Chicago – One of the great partners of local filmmaking in the Chicago area is Noisefloor Sound Solutions. The company provides the ambience for storytellers not only in cinema, but for the wide range of creative endeavors in the 21st Century … including TV, Web Series, Video Games and of course, Podcasts.
Starting with just two sound experts in 2005, Noisefloor has grown to a 13 person staff of sound designers, music composers, producers, audio implementors, mixers and location recordists. The team has brought their talent and passion to such projects as the films “Hoop Dreams,” “Apollo 13” and the recent locally produced ”Single Car Crashes”, in addition to the Halo series of video games. With their variety of sound services, Noisefloor’s client list ranges from Coca Cola to Ego to The Big Ten Network to Warner Bros.
Noisefloor Sound Solutions
Photo credit: Noise-Floor.com
Katie Waters is a Foley Artist (reproducing Sound...
Starting with just two sound experts in 2005, Noisefloor has grown to a 13 person staff of sound designers, music composers, producers, audio implementors, mixers and location recordists. The team has brought their talent and passion to such projects as the films “Hoop Dreams,” “Apollo 13” and the recent locally produced ”Single Car Crashes”, in addition to the Halo series of video games. With their variety of sound services, Noisefloor’s client list ranges from Coca Cola to Ego to The Big Ten Network to Warner Bros.
Noisefloor Sound Solutions
Photo credit: Noise-Floor.com
Katie Waters is a Foley Artist (reproducing Sound...
- 5/21/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
“Hoop Dreams” (1994) broke the mould for high school basketball documentaries, charting the progress of young hopefuls as they balance education, social pressures and a dedication to sport in the face of local celebrity. And while Erica Tanamachi's “Home Court” covers a similar scenario, its journey is a very different one through high school basketball.
Home Court is screening at CAAMFest
Teenage basketball star Ashley Chea, a Californian of Cambodian descent, has one ambition: to play basketball professionally. And the starting point for this is high school basketball. She enrolls at a private school with a strong basketball heritage, where her coaches are more like family than her parents. And therein lies the problem: with Ashley's parents working hard to support her, combined with her mother's lack of understanding basketball and middle-class American customs, she gradually becomes more and more distant from her family as college looms closer. But she...
Home Court is screening at CAAMFest
Teenage basketball star Ashley Chea, a Californian of Cambodian descent, has one ambition: to play basketball professionally. And the starting point for this is high school basketball. She enrolls at a private school with a strong basketball heritage, where her coaches are more like family than her parents. And therein lies the problem: with Ashley's parents working hard to support her, combined with her mother's lack of understanding basketball and middle-class American customs, she gradually becomes more and more distant from her family as college looms closer. But she...
- 5/12/2024
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
Oscar nominee Steve James (Hoop Dreams) has been set to direct Mind vs. Machine, a new docuseries on the lightning rod topic of artificial intelligence from Oscar winner Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, Closer Media, Anonymous Content, and Emmy-winning producers Alyssa Fedele & Zachary Fink of Collective Hunch.
Gibney comes to the project after working with Closer Media and Anonymous Content on the forthcoming documentary Musk, to be distributed by HBO/Universal. Within the last year, his Jigsaw has also teamed with the companies on the MGM+ acquired documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and the Raoul Peck-helmed Orwell on 1984 author George Orwell, to be distributed by Neon.
As artificial intelligence bursts onto the world stage – and into our lives – it may seem like a radical new life form has suddenly been created. But as Mind vs. Machine illustrates,...
Gibney comes to the project after working with Closer Media and Anonymous Content on the forthcoming documentary Musk, to be distributed by HBO/Universal. Within the last year, his Jigsaw has also teamed with the companies on the MGM+ acquired documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon and the Raoul Peck-helmed Orwell on 1984 author George Orwell, to be distributed by Neon.
As artificial intelligence bursts onto the world stage – and into our lives – it may seem like a radical new life form has suddenly been created. But as Mind vs. Machine illustrates,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Steve James, the Oscar-nominated director behind Hoop Dreams and Life Itself, will tackle AI in the docuseries Mind vs. Machine, which has Alex Gibney on board as a producer.
Closer Media and Anonymous Content, which are working with Gibney on his upcoming Elon Musk doc Musk, are financing the project and also producing alongside James and Gibney, Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink of Collective Hunch.
New York Times technology correspondent Cade Metz will executive produce with Closer Media’s Zhang Xin, William Horberg, and Joey Marra, and Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw, and David Levine.
According to the announcement, the project is described as “a five-part, landmark docuseries artfully crafted from a blend of interviews, archival footage, dramatic recreations, AI visualizations, and cutting-edge special effects, is definitive in its unparalleled access to key inventors, scientists, futurists, and thinkers including Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun, Ray Kurzweil, Deborah Raji, and Meghan O’Gieblyn.
Closer Media and Anonymous Content, which are working with Gibney on his upcoming Elon Musk doc Musk, are financing the project and also producing alongside James and Gibney, Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink of Collective Hunch.
New York Times technology correspondent Cade Metz will executive produce with Closer Media’s Zhang Xin, William Horberg, and Joey Marra, and Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw, and David Levine.
According to the announcement, the project is described as “a five-part, landmark docuseries artfully crafted from a blend of interviews, archival footage, dramatic recreations, AI visualizations, and cutting-edge special effects, is definitive in its unparalleled access to key inventors, scientists, futurists, and thinkers including Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun, Ray Kurzweil, Deborah Raji, and Meghan O’Gieblyn.
- 2/1/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Rtg Features, the sister studio to basketball media company Slam, is partnering with arts organization Heartland Film to launch the first annual Slam Film Festival dedicated to basketball-themed movies.
The festival, which will take place February 16-18, 2024, at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis, will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit movies and iconic films. The event will be the first-ever film festival exclusively focused on basketball, and is launched in celebration of Slam’s 30th anniversary in 2024. Scroll down for the lineup.
There will be 30th anniversary screenings of Steve James’ classic doc Hoop Dreams, William Friedkin’s Nick Nolte and Shaquille O’Neal film Blue Chips and Jeff Pollack’s Above The Rim. Newer films set to screen will include Palm Springs 2024 title Amongst The Trees, exec-produced by NBA star Paul George, and recent doc biopic Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023).
In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As,...
The festival, which will take place February 16-18, 2024, at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis, will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit movies and iconic films. The event will be the first-ever film festival exclusively focused on basketball, and is launched in celebration of Slam’s 30th anniversary in 2024. Scroll down for the lineup.
There will be 30th anniversary screenings of Steve James’ classic doc Hoop Dreams, William Friedkin’s Nick Nolte and Shaquille O’Neal film Blue Chips and Jeff Pollack’s Above The Rim. Newer films set to screen will include Palm Springs 2024 title Amongst The Trees, exec-produced by NBA star Paul George, and recent doc biopic Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023).
In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As,...
- 1/24/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Kon Ichikawa's “Tokyo Olympiad” is revolutionary for documentary filmmaking. The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo had been documented and memorialized on film forever in such an atmospheric, emotional, and cinematic grand scope. Audiences could revel in the emotions of watching athletes pour their hearts into their dedicated craft of physical endurance as people worldwide gather to observe.
Tokyo Olympiad is screening at Black Movie
Assembled by the Organizing Committee for the Games of the Xviii Olympiad and financed by the Japanese government, the initial intentions behind the production were quite different from the final product. With the 1964 Olympics commencing in Tokyo, this was viewed as an opportunity for Japan to highlight its accomplishment of postwar economic resurgence. Kon Ichikawa was selected to direct, and his inclusion ultimately steered the documentary originally meant to primarily celebrate the country's modernization into a completely new and arguably more unique direction. “Tokyo Olympiad” was...
