Exclusive: New York-based Women Make Movies has acquired U.S. rights for Palestinian Oscar entry Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem.
The intimate work sees Soualem accompany her Palestinian-French actress mother Hiam Abbass back to the Arab village within Israeli borders, which she left in the 1980s to pursue her acting career in Europe.
There, they reflect on her past as well as the lives of Abbass’ mother and grandmother in a powerful work exploring themes of displacement, identity and survival across four generations of women.
Wmm executive director Debra Zimmerman said the film was a “perfect fit” for the label, which aims to put spotlight on the work of female filmmakers.
“It is a beautiful film about four generations of Palestinian women,” she said. “I am thrilled that we have the opportunity to have this film seen widely right now by the diverse audiences that need and deserve to see it.
The intimate work sees Soualem accompany her Palestinian-French actress mother Hiam Abbass back to the Arab village within Israeli borders, which she left in the 1980s to pursue her acting career in Europe.
There, they reflect on her past as well as the lives of Abbass’ mother and grandmother in a powerful work exploring themes of displacement, identity and survival across four generations of women.
Wmm executive director Debra Zimmerman said the film was a “perfect fit” for the label, which aims to put spotlight on the work of female filmmakers.
“It is a beautiful film about four generations of Palestinian women,” she said. “I am thrilled that we have the opportunity to have this film seen widely right now by the diverse audiences that need and deserve to see it.
- 12/8/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Reality Winner has been out of prison since June 2021, but she’s still under lockdown. The whistleblower’s travel is confined to the Southern District of Texas and she must abide by a 10 p.m. curfew. If all goes according to plan — and it really, really hasn’t for most of her hellish ordeal — her probation will be lifted Nov. 24. And right now, she’s cautiously optimistic. The 31-year-old is hard at work on her memoir, was recently the subject of the critically acclaimed HBO movie Reality with actress Sydney Sweeney playing her,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
Reality Winner was a US Air Force vet and Nsa employee whose leaking of an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to The Intercept, which subsequently handed it over to the FBI in a bungled, source-disclosing attempt to verify it wasn’t a hoax, in turn led to her arrest. The saga has been well-documented, to say the least: Just this year, Tina Satter premiered her Sydney Sweeney-starring HBO film Reality, adapted from the playwright’s Is This A Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription. Now we have Sonia Kennebeck’s Reality Winner, itself an extension of the 25 New Faces alum’s […]
The post “We Offered to Bear Witness”: Sonia Kennebeck on Reality Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Offered to Bear Witness”: Sonia Kennebeck on Reality Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/12/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Reality Winner was a US Air Force vet and Nsa employee whose leaking of an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to The Intercept, which subsequently handed it over to the FBI in a bungled, source-disclosing attempt to verify it wasn’t a hoax, in turn led to her arrest. The saga has been well-documented, to say the least: Just this year, Tina Satter premiered her Sydney Sweeney-starring HBO film Reality, adapted from the playwright’s Is This A Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription. Now we have Sonia Kennebeck’s Reality Winner, itself an extension of the 25 New Faces alum’s […]
The post “We Offered to Bear Witness”: Sonia Kennebeck on Reality Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Offered to Bear Witness”: Sonia Kennebeck on Reality Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/12/2023
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
"I really thought that the whole world can be changed for the better with one deed..." Codebreaker Films has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Reality Winner, which is indeed about the US whistleblower named Reality Winner, directed by Sonia Kennebeck. This originally premiered under the title United States vs. Reality Winner, playing at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival and Cph:dox and Doc NYC that year. It has taken two years for them to finally secure a release in select US theaters starting this October. "Would you risk your freedom to protect democracy?" The incredible true story of Reality Winner in her own words. Filmed over five years, this is the only documentary about the young Nsa whistleblower Reality Winner, who exposed Russian interference in U.S. elections and went to jail for it. With exclusive access to Reality Winner and the media outlet involved in her arrest.
- 9/22/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Sundance Institute’s Documentary Fund will be supporting 23 selected independent documentary film projects this year through grants totaling over $1 million. This initiative has previously funded notable films including Oscar-nominated features “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” “Minding the Gap” and “The Edge of Democracy.”
In addition to shrinking budgets for commissioned docuseries and one-offs, there has been a dramatic decline in distribution deals for indie docs, making the Sundance Institute grant vital to the nonfiction community. Especially to those filmmakers in the docu space working on social issue documentaries.
This year, the documentaries awarded grants explore a large breadth subject matters from around the world, telling stories about Indigenous People and Native Americans, transgender youth, secrets of a family’s lineage, people with disabilities and an untitled feature about Uvalde, Texas. Of the 23 films, six are in development, 14 are in production and three are in post-production.
“The stories and themes explored...
In addition to shrinking budgets for commissioned docuseries and one-offs, there has been a dramatic decline in distribution deals for indie docs, making the Sundance Institute grant vital to the nonfiction community. Especially to those filmmakers in the docu space working on social issue documentaries.
This year, the documentaries awarded grants explore a large breadth subject matters from around the world, telling stories about Indigenous People and Native Americans, transgender youth, secrets of a family’s lineage, people with disabilities and an untitled feature about Uvalde, Texas. Of the 23 films, six are in development, 14 are in production and three are in post-production.
“The stories and themes explored...
- 8/21/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
A Cop Movie (Alonso Ruizpalacios)
There has never been a less auspicious time to make a “cop movie.” As scrutiny abounds from both within (content warnings on streaming services) and externally (social media) towards the past output of media producers, also suspect are the bevy of films and series that glamorize law enforcement, or see the police as uncomplicated arbiters of justice. Of course, last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests initiated all kinds of brave new thinking about a potential world devoid of cops. Like the Western genre, perhaps all police thrillers in future will be revisionist ones. Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ new Netflix-produced quasi-documentary, A Cop Movie, has thus arrived right on cue. – David K. (full review)
Where to...
A Cop Movie (Alonso Ruizpalacios)
There has never been a less auspicious time to make a “cop movie.” As scrutiny abounds from both within (content warnings on streaming services) and externally (social media) towards the past output of media producers, also suspect are the bevy of films and series that glamorize law enforcement, or see the police as uncomplicated arbiters of justice. Of course, last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests initiated all kinds of brave new thinking about a potential world devoid of cops. Like the Western genre, perhaps all police thrillers in future will be revisionist ones. Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ new Netflix-produced quasi-documentary, A Cop Movie, has thus arrived right on cue. – David K. (full review)
Where to...
- 11/5/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Reality Winner on Wednesday made her first public appearance since she was released from prison in June, taking part in a conversation at the Double Exposure Film Festival that centered around the ongoing campaign for President Joe Biden to pardon her. Winner pleaded guilty in 2018 to leaking a document about Russian interference in the 2016 election that she obtained through her work as a National Security Agency contractor.
