News

Exclusive: Ahead of its world premiere at SXSW on Saturday (March 9), feature doc Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics has found an international distributor in the UK’s Rainmaker Content.

The 90-minute film from Canada’s White Pine Pictures investigates the global addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics to human health. The film is an official selection of the SXSW Festival 2024 Documentary Spotlight.

Rainmaker has bagged worldwide sales rights. Two of its key execs, Greg Phillips and Vicky Ryan, have worked with White Pine execs for almost 20 years. While at Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) and Content Media, they represented White Pine titles such as hard-driving TV drama series The Border; feature doc Toxic Beauty; and Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word is Power.

Plastic People has been positioned as the follow-up film to Toxic Beauty.

The synopsis for Plastic People notes that...

White Pine Pictures executive Andrew Munger has re-launched his outfit Ultramagnetic Productions with a slate of drama and documentary projects.

Munger first operated Ultramagnetic Productions from 1997 to 2004, producing non-fiction projects including “Walmart Nation,” “Campaign: The Making of a Candidate,” “Xanadu: In Search of Domestic Perfection” and “Make Some Noise!” for networks such as the CBC, Discovery, History and Life/Slice. He shuttered the company in 2005 to run television production at World Vision, Canada’s largest non-profit organization, before moving to Toronto’s White Pine Pictures in 2014.

After eight years, Munger is stepping down from his role as director of unscripted development at White Pine in order to restart Ultramagnetic.

However, he will continue as an executive producer on several key White Pine feature documentaries, including “Buffy Sainte Marie: Carry It On” (Bell/PBS) and “The Con: Churchill and Roosevelt Secret American War” (Super Channel/Wnet/Arte/Beyond Rights). The latter...

“Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children,” which world premiered in Hot Doc’s Hidden Histories sidebar, is among several titles at the festival that illuminate historical institutional abuse of or injustice toward people through the intimate stories of survivors.

Huronia Regional Center, a now-closed hospital and home for children with developmental disabilities, opened in Orillia (roughly 90 miles from Toronto) in 1876 under a different name. In the mid 20th century, reports of harm to children and recommendations by medical experts to close the institution were not heeded.

In December 2013, a class-action lawsuit brought by former residents of the center against the province of Ontario was settled.

That’s when veteran documentarian Barri Cohen’s ears perked up.

Her father had two sons from his first marriage who had been sent to Huronia in the 1950s. Cohen’s older half-sibling, Adele, asked if she knew about the family connection. The picture was seriously incomplete.

A new documentary film about Buffy Sainte-Marie, the first and only Indigenous person to win an Academy Award, has begun production and will be helmed by director Madison Thomas.

Titled “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On,” the feature will be an in-depth look at the life of the activist and musician, described as a “cinematic, poetic and musically-infused journey, blending an extraordinary collection of archival material, some never seen before, with present-day footage of Buffy performing and interviews with her bandmates, colleagues and Buffy herself.”

“To turn one’s life story over to a documentary production is a leap of faith, but with White Pine Pictures and Eagle Vision, the process is feeling natural to me,” Sainte-Marie says in an exclusive statement to Variety. “I look forward to experiencing the story of my life as told through their lens and sharing that story with the world.”

The now 80-year-old artist...

Hulu has picked up the U.S. rights to the Canadian feature documentary Margaret Atwood A Word After a Word After a Word is Power, about the Canadian literary star and The Handmaid's Tale author, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The film, by directors Nancy Lang and Peter Raymont, follows Atwood and her late partner Graeme Gibson to events around the world, and has interviews with The Handmaid's Tale star Elisabeth Moss, Sarah Polley, Volker Schlöndorf and others, while Tatiana Maslany reads Atwood's poetry and prose.

The film's producer, White Pine Pictures, announced Wednesday that Margaret Atwood A ...

Hulu has picked up U.S. rights to Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power, the feature documentary about the Canadian literary star and The Handmaid's Tale author.

The film, from directors Nancy Lang and Peter Raymont, follows Atwood and her late partner Graeme Gibson to events around the world, and has interviews with The Handmaid's Tale star Elisabeth Moss, Sarah Polley, Volker Schlöndorf and others, while Tatiana Maslany reads Atwood's poetry and prose.