Tokyo Olympiad is screening at Black Movie
Assembled by the Organizing Committee for the Games of the Xviii Olympiad and financed by the Japanese government, the initial intentions behind the production were quite different from the final product. With the 1964 Olympics commencing in Tokyo, this was viewed as an opportunity for Japan to highlight its accomplishment of postwar economic resurgence. Kon Ichikawa was selected to direct, and his inclusion ultimately steered the documentary originally meant to primarily celebrate the country's modernization into a completely new and arguably more unique direction. “Tokyo Olympiad” was...
- 1/22/2024
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
January is one of the biggest months of the year for independent film, with hundreds of film critics descending upon the Sundance Film Festival to discover the works of up-and-coming directors. But for those of us who can’t make the trek to Park City, Utah, there are plenty of independent movies to enjoy from the comfort of our homes.
This month, there’s a particularly big selection of independent classics to choose from on streaming, particularly if you’re subscribed to the Criterion Channel. In celebration of the approaching festival, Criterion is hosting a massive selection of past Sundance favorites, including the 1968 experimental documentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.” Other favorites in the selection include “Blood Simple,” “Stranger Than Paradise,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Desert Hearts,” “Working Girls,” “Paris Is Burning,” “Mississippi Masala,” “Slacker,” “Hoop Dreams,” and “The Doom Generation.” Other major indie favorites on the streamer this January include...
This month, there’s a particularly big selection of independent classics to choose from on streaming, particularly if you’re subscribed to the Criterion Channel. In celebration of the approaching festival, Criterion is hosting a massive selection of past Sundance favorites, including the 1968 experimental documentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.” Other favorites in the selection include “Blood Simple,” “Stranger Than Paradise,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Desert Hearts,” “Working Girls,” “Paris Is Burning,” “Mississippi Masala,” “Slacker,” “Hoop Dreams,” and “The Doom Generation.” Other major indie favorites on the streamer this January include...
- 1/6/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
André Braugher has died. The two-time Emmy-winning star of series including Homicide: Life on the Street, Men of a Certain Age and Brooklyn Nine-Nine was 61.
Braugher, whose first film role came alongside Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington in the Ed Zwick-directed Glory, died Monday after a brief illness.
While Braugher peppered his résumé with comedies, many will remember him for his ferocious portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton in the NBC drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Put him in “the box,” sweating out and outsmarting crime suspects in the interrogation room, and you were looking at a weekly dose of tour de force acting, as good as it got on television during that time. He won an Emmy for that show he starred in from 1992-98. His wife, Ami Brabson, recurred as Pembleton’s wife on Homicide.
Related: André Braugher Remembered As “Megawatt Talent” & “Incredible Human Being”
He won...
Braugher, whose first film role came alongside Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington in the Ed Zwick-directed Glory, died Monday after a brief illness.
While Braugher peppered his résumé with comedies, many will remember him for his ferocious portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton in the NBC drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Put him in “the box,” sweating out and outsmarting crime suspects in the interrogation room, and you were looking at a weekly dose of tour de force acting, as good as it got on television during that time. He won an Emmy for that show he starred in from 1992-98. His wife, Ami Brabson, recurred as Pembleton’s wife on Homicide.
Related: André Braugher Remembered As “Megawatt Talent” & “Incredible Human Being”
He won...
- 12/13/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
As more and more of the season’s precursor prizes are announced, one major Oscar mainstay has made its way home. Block out a solid chunk of time — it’s a long one.
The contender to watch this week: “Killers of the Flower Moon“
Fresh off an AFI honor and four National Board of Review distinctions, including Martin Scorsese for Best Director and Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, “Killers of the Flower Moon” has arrived on VOD ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut. The ambitious crime epic adapted from David Grann‘s nonfiction book about white men killing Osage Nation residents and stealing their oil headrights will surely continue this awards-season upswing when the Golden Globe nominations are announced on Monday, so now is the perfect time to catch up. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and composer Robbie Robertson are among the movie’s other top candidates.
Other contenders:...
The contender to watch this week: “Killers of the Flower Moon“
Fresh off an AFI honor and four National Board of Review distinctions, including Martin Scorsese for Best Director and Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, “Killers of the Flower Moon” has arrived on VOD ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut. The ambitious crime epic adapted from David Grann‘s nonfiction book about white men killing Osage Nation residents and stealing their oil headrights will surely continue this awards-season upswing when the Golden Globe nominations are announced on Monday, so now is the perfect time to catch up. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and composer Robbie Robertson are among the movie’s other top candidates.
Other contenders:...
- 12/9/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Making a documentary set in a high school seems like an absolute nightmare. It’s a tightly contained setting with layers of bureaucracy, and all your potential subjects require heaps of parental clearances for themselves and anybody they happen to talk to. Plus, teenagers tend to be just a wee bit changeable, defying a traditional narrative arc.
It’s important that we realize how miraculous projects like Hoop Dreams and America to Me are.
Lucha: A Wrestling Tale, director Marco Ricci’s two-year chronicle of the women’s wrestling team at Taft High School in the Bronx, is, on many levels, a mess. It wants to be a story of individual students, a team, a school and even a borough, but owing primarily to issues of access and choices of focus, it struggles to achieve many of its biggest storytelling aspirations.
But for all the places Lucha fails to craft a convincing portrait,...
It’s important that we realize how miraculous projects like Hoop Dreams and America to Me are.
Lucha: A Wrestling Tale, director Marco Ricci’s two-year chronicle of the women’s wrestling team at Taft High School in the Bronx, is, on many levels, a mess. It wants to be a story of individual students, a team, a school and even a borough, but owing primarily to issues of access and choices of focus, it struggles to achieve many of its biggest storytelling aspirations.
But for all the places Lucha fails to craft a convincing portrait,...
- 11/17/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A well-told story ends when the credits roll, but not so documentaries. There, in most cases, the lives of the people depicted on-screen continue on, transformed by the fact of being filmed — and even more by whatever attention the project ignites in the culture at large. That’s why, in the hundreds of post-screening Q&As I’ve seen for docs over the years, the same questions come up virtually without fail: What’s happened since? How are the movie’s subjects doing now?
In “Subject,” co-directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall catch up with the people at the center of several major documentaries — from “Hoop Dreams” and “The Wolfpack” to “Capturing the Friedmans” and “The Staircase” — to see how their involvement in such projects changed their lives. That may be the hook that lures in audiences, though the film is far more than just a years-later epilogue to those high-profile docs.
In “Subject,” co-directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall catch up with the people at the center of several major documentaries — from “Hoop Dreams” and “The Wolfpack” to “Capturing the Friedmans” and “The Staircase” — to see how their involvement in such projects changed their lives. That may be the hook that lures in audiences, though the film is far more than just a years-later epilogue to those high-profile docs.
- 11/6/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
A24’s Priscilla by Sofia Coppola catapults from four screens to 1,300, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers from Focus Features expands to 60 from six and two new indies have wide debuts — What Happens Later from Bleecker Street, directed by and starring Meg Ryan, opens at 1,400 locations and Daisy Ridley-starring The Marsh King’s Daughter from Roadside Attractions at over 1,000.