The case is the subject of Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary “United States vs. Reality Winner,” which served as the opening night film of Double Exposure, a Washington, D.C. film festival dedicated to investigative reporting on film.
The film, which includes interviews with fellow Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, details the hardline approach federal authorities took in prosecuting Winner, whose leak was of far smaller scope than Snowden’s. The prosecution painted Winner as a traitor who hated her country, while Winner’s supporters...
The case is the subject of Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary “United States vs. Reality Winner,” which served as the opening night film of Double Exposure, a Washington, D.C. film festival dedicated to investigative reporting on film.
The film, which includes interviews with fellow Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, details the hardline approach federal authorities took in prosecuting Winner, whose leak was of far smaller scope than Snowden’s. The prosecution painted Winner as a traitor who hated her country, while Winner’s supporters...
- 10/14/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Sony Pictures Classics’ sci-fi drama Nine Days starring Winston Duke opens in four theaters in a specialty market buoyed by recent releases like Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and Pig. New York’s arthouse scene, outpaced by LA of late, is perking up, distributors say (Ailey numbers were super there) and moviegoers are rewarding unique films and strong stories.
(The slow reviving specialty scene is keeping its head down as day-and-date tensions in wide release blockbuster-land explode.)
Nine Days hits NYC and LA today before rolling out nationwide August 6 in 250-275 theaters, said Jason Michael Berman, a producer, and president of Mandalay Pictures — of course depending on how it does. He’s upbeat after 800 people turned out for LA screening this week at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel with EP Spike Jonze introducing the film, written and directed by Edson Oda,...
(The slow reviving specialty scene is keeping its head down as day-and-date tensions in wide release blockbuster-land explode.)
Nine Days hits NYC and LA today before rolling out nationwide August 6 in 250-275 theaters, said Jason Michael Berman, a producer, and president of Mandalay Pictures — of course depending on how it does. He’s upbeat after 800 people turned out for LA screening this week at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel with EP Spike Jonze introducing the film, written and directed by Edson Oda,...
- 7/30/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Enemies of the State (Sonia Kennebeck)
This ambiguity is where Enemies of the State becomes a must-see because it exposes how skeptical we’ve become about the truth. As soon as you admit systems can be manipulated for selfish gain, there’s no denying that it isn’t happening right now in ways that make you the victim. Donald Trump epitomizes this phenomenon because he’s akin to God to his sycophants. They won’t even look at proof of his lies because they’ve decided that anything refuting his words has already been fabricated. So when DeHart earns the backing of other whistleblowers and the media, his story gets spun as one of a maligned hero to everyone that believes the government can’t be trusted.
Enemies of the State (Sonia Kennebeck)
This ambiguity is where Enemies of the State becomes a must-see because it exposes how skeptical we’ve become about the truth. As soon as you admit systems can be manipulated for selfish gain, there’s no denying that it isn’t happening right now in ways that make you the victim. Donald Trump epitomizes this phenomenon because he’s akin to God to his sycophants. They won’t even look at proof of his lies because they’ve decided that anything refuting his words has already been fabricated. So when DeHart earns the backing of other whistleblowers and the media, his story gets spun as one of a maligned hero to everyone that believes the government can’t be trusted.
- 7/30/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This review of “Enemies of the State” was first published after the film’s debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Was hacker Matthew DeHart a whistleblower, a spy or a child pornographer? Or some combination of the above? Watching the provocative new documentary “Enemies of the State,” your opinion may shift more than once, as director Sonia Kennebeck (“National Bird”) pursues both the elusive nature of truth and the seductive qualities of conspiracy theories.
Featuring interviews with the key players alongside dramatized re-creations — the documentary pioneer of this method, Errol Morris, acts an executive producer here — Kennebeck takes us deep inside one family’s harrowing ordeal and pulls the rug out from our assumptions and prejudices, offering an array of contradicting experts whose judgment and assertions shift in their credibility.
The facts are these: Air National Guard veteran Matt DeHart, who purports to be involved with on-line whistleblowers Anonymous and Wikileaks,...
Was hacker Matthew DeHart a whistleblower, a spy or a child pornographer? Or some combination of the above? Watching the provocative new documentary “Enemies of the State,” your opinion may shift more than once, as director Sonia Kennebeck (“National Bird”) pursues both the elusive nature of truth and the seductive qualities of conspiracy theories.
Featuring interviews with the key players alongside dramatized re-creations — the documentary pioneer of this method, Errol Morris, acts an executive producer here — Kennebeck takes us deep inside one family’s harrowing ordeal and pulls the rug out from our assumptions and prejudices, offering an array of contradicting experts whose judgment and assertions shift in their credibility.
The facts are these: Air National Guard veteran Matt DeHart, who purports to be involved with on-line whistleblowers Anonymous and Wikileaks,...
- 7/28/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
In an Errol Morris-produced documentary, the strange story of a ‘hacktivist’ whose life gets turned upside down is brought to life with more questions than answers remaining
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Oscar Wilde’s arch observation raises the curtain on Sonia Kennebeck’s new documentary film Enemies of the State, exec-produced by Errol Morris. Winston Churchill’s summary of Russia – “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” – would be no less apt.
Viewers are invited to join Kennebeck’s investigation into the bizarre case of Matt DeHart, a former member of the US air national guard who worked on the drone programme. He played online games, joined the “hactivist” group Anonymous and was an alleged courier for the whistleblower site WikiLeaks.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Oscar Wilde’s arch observation raises the curtain on Sonia Kennebeck’s new documentary film Enemies of the State, exec-produced by Errol Morris. Winston Churchill’s summary of Russia – “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” – would be no less apt.
Viewers are invited to join Kennebeck’s investigation into the bizarre case of Matt DeHart, a former member of the US air national guard who worked on the drone programme. He played online games, joined the “hactivist” group Anonymous and was an alleged courier for the whistleblower site WikiLeaks.
- 7/27/2021
- by David Smith in Washington
- The Guardian - Film News
After offering up our picks for the best films of the first half of the year, we enter the second half with a strong release slate. Arriving this July is a stellar set of documentaries, a few promising wide releases, new films from some of the century’s most prolific directors, and much more. Check out my picks below.
15. Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Before an eventual Criterion release, Janus Films will bow the debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri, which recently played at Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and more. David Katz said in his review, “Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express have been directly cited by the filmmakers as inspirations for Eyimofe, and I would also mention Amores Perros for its interleaving structure and top-to-bottom dissection of a megalopolis, teeming with...
15. Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Before an eventual Criterion release, Janus Films will bow the debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri, which recently played at Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and more. David Katz said in his review, “Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express have been directly cited by the filmmakers as inspirations for Eyimofe, and I would also mention Amores Perros for its interleaving structure and top-to-bottom dissection of a megalopolis, teeming with...
