Five full weeks after the Oscars, the Writers Guild of America finally got around to giving out its awards. Oscar winner Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”) won the original screenplay prize while David Hemingson (“The Holdovers”) picked up the adapted screenplay trophy; he had lost at the Oscars to “Anatomy of a Fall,” which was ineligible here.
Three other scripts deemed ineligible by the WGA went on to win Oscars in the past decade: “Birdman” (2015; original), “The Father” (2021; adapted), and “Belfast” (2022; original). During that time, 68 of the WGA Awards nominees numbered among the 100 screenplays that reaped Oscar bids.
Two other Oscar contenders — “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest” — were ruled out of the running by the guild before nominations were announced way back on Feb. 21. The WGA included “Barbie” in the original lineup while the academy had it over in adapted. That was the third time in a decade that...
Three other scripts deemed ineligible by the WGA went on to win Oscars in the past decade: “Birdman” (2015; original), “The Father” (2021; adapted), and “Belfast” (2022; original). During that time, 68 of the WGA Awards nominees numbered among the 100 screenplays that reaped Oscar bids.
Two other Oscar contenders — “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest” — were ruled out of the running by the guild before nominations were announced way back on Feb. 21. The WGA included “Barbie” in the original lineup while the academy had it over in adapted. That was the third time in a decade that...
- 4/15/2024
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
David Hemingson’s The Holdovers at Focus Features won original screenplay and Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-winning American Fiction from Amazon MGM Studios took adapted honours at the strike-delayed Writers Guild Awards on Sunday.
This was a second major adapted screenplay award in relatively short order for Jefferson after last month’s Oscar win.
The Holdovers prevailed in an original screenplay category that included Barbie and May December, but not the Oscar winner Anatomy Of A Fall, rendered ineligible here because it was not produced under a Writers Guild of America (WGA) contract.
The best documentary screenplay award went to Errol Morris for The Pigeon Tunnel.
This was a second major adapted screenplay award in relatively short order for Jefferson after last month’s Oscar win.
The Holdovers prevailed in an original screenplay category that included Barbie and May December, but not the Oscar winner Anatomy Of A Fall, rendered ineligible here because it was not produced under a Writers Guild of America (WGA) contract.
The best documentary screenplay award went to Errol Morris for The Pigeon Tunnel.
- 4/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
David Hemingson’s The Holdovers at Focus Features won original screenplay and Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-winning American Fiction from Amazon MGM Studios took adapted honours at the strike-delayed Writers Guild Awards on Sunday.
This was a second major adapted screenplay award in relatively short order for Jefferson after last month’s Oscar win.
The Holdovers prevailed in an original screenplay category that included Barbie and May December, but not the Oscar winner Anatomy Of A Fall, rendered ineligible here because it was not produced under a Writers Guild of America (WGA) contract.
The best documentary screenplay award went to Errol Morris for The Pigeon Tunnel.
This was a second major adapted screenplay award in relatively short order for Jefferson after last month’s Oscar win.
The Holdovers prevailed in an original screenplay category that included Barbie and May December, but not the Oscar winner Anatomy Of A Fall, rendered ineligible here because it was not produced under a Writers Guild of America (WGA) contract.
The best documentary screenplay award went to Errol Morris for The Pigeon Tunnel.
- 4/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Writer/director Cord Jefferson on the set of ‘American Fiction’ (Photo credit: Claire Folger © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC)
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) stretched out the awards season, handing out their annual awards during ceremonies held in Los Angeles and New York on April 14, 2024. Niecy Nash-Betts (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) had the honor of hosting the Writers Guild of America West’s ceremony while Josh Gondelman (Desus & Mero) handled hosting duties for the Writers Guild of America East.
The final season of Succession was recognized with Drama Series and Episodic Drama awards, and the first season of The Last of Us snagged the New Series trophy. The Bear and Beef continued their winning streaks, scoring Comedy Series and Limited Series wins.
David Hemingson’s The Holdovers and Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction were recognized as the best original and adapted screenplays of 2023. And Errol Morris’ The Pigeon Tunnel took...