What Happens Later moved here from its original Oct. 16 perch, avoiding The Eras Tour opening crush. The rom-com debut of Meg Ryan after a long hiatus co-stars David Duchovny. Based on the play Shooting Star by Steven Dietz, the pic follows a chance encounter between two ex-lovers, Willa and Bill, who are snowed in at a regional airport and indefinitely delayed. See Deadline review.
The Marsh King’s Daughter stars Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn in an adaptation of a bestselling 2017 thriller by Karen Dionne,...
What Happens Later moved here from its original Oct. 16 perch, avoiding The Eras Tour opening crush. The rom-com debut of Meg Ryan after a long hiatus co-stars David Duchovny. Based on the play Shooting Star by Steven Dietz, the pic follows a chance encounter between two ex-lovers, Willa and Bill, who are snowed in at a regional airport and indefinitely delayed. See Deadline review.
The Marsh King’s Daughter stars Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn in an adaptation of a bestselling 2017 thriller by Karen Dionne,...
- 11/3/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSPoor Things.The 80th Venice Film Festival concluded last weekend. The jury, chaired by Damien Chazelle, awarded the Golden Lion to Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, Poor Things; in his latest dispatch, Leonardo Goi calls it "joltingly alive, a film that crackles with the same restless curiosity and lust of its protagonist." See a summary of all the awards, plus a roundup of our coverage.San Sebastian Film Festival has announced who will serve on their festival juries for their 71st edition: Claire Denis will be the president for the Official Section, while Hayao Miyazaki will receive an honorary award for career achievement. His latest film, The Boy and The Heron, will open the festival.Recommended VIEWINGFor their 50th anniversary, the Film Fest Gent have commissioned 25 new short films inspired by new musical compositions. There's...
- 9/16/2023
- MUBI
Updated with new release date in New York of Nov. 3.
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment is maintaining a brisk pace of acquisitions. A day after picking up North American rights to the TIFF premiere documentary Sorry/Not Sorry, the independent distributor announced it has partnered with Kanopy to acquire U.S. and Canadian rights to the feature doc Subject.
Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall produced and directed the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival. Greenwich plans to open the film in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 3, while Kanopy will host a pre-theatrical screening and Q&a with the filmmakers online through public and college libraries. Tvod/DVD, college and public library streaming kicks off December 5.
“Subject goes behind the scenes of such famous nonfiction stories as Hoop Dreams, Capturing the Friedmans, The Wolfpack, The Square and The Staircase to explore the often murky ethical dilemmas and complex...
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment is maintaining a brisk pace of acquisitions. A day after picking up North American rights to the TIFF premiere documentary Sorry/Not Sorry, the independent distributor announced it has partnered with Kanopy to acquire U.S. and Canadian rights to the feature doc Subject.
Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall produced and directed the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival. Greenwich plans to open the film in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 3, while Kanopy will host a pre-theatrical screening and Q&a with the filmmakers online through public and college libraries. Tvod/DVD, college and public library streaming kicks off December 5.
“Subject goes behind the scenes of such famous nonfiction stories as Hoop Dreams, Capturing the Friedmans, The Wolfpack, The Square and The Staircase to explore the often murky ethical dilemmas and complex...
- 9/12/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Right on time, this week brings a companion documentary to one of summer’s biggest movies, directed by an acclaimed filmmaker whose pedigree makes him an immediate Oscar candidate — especially in a year that isn’t overflowing with breakout docs.
The contender to watch this week: “A Compassionate Spy”
On the heels of “Oppenheimer” comes a documentary about Ted Hall, an American physicist who gave the Soviet Union classified intelligence about the construction of the atomic bomb. “A Compassionate Spy” has deep pedigree in two-time Oscar-nominated director Steve James, who made “Hoop Dreams,” “Life Itself,” and “City So Real.” If the campaign gods are smart, they’ll put James and Christopher Nolan in a room together at some point, even though Hall isn’t depicted in “Oppenheimer.” “Spy” is now in theaters and on VOD.
Other contenders:
“Black Ice”: Hockey is Canada’s most popular sport, which of course...
The contender to watch this week: “A Compassionate Spy”
On the heels of “Oppenheimer” comes a documentary about Ted Hall, an American physicist who gave the Soviet Union classified intelligence about the construction of the atomic bomb. “A Compassionate Spy” has deep pedigree in two-time Oscar-nominated director Steve James, who made “Hoop Dreams,” “Life Itself,” and “City So Real.” If the campaign gods are smart, they’ll put James and Christopher Nolan in a room together at some point, even though Hall isn’t depicted in “Oppenheimer.” “Spy” is now in theaters and on VOD.
Other contenders:
“Black Ice”: Hockey is Canada’s most popular sport, which of course...
- 8/5/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a fair amount is made of Klaus Fuchs, the German theoretical physicist who passed secrets from Los Alamos to the Soviet Union. But nowhere in this substantive blockbuster do we hear about Theodore Hall. A wunderkind physicist from Far Rockaway, New York City, recruited to the Manhattan Project as an 18-year-old Harvard senior, Hall, too, shared atomic secrets with the Soviets, for what he later claimed were purely moral reasons: He thought the possibility of the U.S. — or any country — having a monopoly on...
- 8/4/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
While the latest film from Hoop Dreams and Life Itself director Steve James premiered last fall at Venice Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival, it’s clear why Magnolia Pictures wanted to wait until later this summer for a release. Ideal viewing shortly after Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer arrives in theaters, A Compassionate Spy tells the thrilling story of a 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. Ahead of the August 4 release, the first trailer has now arrived.
Here’s more of the synopsis: “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.
Here’s more of the synopsis: “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.
- 7/1/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"Something gruesome & horrible was being constructed." Magnolia Pictures has revealed an official trailer for an acclaimed documentary film titled A Compassionate Spy, made by the award-winning Chicago-based doc filmmaker Steve James. This premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival last year, and ended up being one of my favorite films of the festival. A Compassionate Spy tells the incredible story of Manhattan Project scientist Ted Hall, who shared classified nuclear secrets with Russia. Hall is interviewed extensively, along with his wife Joan Hall, and courageously tells his story in this. It's a very sensitive topic, especially nowadays, but fascinating to dig into - he was one of a few people who had worked on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos and shared its secrets to the Russians. He thought it would be wrong for America to be the only country with this extraordinary power. Does he regret this knowing what Russia became?...
- 6/27/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Is there such thing as a sympathetic cause for treason?
Magnolia Pictures documentary “A Compassionate Spy,” directed by two-time Oscar nominee Steve James, captures the controversial true story of Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall. Part of the team behind J. Robert Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb, Hall shared nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union. The documentary is told through the perspective of Ted’s wife Joan Hall, who protected his secret across their 50-year marriage.
The official “Compassionate Spy” synopsis reads: Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to help J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team create a bomb, Ted 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...
Magnolia Pictures documentary “A Compassionate Spy,” directed by two-time Oscar nominee Steve James, captures the controversial true story of Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall. Part of the team behind J. Robert Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb, Hall shared nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union. The documentary is told through the perspective of Ted’s wife Joan Hall, who protected his secret across their 50-year marriage.
The official “Compassionate Spy” synopsis reads: Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to help J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team create a bomb, Ted 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...
- 6/27/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
While the brains at Warner Bros. Discovery were hard at work creating Max, it seems they took an unfortunate shortcut while slapping together their “Kids & Family” section. A quick glance through the titles shows your kids are in for a shock if you let them choose from the list on your profile.
The first title to jump out is “Doc Hollywood,” a mostly benign 1991 comedy with Michael J. Fox. But shortly after our hero finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere, he encounters a woman emerging topless from a lake.