- 7/1/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
With a deliberate pace, Sonia Kennebeck’s United States vs. Reality Winner quietly directs its outrage towards the injustice faced by 25-year-old whistle blower Reality Leigh Winner and a system that failed her. Held up as a poster girl for the deep state by Trump and the prosecution, she was ultimately betrayed by the sloppy work by journalists at The Incept who carelessly provided a document with identifiable information for confirmation.
Following the events that led up to Winner’s arrest––including recordings of conversations between Winner and agents who stopped by for a friendly chat, along with the efforts of her loving family to advocate on her behalf–– Kennebeck again has crafted an often riveting exploration of the state of national security. What emerges is a sympathetic personal portrait of Winner, who shares classified information on Russian interference (a document later declassified), as told through the perspective of mother Billie Winner-Davis and sister Brittany,...
Following the events that led up to Winner’s arrest––including recordings of conversations between Winner and agents who stopped by for a friendly chat, along with the efforts of her loving family to advocate on her behalf–– Kennebeck again has crafted an often riveting exploration of the state of national security. What emerges is a sympathetic personal portrait of Winner, who shares classified information on Russian interference (a document later declassified), as told through the perspective of mother Billie Winner-Davis and sister Brittany,...
- 3/27/2021
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
American singer, songwriter David Byrne and Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramovic will be among the speakers taking part in live digital events at documentary film festival Cph:dox.
The Danish event has announced that it will extend its run by 10 days after the Danish government ruled that movie theaters could open on May 6. The main festival will now run April 21-May 12, with industry activities taking place April 23-30.
Byrne and Abramovic will appear as part of the discussion series “An Evening With.” Byrne stars in Spike Lee’s “American Utopia,” which screens during the festival’s program, and Abramovic’s film “512 Hours” will have its world premiere at Cph:dox.
Other speakers include German female imam Seyran Ates, who is portrayed in Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s film “Sex, Revolution and Islam,” world premiering in competition at the festival. Ates will be in conversation with the Danish-Kurdish author Sara Omar focusing...
The Danish event has announced that it will extend its run by 10 days after the Danish government ruled that movie theaters could open on May 6. The main festival will now run April 21-May 12, with industry activities taking place April 23-30.
Byrne and Abramovic will appear as part of the discussion series “An Evening With.” Byrne stars in Spike Lee’s “American Utopia,” which screens during the festival’s program, and Abramovic’s film “512 Hours” will have its world premiere at Cph:dox.
Other speakers include German female imam Seyran Ates, who is portrayed in Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s film “Sex, Revolution and Islam,” world premiering in competition at the festival. Ates will be in conversation with the Danish-Kurdish author Sara Omar focusing...
- 3/25/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Festival’s industry activities will still take place online frmo April 23-30.
Copenhagen’s Cph:Dox has extended the dates for its upcoming edition by 10 days in a bid to host physical screenings and events when Denmark’s cinemas reopen on May 6.
Organisers at the documentary festival had originally planned to host a hybrid of physical and digital screenings and events from April 21 to May 2. But with Denmark still dealing with the ongoing pandemic, the government’s latest reopening plan has set May 6 as a tentative date for cinemas to resume business.
This has prompted Cph:dox to extend its 18th...
Copenhagen’s Cph:Dox has extended the dates for its upcoming edition by 10 days in a bid to host physical screenings and events when Denmark’s cinemas reopen on May 6.
Organisers at the documentary festival had originally planned to host a hybrid of physical and digital screenings and events from April 21 to May 2. But with Denmark still dealing with the ongoing pandemic, the government’s latest reopening plan has set May 6 as a tentative date for cinemas to resume business.
This has prompted Cph:dox to extend its 18th...
- 3/24/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Award-winning filmmakers and a documentary from ‘The Act Of Killing’ producer Signe Byrge Sørensen among those selected.
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2021, set to run April 21 to May 2.
The programme includes films that focus on the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements, decolonization and climate change among other topics.
The competition programmes consist of 64 titles with 47 world premieres, nine international premieres and six European premieres. In total, 58% of the titles (37 films) are directed by one or more women. This increases to 66% when including films co-directed by male and female directors.
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2021, set to run April 21 to May 2.
The programme includes films that focus on the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements, decolonization and climate change among other topics.
The competition programmes consist of 64 titles with 47 world premieres, nine international premieres and six European premieres. In total, 58% of the titles (37 films) are directed by one or more women. This increases to 66% when including films co-directed by male and female directors.
- 3/18/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
A sense of rising U.S. governmental secrecy and punishment of whistleblowers is the primary political takeaway from “United States vs. Reality Winner.” Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary chronicles the incarceration and trial of the titular young intelligence specialist who leaked an Nsa document revealing Russian attempts at interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections — intel the Trump administration was evidently keen on suppressing.
That her leakage of classified materials to media became the sole, punitive focus of prosecution, shutting out the issue of citizens’ need to know, provides the central moral conundrum here. But the film mostly backs away from a bigger picture of international espionage and possible Stateside collusion to focus on the personal level of Winner’s family, as her forced silence behind bars makes them her principal advocates. It’s an involving, empathetic if one-sided portrait whose limited insight into still-incendiary issues may actually smooth passage to broadcast,...
That her leakage of classified materials to media became the sole, punitive focus of prosecution, shutting out the issue of citizens’ need to know, provides the central moral conundrum here. But the film mostly backs away from a bigger picture of international espionage and possible Stateside collusion to focus on the personal level of Winner’s family, as her forced silence behind bars makes them her principal advocates. It’s an involving, empathetic if one-sided portrait whose limited insight into still-incendiary issues may actually smooth passage to broadcast,...
- 3/17/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
The documentary thriller is set for a summer release.
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary thriller Enemies Of The State, which had its world premiere at last year’s Toronto festival.
The film examines the case of Matt DeHart, a member of ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous and alleged whistle blower who believes he was the target of a US government conspiracy.
IFC Films will release the film, produced by Kennebeck and Ines Hofmann Kanna of Codebreaker Films and executive produced by Errol Morris, this summer.
IFC Films president Arianna Bocco commented: “Sonia maintains a deft...
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary thriller Enemies Of The State, which had its world premiere at last year’s Toronto festival.
The film examines the case of Matt DeHart, a member of ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous and alleged whistle blower who believes he was the target of a US government conspiracy.
IFC Films will release the film, produced by Kennebeck and Ines Hofmann Kanna of Codebreaker Films and executive produced by Errol Morris, this summer.
IFC Films president Arianna Bocco commented: “Sonia maintains a deft...
- 3/9/2021
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to “Enemies of the State,” a documentary film about alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart.
“Enemies of the State” is directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive produced by Errol Morris and first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. IFC plans to release the documentary this summer.