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) stretched out the awards season, handing out their annual awards during ceremonies held in Los Angeles and New York on April 14, 2024. Niecy Nash-Betts (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) had the honor of hosting the Writers Guild of America West’s ceremony while Josh Gondelman (Desus & Mero) handled hosting duties for the Writers Guild of America East.
The final season of Succession was recognized with Drama Series and Episodic Drama awards, and the first season of The Last of Us snagged the New Series trophy. The Bear and Beef continued their winning streaks, scoring Comedy Series and Limited Series wins.
David Hemingson’s The Holdovers and Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction were recognized as the best original and adapted screenplays of 2023. And Errol Morris’ The Pigeon Tunnel took...
- 4/15/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
With the 2024 Oscars and the 2023 Emmys firmly in the rearview mirror, the film and TV awards calendar is all but ready to return to normalcy after last years Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes disrupted the first half of award season. The last major event to be impacted by the altered schedule is today’s WGA Awards, which took place in an unusual post-Oscars slot after the strikes forced the guild to delay its voting process. As most of Hollywood looks ahead to the 2024 film and TV slate, today’s concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium and New York City’s Edison Ballroom gave award watchers one last chance to celebrate the best screenwriting of 2023.
David Hemingson’s “The Holdovers” won the night’s marquee award for Original Screenplay, beating out heavyweights including Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s “Barbie” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives.” In the Adapted Screenplay category,...
David Hemingson’s “The Holdovers” won the night’s marquee award for Original Screenplay, beating out heavyweights including Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s “Barbie” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives.” In the Adapted Screenplay category,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
The David Hemingson-scripted Alexander Payne dramedy The Holdovers and Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction were the big film winners at the strike-delayed 2024 Writers Guild Awards, which were handed out Sunday in Los Angeles and New York.
Jefferson — who also was honored with the WGA West’s Paul Selvin Award — followed his Oscar win for Adapted Screenplay as the WGA’s weird, wild and elongated Awards season wrapped with simultaneous ceremonies on both coasts. Hemingson scored a modicum of revenge for losing the Original Screenplay Academy Award to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall.
The latter script, however, wasn’t eligible for a Writers Guild Award. That’s because, unlike other guilds, the WGA deems ineligible any scripts for movies not produced under its Minimum Basic Agreement or a bona fide collective bargaining agreement with various affiliated countries.
Later, the Documentary prize went to Errol Morris...
Jefferson — who also was honored with the WGA West’s Paul Selvin Award — followed his Oscar win for Adapted Screenplay as the WGA’s weird, wild and elongated Awards season wrapped with simultaneous ceremonies on both coasts. Hemingson scored a modicum of revenge for losing the Original Screenplay Academy Award to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall.
The latter script, however, wasn’t eligible for a Writers Guild Award. That’s because, unlike other guilds, the WGA deems ineligible any scripts for movies not produced under its Minimum Basic Agreement or a bona fide collective bargaining agreement with various affiliated countries.
Later, the Documentary prize went to Errol Morris...
- 4/15/2024
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
The proliferation of billionaires — with trillionaires reportedly soon to come — has raised a lot of questions in world politics. But one question has been around as long as wealth itself: What can an individual actually do with that much money? A new answer arises in “The Bones,” proving that the rich will always break fresh ground in the realm of luxury expenditures. Even for the man or woman who “has everything,” there may still be unfulfilled need for a reconstructed Triceratops skeleton dating from approximately 67,000,000 B.C. Think how it will look in one’s Great Room! That’ll show arrivistes whose trophies are from mere living species.
Yes, there is an actual market for such things, as Jeremy Xido’s documentary feature suggests — though it does not take us into the homes of such collectors, who presumably would rather not advertise their acquisitions. It used to be that dinosaur...
Yes, there is an actual market for such things, as Jeremy Xido’s documentary feature suggests — though it does not take us into the homes of such collectors, who presumably would rather not advertise their acquisitions. It used to be that dinosaur...
- 3/18/2024
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Between February 10 and March 7, a dozen motion picture guilds lauded the most outstanding achievements in their respective fields during the previous year. The 2024 guild awards season then officially concluded with the announcement of the Writers Guild of America honors on April 14. In the end, “Oppenheimer” outpaced all of its competitors with prizes from nine guilds.