Hulu said the Atwood documentary will start streaming Nov. 19.

The film's producer, White Pine Pictures, added Wednesday that A ...

Lorna Lee Torres commences international sales.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Tiff opener Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band ahead of its opening night world premiere slot on Thursday (5).

Magnolia head of international sales Lorna Lee Torres and international sales manager Marie Zeniter will launch sales in Toronto and all international rights are available excluding Canada, where the film will make its premiere as a Crave Original.

Daniel Roher directed Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band, the first Canadian-made documentary to open the festival. Magnolia plans an early 2020 theatrical release for the film, inspired by Robertson’s 2017 memoir Testimony,...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band,” which is playing at Tiff as the festival’s opening night gala presentation, Magnolia announced Thursday.

The documentary about Robertson and the classic rock group The Band is directed by Daniel Roher and is executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Magnolia is planning a theatrical release for the film early next year.

“Once Were Brothers” is inspired by Robertson’s 2017 bestselling memoir “Testimony” and is a confessional, cautionary and sometimes humorous tale of Robertson’s young life amid the founding of The Band. The film blends archival footage and interviews with many of Robertson’s friends and collaborators, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Scorsese, Taj Mahal, Peter Gabriel, David Geffen and Ronnie Hawkins, among others.

Also Read: 'Once Were Brothers' Film Review: Robbie Robertson Documentary Finds the Sadness...

The Band are coming to the Toronto Film Festival. Rock doc Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band about The Weight rockers is to open the festival as its Opening Night Gala Presentation on September 5.

It will be the world premiere of the doc, which is directed by Ghosts of Our Forest director Daniel Roher, and marks the first time a Canadian doc opens the festival.

The film, which is inspired by Robertson’s 2016 memoir, Testimony, tells the moving story of Robertson’s personal journey as he overcame adversity and found camaraderie alongside the four other men who would become his brothers in music, and who together made their mark on music history.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band blends rare archival footage, photography, songs, and interviews with many of Robertson’s friends and collaborators, including Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, Taj Mahal,...

Premiere marks the first time a Canadian-made documentary will open festival.

The world premiere of Daniel Roher’s documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band has been selected as the opening night gala of the 44th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) on September 5.

The premiere screens at Roy Thomson Hall and marks the first time a Canadian-made documentary will open the festival. The documentary is inspired by Robertson’s 2016 memoir, Testimony, and tells the story of how he overcame adversity and found camaraderie alongside the four other men who would become his collaborators in rock group The Band.

Exclusive: The next big music documentary in the works: Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. Pic will tell the story of a group that went from backing up Bob Dylan to become one of the most influential groups of its era. Told through the prism of founding member Robertson, Once Were Brothers is being directed by Daniel Roher (Survivors Rowe) and will be executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Pic will be a co-production between Imagine Documentaries, White Pine Pictures, Bell Media Studios and Universal Music Canada’s Shed Creative.

Inspired by Robertson’s 2017 bestselling memoir Testimony, the film is a confessional, cautionary, and sometimes humorous tale of Robertson’s young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music. The film blends rare archival footage and interviews with many of Robertson’s friends and collaborators,...

Toronto–Hot Docs opening film “Nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up,” directed by Tasha Hubbard, won the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award at the annual festival’s awards ceremony May 13, where 14 awards and Can$75,000 in cash and prizes were handed out to Canadian and international films and filmmakers at the Isabel Bader Theater.

Hubbard was on hand to accept the award, which comes with a Can$10,000 cash prize, for her film about a family’s pursuit of justice from Saskatchewan to the U.N. after the killer of their son Colten Boushie is acquitted of murder. “I’d like to thank this courageous family who trusted me, and who never gave up,” Hubbard said upon accepting it.

“Hope Frozen,” about a grief-stricken Bangkok family and their decision to cryopreserve their deceased daughter, won the Best International Feature Documentary Award. Director and producer Pailin Wedel was on hand to accept the award,...