“Enemies of the State” blurs the lines between documentary and the thriller genre as it explores the case of Matt DeHart, a member of hacktivist group Anonymous and alleged whistleblower who believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy and sought asylum in Canada. The documentary is also a legal case study, an espionage thriller, and a work of investigative journalism as it unravels a tangled web of secrets and lies with an American family willing to go to any lengths to protect their son at its center.
Kennebeck...
“Enemies of the State” is directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive produced by Errol Morris and first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. IFC plans to release the documentary this summer.
“Enemies of the State” blurs the lines between documentary and the thriller genre as it explores the case of Matt DeHart, a member of hacktivist group Anonymous and alleged whistleblower who believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy and sought asylum in Canada. The documentary is also a legal case study, an espionage thriller, and a work of investigative journalism as it unravels a tangled web of secrets and lies with an American family willing to go to any lengths to protect their son at its center.
Kennebeck...
- 3/9/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to Sonia Kennebeck’s (National Bird) documentary thriller Enemies of the State which is executive produced by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (The Fog of War). The docu will be released this summer.
Enemies of the State, which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, investigates the complicated and bizarre case of alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart, an alleged whistleblower who believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy. The film is the product of years of extensive investigation, featuring in-depth interviews with the DeHart family as well as their attorneys, supporters, detractors, journalists and key sources.
“Sonia maintains a deft balance in telling the fascinating story of the DeHart family, with all the twists and turns of a true crime mystery,” said Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films. “We’re thrilled...
Enemies of the State, which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, investigates the complicated and bizarre case of alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart, an alleged whistleblower who believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy. The film is the product of years of extensive investigation, featuring in-depth interviews with the DeHart family as well as their attorneys, supporters, detractors, journalists and key sources.
“Sonia maintains a deft balance in telling the fascinating story of the DeHart family, with all the twists and turns of a true crime mystery,” said Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films. “We’re thrilled...
- 3/9/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
In January 2010, then 25-year-old hacker Matt DeHart discovered that he had come to the attention of the authorities. His family home was searched by police officers who removed every piece of computing equipment they could find after determining that he may be in possession of child pornography. Cases like this are not especially rare, but what followed was a bizarre and complex series of events which included an attempt to seek asylum in the Russian embassy, a desperate drive across the border to Canada, claims about espionage and secret documents, imprisonment and alleged torture - with Matt's military veteran parents intervening so persistently that concerns were expressed about their influence over their adult son's mind.
This is the tangled web which Sonia Kennebeck attempts to unravel in her latest documentary, which involved years of research, interviewing, tracking down records and even going to court to seek access to restricted information.
This is the tangled web which Sonia Kennebeck attempts to unravel in her latest documentary, which involved years of research, interviewing, tracking down records and even going to court to seek access to restricted information.
- 2/24/2021
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The South by Southwest Film Festival has rolled out its full programming line up, with high-profile new documentaries bolstering previously announced features.
For many in Hollywood, the last-minute cancellation of the Austin-based 2020 SXSW conference was a reality check about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. Global lockdowns followed, and a year later, the film portion of the cultural event is soldiering on.
“We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain and move our attendees,” said Janet Pierson, SXSW’s director of film.
Among the selection is “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free,” featuring a 16mm footage archive of the late singer at work on his 1994 album “Wildflowers,” largely considered his best. The film is directed by Mary Wharton, and leans into SXSW’s reputation for top-tier music programming.
For many in Hollywood, the last-minute cancellation of the Austin-based 2020 SXSW conference was a reality check about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. Global lockdowns followed, and a year later, the film portion of the cultural event is soldiering on.
“We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain and move our attendees,” said Janet Pierson, SXSW’s director of film.
Among the selection is “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free,” featuring a 16mm footage archive of the late singer at work on his 1994 album “Wildflowers,” largely considered his best. The film is directed by Mary Wharton, and leans into SXSW’s reputation for top-tier music programming.
- 2/10/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
The SXSW Film Festival has today announced its full 2021 feature film lineup, in addition to a variety of episodic offerings and special events. The program will be available entirely online to passholders, along with the other components of the festival. As previously announced, the festival will open with “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” director Michael D. Ratner’s multi-part YouTube Originals look at the singer’s efforts to rebuild her life after a 2018 drug overdose. Its closing night selection is “Alone Together,” Bradley Pell and Pablo Jones-Soler’s look at pop star Charli Xcx, who produced an album in quarantine. Seventy-five feature films were selected for the festival from a three-week submission period last October, including 57 world premieres.
The festival finds SXSW returning to the festival circuit one year after the gathering was canceled by Austin mayor as the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the United States. SXSW film head...
The festival finds SXSW returning to the festival circuit one year after the gathering was canceled by Austin mayor as the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the United States. SXSW film head...
- 2/10/2021
- by Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced grants for seven films through its Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, totalling $115,000.
Seven documentary projects will receive grants of up to $20,000 each through the fund, which received more than 180 applications in 2020. Created in 2011 with support from The New York Community Trust, the initiative honors the legacy of legendary American documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz.
Each year, the fund focuses on select issue areas that were hallmarks of Lorentz’s films.
Since 2017, IDA has provided more than $4.5 million in grants through its documentary funds.
Documentaries receiving Pare Lorentz funding this year, with descriptions provided by the IDA, are:
All We’ve Lost
(Preston Randolph, director/producer)
In the small town of Laurel, Montana, a mother refuses to give up fighting for her wrongfully imprisoned son’s release, culminating in a spectacular bipartisan collective effort spanning local and national exoneration and innocence activist movements.
Black Mothers
(Débora Souza Silva,...
Seven documentary projects will receive grants of up to $20,000 each through the fund, which received more than 180 applications in 2020. Created in 2011 with support from The New York Community Trust, the initiative honors the legacy of legendary American documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz.
Each year, the fund focuses on select issue areas that were hallmarks of Lorentz’s films.
Since 2017, IDA has provided more than $4.5 million in grants through its documentary funds.
Documentaries receiving Pare Lorentz funding this year, with descriptions provided by the IDA, are:
All We’ve Lost
(Preston Randolph, director/producer)
In the small town of Laurel, Montana, a mother refuses to give up fighting for her wrongfully imprisoned son’s release, culminating in a spectacular bipartisan collective effort spanning local and national exoneration and innocence activist movements.
Black Mothers
(Débora Souza Silva,...
- 1/26/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
UK festival recently moved online-only due to virus crisis.
The Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) has revealed the programme for its 2021 edition (Feb 24-March 7), which includes several award-winning festival favourites and a focus on South Korea.
The 17th edition of Gff, which recently announced it would shift online-only due to the ongoing virus crisis, includes six world premieres, two European premieres and 49 UK premieres – around a third of the event’s usual programme of 180 titles.
