but the real stars of Kokomo City are its honest and dynamic subjects.” – Jude Dry, indieWire

“It is a powerful and moving film that raises important questions and encourages viewers to think more deeply about the complexities of the trans experience.” – Michael Levine, Bust Magazine

“Director D. Smith’s stunning film composition and whip-smart comic timing make this heavy subject matter compelling and accessible.” – Jeanine T. Abraham, Black Girl Nerds

“Eye-and-ear-opening and mind-expanding and easily the most colorful black and white documentary you’re going to see this year. Guaranteed.” – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

“This doc rocks, using music to set the tempo for its snappy mix of head-turning talking heads, tongue-in-cheek reenactments and outside-the-box supporting visuals.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

A Compassionate Spy – Director Steve James

Directed by two-time Oscar® nominated filmmaker Steve James (Hoop, Life Itself, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail), A COMPASSIONATE SPY is a gripping real-life spy thriller about controversial Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who infamously provided nuclear secrets to  the Soviet Union, told through the perspective of his loving wife Joan, who protected his secret for decades. Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to help Robert Oppenheimer and his team create a bomb, Hall was the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, and didn’t share his colleagues’ elation after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Concerned that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon could lead to nuclear catastrophe, Hall began passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union. After the war, he met, fell in love with, and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for classical music and socialist causes — and the explosive secret of his espionage. The pair raised a family while living under a cloud of suspicion and years of FBI surveillance and intimidation. A COMPASSIONATE SPY reveals the twists and turns of this real-life spy story, its profound impact on nuclear history, and the couple’s remarkable love and life together during more than 50 years of marriage. Award winning filmmaker Steve James (Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, City So Real, America To Me) joins us for a conversation on the fraught political circumstances that brought Ted Hall to make such a radical decision, how Joan and Ted navigated their post war life, and why having a more nuanced understanding of the Cold War and nuclear destruction may save the world from an unimaginable conflagration. 

 

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About the filmmaker – Steve James was born in Hampton, Virginia, USA. One of America’s most acclaimed documentary directors, Steve’s first film, Hoop Dreams, is the story of two inner city Chicago teens striving to make it out of their neighborhoods and to the NBA. The film won every major critics’ award as well as the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Peabody, and Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, awards from the Directors Guild of America, MTV Movie Award’s “Best New Filmmaker” honor and hundreds of other awards and accolades, making it the most awarded film of the year. Recently, Hoop Dreams was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, signifying the film’s enduring importance to American film history. James is also known for other award winning documentary films including; The Interrupters (2011), Life Itself (2014) and Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016). His documentary series works include America to Me (2018), City So Real (2020) and most recently, The Luckiest Guy in the World (2023). Steve James has been based in Chicago, Illinois for his entire career.

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93% on RottenTomatoes

“This first-rate portrait gets intimate with an atomic-age Edward Snowden, all the better to cast a long shadow.” – Phil Hoad, Guardian

“The documentary doubles as a mournful reflection on the age of nuclear proliferation – and a tribute to those who opposed the buildup.” – Tim Grierson, Screen International

“A Compassionate Spy borrows the look and feel of a historical espionage thriller and builds some momentum and moral complexity along the way, but it finds its real potency as a generational family drama.” – Dan Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter

“The film demonstrates its director’s characteristic nose for strong material and knack for gripping, straightforward storytelling.” – Guy Lodge, Variety

“It’s worth being reminded by James’s layered, grippingly told account of a principled betrayal that when it comes to the biggest threats facing the globe, sometimes one person in the right circumstance can make a difference.” – Robert Abele, TheWrap