The Vancouver International Film Festival (Viff) has today announced 22 additional Canadian feature films in two series, Canadian Images and Future//Present. These films join 10 British Columbia-produced features announced previously to create one of the largest annual showcases of Canadian cinema in the world. Standouts include Nathan Morlando’s Cannes premiere “Mean Dreams,” Johnny Ma’s “Old Stone” and Bruce McDonald’s “Weirdos.”

The longstanding Canadian Images series will once again feature some of the country’s best narrative films and documentaries, while the new Future//Present series highlights the work of emerging independent filmmakers from across the country. Future//Present promises to “bring together the most talented, bold and distinct voices in Canadian film.”

Read More: Tiff Adds New Round of Titles, Including ‘It’s Only the End of the World,’ ‘Mean Dreams’ and More

As part of its commitment to Canadian filmmakers, Viff offers three cash awards to celebrate...

The fall festival rush is upon us. Locarno is currently ramping up. Venice has released their line-up and Thom Powers and the Toronto International Film Festival team have dropped a bomb with a previously unannounced new feature from powerhouse docu-provocateur Michael Moore. It is truly a miracle that the production of a film such as Moore’s upcoming Where To Invade Next (see still above) managed to go completely undetected by the filmmaking community until it was literally announced to world premiere at one of the largest film festivals in the world. Programmed as a one of the key films in the Special Presentations section at Tiff, the film sees Moore telling “the Pentagon to ‘stand down’ — he will do the invading for America from now on.” Also announced to premiere at Tiff was Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, which has slowly been rising up this list, as well as...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will kick off Part Two of its 30th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” screening series with the 2010 Oscar®-nominated feature “Exit through the Gift Shop” and “Catfish” on Wednesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission to all screenings in the series is free.

“Exit through the Gift Shop” follows a videographer named Thierry Guetta, who attempts to document the work of some of the world’s best-known guerrilla street artists. When the artist known only as Banksy questions Guetta’s intentions, however, and seizes control of the film, the roles of filmmaker and subject are reversed. Directed by Banksy and produced by Jaimie D’Cruz, “Exit through the Gift Shop” earned an Academy Award® nomination for Documentary Feature.

In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost began to film the life of Ariel’s brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project,...

Skoll Foundation And Sundance Institute Present

Celebrating .Stories Of Change. Panel

At 2012 Sundance Film Festival

Fifth Stories of Change Convening for Filmmakers and Social Entrepreneurs

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Skoll Foundation today announced a special Celebrating .Stories of Change. panel to be held at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The panel celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary initiative, dedicated to exploring film’s role in advancing knowledge about social entrepreneurship.

At this special event on Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally Osberg will moderate a thought-provoking dialogue between award-winning filmmakers (including clips from their work) and innovators who are impacting millions. Panelists include Joia Mukherjee (Partners in Health), Jehane Noujaim (Director, Control Room), Bunker Roy (Founder, Barefoot College) and Kief Davidson (Director, The Devil.s Miner). Ticket information is available atwww.

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"127 Hours" (2010)

Directed by Danny Boyle

Released by Fox Home Entertainment

With a fast-forward button at the ready on home devices, it's high time more people see James Franco's Spirit Award-winning performance as real-life adventurer Aron Ralston, who gets his arm trapped under a boulder in Utah's Bluejohn Canyon and struggles to survive and free himself in Danny Boyle's life-affirming followup to "Slumdog Millionaire." (Matt Singer's interview with James Franco and Danny Boyle is here.)

"420 High Desert Way" (2011)

Directed by Tom Breedlove

Released by Maverick Entertainment Group

Dealing with a different drug than the one suggested by the title, this procedural drama follows a young undercover cop who must refine his extreme sports skills as he infiltrates a drug cartel and must bust them before they learn his true identity.

"Bambi" (1942)

Directed by James Algar and Samuel Armstrong

Released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment...

Black Swan (15)

(Darren Aronofsky, 2010, Us) Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel. 108 mins

Another tale of driven professionalism to go with Aronofsky's The Wrestler, but this goes further and gets away with more, whipping a tale of theatrical ambition into a delirious, hallucinogenic melodrama. Portman is superb as the brittle ballerina facing up to her nightmares when she lands her dream role, and between the punishing routines, her monstrous mother (Barbara Hershey) and the fever of performance, we're swept away.