However, Gff co-directors Allison Gardner and Allan Hunter said the reduced number of slots had forced them to raise the bar for selection and produce a stronger programme as a result.
The Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) has revealed the programme for its 2021 edition (Feb 24-March 7), which includes several award-winning festival favourites and a focus on South Korea.
The 17th edition of Gff, which recently announced it would shift online-only due to the ongoing virus crisis, includes six world premieres, two European premieres and 49 UK premieres – around a third of the event’s usual programme of 180 titles.
However, Gff co-directors Allison Gardner and Allan Hunter said the reduced number of slots had forced them to raise the bar for selection and produce a stronger programme as a result.
- 1/14/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival and staple of the New York film community, announced the lineup for its 11th edition, running online November 11-19 and available to viewers across the US. The program includes new films about John Belushi, Pope Francis, Bill T. Jones, Jamal Khashoggi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Frank Zappa, and many more. The 2020 festival lineup includes 107 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and dozens of events. Included are 23 World Premieres, 12 international or North American premieres, and 7 US premieres. Fifty-seven features (53% of the lineup) are directed or co-directed by women and 36 by Bipoc directors (34% of the feature program).
World Premieres at the festival include Nelson G. Navarrete and Maxx Caicedo’s “A La Calle,” Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan,” Sian-Pierre Regis’s “Duty Free,” Noah Hutton’s “In Silico,” Nancy Buirski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,...
World Premieres at the festival include Nelson G. Navarrete and Maxx Caicedo’s “A La Calle,” Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan,” Sian-Pierre Regis’s “Duty Free,” Noah Hutton’s “In Silico,” Nancy Buirski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,...
- 10/15/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The first all-virtual edition of the Doc NYC festival of nonfiction films announced its 2020 lineup on Thursday, with 107 feature documentaries about everyone from John Belushi to Jamal Khashoggi and Pope Francis to Frank Zappa,
The lineup for the festival, which runs from Nov. 11 through Nov. 19 and will take place completely online, includes 23 world premieres, among them Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Nancy Burski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan” and Jeff Daniels’ “Television Event.”
Doc NYC, which launched in 2010, is the largest festival of nonfiction films in the United States. This year the festival transitioned to a completely online event separated into 14 themed sections, two of which are competitive sections that will award prizes.
The competitive Viewfinders section consists of 11 films, including films set in Venezuela (“A La Calle”), Puerto Rico (“Landfall”), the Dominican Republic (“Stateless”) and...
The lineup for the festival, which runs from Nov. 11 through Nov. 19 and will take place completely online, includes 23 world premieres, among them Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s “The Meaning of Hitler,” Nancy Burski’s “A Crime on the Bayou,” Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s “Wuhan Wuhan” and Jeff Daniels’ “Television Event.”
Doc NYC, which launched in 2010, is the largest festival of nonfiction films in the United States. This year the festival transitioned to a completely online event separated into 14 themed sections, two of which are competitive sections that will award prizes.
The competitive Viewfinders section consists of 11 films, including films set in Venezuela (“A La Calle”), Puerto Rico (“Landfall”), the Dominican Republic (“Stateless”) and...
- 10/15/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Doc NYC, the documentary film festival set to run Nov. 11-19 in New York City, has unveiled its virtual 2020 edition lineup, with 23 world premieres, including Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s The Meaning of Hitler and Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s Wuhan Wuhan.
The upcoming festival as it goes online amid the pandemic will screen 107 feature-length documentaries among more than 200 films and events overall, organizers announced Thursday.
Also headed to Doc NYC is Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI; Alex Gibney’s Crazy, Not Insane; Tommy Oliver’s 40 Years a Prisoner; Sonia Kennebeck’s Enemies of the States, and an international ...
The upcoming festival as it goes online amid the pandemic will screen 107 feature-length documentaries among more than 200 films and events overall, organizers announced Thursday.
Also headed to Doc NYC is Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI; Alex Gibney’s Crazy, Not Insane; Tommy Oliver’s 40 Years a Prisoner; Sonia Kennebeck’s Enemies of the States, and an international ...
- 10/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Doc NYC, the documentary film festival set to run Nov. 11-19 in New York City, has unveiled its virtual 2020 edition lineup, with 23 world premieres, including Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker’s The Meaning of Hitler and Gong Cheng and Yung Chang’s Wuhan Wuhan.
The upcoming festival as it goes online amid the pandemic will screen 107 feature-length documentaries among more than 200 films and events overall, organizers announced Thursday.
Also headed to Doc NYC is Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI; Alex Gibney’s Crazy, Not Insane; Tommy Oliver’s 40 Years a Prisoner; Sonia Kennebeck’s Enemies of the States, and an international ...
The upcoming festival as it goes online amid the pandemic will screen 107 feature-length documentaries among more than 200 films and events overall, organizers announced Thursday.
Also headed to Doc NYC is Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI; Alex Gibney’s Crazy, Not Insane; Tommy Oliver’s 40 Years a Prisoner; Sonia Kennebeck’s Enemies of the States, and an international ...
- 10/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary film “Enemies of the State” is a film about the “elusive nature of truth,” as TheWrap’s review describes it, made even more complicated by the remarkable re-enactments that work to blend the fact and fiction of the story.
Kennebeck’s film tells the story of Matthew DeHart, a hacker seeking asylum in Canada claiming to being hunted and investigated by the FBI, only for the film to unravel a much deeper conspiracy involving a child pornography ring and accusations of government torture.
But when the filmmakers obtained access to the real audio file of DeHart’s asylum hearing, it proved to be too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“There was a full asylum hearing in Toronto, and we actually were able to get access to the real audio recording where the family and particularly the lead character Matt DeHart is retelling his own story,...
Kennebeck’s film tells the story of Matthew DeHart, a hacker seeking asylum in Canada claiming to being hunted and investigated by the FBI, only for the film to unravel a much deeper conspiracy involving a child pornography ring and accusations of government torture.
But when the filmmakers obtained access to the real audio file of DeHart’s asylum hearing, it proved to be too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“There was a full asylum hearing in Toronto, and we actually were able to get access to the real audio recording where the family and particularly the lead character Matt DeHart is retelling his own story,...
- 9/16/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
By its very composition, the amalgam word hacktivism houses a peculiar dichotomy. On one hand, it alludes to promoting justice through necessary online disobedience. On the other, the ethics of whatever those rule-breaking actions or their consequences might be remain open to debate. Such ambiguity lies at the core of “Enemies of the State,” Sonia Kennebeck’s mind-boggling, often challenging spy-thriller in documentary form, about a freaky and disturbing yarn of (possible) cyber-crime activities investigated by insatiable journalistic curiosity, though not always with a lucid destination in sight.