Typically, all 13 guilds hand out their trophies before the corresponding Oscars take place, but this year’s WGA Awards were delayed six weeks because of the organization’s recent 148-day strike. The groups whose ceremonies preceded the Oscars on March 10 comprise art directors, directors, makeup artists & hairstylists, costume designers, visual effects artists, actors, producers, sound mixers, film editors, cinematographers, sound editors, and casting directors.
Below is a complete breakdown of guild wins by film. See the full guild nominations scorecard here.
Ace = American Cinema Editors (report)
Adg = Art Directors Guild (report)
ASC = American Society of...
Typically, all 13 guilds hand out their trophies before the corresponding Oscars take place, but this year’s WGA Awards were delayed six weeks because of the organization’s recent 148-day strike. The groups whose ceremonies preceded the Oscars on March 10 comprise art directors, directors, makeup artists & hairstylists, costume designers, visual effects artists, actors, producers, sound mixers, film editors, cinematographers, sound editors, and casting directors.
Below is a complete breakdown of guild wins by film. See the full guild nominations scorecard here.
Ace = American Cinema Editors (report)
Adg = Art Directors Guild (report)
ASC = American Society of...
- 2/23/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
As was the case last year, only six of the current 10 Oscar nominees for screenplay achieved similar recognition from the Writers Guild of America. Three of the four films that were excluded from the WGA rosters revealed on February 21 – “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest” – had been deemed ineligible in January, while “Maestro” simply failed to garner enough support from the guild.
Although it’s competing for the adapted screenplay Oscar, “Barbie” is included in the WGA’s original lineup. This marks the third such instance in 10 years, following the cases of “Whiplash” (2015) and “Moonlight” (2017), the latter of which won the favor of both organizations. The remaining original WGA contenders are “Air” and Oscar hopefuls “The Holdovers,” “May December,” and “Past Lives.”
The films presently running first and second in Gold Derby’s adapted Oscar race – “Oppenheimer” and “American Fiction” – will also face off at the WGA Awards,...
Although it’s competing for the adapted screenplay Oscar, “Barbie” is included in the WGA’s original lineup. This marks the third such instance in 10 years, following the cases of “Whiplash” (2015) and “Moonlight” (2017), the latter of which won the favor of both organizations. The remaining original WGA contenders are “Air” and Oscar hopefuls “The Holdovers,” “May December,” and “Past Lives.”
The films presently running first and second in Gold Derby’s adapted Oscar race – “Oppenheimer” and “American Fiction” – will also face off at the WGA Awards,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Every year, folks scratch their heads over the “strange” omissions from the Writers Guild Award nominations. That’s because the Writers Guild of America refuses to accept as awards-eligible any movie that did not sign with them; thus, many British and European movies are left out of the nominations, as well as animated fare.
This won’t hurt these “overlooked” films at the Oscars: they won’t get a boost, but many non-wga nominees have gone on to collect Oscars, Quentin Tarantino among them. This year’s favorite to win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, for example, Justine Triet and Arthur Harrari’s French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” won the BAFTA Award, but is ineligible for the WGA.
Because the WGA pushed back their awards show so late, we already know the Oscar-nominated writers. Those WGA nominees could gain momentum during the Oscar voting, which starts February 22 and...
This won’t hurt these “overlooked” films at the Oscars: they won’t get a boost, but many non-wga nominees have gone on to collect Oscars, Quentin Tarantino among them. This year’s favorite to win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, for example, Justine Triet and Arthur Harrari’s French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” won the BAFTA Award, but is ineligible for the WGA.
Because the WGA pushed back their awards show so late, we already know the Oscar-nominated writers. Those WGA nominees could gain momentum during the Oscar voting, which starts February 22 and...
- 2/21/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The strike-delayed nominations for the 2024 Writers Guild Awards are out. Check out the list below.
In a flipping of the script this season, the WGA Awards will be held on April 14 – more than a month after the Academy Awards.