Neds (18)

(Peter Mullan, 2010, UK/Fra/Ita) Conor McCarron, Martin Bell, Linda Cuthbert. 134 mins

Mullan turns his memories of 1970s Glasgow into a muscular yet compassionate youth drama. McCarron is outstanding as a bright boy whose promise is warped by brutal conditions in and out of school.

Morning Glory (12A)

(Roger Michell, 2010, Us) Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton. 107 mins

McAdams delights and Ford grouches in a breakfast TV comedy that is...

Chicago – Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reveals their short list for the Oscar for Best Documentary and every year there’s a notable snub or two that makes one question the process. Last year, “Anvil: The Story of Anvil,” one of the most-beloved films of the year, didn’t make the cut. This year, “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” failed to make the cut, continuing a pattern in which films not deemed “serious enough” by Academy members can’t get past the first round.

The Tillman Story

Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

Luckily, a number of the best documentaries of 2010 were serious enough to pass Academy muster including several films about the economy, a few about the war in Iraq, and a pair of controversial docs about the failures of our current educational system. It should be an interesting battle for the final five in this category.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has whittled down qualified films for the Best Documentary Feature category. Originally, 101 films qualified in the category, and now, there are only 15 movies left standing. These films will advance in the voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards.

The 15 films are (alphabetically):

* .Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC)

* .Enemies of the People. Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)

* .Exit through the Gift Shop. Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

* .Gasland. Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

* .Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould. Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors

(White Pine Pictures)

* .Inside Job. Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

* .The Lottery. Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)

* .Precious Life. Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions) .Megamind.

* .Quest for Honor. Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)

* .Restrepo. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger,...

The shortlist for the Documentary Feature category of the 2011 Academy Awards has been announced and has been met with equal amounts of pleasant surprise and puzzled scratching of heads. The joyous bemusement in reaction to the inclusion of Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop, which many of us were convinced would be this year’s Anvil, and the shock that Laura Poitas' The Oath was notably absent. It’s particularly refreshing to see the inclusion of Exit given the general view that the Academy only saw the more "worthy"-subject based documentaries as genuine contenders, and that more populist fare never stood a chance. As documentaries don't compete within other filmmaking categories such as editing and cinematography (of which Armadillo would certainly deserve to be listed) the Documentary Feature category has always felt that it has to be an award based on overall filmmaking achievement, rather than subject, impact or agenda.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed today the 15 films that have made their shortlist for the Best Feature Documentary category in the 83rd Academy Awards.

They include:

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC)

Enemies of the People, Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)

Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

Gasland, Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures)

Inside Job, Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

The Lottery, Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)

Precious Life, Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions)

Quest for Honor, Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)

Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)

This Way of Life, Thomas Burstyn, director (Cloud South Films)

The Tillman Story, Amir Bar-Lev, director… Read...

HollywoodNews.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards®. One hundred-one pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

“Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC)

“Enemies of the People,” Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)

“Exit through the Gift Shop,” Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

“Gasland,” Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

“Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould,” Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures)

“Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

“The Lottery,” Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)

“Precious Life,” Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions)

“Quest for Honor,” Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)

“Restrepo,” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger,...

Do you want answers? Do you believe you’re entitled to them? Do you want the truth? Can you, in fact, handle the truth? The 15 documentaries competing for Oscar have been selected.

Check out the list below [via Oscars.org]:

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC) Enemies of the People Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films) Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures) Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC) Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors

(White Pine Pictures) Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures) The Lottery Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films) Precious Life Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions) “Megamind” Quest for Honor Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions) Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films) This Way of Life Thomas Burstyn, director (Cloud South Films...

The Academy announced today the 15 Documentary Features eligible for an Oscar and In Contention’s Guy Lodge cleverly quips on who did and didn’t make the shortlist:

“…judging from the Twitter reaction, this year.s most-mourned snubee is the Chinese critical darling .Last Train Home.. (I.d join the pitchfork-wielders, but I haven.t had an opportunity to see the film yet.) More surprising, however, is the omission of such widely fancied contenders as .The Oath. and .A Film Unfinished. . yes, folks, hell is experiencing a cold snap and the Academy snubbed a Holocaust documentary.”