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com
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Clearly, the folks making the “Kids & Family” section saw the PG-13 rating and figured that was fair game. And, perhaps, your family has no hang-ups about the female form. But in an era when people are shooting beer cans with assault rifles...
The first title to jump out is “Doc Hollywood,” a mostly benign 1991 comedy with Michael J. Fox. But shortly after our hero finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere, he encounters a woman emerging topless from a lake.
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com
Get 20% Off Your Next Year of Max When Pre-Paid Annually
Clearly, the folks making the “Kids & Family” section saw the PG-13 rating and figured that was fair game. And, perhaps, your family has no hang-ups about the female form. But in an era when people are shooting beer cans with assault rifles...
- 5/24/2023
- by Ben Bowman
- The Streamable
Documentary specialist Autlook Filmsales closed a raft of sales at a vibrant market during the Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox.
“Subject,” directed by Camilla Hall and Jennifer Tiexiera, got picked up by Sweden’s Svt, Denmark’s Dr, Norway’s Nrk, Norway’s Vgtv, The Netherlands’ Vpro, Israel’s Yes Doc, and Madman for Australia and New Zealand. Dogwoof released the film early this month in the U.K.
“Subject” is an examination of the relationship between nonfiction filmmakers and their subjects. It raises important ethical questions during a golden of age for documentaries, when docs are screened by millions of viewers. The film re-visits protagonists of some of the most viewed documentaries of today – “The Staircase,” “The Square,” “Hoop Dreams,” “The Wolfpack” and “Capturing the Friedmans.”
Australia and New Zealand distribution powerhouse Madman Entertainment and Spanish broadcaster Movistar have acquired “The Corridors of Power,” a documentary and upcoming eight-part series.
“Subject,” directed by Camilla Hall and Jennifer Tiexiera, got picked up by Sweden’s Svt, Denmark’s Dr, Norway’s Nrk, Norway’s Vgtv, The Netherlands’ Vpro, Israel’s Yes Doc, and Madman for Australia and New Zealand. Dogwoof released the film early this month in the U.K.
“Subject” is an examination of the relationship between nonfiction filmmakers and their subjects. It raises important ethical questions during a golden of age for documentaries, when docs are screened by millions of viewers. The film re-visits protagonists of some of the most viewed documentaries of today – “The Staircase,” “The Square,” “Hoop Dreams,” “The Wolfpack” and “Capturing the Friedmans.”
Australia and New Zealand distribution powerhouse Madman Entertainment and Spanish broadcaster Movistar have acquired “The Corridors of Power,” a documentary and upcoming eight-part series.
- 3/24/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Kevin Iannucci, Kaitlin Olson, James Day Keith, and Woody Harrelson in ‘Champions’ (Photo Credit: Shauna Townley / Focus Features)
There have been many inspirational basketball films, including Hoosiers, Hoop Dreams, and Above the Rim. Add to that list Champions starring Woody Harrelson as Marcus, a minor-league basketball coach in De Moines, Iowa, who has just been fired for pushing head coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) for not listening to him about strategy during a game.
To make matters worse, Marcus ends up slamming into a police car on his way home and is ordered by the court to perform 90 days of community service.
The judge notices his unique talents and orders him to coach a basketball team of young players with intellectual disabilities. Wanting to stay out of jail, Marcus reluctantly agrees.
To say he’s unimpressed with his players and their non-existent hoop skills would be a gross understatement. “It...
There have been many inspirational basketball films, including Hoosiers, Hoop Dreams, and Above the Rim. Add to that list Champions starring Woody Harrelson as Marcus, a minor-league basketball coach in De Moines, Iowa, who has just been fired for pushing head coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) for not listening to him about strategy during a game.
To make matters worse, Marcus ends up slamming into a police car on his way home and is ordered by the court to perform 90 days of community service.
The judge notices his unique talents and orders him to coach a basketball team of young players with intellectual disabilities. Wanting to stay out of jail, Marcus reluctantly agrees.
To say he’s unimpressed with his players and their non-existent hoop skills would be a gross understatement. “It...
- 3/10/2023
- by Kevin Finnerty
- Showbiz Junkies
We all construct narratives about our lives, drafting and redrafting them with friends, family and ourselves. But what if they were packaged by a documentarian and broadcast on Netflix, a streaming platform with 230 million subscribers across 190 countries? How would it affect you, and would anyone care? This is the subject of Subject, a documentary about documentaries, and it is a process that Margie Ratliff knows all too well.
Ratliff was in her early twenties when she appeared in The Staircase, a documentary series about the trial of her father Michael Peterson, who was charged, convicted, and then released for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. In the interest of ‘transparency’, Peterson invited cameras into the trial and into Ratliff’s life, exposing her confusion and anguish for all to see. “I can’t tell you how painful it is,” says Ratliff, now in her 40s, “…reliving my mum’s death over and over again.
Ratliff was in her early twenties when she appeared in The Staircase, a documentary series about the trial of her father Michael Peterson, who was charged, convicted, and then released for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. In the interest of ‘transparency’, Peterson invited cameras into the trial and into Ratliff’s life, exposing her confusion and anguish for all to see. “I can’t tell you how painful it is,” says Ratliff, now in her 40s, “…reliving my mum’s death over and over again.
- 3/3/2023
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Mubi starts Cannes prizewinner ‘Close’ in 74 sites.
Warner Bros’ Creed III will look to improve on the strong performances of the first two films in the boxing series, when opening in 637 UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend.
The film is the directorial debut of Michael Jordan who also stars in the film series as Adonis Creed, son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. In this third instalment, Adonis’ thriving career and family life are disrupted by the resurfacing of a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, played by Jonathan Majors.
Creed III is written by Ryan Coogler, who directed the first film...
Warner Bros’ Creed III will look to improve on the strong performances of the first two films in the boxing series, when opening in 637 UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend.
The film is the directorial debut of Michael Jordan who also stars in the film series as Adonis Creed, son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. In this third instalment, Adonis’ thriving career and family life are disrupted by the resurfacing of a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, played by Jonathan Majors.
Creed III is written by Ryan Coogler, who directed the first film...
- 3/3/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The subjects of The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, Capturing the Friedmans and others contribute to this thoughtful film about the duty of care film-makers owe those whose stories they tell
If you’ve seen the sensational true crime documentary series The Staircase, you’ll know the story. In 2001, after Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of the stairs at her home in North Carolina, police suspicion turned to her novelist husband Michael Peterson. When he allowed a documentary team to film what happened next, Peterson said it was because he was worried about getting a fair trial. His adopted daughter, Margaret Ratliff, 20 at the time, grief-stricken and terrified that her dad could be facing the death penalty, agreed to be part of the film. The loss of her privacy in the years since has been devastating, she admits now. “I can’t tell you how painful it is, reliving...
If you’ve seen the sensational true crime documentary series The Staircase, you’ll know the story. In 2001, after Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of the stairs at her home in North Carolina, police suspicion turned to her novelist husband Michael Peterson. When he allowed a documentary team to film what happened next, Peterson said it was because he was worried about getting a fair trial. His adopted daughter, Margaret Ratliff, 20 at the time, grief-stricken and terrified that her dad could be facing the death penalty, agreed to be part of the film. The loss of her privacy in the years since has been devastating, she admits now. “I can’t tell you how painful it is, reliving...
- 2/28/2023
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Magnolia Pictures announced on Wednesday that it has acquired the North American distribution rights to Participant’s documentary “A Compassionate Spy” and will release it later this year.
Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), “A Compassionate Spy” tells the story of Ted Hall, who at the age of 18 was the youngest physicist to work on the Manhattan Project with Robert Oppenheimer. Fearful that an American monopoly on something as devastating as a nuclear bomb could lead to catastrophe, Hall shared key secrets on the bomb’s development to Soviet spies, significantly shaping the course of the Cold War in the decades to come.
“A Compassionate Spy” is also a love story, retelling Hall’s lifelong relationship with his wife Joan, with whom he raised a family while under the shadow of FBI surveillance. The documentary tells Hall’s story through Joan’s perspective, as she kept many...
Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), “A Compassionate Spy” tells the story of Ted Hall, who at the age of 18 was the youngest physicist to work on the Manhattan Project with Robert Oppenheimer. Fearful that an American monopoly on something as devastating as a nuclear bomb could lead to catastrophe, Hall shared key secrets on the bomb’s development to Soviet spies, significantly shaping the course of the Cold War in the decades to come.
“A Compassionate Spy” is also a love story, retelling Hall’s lifelong relationship with his wife Joan, with whom he raised a family while under the shadow of FBI surveillance. The documentary tells Hall’s story through Joan’s perspective, as she kept many...
- 2/16/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Acquisition
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights from Participant to “A Compassionate Spy,” the new documentary from Steve James. The film, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival ahead of its North American launch at Telluride, is a real-life spy story about Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who provided nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, told through the perspective of his wife Joan, who protected his secret for decades. Magnolia will release the film in theaters later this year.
“A Compassionate Spy” is presented by Participant and is a Mitten Media and Kartemquin Films production produced by Mark Mitten p.g.a., Dave Lindorff, and Steve James. Executive producers are Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Tim Horsburgh and Gordon Quinn.
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia executive VP Dori Begley and senior VP of acquisitions John Von Thaden; Participant’s Liesl Copland, executive VP content strategy and sales, Adam Macy,...
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights from Participant to “A Compassionate Spy,” the new documentary from Steve James. The film, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival ahead of its North American launch at Telluride, is a real-life spy story about Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who provided nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, told through the perspective of his wife Joan, who protected his secret for decades. Magnolia will release the film in theaters later this year.
“A Compassionate Spy” is presented by Participant and is a Mitten Media and Kartemquin Films production produced by Mark Mitten p.g.a., Dave Lindorff, and Steve James. Executive producers are Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Tim Horsburgh and Gordon Quinn.
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia executive VP Dori Begley and senior VP of acquisitions John Von Thaden; Participant’s Liesl Copland, executive VP content strategy and sales, Adam Macy,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Magnolia Pictures has picked up North American rights to A Compassionate Spy, the new documentary from Oscar-nominated director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Life Itself) from Participant.
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, follows the real-life spy story of Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who infamously provided nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. The story is 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, but didn’t share his colleagues’ excitement after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Concerned that the new weapon would give the U.S. a post-war monopoly on global power and could lead to nuclear catastrophe, Hall began passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union,...
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, follows the real-life spy story of Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who infamously provided nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. The story is 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, but didn’t share his colleagues’ excitement after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Concerned that the new weapon would give the U.S. a post-war monopoly on global power and could lead to nuclear catastrophe, Hall began passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Autlook Filmsales handles international sales at EFM on story of nuclear physicist Ted Hall.
Magnolia Pictures has picked up North American rights from Participant to A Compassionate Spy, Steve James’s documentary about the controversial American nuclear physicist Ted Hall who passed secrets to the Soviet Union.
At age 18 Harvard graduate Hall became the youngest recruit to the Manhattan Project in the early 1940s. After the United States detonated its first nuclear bomb he became concerned his country had a potentially catastrophic monopoly on the technology and provided confidential information to the Soviets.
The film is told from the perspective of Joan,...
Magnolia Pictures has picked up North American rights from Participant to A Compassionate Spy, Steve James’s documentary about the controversial American nuclear physicist Ted Hall who passed secrets to the Soviet Union.
At age 18 Harvard graduate Hall became the youngest recruit to the Manhattan Project in the early 1940s. After the United States detonated its first nuclear bomb he became concerned his country had a potentially catastrophic monopoly on the technology and provided confidential information to the Soviets.
The film is told from the perspective of Joan,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Sundance Film Festival has rich history when it comes to documentary — and sports documentaries, in particular. Hoop Dreams, one of the greatest documentaries ever, made its premiere at Sundance ’94, while When We Were Kings (’96), Murderball (’05), O.J.: Made in America (’16) and Icarus (’17) all debuted at the fest.
One of the splashy late additions to the Sundance 2023 was Stephen Curry: Underrated, a documentary from director Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room) and producers Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and Erick Peyton billing itself as “an intimate look at NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s...
One of the splashy late additions to the Sundance 2023 was Stephen Curry: Underrated, a documentary from director Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room) and producers Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and Erick Peyton billing itself as “an intimate look at NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s...
- 1/23/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Pharrell Williams’ i am Other have partnered on a new series for HBO Max.
The half-hour, single-camera comedy, titled “Rollin,’” is in development under Hillman Grad’s overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.
According to the official logline, the series centers on “an easily corruptible newbie skater and her ragtag rink crew who find drive and deliverance on the hardwood at an Atl skating rink known for its good music, food, vibes and stellar stunts. They soon discover that walking away from your past is easier said than done — but as all skaters learn, when you fall down, you must get back up.”
Calaya Michelle Stallworth will write and executive produce the series, which is in the script development stage.
Waithe and Hillman Grad CEO Rishi Rajani are on board the project as executive producers, alongside Naomi Funabashi, the company’s president of film and TV.
The half-hour, single-camera comedy, titled “Rollin,’” is in development under Hillman Grad’s overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.
According to the official logline, the series centers on “an easily corruptible newbie skater and her ragtag rink crew who find drive and deliverance on the hardwood at an Atl skating rink known for its good music, food, vibes and stellar stunts. They soon discover that walking away from your past is easier said than done — but as all skaters learn, when you fall down, you must get back up.”
Calaya Michelle Stallworth will write and executive produce the series, which is in the script development stage.
Waithe and Hillman Grad CEO Rishi Rajani are on board the project as executive producers, alongside Naomi Funabashi, the company’s president of film and TV.
- 9/21/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Any best picture lineup of any industry organization that does not include A24’s “Close,” Utopia’s “Holy Spider” and the doc “Sr.,” which is still seeking a distributor, shall be declared null and void…at least in my mind.
In Telluride, all three films played like gangbusters. “Holy Spider,” which premiered at Cannes and won best actress for Zar Amir Ebrahimi, is looking likely to be Denmark’s submission for international feature. Based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei (played by Mehdi Bajestani), a serial killer who targeted sex workers and killed 16 women from 2000 to 2001 in Mashhad, Iran, the film tells a fictional account of a female journalist (Ebrahimi) who investigates the case.
The suspense thriller evokes “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) and “Dexter,” particularly the show’s sublime fourth, Trinity Killer-focused season. Both lead actors are worthy of Academy attention, and writer and director Ali Abbasi, who helmed the 2018 hit “Border,...
In Telluride, all three films played like gangbusters. “Holy Spider,” which premiered at Cannes and won best actress for Zar Amir Ebrahimi, is looking likely to be Denmark’s submission for international feature. Based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei (played by Mehdi Bajestani), a serial killer who targeted sex workers and killed 16 women from 2000 to 2001 in Mashhad, Iran, the film tells a fictional account of a female journalist (Ebrahimi) who investigates the case.