As always, the Writers Guild of America has different eligibility requirements than the Movie Academy, so some awards-season favorite scripts are missing from today’s nominations.
Related: Oscar Nominations: Diversified Voting Throws The Love Around As ‘Oppenheimer’ Tops With 13, With ‘Poor Things’, ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ And ‘Barbie’ Close Behind – Full List
The guild and the Oscars mostly are on the same page for Original Screenplay, with both nominating The Holdovers, May December and Past Lives. The WGA also cited Air, while the Academy went with Anatomy of a Fall and Maestro. But the Writers Guild also has Barbie on its Original List, whereas the script for 2023’s No. 1 movie...
In a flipping of the script this season, the WGA Awards will be held on April 14 – more than a month after the Academy Awards.
As always, the Writers Guild of America has different eligibility requirements than the Movie Academy, so some awards-season favorite scripts are missing from today’s nominations.
Related: Oscar Nominations: Diversified Voting Throws The Love Around As ‘Oppenheimer’ Tops With 13, With ‘Poor Things’, ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ And ‘Barbie’ Close Behind – Full List
The guild and the Oscars mostly are on the same page for Original Screenplay, with both nominating The Holdovers, May December and Past Lives. The WGA also cited Air, while the Academy went with Anatomy of a Fall and Maestro. But the Writers Guild also has Barbie on its Original List, whereas the script for 2023’s No. 1 movie...
- 2/21/2024
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
The nominees for the 2024 Writers Guild of America Awards are finally here.
The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing for 2023.
Oscar-nominated screenplays for “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “May December,” “Past Lives,” “American Fiction,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Oppenheimer” were expected WGA nominations. However, surprise nods for “Air,” “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” and “Nyad” prove the WGA Awards still have a few tricks up their sleeve. If you’re wondering, “Poor Things” was not eligible because it wasn’t produced under a WGA contract, per a source close to the project.
Despite now taking place one month after the Academy Awards, the WGA nominations still carry weight this season — and could be a deciding factor for final Oscar voting. As IndieWire’s Anne Thompson predicted,...
The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing for 2023.
Oscar-nominated screenplays for “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “May December,” “Past Lives,” “American Fiction,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Oppenheimer” were expected WGA nominations. However, surprise nods for “Air,” “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” and “Nyad” prove the WGA Awards still have a few tricks up their sleeve. If you’re wondering, “Poor Things” was not eligible because it wasn’t produced under a WGA contract, per a source close to the project.
Despite now taking place one month after the Academy Awards, the WGA nominations still carry weight this season — and could be a deciding factor for final Oscar voting. As IndieWire’s Anne Thompson predicted,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Writers Guild of America’s west and east arms have announced nominations for this year’s honors in screenwriting, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing during 2023. Delayed due to the Hollywood strikes, this year’s ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Here are the nominees:
Screenplay Nominees
Original Screenplay
“Air,” Written by Alex Convery; Amazon MGM Studios
“Barbie,” Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach; Warner Bros. Pictures
“The Holdovers,” Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
“May December,” Screenplay by Samy Burch, Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik; Netflix
“Past Lives,” Written by Celine Song; A24
Adapted Screenplay
“American Fiction,” Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.,” Screenplay by Kelly Fremon Craig, Based on the book by Judy Blume; Lionsgate
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese,...
Screenplay Nominees
Original Screenplay
“Air,” Written by Alex Convery; Amazon MGM Studios
“Barbie,” Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach; Warner Bros. Pictures
“The Holdovers,” Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
“May December,” Screenplay by Samy Burch, Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik; Netflix
“Past Lives,” Written by Celine Song; A24
Adapted Screenplay
“American Fiction,” Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.,” Screenplay by Kelly Fremon Craig, Based on the book by Judy Blume; Lionsgate
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
The 2024 Writers Guild Awards nominations have been revealed.
The nominees in the category of original screenplay are Air, Barbie, The Holdovers, May December and Past Lives.
In the adapted screenplay category the nominees are American Fiction, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Killers of the Flower Moon, Nyad and Oppenheimer.
In an unusual move this year, the WGA Awards will take place after the Oscars, with the winners awarded on April 14.