Because as we all know with AMPAS voters, Holocaust films notoriously trump all comers. Too bad Joan Rivers’ A Piece Of Work didn’t make the cut. It’s a fascinating look into her life.

AMPAS Press Release:

Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in...

The Weinstein Company / Paramount

You know what we love? A good, old-fashioned documentary. Sometimes, that’s really the stuff.

And this year there’s been an exceptionally strong batch of documentary features, which explains why more than 100 of them were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this year’s Oscars. Now, though, the suits at the Academy have trimmed the field to just 15 finalists… and the controversial “Catfish” and crowd-pleasing “Babies” are nowhere to be seen.

“Catfish,” of course, purported to be a doc about a guy who falls for a Facebook friend only to find out that his new internet love is (spoiler!) a lying liar who lies. Some people felt it was probably about as real in documentary terms as “Paranormal Activity 2,” however, which may explain why it didn’t make the cut.

“Babies,” the much-buzzed about feature showing how infants in wildly...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the shortlist of fifteen films now vying for the five “Best Documentary” nominations. The organization will unveil the final five at the announcement ceremony on January 25, 2011, just over a month before the Oscar telecast on February 27. A record-breaking 101 films qualified for the award before the line-up was narrowed to these fifteen:

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC)

Enemies of the People, Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)

Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

Gasland, Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures)

Inside Job, Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

The Lottery, Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)

Precious Life, Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions)

Quest for Honor, Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)

Restrepo,...

Not entirely sure why much lauded docs films that stuck out this year in Janus Metz's Armadilllo, Lixin Fan's Last Train Home, Michelangelo Frammartino's le quattro volte and Jeff Malmberg's Marwencol failed to make the grade (I'm not entirely sure how this works with the cut-off dates), but there are plenty on the list of 15 that have earned the right to be deemed among the best docs of the year. Shockingly, they included Exit through the Gift Shop and not surprisingly, this along with seven other docus if my count is good, first began their public life at the January launch-pad known as the Sundance Film Festival. The preliminary round of voting will determine five noms (announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. Pt) and the only one I can honestly say is a shoe-in for a top 5 nom spot is Charles Ferguson's Inside Job.

And it's a good-looking, diverse and hip slate -- at least until the final five nominees are announced, and inevitably three to four of them are the least watched, least known from this selection, making the race opaque to almost everyone. Interesting that two controversial pro-charter school docs, the better known "Waiting for 'Superman'" and the smaller "The Lottery" both made the cut, while the acclaimed "Last Train Home" did not. "The Oath," thought a possible frontrunner by some, also failed to make the snip. But nice to see the excellent "Enemies of the People" on there.

"Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer"

Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC)

"Enemies of the People"

Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)

"Exit through the Gift Shop"

Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

"Gasland"

Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

"Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould"

Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont,...

After viewing 101 contenders for Best Feature Documentary for the 83rd Academy Awards, the Documentary Branch has revealed the final 15 contenders shortlist for nomination consideration.

This list is in alphabetical order: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC) Enemies of the People Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films) Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures) Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC) Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures) Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures) The Lottery Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films) Precious Life Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions) Quest for Honor Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions) Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films) This Way of Life Thomas Burstyn, director (Cloud South Films) The Tillman Story Amir Bar-Lev, director (Passion...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards. One hundred-one pictures had originally qualified in the category. The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company: - Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Alex Gibney, director (Es Productions LLC) - Enemies of the People Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films) - Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures) - Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC) - Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures) - Inside Job Charles Ferguson,...

The long-awaited Short List of feature-length documentaries in consideration for Academy Award nomination was finally released, and here are the lucky 15:

Client 9:The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (Dir.: Alex Gibney; Es Productions LLC) Enemies of the People (Dirs.: Rob Lemkin, Thet Sambath; Old Street Films) Exit through the Gift Shop (Dir.: Banksy; Paranoid Pictures) Gasland (Dir.: Josh Fox; Gasland Productions, LLC) Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (Dirs.: Michele Hozer, Peter Raymont; White Pine Pictures) Inside Job (Dir.: Charles Ferguson; Representational Pictures) The Lottery (Dir.: Madeleine Sackler; ...