The suspense thriller evokes “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) and “Dexter,” particularly the show’s sublime fourth, Trinity Killer-focused season. Both lead actors are worthy of Academy attention, and writer and director Ali Abbasi, who helmed the 2018 hit “Border,...
- 9/7/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The Telluride Film Festival’s emphasis on documentary has not wavered in recent years. But the prominence of nonfiction fare at the 49th edition has arguably made this year’s Telluride the autumn Sundance, where some of the biggest buzz is for docs.
The lineup, kept under wraps until the eve of the fest’s opening on Sept. 2, includes 16 docs from novice and veteran documentarians, including Steve James (“A Compassionate Spy”), Matthew Heineman (“Retrograde”), Chris Smith (“Sr.”) Ondi Timoner (“Last Flight Home”) and Ryan White (“Good Night Oppy”). (Additional “secret” screenings have yet to be announced.)
The rising level of documentaries at the Colorado fest is largely due to the influence of Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger.
“This year, there is almost parity with the narrative features in the [main feature] program,” says Huntsinger, who co-directs Telluride with Tom Luddy. “It’s not us actively seeking it. For lack of a better word,...
The lineup, kept under wraps until the eve of the fest’s opening on Sept. 2, includes 16 docs from novice and veteran documentarians, including Steve James (“A Compassionate Spy”), Matthew Heineman (“Retrograde”), Chris Smith (“Sr.”) Ondi Timoner (“Last Flight Home”) and Ryan White (“Good Night Oppy”). (Additional “secret” screenings have yet to be announced.)
The rising level of documentaries at the Colorado fest is largely due to the influence of Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger.
“This year, there is almost parity with the narrative features in the [main feature] program,” says Huntsinger, who co-directs Telluride with Tom Luddy. “It’s not us actively seeking it. For lack of a better word,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. Magnolia Pictures releases the film in theaters and on VOD on Friday, August 4.
Steve James’ “A Compassionate Spy” is ultimately a minor addition to one of documentary cinema’s great bodies of work, but it might just contain the one true secret to a happy marriage: sharing historically significant nuclear secrets.
That sure seems to have been a winning strategy for Ted Hall, a young physics student who fell in love with an undergrad named Joan at the University of Chicago in 1947. They seemed like natural soulmates from the start, but Ted’s inevitable proposal came with a radioactive disclaimer. If Joan wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, she would have to accept that Ted — who was admitted to the Manhattan Project as a preternaturally smart teenager — had passed crucial information about the...
Steve James’ “A Compassionate Spy” is ultimately a minor addition to one of documentary cinema’s great bodies of work, but it might just contain the one true secret to a happy marriage: sharing historically significant nuclear secrets.
That sure seems to have been a winning strategy for Ted Hall, a young physics student who fell in love with an undergrad named Joan at the University of Chicago in 1947. They seemed like natural soulmates from the start, but Ted’s inevitable proposal came with a radioactive disclaimer. If Joan wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, she would have to accept that Ted — who was admitted to the Manhattan Project as a preternaturally smart teenager — had passed crucial information about the...
- 9/2/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Arriving at a fateful time in the history of handling top secrets, “Hoop Dreams” filmmaker Steve James’s new documentary “A Compassionate Spy” aims to suggest that not all disloyalty is so clear-cut.
Though James couldn’t have foreseen the country being gripped by speculation about the motives of an unprincipled ex-president in suspicious possession of sensitive documents, this slice of history — making its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival — nevertheless offers up a story of unambiguous espionage with idealistic motive: a Harvard physics undergraduate recruited for the Manhattan Project who, in 1944, passed on its secrets to the Soviet Union to safeguard the world from monopolistic power and atomic annihilation.
His name was Ted Hall, and though he was suspected his whole life by authorities, he lived free from prosecution, raising a family and working at Cambridge University on pioneering biophysics until his death in 1999.
Also Read:
Why ‘City So Real...
Though James couldn’t have foreseen the country being gripped by speculation about the motives of an unprincipled ex-president in suspicious possession of sensitive documents, this slice of history — making its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival — nevertheless offers up a story of unambiguous espionage with idealistic motive: a Harvard physics undergraduate recruited for the Manhattan Project who, in 1944, passed on its secrets to the Soviet Union to safeguard the world from monopolistic power and atomic annihilation.
His name was Ted Hall, and though he was suspected his whole life by authorities, he lived free from prosecution, raising a family and working at Cambridge University on pioneering biophysics until his death in 1999.
Also Read:
Why ‘City So Real...
- 9/2/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
High-profile espionage cases in the post-war period often invoke the grisly fate of the Rosenbergs, the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed by electric chair for sharing atomic secrets with the Soviet Union in peace time. But in the new documentary “A Compassionate Spy,” filmmaker Steve James tells the incredible story of Manhattan Project scientist Ted Hall, who shared classified nuclear secrets with Russia — and got away with it.
The Participant and Kartemquin Films-produced documentary, which has its world premiere in Venice on Sept. 2, is one of a number of films at this year’s festival that tackle the topic of nuclear disaster: Projects from Noah Baumbach’s feature adaptation of Don DeLillo’s “White Noise” through to Oliver Stone’s on-the-nose documentary “Nuclear” all contemplate some aspect of our nuclear past and future.
“There will be people who will look at what Ted did and say,...
The Participant and Kartemquin Films-produced documentary, which has its world premiere in Venice on Sept. 2, is one of a number of films at this year’s festival that tackle the topic of nuclear disaster: Projects from Noah Baumbach’s feature adaptation of Don DeLillo’s “White Noise” through to Oliver Stone’s on-the-nose documentary “Nuclear” all contemplate some aspect of our nuclear past and future.
“There will be people who will look at what Ted did and say,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Given the direction of the world in recent years, it’s perhaps no surprise that Participant — Jeff Skoll’s socially conscious production powerhouse — has been as prolific as ever. But its output isn’t all about shining a torch on today’s most pressing concerns, as Academy Awards winners such as Roma, Green Book and Spotlight attest.
That said, the studio comes to Venice with two somewhat topical documentary features. In All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, Laura Poitras (an Oscar winner for her Participant film CitizenFour) follows artist and activist Nan Goldin in a deeply personal battle as she fights to hold the Sackler family to account for the opioid crisis.
Meanwhile, A Compassionate Spy from Hoop Dreams director Steve James (also behind Participant’s first TV series, America to Me) tells the story of Ted Hall, who as a physicist on...
Given the direction of the world in recent years, it’s perhaps no surprise that Participant — Jeff Skoll’s socially conscious production powerhouse — has been as prolific as ever. But its output isn’t all about shining a torch on today’s most pressing concerns, as Academy Awards winners such as Roma, Green Book and Spotlight attest.
That said, the studio comes to Venice with two somewhat topical documentary features. In All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, Laura Poitras (an Oscar winner for her Participant film CitizenFour) follows artist and activist Nan Goldin in a deeply personal battle as she fights to hold the Sackler family to account for the opioid crisis.
Meanwhile, A Compassionate Spy from Hoop Dreams director Steve James (also behind Participant’s first TV series, America to Me) tells the story of Ted Hall, who as a physicist on...
- 9/1/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director Steve James chronicles a former Manhattan Project physicist.
Austria-based sales agent Autlook Filmsales has boarded international sales on Steve James’ documentary A Compassionate Spy, which is set to premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this week.
The film traces the life of a former Manhattan Project physicist who passed on secrets to the Soviet Union and lived the rest of his life under FBI surveillance and suspicion.
US outfit Participant financed the film and is jointly handling global and North American sales for the film with Cinetic.