Bobi Wine: The People’s President – Co-directors Moses Bwayo & Christopher Sharp

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT, the award-winning feature documentary debut from directors Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp and produced by Christopher Sharp, alongside two-time Academy Award winner John Battsek’s Ventureland. BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT follows Bobi Wine, who was born in the slums of Kampala and became one of Uganda’s most popular musical talents the country has ever seen. In the midst of the violence, corruption and injustice of the ruthless regime led by Yoweri Museveni, Bobi decides to become the Ugandan opposition leader in the much-disputed 2021 presidential election. Using his music to denounce the dictatorial regime and support his life’s mission to defend the oppressed and the voiceless people of Uganda, Bobi risks his life and the lives of his wife, Barbie, and their children to take on the country’s corrupt police and military, who are not afraid to use violence and torture in a vain attempt to intimidate and silence Bobi and his supporters. Co-directors Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp join us for a conversation on the incredible level of access they have in the life of Bobi, Barbie, his family and his trusted circle of advisors as well as the extremely dangerous situations brought on by Bobi’s decision to stand against a dictatorial regime and stand up for the people in Uganda who want a better life for themselves and the beloved nation.

 

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Opens LA This Friday 7/28 at the Laemmle Royal

About the subject –Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, famously known as Bobi Wine, is a musician turned politician who is the current leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) and the People Power Movement. Bobi was born in Mpigi District in Uganda on Feb. 12, 1982. He grew up in the Kamwokya slums in the northeast part of Kampala. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a veterinarian and farmer.Bobi is a singer, musician, actor and activist. He has campaigned for hospital sanitization, malaria prevention, refugees’ rights and children’s education. His songs are known as peaceful protest and edutainment (a mix between education and entertainment), focusing on the struggles of Uganda’s underprivileged and low-income earners and calling upon young people to join politics and change their country’s destiny. He is married to Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi, known as Barbie, with whom he has four children.His characteristic enthusiasm for democratic discourse and the popularity he had earned from his prior artistic and philanthropic endeavors successfully endured his transition to politics. Bobi Wine continues to lead the NUP, the largest political opposition party in Uganda and has become the main opposition leader to President Museveni’s rule.

About the Subject – Barbara “Barbie” Itungo Kyagulanyi is an author, philanthropist and human rights activist. Barbie’s 2012 book, “Golden Memories of a Village Belle,” gives insight into her early childhood experiences with village politics and local council elections, her African family unit, and the abject poverty that led to the early marriages of her childhood friends. In 2013, Barbie founded Caring Hearts Uganda, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that seeks to champion development projects in rural areas, prioritizing health care, maternity, education and sanitary programs. The NGO supports empowering leadership in girls through HIV/AIDS eradication, menstrual hygiene instruction, and continuing education, teaching traditional Ugandan values while encouraging girls to stay in school. In the community, the NGO has extended entrepreneurship skills to teen mothers for personal development and sustainability. With a master’s degree in human rights law from the University of London, Barbie has taken on the mantle of demanding equity and equality for women in political spaces through the women’s wing of the National Unity Platform political party, which is led by her husband, Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

About the filmmaker – Christopher Sharp was born in Uganda and has a deep appreciation for the country’s people, culture and extraordinary natural beauty. He spent his early working life as a film editor in London and more recently has revisited the profession as director of ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’.He met Bobi and Barbie in 2017 and was inspired by their courage. Christopher believed in their extraordinary capacity to enact change, and instantly knew that their enormous sacrifice and resilience needed to be documented.He worked closely with a number of talented individuals, including Editor Paul Carlin, as well as acclaimed Producer John Battsek, Co-Director Moses Bwayo, and other inspirational cinematographers. Collectively they have made a film which he hopes gives courage to all those who struggle under oppressive regimes.

About the filmmaker – Moses Bwayo is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker known for shooting and co-directing the award-winning feature documentary “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” (2023). Born in the village of Bududa on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, Moses was introduced to filmmaking by peeking through cracks in the walls of local kibandas, bootleg movie theatres housed in wooden shacks. In 2013, he graduated with honors with his Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communication. Moses went on to earn a postgraduate diploma at Kampala Film School, the nation’s top film and television conservatory, and started working as a production sound recordist and cinematographer. His life changed when he met Oscar®-nominated director Mira Nair, who was facilitating a workshop for aspiring filmmakers at her Maisha Film Labs. He was chosen as a boom operator on Nair’s short documentary “A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight” (2014). Subsequently, Nair took Moses under her wing and mentored him for two years, during which he performed sundry jobs for Disney’s “Queen of Katwe” (2016), travelling to the United States for the first time for the final mix with Nair in New York. In 2016, Moses started his own production company in Kampala, Jajja Productions, where he oversaw production and post-production services on various commercial, documentary, and feature films. Moses’ reputation as a courageous verité cinematographer and local fixer began to grow, shooting for ABC, BBC, and VICE News for their Uganda-based productions. In late 2017 His life changed again when he began work on the feature documentary “Bobi Wine: The People’s President.” Working closely with co-director and producer Christopher, Moses spent five harrowing years following Bobi Wine, a pop star turned politician who ran for president opposing Yoweri Museveni, a dictator who has been in power since 1986. During the production, Moses was arrested, imprisoned, and shot in the face at close range while filming. Two-time Oscar winner John Battsek also produced the film. With mounting threats to him and his family for making the film, Moses fled Uganda to the United States. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