Best documentary at the Oscars is, like best foreign language film, the type of category that seems invented to be grumbled over, with selections and winners rarely reflecting the films everyone else in the world finds most worthy of praise. So it's much less frustrating to look to organizations like the International Documentary Association for better indicators of the docs that are the cream of 2010's crop.

The nominees for the 2010 Ida Documentary Awards were announced today, and the contenders for the top prize include Banksy's "Exit Through The Gift Shop," a personal favorite; Laura Poitras' Al-Qaeda saga "The Oath"; Joonas Berghaell and Mika Hotakainen's look at Finnish sauna culture "Steam of Life"; Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's trailing of Montana sheepherders "Sweetgrass"; and Lucy Walker's tale of making art of trash "Waste Land," opening in New York on Friday. The awards will take place in L.

Genius Within: The Inner Life Of Glen Gould

Going into this documentary directed by Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont my knowledge of Glen Gould was limited to the fact that an earlier documentary, Thirty-two Short Films About Glen Gould(1993), had inspired a classic episode of The Simpsons(1996.sTWENTY Two Short Films About Springfield). Therefore the story of Glen Gould.s life as one of Canada.s most celebrated classical pianists was all new to me. Gould.s life and career was not one that most people would expect of such an artist.

Born in 1932, Glen Gould showed a talent for music at a very early age. A Toronto childhood friend tells of many nights in which Gould would stay at the piano almost till dawn. He had developed the habit of singing along  while tapping out the compositions. Soon he would be performing public concerts and playing over the airwaves of Canadian radio.

Toronto – Some Oscar campaigns just take longer to launch than others.

Canadian filmmakers Peter Raymont and Michele Hozer debuted "Genius Within: The Inner Life Of Glenn Gould" at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, and are now taking a less-traveled road to Oscar consideration for their arthouse documentary: through Dan Talbot's Upper West Side Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

It's the difference for a U.S. theatrical release of a Canadian movie between one built on hope or on deliberate strategy.

U.S. distributor Kino Lorber Raymont premiered the film about the late Canadian classic pianist Glenn Gould at the taste-making Lincoln Plaza on Sept. 9 after securing impressive reviews from the New York Times and The New Yorker.

Kino Lorber topper Richard Lorber said the positive NYC reviews and Lincoln Plaza release puts the picture on the radar screen of national theatre bookers as a crossover art film, with DVD and VOD...

“Behind every silver lining there’s a cloud.” So goes Glenn Gould’s personal motto. It’s a fitting commentary on Gould’s tragic descent into depression and exile. But it’s also an apt description of Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont’s bleak — and wholly accurate — attempt to capture Gould’s legacy.

“Genius Within” lags at times, weighed down by the inescapable sadness that seemed to follow Gould wherever he went. While there’s no denying the composer’s interpretive genius, the film unintentionally shines a light on the fact that once you strip away the music, Glenn Gould wasn’t all that interesting a guy. In fact, those few aspects of Gould’s life that were interesting weren’t necessarily admirable.

Here’s a guy who made his name playing packed auditoriums the world over, only to later say, “I detest audiences. I think they’re a force...

Toronto -- Kino Lorber has booked the Canadian biopic "Genius Within: The Inner Life Of Glenn Gould" into New York City and Chicago for a Sept. 17 theatrical release.

The U.S. distributor will release the Peter Raymont and Michele Hozer-directed documentary about the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould at Lincoln Plaza Cinema in Manhattan and the Music Box Theatre in Chicago before it opens on Sept. 24 at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles.

Kino Lorber's platform release includes dates in October and November in St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

"Genius Within," produced by White Pines Pictures, bowed last year at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Today, the nominations for Canada's 2010 Directors Guild Awards have been announced. These awards are meant to give awards for some people who work behind the camera to give outstanding films and TV series. Besides, the gala will be hosted by Canadian comedian Dave Foley. So, without further ado, here are the nominations.

Best feature film:

* Cairo Time.

* Chloe.

* The Trotsky.

* Love & Savagery.

Best television movie/miniseries

* Darwin Darkest Hour.

* Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story.

* Sea Wolf.

* The White Archer.

Best dramatic TV series:

* Being Erica.

* Flashpoint.

* Sanctuary.

* The Bridge.