That lack of a clear target is frequently inherent in nonfiction storytelling: Documentary filmmakers discover, consider and reconsider the shape and facts of their story along the way and package them accordingly. And Kennebeck is already familiar with the complexities of delving into convoluted episodes of whistle-blowing and government pressure — topics that also concern “Enemies of the State” — thanks to her taut 2016 film “National Bird.
That lack of a clear target is frequently inherent in nonfiction storytelling: Documentary filmmakers discover, consider and reconsider the shape and facts of their story along the way and package them accordingly. And Kennebeck is already familiar with the complexities of delving into convoluted episodes of whistle-blowing and government pressure — topics that also concern “Enemies of the State” — thanks to her taut 2016 film “National Bird.
- 9/12/2020
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
“Enemies of the State” burrows so deep into the perspectives of its unreliable narrators that it often becomes one. Director Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary tracks the bizarre saga of Anonymous hacktivist Matt DeHart, who was convicted of child pornography charges that he and his family denied. At the age of 25, the former Air National Guard serviceman claimed he had uncovered government secrets so damning the FBI invented other crimes to take him down. Kennebeck’s haunting, enigmatic approach to revisiting these claims borrows executive producer Errol Morris’ labyrinthine style to play up the peculiar nature of DeHart’s odyssey, only to find convincing evidence that he’s probably full of it. The movie walks a jagged line between conflicting sources, and overplays some of the more outrageous claims to the detriment of the trenchant investigation at its core. However, Kennebeck still musters
At first blush, the charges against DeHart are straightforward enough.
At first blush, the charges against DeHart are straightforward enough.
- 9/10/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Documentarian Sonia Kennebeck’s feature debut National Bird focused on three whistleblowers speaking about the United States military’s use of drones in secret wars waged overseas. She gave those veterans a platform with which to tell their story and perhaps assuage some guilt while striving to find a hopeful path forward within a world plagued by technological warfare more akin to videogame detachment than seeing the “whites of an insurgent’s eyes.” So it makes sense that she’d also gravitate towards the wild conspiracies surrounding another whistleblower-adjacent figure in Matthew DeHart. He was seeking asylum in Canada at the time for what he believed was targeted criminal harassment by the US government for his role in hosting a server for Anonymous. It was a story that demanded to be told.
Kennebeck wasn’t alone in that sentiment either as National Post journalist Adrian Humphreys followed suit for the...
Kennebeck wasn’t alone in that sentiment either as National Post journalist Adrian Humphreys followed suit for the...
- 9/10/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The 45th edition of the Toronto Film Festival is still very much a go, although made up of a reduced programme. After announcing that Spike Lee’s filmed version of the Broadway-acclaimed David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’ will open the festival the full line-up has now been released.
Taking place between September 10 – 19, the festival will see the first 5 days made up of physical screenings. The program will also be made up of drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences, industry talks.
The highlights of this year’s festival will include ‘God’s Own Country’ helmer Francis Lee’s ‘Ammonite,’Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland,’ Florian Zeller’s ‘The Father’ and Werner Herzog’s doco “Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds as well as films directed by Regina King, Viggo Mortensen and Halle Berry.
Also in news – Netflix release first look images from Ryan Murphy’s ‘Ratched’
See the full line-up below;
“180 Degree...
Taking place between September 10 – 19, the festival will see the first 5 days made up of physical screenings. The program will also be made up of drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences, industry talks.
The highlights of this year’s festival will include ‘God’s Own Country’ helmer Francis Lee’s ‘Ammonite,’Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland,’ Florian Zeller’s ‘The Father’ and Werner Herzog’s doco “Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds as well as films directed by Regina King, Viggo Mortensen and Halle Berry.
Also in news – Netflix release first look images from Ryan Murphy’s ‘Ratched’
See the full line-up below;
“180 Degree...
- 7/31/2020
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Naomi Watts in ‘Penguin Bloom’ (Photo credit: Hugh Stewart.)
Glendyn Ivin’s Penguin Bloom, the adaptation of Bradley Trevor Greive and Cameron Bloom’s novel starring Naomi Watts, The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln and Jacki Weaver, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The drama produced by Emma Cooper, Watts and Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky is among 50 features in the line-up.
The festival’s 45th edition will run from September 10–19, a combination of physical, socially-distanced screenings, drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry talks.
Penguin Bloom’s selection is another welcome boost for Australian cinema after the news that Roderick MacKay’s The Furnace will have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival.
Scripted by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, the film follows Watts as Sam Bloom, a young Sydney...
Glendyn Ivin’s Penguin Bloom, the adaptation of Bradley Trevor Greive and Cameron Bloom’s novel starring Naomi Watts, The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln and Jacki Weaver, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The drama produced by Emma Cooper, Watts and Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky is among 50 features in the line-up.
The festival’s 45th edition will run from September 10–19, a combination of physical, socially-distanced screenings, drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry talks.
Penguin Bloom’s selection is another welcome boost for Australian cinema after the news that Roderick MacKay’s The Furnace will have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival.
Scripted by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, the film follows Watts as Sam Bloom, a young Sydney...
- 7/30/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
After unveiling a few of the works that would be at the fest, the Toronto International Film Festival has today releases their full lineup for 2020. Obviously, this comes in the wake of Covid-19 and the coronavirus pandemic changing what film festivals will be like this year. Toronto had already detailed that their festival will be a hybrid of limited in person screenings and virtual ones, but now we have a better idea of what will be playing. At first glance, the fest does seem to have less in the way of overt Oscar bait than usual, but that might be deceiving. After all, the Academy Awards will be picking through a different crop than planned, to begin with, so perhaps TIFF will still debut some major players? Joining the previously announced flicks like Francis Lee’s Ammonite (as well as Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland), Toronto has added movies like Regina King...
- 7/30/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Nicolás Pereda's FaunaToronto International Film Festival have unveiled a dramatically reduced selection of films from their upcoming 2020 edition, including new films by Spike Lee, Nicolás Pereda, Naomi Kawase, and Werner Herzog. The festival's tailored lineup of 50 features, plus five programs of to-be-announced shorts, will screen both physically (for the festival's first five days) and virtually (for the festival's full 10 days.) As previously announced, selected films—such as Chloé Zhao's Nomadland—will premiere in a non-competitive alliance with other major fall festivals in Venice, Telluride, and New York.Opening Night FILMDavid Byrne’s American Utopia (Spike Lee)Closing Night Filma Suitable Boy (Mira Nair)Official SELECTION180 Degree Rule (Farnoosh Samadi)76 Days (Hao Wu, Anonymous, Weixi Chen)Ammonite (Francis Lee)Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)Bandar Band (Manijeh Hekmat)Beans (Tracey Deer)Beginning (Dea Kulumbegashvili)The Best Is Yet To Come (Wang Jing)Bruised (Halle Berry)City Hall (Frederick Wiseman)Concrete Cowboy...