 “A universally relevant portrait … consistently potent” – The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg

 “Gripping … An intimate portrait of a hugely engaging figure” – Screen Daily, Allan Hunter

“A shocking, tender work” – The Economist”

“This is a profile of unfathomable courage that deserves to be seen, in part to honor those who supported the film’s supply of footage and cannot be listed in the credits for fear of repercussion” – The Playlist

“His personality shines brightly throughout the film, which resonates with his hopeful protest songs. The more intensely violent situations he faces often turn the film into a nerve-shredding thriller.” – Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

“The film is a moving portrait of an inspiring young man and a reminder of the tenuous contract between a government and its citizens if democracy is going to prevail.’ – Scott Phillips, Forbes

North Circular – Director Luke McManus

Director Luke McManus’ rousing and sublime documentary NORTH CIRCULAR is a musical ode that travels the length of Dublin’s North Circular Road, from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Port, exploring the history, music and streetscapes of a street that links some of the country’s most beloved and infamous places. Told in black and white 4:3 Academy ratio, the film evokes many narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism, to mental health, to the struggle for women’s liberation while also engaging with urgent issues of today, including the battle to save the legendary Cobblestone Pub, centre of Dublin’s recent folk revival, from destruction at the hands of cynical property developers. The film also includes musical performances from artists local to the North Circular, including John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O’Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch & Gemma Dunleavy. Director Luke McManus joins us for a conversation on the personal connection that he has to this historic roadway, how the road has played into the history of Dublin, highlighting the vital role that traditional Irish music has in the life of this community, what makes the Cobblestone Pub the most essential venue on North Circular and how stumbling upon Music Night at the Pub changed the course of the film, and the importance of contributing to the local economy.

 

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About the filmmaker – Luke McManus is a filmmaker based in Grangegorman, just off the North Circular Road. Luke has produced and directed award-winning documentary projects for NBC, Netflix, RTÉ, Virgin Media Television, TG4, NDR/ARD, Al Jazeera and Channel 4, winning four IFTAs, one Celtic Media Award and the Radharc Award in the process. His debut feature as producer was The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid, which premiered in the Main Competition at IDFA in 2018, won the George Morrison Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Irish Film & Television Awards and the Best Irish Film Award at the Dublin International Film Festival.  North Circular is his debut feature documentary as a director.  For more go to: lukemcmanusdirector.com

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“A love letter to hard-scrabble North Dublin” – Will Hermes, The New York Times

“Resonant, vivid and beautifully shot… pregnant with images and ideas… a film made with real artistry” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

“Insightful, exquisite…beautifully observed and evocative.”-  John Maguire, Business Post

“A fascinating psychogeography… captivating, positively operatic.” – Donald Clarke, Irish Times

“A glorious documentary… brilliant… told with beautiful photography and glorious music… I love this film! …A gorgeous, beautiful, important story… a glorious trip!”, – John Fardy, Newstalk

“Beautiful, visually and sonically striking…A heartfelt love letter to Dublin.”- Leo Barraclough, Variety

“A film full of astonishing imagery…a remarkable contemporary document of places, people, lives and times” – Luke Maxwell, Dublin Inquirer

“A time-capsule charmer…beguiling…If ever a film was a rallying cry against isolation, it’s this one.” – Harry Guerin, RTÉ