A complete list of this year’s nominees follows.
Screenplay Nominees
Original Screenplay
Air, Written by Alex Convery; Amazon MGM Studios
Barbie, Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach; Warner Bros. Pictures
The Holdovers, Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
May December, Screenplay by Samy Burch, Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik; Netflix
Past Lives, Written by Celine Song; A24
Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction, Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel Erasure by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
Are You There God?...
The nominees in the category of original screenplay are Air, Barbie, The Holdovers, May December and Past Lives.
In the adapted screenplay category the nominees are American Fiction, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Killers of the Flower Moon, Nyad and Oppenheimer.
In an unusual move this year, the WGA Awards will take place after the Oscars, with the winners awarded on April 14.
A complete list of this year’s nominees follows.
Screenplay Nominees
Original Screenplay
Air, Written by Alex Convery; Amazon MGM Studios
Barbie, Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach; Warner Bros. Pictures
The Holdovers, Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
May December, Screenplay by Samy Burch, Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik; Netflix
Past Lives, Written by Celine Song; A24
Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction, Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel Erasure by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
Are You There God?...
- 2/21/2024
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writers Guild Of America has announced its feature nominees and the roster includes The Holdovers, May December and Barbie for original screenplay and American Fiction, Oppenheimer and Killers Of The Flower Moon in the adapted category.
Air is the surprise among the original contenders and takes its place alongside Past Lives. Barbie earned an Oscar nod in the adapted screenplay category.
Anatomy Of A Fall was ineligible as it was not produced under a WGA contract. Justine Triet’s film, like Maestro, which was not in Wednesday’s announcement, earned an Oscar nod.
Competing for the adapted screenplay prize are...
Air is the surprise among the original contenders and takes its place alongside Past Lives. Barbie earned an Oscar nod in the adapted screenplay category.
Anatomy Of A Fall was ineligible as it was not produced under a WGA contract. Justine Triet’s film, like Maestro, which was not in Wednesday’s announcement, earned an Oscar nod.
Competing for the adapted screenplay prize are...
- 2/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cph:Forum, the financing and co-production event on the industry programme of Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, has selected new projects from the producers of Flee and Cow for its 2024 edition; and has refreshed its industry awards with six prizes.
Danish producer Signe Byrge Sorensen will participate with Freedom (working title), directed by Camilla Nielsson, who previously made Sundance 2021 title President about a challenger in Zimbabwe’s corrupt presidential elections.
Scroll down for the full list of Forum projects
Sorensen is CEO of Danish documentary production house Final Cut For Real, which has made films including The Killing Of A Journalist,...
Danish producer Signe Byrge Sorensen will participate with Freedom (working title), directed by Camilla Nielsson, who previously made Sundance 2021 title President about a challenger in Zimbabwe’s corrupt presidential elections.
Scroll down for the full list of Forum projects
Sorensen is CEO of Danish documentary production house Final Cut For Real, which has made films including The Killing Of A Journalist,...
- 2/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
The list of feature documentaries still in contention for the Oscars has been cut to 15 finalists, a brutal culling from a contingent of 167 qualifiers. The annual shortlist announcement leaves a handful of filmmakers celebrating, many more disappointed, and documentary watchers with much to debate.
Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast cohosts John Ridley and Matt Carey analyze the shortlist that advanced films from Oscar winners Davis Guggenheim and Roger Ross Williams, and Oscar nominees Matthew Heineman, Maite Alberdi and Kaouther Ben Hania. The shortlist brought recognition to filmmakers from Tunisia, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Chile, Uganda, Canada, and the U.S., further evidence of the way international members of the Oscar Documentary Branch have become definitive in determining the nonfiction films that continue in the race for nominations.
Snubs and surprises abounded in the shortlist. The new episode of Doc Talk explores why legends like Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman missed the cut.
Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast cohosts John Ridley and Matt Carey analyze the shortlist that advanced films from Oscar winners Davis Guggenheim and Roger Ross Williams, and Oscar nominees Matthew Heineman, Maite Alberdi and Kaouther Ben Hania. The shortlist brought recognition to filmmakers from Tunisia, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Chile, Uganda, Canada, and the U.S., further evidence of the way international members of the Oscar Documentary Branch have become definitive in determining the nonfiction films that continue in the race for nominations.