- 7/30/2020
- MUBI
As announced last month, the Toronto International Film Festival will look quite different this year in the era of Covid-19. Featuring a drastically reduced lineup, physical screenings for only the first half of the festivals, and more changes, the festival has now unveiled their complete feature film lineup.
Along with previously announced films like the opener, Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia, Francis Lee’s Ammonite, and Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, the festival also includes directorial debuts by Halle Berry and Regina King as well as new work by Werner Herzog, Mira Nair, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Frederick Wiseman, and more.
“We began this year planning for a 45th Festival much like our previous editions,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF, “but along the way we had to rethink just about everything. This year’s lineup reflects that tumult. The names you already...
Along with previously announced films like the opener, Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia, Francis Lee’s Ammonite, and Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, the festival also includes directorial debuts by Halle Berry and Regina King as well as new work by Werner Herzog, Mira Nair, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Frederick Wiseman, and more.
“We began this year planning for a 45th Festival much like our previous editions,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF, “but along the way we had to rethink just about everything. This year’s lineup reflects that tumult. The names you already...
- 7/30/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The feature directorial debuts of Halle Berry and Regina King will be part of the lineup at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, organizers announced on Thursday.
Berry’s film, “Bruised,” features the actor and director as a mixed martial arts star fighting for custody of her young daughter. King’s “One Night in Miami” is based on a play that fictionalizes a night in 1964 in which boxer Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali), singer Sam Cooke, football player Jim Brown and activist Malcolm X met in a Florida hotel room.
Nearly half of the 50 selected features, 23, have a female director or co-director.
Other films among the 50 titles announced by TIFF include Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a drama from “The Rider” director that stars Frances McDormand; Francis Lee’s “Ammonite,” a female romance set in 1840s England and starring Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet and Fiona Shaw; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “Good Joe Bell,...
Berry’s film, “Bruised,” features the actor and director as a mixed martial arts star fighting for custody of her young daughter. King’s “One Night in Miami” is based on a play that fictionalizes a night in 1964 in which boxer Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali), singer Sam Cooke, football player Jim Brown and activist Malcolm X met in a Florida hotel room.
Nearly half of the 50 selected features, 23, have a female director or co-director.
Other films among the 50 titles announced by TIFF include Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a drama from “The Rider” director that stars Frances McDormand; Francis Lee’s “Ammonite,” a female romance set in 1840s England and starring Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet and Fiona Shaw; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “Good Joe Bell,...
- 7/30/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Toronto Film Festival (September 10-19) has revealed the lineup for its hybrid 2020 edition, which has had to be pared back due to the impact of coronavirus.
Joining movies previously announced for the festival are new projects by the likes of Werner Herzog, Regina King, Francois Ozon and Naomi Kawase. Mira Nair’s BBC-Netflix TV series A Suitable Boy has been set as the festival’s closing night event. Scroll down for the list in full.
As revealed earlier this month, the slimmed down festival will open with Spike Lee’s concert movie version of David Byrne show American Utopia. Movies previously announced for Sundance and Venice which are also heading to Toronto include Viggo Mortensen’s Falling, Olivia Colman-Anthony Hopkins starrer The Father, Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces Of A Woman and Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland will debut at Toronto and Venice simultaneously.
Joining movies previously announced for the festival are new projects by the likes of Werner Herzog, Regina King, Francois Ozon and Naomi Kawase. Mira Nair’s BBC-Netflix TV series A Suitable Boy has been set as the festival’s closing night event. Scroll down for the list in full.
As revealed earlier this month, the slimmed down festival will open with Spike Lee’s concert movie version of David Byrne show American Utopia. Movies previously announced for Sundance and Venice which are also heading to Toronto include Viggo Mortensen’s Falling, Olivia Colman-Anthony Hopkins starrer The Father, Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces Of A Woman and Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland will debut at Toronto and Venice simultaneously.
- 7/30/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Films include ’Ammonite’, ’Notturno’, ’New Order’ and ’Penguin Bloom’.
New work from Francis Lee, Werner Herzog, François Ozon, Gianfranco Rosi, Regina King and Mira Nair are among the line-up for the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
As previously announced, Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia will open this year’s edition, which runs from September 10-19.
The festival will close with Nair’s A Suitable Boy (pictured), a six-part TV drama that debuted on the BBC in the UK last Sunday (July 26). Netflix has online global rights, excluding North America and China.
Scroll down for full line-up...
New work from Francis Lee, Werner Herzog, François Ozon, Gianfranco Rosi, Regina King and Mira Nair are among the line-up for the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
As previously announced, Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia will open this year’s edition, which runs from September 10-19.
The festival will close with Nair’s A Suitable Boy (pictured), a six-part TV drama that debuted on the BBC in the UK last Sunday (July 26). Netflix has online global rights, excluding North America and China.
Scroll down for full line-up...
- 7/30/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
National Bird screens Wednesday April 5th at the Missouri History Museum (5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, Mo 63112) at 7pm This is a Free event.
National Bird follows the dramatic journey of three whistleblowers who are determined to break the silence around one of the most controversial current affairs issues of our time: the secret U.S. drone war. At the center of the film are three U.S. military veterans. Plagued by guilt over participating in the killing of faceless people in foreign countries, they decide to speak out publicly, despite the possible consequences.Their stories take dramatic turns, leading one of the protagonists to Afghanistan where she learns about a horrendous incident. But her journey also gives hope for peace and redemption. The film also explores the way the military uses the drone program- with commercials that often closely resemble video games- to recruit young people. Executive produced by Errol Morris,...
National Bird follows the dramatic journey of three whistleblowers who are determined to break the silence around one of the most controversial current affairs issues of our time: the secret U.S. drone war. At the center of the film are three U.S. military veterans. Plagued by guilt over participating in the killing of faceless people in foreign countries, they decide to speak out publicly, despite the possible consequences.Their stories take dramatic turns, leading one of the protagonists to Afghanistan where she learns about a horrendous incident. But her journey also gives hope for peace and redemption. The film also explores the way the military uses the drone program- with commercials that often closely resemble video games- to recruit young people. Executive produced by Errol Morris,...
- 3/31/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
★★★☆☆ Drone warfare is widely condemned on the basis of its relative safety and detachment from the horrors of combat. If you're going to kill someone, you should at least have the steel to look them in the eye while you do it. This maxim is turned on its head a little by Sonia Kennebeck's chilling documentary National Bird, which examines the personal ramifications of this most impersonal bloodshed. This might seem counterintuitive, but it comes to make total sense as she follows three whistleblowers trying to come to terms with guilt, post traumatic stress, and the threat of espionage charges as they concurrently attempt to educate the American people.