Best comedy TV series:

* The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town.

* G-Spot.

* Less than Kind.

* Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Best family TV series:

* Degrassi: The Next Generation.

* Heartland.

* How to Be Indie.

* Overruled!

Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary:

* Ballet High - Elise Swerhone (Director), Robert Lower (Picture Editor).

* The Experimental Eskimos -...

Lorber Films are plugging their autumn schedule with Peter Raymont and Michèle Hozer's Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, a doc that was first showed at Tiff. - Lorber Films are plugging their autumn schedule with Peter Raymont and Michèle Hozer's Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, a doc that was first showed at Tiff. Lorber will release the picture this September. You can find a pretty elaborate website which describes the doc film and the musical genius that was Glenn Gould.     An enigmatic musical poet, Glenn Gould continues to captivate audiences twenty-six years after his early passing. His inimitable music and writings reveal an insightful worldview that we are still trying to unravel. Though there have been many documentaries about Gould, most are distracted by his eccentricities, focusing on the pills, gloves, and scarves while missing the man and message behind the music.

Lorber Films are plugging their autumn schedule with Peter Raymont and Michèle Hozer's Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, a doc that was first showed at Tiff. Lorber will release the picture this September. You can find a pretty elaborate website which describes the doc film and the musical genius that was Glenn Gould.     An enigmatic musical poet, Glenn Gould continues to captivate audiences twenty-six years after his early passing. His inimitable music and writings reveal an insightful worldview that we are still trying to unravel. Though there have been many documentaries about Gould, most are distracted by his eccentricities, focusing on the pills, gloves, and scarves while missing the man and message behind the music. Glenn Gould: The Inner Life pierces through the myths, revealing the man beneath the icon and reconstructs his thoughts on music, art, society, love and life. It weaves together an...

Indie Roundup is your weekly guide to what's new and upcoming in the world of independent film. Pictured (clockwise from upper left): Boxing Gym, Carancho, Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, William S. Burroughs: A Man Within.

Deals. We've got boxers, a sleazy lawyer, a famous author, and a genius, all coming soon to a theater / TV / computer near you. Courtesy of our friends at indieWIRE, we learn that the legendary Frederick Wiseman will distribute Boxing Gym, his latest documentary, through his own distribution company in collaboration with mTuckman Media. The doc unfolds at Lord's Gym in Austin, Texas. David Hudson at Mubi rounded up coverage from its world premiere at Cannes last month. Boxing Gym hits New York on October 22.

The sleazy lawyer arrives via Pablo Trapero's Carancho, starring the always-wonderful Ricardo Darín (featured in the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes, now playing...

Two highly-anticipated second feature films from U.S. underground filmmakers will be making their World Premieres all the way over at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will run for twelve days on June 16-27. The films are Rona Mark’s The Crab and Zach Clark’s Vacation!.

The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.

Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...

Lorber Films has acquired all U.S. rights to "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould," a documentary about the pianist directed by Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, which will be released theatrically in September.

The acquisition was negotiated by Lorber CEO and co-president Richard Lorber and vp Elizabeth Sheldonwith Diana Holtzberg, vp of Films Transit Internationalm and Kelly Jenkins, head of business affairs for White Pine Pictures, which produced the film.

Lorber said, "'Genius Within' is that rare archival documentary where facts are transformed into emotion. When I first saw the film screened in Toronto I knew that Glenn Gould’s personal demons had finally found a vehicle worthy of his angelic musical gifts. We are honored to bring this inspiring film to new, ever-larger audiences fascinated by this alchemy of genius."...

U.S. theatrical, DVD, digital, and educational rights for Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont's music doc "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould" have been acquired by Lorber Films. The film will open theatrically in September at New York's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, with DVD and VOD distribution to follow in the first quarter of 2011. "Genius Within" profiles the eccentric world-renowned pianist and musical poet Glenn Gould. The film combines footage ...

Phase 4 Films has acquired all U.S. rights, as well as DVD, VOD, pay-per-view and digital rights in Canada, to Brigitte Berman's feature documentary "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel."

A theatrical release of the film, which played the Toronto International Film Festival, is planned for late spring.

Berman won an Oscar for best documentary feature in 1987 for "Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got."