Snubs and surprises abounded in the shortlist. The new episode of Doc Talk explores why legends like Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman missed the cut.
- 1/2/2024
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
We (mostly) kept JFK conspiracy talk out of our 11/22/63 episodes, as the story is best enjoyed on Stephen King‘s terms. We did, however, think it would be enriching to chat with some smart people about King’s assertion that “it is very, very difficult for a reasonable person to believe” that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t the lone shooter.
Previously, we spoke with Brendan James of Blowback about the book, Oswald, and King’s political evolution. You can find that episode just a bit further down the feed. Now, we’re speaking with Jim Dieugenio, one of the leading experts on the political assassinations of the 1960s. Jim is the author of two books about the Kennedy Assassination, one of which was the basis for Oliver Stone’s documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass. He also has a new book out, The JFK Assassination Chokeholds and a website,...
Previously, we spoke with Brendan James of Blowback about the book, Oswald, and King’s political evolution. You can find that episode just a bit further down the feed. Now, we’re speaking with Jim Dieugenio, one of the leading experts on the political assassinations of the 1960s. Jim is the author of two books about the Kennedy Assassination, one of which was the basis for Oliver Stone’s documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass. He also has a new book out, The JFK Assassination Chokeholds and a website,...
- 12/27/2023
- by Randall Colburn
- bloody-disgusting.com
Updated 12/22/2023 with details on shortlisted A Still Small Voice. Updated with quotes, 1:37 Pm: American Symphony, the Obamas-executive produced documentary about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, scored a remarkable hat trick today as the Oscar shortlists were revealed, but a couple of documentary icons were left on the bench.
In more headlines from the announcement, a beloved documentary filmmaker who died unexpectedly in August earned a place on the nonfiction feature shortlist. And the film about cherished actor Michael J. Fox, directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, made the list. Two films earned double recognition – making shortlists for doc feature and International Feature Film. [See full shortlists for doc feature and doc short below].
Suleika Jouad and Jon Batiste in ‘American Symphony’
The most eye-popping takeaway is the recognition for American Symphony, the Netflix film directed by Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman and produced by Higher Ground, the production company of former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. It made the...
In more headlines from the announcement, a beloved documentary filmmaker who died unexpectedly in August earned a place on the nonfiction feature shortlist. And the film about cherished actor Michael J. Fox, directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, made the list. Two films earned double recognition – making shortlists for doc feature and International Feature Film. [See full shortlists for doc feature and doc short below].
Suleika Jouad and Jon Batiste in ‘American Symphony’
The most eye-popping takeaway is the recognition for American Symphony, the Netflix film directed by Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman and produced by Higher Ground, the production company of former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. It made the...
- 12/21/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Screen’s December 21 awards weekly turns the spotlight once more on the directors and writers competing in this season’s Oscar and Bafta races.
Yorgos Lanthimos tells about mouthing his most ambitious film to date with Poor Things, and the issue also features interviews with Celine Song, Paul King, David Fincher and Errol Morris.
Click here to read the digital edition
Click here to read the digital edition...
Yorgos Lanthimos tells about mouthing his most ambitious film to date with Poor Things, and the issue also features interviews with Celine Song, Paul King, David Fincher and Errol Morris.
Click here to read the digital edition
Click here to read the digital edition...
- 12/21/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Sony to open fantasy drama on Valentine’s Day 2024 in 250 theatres.
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has acquired all rights in North America excluding French Canada to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie and will reissue the film on February 14, 2024 – 22 years after the original release through Miramax.
The move comes as theatres continue to court older audiences and anticipate a tricky year ahead in light of supply issues stemming from the six-month production halt during the Hollywood strikes.
Amelie stars Audrey Tatou in the title role as an altruistic waitress in Montmartre, Paris, who finally sets out to do something for herself. Mathieu Kassovitz also stars.
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has acquired all rights in North America excluding French Canada to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie and will reissue the film on February 14, 2024 – 22 years after the original release through Miramax.