- 11/13/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
This week writing “Recommended on a Friday” is a way of tempering myself before tackling this week’s newsletter, which will be some form of screed about the election. Depending on your reaction to the surreal and seismic week, you may or may not be in the mood to go to the movies. If you are, however, there’s a lot in theaters we can recommend. I’ll start with 25 New Face Sonia Kennebeck’s National Bird, a provocative, thoughtful and cinematically ambitious documentary about the U.S. Air Force’s drone warfare program that focuses on the impact the program has had on the […]...
- 11/11/2016
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sonia Kennebeck’s National Bird is a humanistic look at those responsible for and affected by America’s divisive drone war program. Those working in drone warfare are thousands of miles removed from the destination of their attack, so National Bird is primarily placed in suburban America, away from the crimes at the film’s core. Through three former air force workers turned whistleblowers (and their victims), Kennebeck’s film is equally about an emotional and spatial disconnect. We do not interact with those we are affecting most – please feel free to draw your own parallels to current American politics here – and therefore the country can […]...
- 11/11/2016
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
After serving as an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and being screened in Berlinale’s Special section earlier this year, Sonia Kennebeck’s acclaimed drone warfare documentary, National Bird, finally gets the trailer treatment.
Following three interconnected whistleblowers’ dramatic journeys, all U.S. military veterans, as they take aim hoping to shatter preconceived notions surrounding the drone war, the Errol Morris and Wim Wenders-supported project has been hailed as a proper view into one of foreign policy’s thornier issues. As we said in our review, “Mixing talking heads and on-the-ground footage, National Bird is a vital film about the true cost of war, well-reported by Kennebeck.”
See the preview below (via Apple):
From director Sonia Kennebeck and executive producers Wim Wenders and Errol Morris, National Bird follows the harrowing journey of three U.S. military veteran whistleblowers determined to break the silence surrounding America’s secret drone war.
Following three interconnected whistleblowers’ dramatic journeys, all U.S. military veterans, as they take aim hoping to shatter preconceived notions surrounding the drone war, the Errol Morris and Wim Wenders-supported project has been hailed as a proper view into one of foreign policy’s thornier issues. As we said in our review, “Mixing talking heads and on-the-ground footage, National Bird is a vital film about the true cost of war, well-reported by Kennebeck.”
See the preview below (via Apple):
From director Sonia Kennebeck and executive producers Wim Wenders and Errol Morris, National Bird follows the harrowing journey of three U.S. military veteran whistleblowers determined to break the silence surrounding America’s secret drone war.
- 10/17/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Errol Morris and Wim Wenders both have new films out this year: Morris’ “The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography” examines the life and work of polaroid portrait artist Elsa Dorfman, and Wenders’ “The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez” captures a conversation between a man and woman that encompasses the totality of life. But the two acclaimed directors have also executive produced Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary feature debut “National Bird,” about drone warfare and the three whistleblowers determined to break the silence around the controversial affair. Watch the trailer for the film below.
Read More: 4 Reasons Distributors Should Buy Errol Morris Gem ‘The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography’
The film follows three members of the military: Heather, an “imagery analyst” who determines whether potential targets are real; Lisa, a surveillance expert; and Darrel, an intelligence operative. All three express deep remorse over their actions and are compelled to speak out...
Read More: 4 Reasons Distributors Should Buy Errol Morris Gem ‘The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography’
The film follows three members of the military: Heather, an “imagery analyst” who determines whether potential targets are real; Lisa, a surveillance expert; and Darrel, an intelligence operative. All three express deep remorse over their actions and are compelled to speak out...
- 10/5/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
For the 18th consecutive year, Filmmaker Magazine has announced its 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Perhaps the indie-film stalwart’s signature feature, 25 New Faces has included the likes of Hilary Swank (1999), Ryan Gosling (2001), Andrew Bujalski (2003), So Yong Kim (2006), Benh Zeitlin (2008) and Ana Lily Amirpour (2014) in the past, among many others. Leading the class of 2016 are Sasha Lane of “American Honey” and Macon Blair of “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room,” who’s currently at work on his untitled directorial debut. Find the full list below.
Read More: Filmmaker Magazine Names 2015’s ’25 New Faces of Independent Film’
Sasha Lane
Tom Rosenberg
Ricardo Gaona
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang
Amman Abbasi
T.W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris
Jess dela Merced
Jerónimo Rodríguez
Graham Swon
Katy Grannan
Sonia Kennebeck
Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan
Memory
Connor Jessup
Shawn Peters
Nadia P. Manzoor and Radhika Vaz
Shawn Snyder
John Wilson...
Read More: Filmmaker Magazine Names 2015’s ’25 New Faces of Independent Film’
Sasha Lane
Tom Rosenberg
Ricardo Gaona
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang
Amman Abbasi
T.W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris
Jess dela Merced
Jerónimo Rodríguez
Graham Swon
Katy Grannan
Sonia Kennebeck
Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan
Memory
Connor Jessup
Shawn Peters
Nadia P. Manzoor and Radhika Vaz
Shawn Snyder
John Wilson...
- 7/27/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Full programme revealed for this year’s East End Film Festival.
Hellboy star Ron Perlman and Suffragette director Sarah Gavron have joined the jury of the 15th East End Film Festival (June 23 – July 3).
It marks a return to the East End for Us star Perlman, who attended Eeff in 2014 when Dermaphoria - in which he starred - opened the festival.
Ivy director Tolga Karaçelik, who won best feature at last year’s festival, returns as the 2016 director in residence and jury chair alongside Perlman and Gavron.
Also awarding the Best Feature prize will be film writer and producer Kaleem Aftab and Bangladeshi film-maker Mostofa Sarwar (Television).
This year’s country focus will be Turkey, with screenings including the UK premiere of Emin Alper’s Turkey-France-Qatar co-pro Frenzy.
Opening film
The festival will open with the world premiere of Ian Bonhote’s Alleycats, with a cast that includes Screen Stars of Tomorrow Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Sam Keeley ([link...
Hellboy star Ron Perlman and Suffragette director Sarah Gavron have joined the jury of the 15th East End Film Festival (June 23 – July 3).
It marks a return to the East End for Us star Perlman, who attended Eeff in 2014 when Dermaphoria - in which he starred - opened the festival.
Ivy director Tolga Karaçelik, who won best feature at last year’s festival, returns as the 2016 director in residence and jury chair alongside Perlman and Gavron.
Also awarding the Best Feature prize will be film writer and producer Kaleem Aftab and Bangladeshi film-maker Mostofa Sarwar (Television).
This year’s country focus will be Turkey, with screenings including the UK premiere of Emin Alper’s Turkey-France-Qatar co-pro Frenzy.
Opening film
The festival will open with the world premiere of Ian Bonhote’s Alleycats, with a cast that includes Screen Stars of Tomorrow Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Sam Keeley ([link...
- 5/26/2016
- ScreenDaily
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