It marks the latest from US documentary-maker James, who...
Austria-based sales agent Autlook Filmsales has boarded international sales on Steve James’ documentary A Compassionate Spy, which is set to premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this week.
The film traces the life of a former Manhattan Project physicist who passed on secrets to the Soviet Union and lived the rest of his life under FBI surveillance and suspicion.
US outfit Participant financed the film and is jointly handling global and North American sales for the film with Cinetic.
It marks the latest from US documentary-maker James, who...
- 8/30/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – The City of Chicago, like a number of American cities, has gone through incredible transformations in the last 25 years. Whole neighborhoods left for dead during the white flight of the 1950s-70s have been gentrified and re-settled with luxury housing … often to the detriment of those who remained there throughout many difficult years. One such case was the National Teachers Academy (Nta) a high performing grade school mostly attended by the South Loop neighborhood children of color. How the city wanted to repurpose it is chronicled in the documentary “Let the Little Light Shine” by filmmaker Kevin Shaw.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The South Loop neighborhood, in the last 15 years or so, has had a proliferation of wealthier “settlers” in its environs – due to its close access to downtown – and the new neighbors have petitioned for a high school. The city wanted to close the relatively new infrastructure of Nta to accommodate this request,...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The South Loop neighborhood, in the last 15 years or so, has had a proliferation of wealthier “settlers” in its environs – due to its close access to downtown – and the new neighbors have petitioned for a high school. The city wanted to close the relatively new infrastructure of Nta to accommodate this request,...
- 8/15/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Click here to read the full article.
The three Oscar categories that recognize films which run 40 minutes or shorter — best live action short, best documentary short and best animated short — are often regarded as “minor,” but this year’s contenders for them will include some major names.
On the heels of recent Academy Awards ceremonies at which Oscars for short films were taken home by the likes of retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant, former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry and Hollywood A-lister Riz Ahmed, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Taylor Swift’s filmmaking debut All Too Well: The Short Film — which the pop star has described as “a film about an effervescent, curious young woman who ends up completely out of her depth” — received an Oscar-qualifying run, making it eligible for the best live action short Oscar, and is working with a top consulting firm to guide its awards campaign.
The three Oscar categories that recognize films which run 40 minutes or shorter — best live action short, best documentary short and best animated short — are often regarded as “minor,” but this year’s contenders for them will include some major names.
On the heels of recent Academy Awards ceremonies at which Oscars for short films were taken home by the likes of retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant, former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry and Hollywood A-lister Riz Ahmed, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Taylor Swift’s filmmaking debut All Too Well: The Short Film — which the pop star has described as “a film about an effervescent, curious young woman who ends up completely out of her depth” — received an Oscar-qualifying run, making it eligible for the best live action short Oscar, and is working with a top consulting firm to guide its awards campaign.
- 8/12/2022
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"You only get so many opportunities, and then they're gone." Greenwich Ent. has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Hockeyland, which first premiered at the Doc NYC Film Festival last year. The film opens in theaters this September and it's worth a look. The fest's intro explains: "In Minnesota's unforgiving North Country, hockey is life. Over the course of a season, two rival high school programs—one an emergent dynasty, the other steeped in a proud legacy—strive for a coveted state championship. With the hopes of their towns behind them, boys on both sides cope with the pressures of adolescence along with the added burden of bringing glory to one of the country’s most hockey-crazed communities." Hockeyland is trying to be like Hoop Dreams or Friday Night Lights, but about hockey up in Minnesota. It may not be the most popular sport in America, but it is still important.
- 8/2/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There is no shortage of documentaries to enjoy on television these days and the Emmy races for non-fiction categories are poised to reflect that. The creative forces behind four of those documentaries and series joined our recent Meet the Experts panel that covered subjects that included chronicling survivors of sexual abuse, celebrities reading letters from people whose lives were changed by them, the career of America’s top infectious disease doctor and a multi-level marketing company that specialized in women’s leggings.
In our roundtable conversation, we hear what the directors and producers behind these projects got them interested in making non-fiction material and the documentaries that leave them feeling good. Gold Derby recently discussed this and more with Aly Raisman (“Ally Raisman: Darkness to Light”), Donny Jackson (“Dear…”), John Hoffman and Janet Tobias (“Fauci”) and Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason (“LuLaRich”).
You can watch the television documentary group...
In our roundtable conversation, we hear what the directors and producers behind these projects got them interested in making non-fiction material and the documentaries that leave them feeling good. Gold Derby recently discussed this and more with Aly Raisman (“Ally Raisman: Darkness to Light”), Donny Jackson (“Dear…”), John Hoffman and Janet Tobias (“Fauci”) and Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason (“LuLaRich”).
You can watch the television documentary group...
- 5/20/2022
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Welcome back to Oscars Playback, in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. This week, we look at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995, honoring the films of 1994.
While mama claimed that life is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you’re gonna get, everyone knew what they were getting at this ceremony. “Forrest Gump,” a 13-time nominee and the No. 1 domestic box office hit of 1994, was going to win Best Picture, and it did, along with five other awards. It beat out “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Quiz Show” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” four films that you could argue would make for better winners over “Gump,” which has not particularly aged well.
See Oscars Playback: Revisiting the 1999 ceremony when ‘Shakespeare in Love’ won the war over ‘Saving Private Ryan’
One of the film...
While mama claimed that life is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you’re gonna get, everyone knew what they were getting at this ceremony. “Forrest Gump,” a 13-time nominee and the No. 1 domestic box office hit of 1994, was going to win Best Picture, and it did, along with five other awards. It beat out “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Quiz Show” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” four films that you could argue would make for better winners over “Gump,” which has not particularly aged well.
See Oscars Playback: Revisiting the 1999 ceremony when ‘Shakespeare in Love’ won the war over ‘Saving Private Ryan’
One of the film...
- 5/5/2022
- by Joyce Eng and Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
Kanye West has become possibly the world’s most famous and revered rap star, dominating headlines with his music and his personal life. But there was a time – hard as it is to imagine – when he was pegged as “just” a great record producer, and not a performer in his own right.
The Netflix docuseries Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy dials back to that time when Ye (as he calls himself now) struggled to be taken seriously as a solo artist. The series is directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, who made some of West’s most important music videos. Simmons grew up in Chicago, as did Kanye, and began shooting video of West back in the late 1990s, well before the rapper released his first solo album.
Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted: — Deadline’s Complete Coverage
“To actually start documenting him, what inspired me was Hoop Dreams, the documentary...
The Netflix docuseries Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy dials back to that time when Ye (as he calls himself now) struggled to be taken seriously as a solo artist. The series is directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, who made some of West’s most important music videos. Simmons grew up in Chicago, as did Kanye, and began shooting video of West back in the late 1990s, well before the rapper released his first solo album.
Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted: — Deadline’s Complete Coverage
“To actually start documenting him, what inspired me was Hoop Dreams, the documentary...
- 4/23/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
As the title puts in no uncertain terms, directing duo Coodie and Chike’s four-and-a-half documentary Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy treats the matter of the subject’s genius as a given. To the naysayers, that might still be up for debate. But to place someone as incendiary as Kanye West—the American rapper, producer, fashion designer, one-time presidential candidate, and billionaire now legally named Ye—in the dictionary besides that contentious and sacred word “genius” is to assert an obvious truth worth repeating: that hip-hop produces geniuses who should be recorded as such in the history and canon of art. The Black hip-hop artist is expected to work twice, thrice as hard, to accumulate laurels and corporate sponsorships, break records and become an exceptional humanitarian and entrepreneur, to even be considered a respectable artist by white America—let alone a genius. But Coodie and Chike do not waste much time...