The move comes as theatres continue to court older audiences and anticipate a tricky year ahead in light of supply issues stemming from the six-month production halt during the Hollywood strikes.
Amelie stars Audrey Tatou in the title role as an altruistic waitress in Montmartre, Paris, who finally sets out to do something for herself. Mathieu Kassovitz also stars.
- 12/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
If it’s been a patchy few years for Errol Morris––one solid doc in-between a bad Steve Bannon portrait and iffy look at John le Carré––our interest in his thorough, startling oeuvre remains strong, and it’s naturally a thrill to hear word of two new features. On the documentary front he’s been adapting, for Netflix, Tom O’Neill’s Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, which quickly engendered great attention for challenging standard Manson Family narratives; and there’s a feature screenplay about Ed Gein, who Morris interviewed in 1975 for a never-completed documentary. If it doesn’t feature that footage and opts for a biopic / procedural path, it would make Morris’ first narrative since 1991’s The Dark Wind. [Screen Daily]
Meanwhile, Michael Almereyda has found his first feature since Tesla. Per Deadline, he and Courtney Stephens are developing an untitled documentary about John C. Lilly,...
Meanwhile, Michael Almereyda has found his first feature since Tesla. Per Deadline, he and Courtney Stephens are developing an untitled documentary about John C. Lilly,...
- 12/20/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Oscar-winning actress and producer Charlize Theron has teamed with veteran media executive and producer Dawn Olmstead, along with Charlize’s Denver & Delilah partners Beth Kono and Aj Dix, to form a new media venture.
Former Anonymous Content CEO and UCP President Olmstead will serve as CEO on the yet-untitled company, which will take over Denver & Delilah’s content slate. The new venture will also continue Denver & Delilah’s first-look feature deal with Universal as well as its TV agreement with HBO/Max, which is currently slated to end early next year.
In her role, Olmstead will work closely with Theron, Kono and Dix to develop and build upon the existing Denver & Delilah slate across film, TV and other areas of content and IP generation for global audiences.
The new company formalizes Olmstead’s longstanding relationship with Theron, Kono and Dix. As a producer, Olmstead worked with the trio on...
Former Anonymous Content CEO and UCP President Olmstead will serve as CEO on the yet-untitled company, which will take over Denver & Delilah’s content slate. The new venture will also continue Denver & Delilah’s first-look feature deal with Universal as well as its TV agreement with HBO/Max, which is currently slated to end early next year.
In her role, Olmstead will work closely with Theron, Kono and Dix to develop and build upon the existing Denver & Delilah slate across film, TV and other areas of content and IP generation for global audiences.
The new company formalizes Olmstead’s longstanding relationship with Theron, Kono and Dix. As a producer, Olmstead worked with the trio on...
- 12/15/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Art rises to a challenge, and 2023 saw plenty of documentaries do exactly that. Amid a swarm of vanity projects and puff pieces, brand extensions and overstretched stories, the best documentaries of the year stood out for their scrutiny and decisiveness; their unique perspectives and razor-sharp editing. Rather than be dragged down by industry forces, be it the lingering effects of streaming or resurgent demand for star vehicles masked as docs, these 20 nonfiction works rose above — and, as audience members, we thank them for it.
There were some heavy hitters working in 2023. Matthew Heineman, Maite Alberdi, Steve James, and Errol Morris all delivered impressive new pieces. Breakthroughs came screaming to the forefront as well, many aided by festival or critical support (or both). Films like “Kokomo City,” “Beyond Utopia,” and “A Still Small Voice” managed to crack the zeitgeist and pique cinephiles’ interest. While over in television, genre hybrids like “Paul T. Goldman...
There were some heavy hitters working in 2023. Matthew Heineman, Maite Alberdi, Steve James, and Errol Morris all delivered impressive new pieces. Breakthroughs came screaming to the forefront as well, many aided by festival or critical support (or both). Films like “Kokomo City,” “Beyond Utopia,” and “A Still Small Voice” managed to crack the zeitgeist and pique cinephiles’ interest. While over in television, genre hybrids like “Paul T. Goldman...