The 124-minute theatrical version of the doc was produced by Metaphor Films, and producers are Victor Solnicki, Berman and Peter Raymont. Phase 4 Films acquired the Canadian DVD, VOD, pay-per-view and digital rights from Robin Smith's KinoSmith Inc.

The deal to acquire the film was negotiated by the Cinetic Media's nm2689789 autoDebra Fisher[/link] and Phase 4's Larry Greenberg.

Richard Curtis sets out to the high seas to rock our world, Roland Emmerich just obliterates it and Wes Anderson reenvisions it in stop-motion animation, while as a group of documentaries ponder real world issues of war, God, poverty and Glenn Gould.

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"2012"

On behalf of moviegoers everywhere, we here at IFC would like to thank that schoolyard bully who must have so traumatized a young Roland Emmerich that he has spent his recent career ritualistically laying waste to our world one famous landmark at a time. Having previous employed such excuses for mass destruction as alien invasions and global warming, this time cinema's most destructive director turns to an ancient Mayan prophecy that foretells the end of all mankind, and once again batters humanity -- specifically John Cusack and assorted stragglers -- like the...

The 28th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (Viff) will be held October 1-16, 2009. Founded in 1982, Viff's mandate is "...to encourage the understanding of other nations through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in British Columbia of cinema professionals from around the world and to stimulate the motion picture industry in British Columbia and Canada..." Over 150,000 people are expected to attend 640 screenings of 360 films from 80 countries. Here is an up-to-date list of directors, confirmed to attend Viff 2009, along with their films : "1428" Du Haibin "1999" Lenin Sivam "65_RedRoses" Philip Lyall & Nimisha Mukerji "Adelaide" Liliana Greenfield-Sanders "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector" Vikram Jayanti "Ana & Arthur" Larry Young "The Anchorage" Anders Edström & Curtis Winter "Antoine" Laura Bari "Argippo Resurrected" Dan Krames "The Art of Drowning" Diego Maclean "At Home By Myself... With You" Kris Booth "At The Edge Of The World" Dan Stone...

• Following my top ten Tiff list of titles available piece that I published a couples of hours back, Tiff released the lengthy list of titles that are looking for deals. Among those that I didn't mention in my top ten but could have easily have been there is the omission of Micmacs à tire-larigot (I wasn't sure if Warner Bros. only had domestic rights for France and not world rights), and titles such as Neil Jordan's Ondine, Atom Egoyan's Chloe, Oliver Parker's Dorian Gray, Aaron Schneider's Get Low, Derrick Borte's The Joneses and Michael J. Bassett's Solomon Kane should be generating key interest from the buyers as well. Without further ado, here is the list. L’Affaire Farewell Christian Carion, France Ahead of Time Bob Richman, USA The Angel Margreth Olin, Norway/Sweden/Finland The Art of the Steal Don Argott, USA Baaria Giuseppe Tornatore,

...

More for Vanguard, Real to Reel, Special Presentations, Galas, Short cuts, and Contemporary World Cinema which includes the World premier of Reginald Harkema's latest, Leslie, My Name is Evil. That link has the 2nd promo trailer (we used to have two) but we were asked by Reggie to remove the first. We also have Sook-Yin Lee's Year of the Carnivore which I've been keeping an eye on for some time. Also playing is The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Check out the full list of added films after the break!

Canada First!

Year of the Carnivore Sook-Yin Lee, BC

World Premiere

Year of the Carnivore is a romantic-comedy-drama about a girl with an unrequited crush on a boy who thinks she's bad in bed, so she goes out to get more 'experience.'

All Fall Down Philip Hoffman, On

North American Premiere

Local legend Philip Hoffman's formally adventurous...

Neil Leifer’s Portraits of a Lady and Peter Raymont’s A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 27th annual Contemporary Documentaries series on Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free. Portraits of a Lady takes a look at the work of 25 artists who participated in a painting session with former Us Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor in 2006. Following the screening, Leifer and co-producer Walter Bernard will take questions from the audience. A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman examines the life of Ariel Dorfman, the Chilean author who wrote numerous novels, plays, poems and essays in both Spanish and English. All films will screen at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center [...]...