- 3/13/2022
- MUBI
With Oscar nominations just days away, the BAFTAs weighed in with their nominations for the 75th edition of the awards, which is set to take place on Sunday, March 13, with Rebel Wilson hosting the evening’s honors.
There were many surprises and snubs among the field of nominees, where Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” led the charge, despite the filmmaker missing a nod. But, whether it was the complete shutouts of “Spencer” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!” or the inclusions of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi in director and adapted screenplay or Ann Dowd and Woody Norman in the supporting categories, the impact won’t be felt in the Oscar world since voting is now closed.
Down below are the most notable snubs and surprises from the BAFTA nominations.
Snub: All of the presumed leading contenders for best actress, including Olivia Colman, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart
If you had on your awards season bingo...
There were many surprises and snubs among the field of nominees, where Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” led the charge, despite the filmmaker missing a nod. But, whether it was the complete shutouts of “Spencer” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!” or the inclusions of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi in director and adapted screenplay or Ann Dowd and Woody Norman in the supporting categories, the impact won’t be felt in the Oscar world since voting is now closed.
Down below are the most notable snubs and surprises from the BAFTA nominations.
Snub: All of the presumed leading contenders for best actress, including Olivia Colman, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart
If you had on your awards season bingo...
- 2/3/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
When standup comic Clarence “Coodie” Simmons crossed paths with a rising music producer named Kanye West at Jermaine Dupri’s birthday party in 1998, he was so profoundly inspired by the 21-year-old’s talent and sheer force of will that he decided to quit his beloved Chicago public access show “Channel Zero” and follow this fire-breathing local visionary east to New York. Simmons’ plan was to make a documentary about West’s journey from Chicago’s South Side to the North Pole of the rap world — the “Hoop Dreams” of hip-hop — and his subject couldn’t have been happier to oblige. Even then, years before anyone would take him seriously as an Mc, West was convinced that he was destined for greatness; that it would serve history to have a camera on him at all times. “I got ass-per-ations,” is how he would put it at the time.
West’s mythic...
West’s mythic...
- 1/24/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The 35 feature documentaries heading to this year’s Sundance Film Festival address a wide array of issues, including the U.S. maternal-mortality crisis (Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee’s “Aftershock”); the battle over control of women’s bodies (Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ “The Janes”); corporate greed (Rory Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing”); and climate change (Rachel Lears’ “To the End”).
But this year’s nonfiction lineup also includes several portrait documentaries: Kanye West (“jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy”), Bill Cosby (“We Need to Talk About Cosby”), Sinéad O’Connor (“Nothing Compares”) and Princess Diana (“The Princess”) are among the many famous and infamous figures being explored.
Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah’s “jeen-yuhs” is arguably the most anticipated doc heading to Park City. The three-parter boasts 21 years of never-before-seen footage from the rapper. Simmons says after meeting West 20-some years ago, he realized that “this dude was...
But this year’s nonfiction lineup also includes several portrait documentaries: Kanye West (“jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy”), Bill Cosby (“We Need to Talk About Cosby”), Sinéad O’Connor (“Nothing Compares”) and Princess Diana (“The Princess”) are among the many famous and infamous figures being explored.
Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah’s “jeen-yuhs” is arguably the most anticipated doc heading to Park City. The three-parter boasts 21 years of never-before-seen footage from the rapper. Simmons says after meeting West 20-some years ago, he realized that “this dude was...
- 1/19/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Multi-faceted filmmaker Mark Duplass discusses the movies he wishes more people knew about with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Duck Butter (2018)
The Puffy Chair (2005)
Prince Of Broadway (2008)
Tangerine (2015)
The Florida Project (2017) – Dennis Cozzalio’s review
Red Rocket (2021)
Starlet (2012)
Take Out (2004)
Mack & Rita (Tbd)
Old Joy (2006)
First Cow (2020)
Wendy And Lucy (2008) – Dennis Cozzalio’s favorite movie of 2020
Henry Fool (1997)
Trust (1990)
Amateur (1994)
Medicine For Melancholy (2008)
Shang-Chi (2021)
Your Sister’s Sister (2011)
My Effortless Brilliance (2008)
What the Funny (2008)
Humpday (2009)
True Adolescents (2009)
Man Push Cart (2005)
The White Tiger (2021)
Baghead (2008)
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012)
Language Lessons (2021)
Stevie (2002)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
American Movie (1999)
What Happened Was… (1994) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
My Dinner With Andre (1981)
Creep (2014)
Grown-Ups (1980)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Nuts In May (1976)
Secrets And Lies (1996) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Naked (1993)
Parallel Mothers (2021)
The Freebie (2010)
East Of Eden (1955) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Strange...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Duck Butter (2018)
The Puffy Chair (2005)
Prince Of Broadway (2008)
Tangerine (2015)
The Florida Project (2017) – Dennis Cozzalio’s review
Red Rocket (2021)
Starlet (2012)
Take Out (2004)
Mack & Rita (Tbd)
Old Joy (2006)
First Cow (2020)
Wendy And Lucy (2008) – Dennis Cozzalio’s favorite movie of 2020
Henry Fool (1997)
Trust (1990)
Amateur (1994)
Medicine For Melancholy (2008)
Shang-Chi (2021)
Your Sister’s Sister (2011)
My Effortless Brilliance (2008)
What the Funny (2008)
Humpday (2009)
True Adolescents (2009)
Man Push Cart (2005)
The White Tiger (2021)
Baghead (2008)
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012)
Language Lessons (2021)
Stevie (2002)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
American Movie (1999)
What Happened Was… (1994) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
My Dinner With Andre (1981)
Creep (2014)
Grown-Ups (1980)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Nuts In May (1976)
Secrets And Lies (1996) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Naked (1993)
Parallel Mothers (2021)
The Freebie (2010)
East Of Eden (1955) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Strange...
- 12/21/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
IndieWire turns 25 this year. To mark the occasion, we’re running a series of essays about the future of everything we cover.
Remember when documentaries were deeply honorable but commercially unviable? “Knock Down the House” shattered Sundance records in 2019 when Netflix bought it for $10 million; Apple and A24 broke that record the next year with the $12 million acquisition of “Boys State.” Apple paid a reported $25 million for “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” while studios like Concordia, Participant, Radical, and Xtr pump millions into the non-fiction genre.
Today, everyone loves documentaries. Streamers are hailed as giving the genre a new lease on life. However, the streaming business is not dedicated to speaking truth to power, as documentaries often do; streamers amass subscribers and create shareholder value.
So, what does that mean for the future of documentaries? If the risk-averse, franchise-dominated movie business is any example, we should expect more documentaries about famous people,...
Remember when documentaries were deeply honorable but commercially unviable? “Knock Down the House” shattered Sundance records in 2019 when Netflix bought it for $10 million; Apple and A24 broke that record the next year with the $12 million acquisition of “Boys State.” Apple paid a reported $25 million for “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” while studios like Concordia, Participant, Radical, and Xtr pump millions into the non-fiction genre.
Today, everyone loves documentaries. Streamers are hailed as giving the genre a new lease on life. However, the streaming business is not dedicated to speaking truth to power, as documentaries often do; streamers amass subscribers and create shareholder value.
So, what does that mean for the future of documentaries? If the risk-averse, franchise-dominated movie business is any example, we should expect more documentaries about famous people,...
- 12/11/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
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