- 12/12/2023
- by Ben Travers and Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Over the course of his 45-year career, documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has interviewed an eclectic array of subjects ranging from physicist Stephen Hawking and execution technician Fred A. Leuchter to controversial figures like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and political strategist Steve Bannon. Yet when he sat down with novelist David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) for his latest film “The Pigeon Tunnel,” Morris realized he had finally met his match. “He was perhaps the most articulate person I have ever interviewed,” Morris told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I got the sense that he was really prepared — probably better prepared than I was.”
The director sat down to interview Cornwell, and before he knew what was happening, his interview subject was interviewing him. “He was interrogating me! The question [he asked]: ‘Who are you?’ It’s so strange and disarming. How do you answer such a question?” In trying to find out who Cornwell was,...
The director sat down to interview Cornwell, and before he knew what was happening, his interview subject was interviewing him. “He was interrogating me! The question [he asked]: ‘Who are you?’ It’s so strange and disarming. How do you answer such a question?” In trying to find out who Cornwell was,...
- 12/7/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
‘Sibiling’ to 2020 Sundance award winner is Concordia Studio presentation of Mile End Films production.
Apple Original Films has announced the documentary Girls State from the producers behind 2020 ‘sibling’ Sundance premiere and Emmy winner Boys State.
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, who co-directed Boys State and The Mission, directed and produced the feature alongside Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio.
It has wrapped and is expected to premiere in 2024, with Sundance an obvious candidate as launch pad, although Apple did not provide further guidance.
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in a democracy laboratory,...
Apple Original Films has announced the documentary Girls State from the producers behind 2020 ‘sibling’ Sundance premiere and Emmy winner Boys State.
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, who co-directed Boys State and The Mission, directed and produced the feature alongside Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio.
It has wrapped and is expected to premiere in 2024, with Sundance an obvious candidate as launch pad, although Apple did not provide further guidance.
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in a democracy laboratory,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris had just begun his interview with David Cornwell for The Pigeon Tunnel when his subject — the former spy-turned-author better known by his pen name John le Carré — threw him a curveball. Or a left hook. Choose your metaphor. Cornwell eschewed the usual niceties reserved for such circumstances in favor of a riposte, demanding to know of his interlocutor, “Who are you?” Morris, the Oscar-winning director of The Fog of War, struggled to formulate a response. Maybe, he felt, at some philosophical level it was a question he truly couldn’t answer.
Deadline: What did you think of David Cornwell’s opening move with that question?
Errol Morris: When someone looks at you and says, “Who are you? Who are you?” My answer — I think it’s a fair answer — is I tell him, “I don’t think I can answer that question. Not because I don’t want to,...
Deadline: What did you think of David Cornwell’s opening move with that question?
Errol Morris: When someone looks at you and says, “Who are you? Who are you?” My answer — I think it’s a fair answer — is I tell him, “I don’t think I can answer that question. Not because I don’t want to,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
John le Carré’s famous spy character George Smiley hasn’t retired quite yet. Nick Harkaway, le Carré’s son, is writing a new Smiley novel that will publish globally in fall 2024.
Smiley was known for his depiction as the archetypal British secret agent of the 20th century through novels such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People. From his debut in 1961 to his most recent outing in 2017, Smiley novels have sold more than 30 million copies across formats.
The book will explore the decade of Smiley’s life in between the final scenes of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the start of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The polite and self-deprecating character works for the shadowy British intelligence agency ‘The Circus’ and is considered a foil to the showier James Bond.
Penguin Random House’s label Viking will publish the new,...
Smiley was known for his depiction as the archetypal British secret agent of the 20th century through novels such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People. From his debut in 1961 to his most recent outing in 2017, Smiley novels have sold more than 30 million copies across formats.
The book will explore the decade of Smiley’s life in between the final scenes of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the start of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The polite and self-deprecating character works for the shadowy British intelligence agency ‘The Circus’ and is considered a foil to the showier James Bond.
Penguin Random House’s label Viking will publish the new,...
- 11/10/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Things got political on Wednesday at Doc NYC’s 10th annual Visionaries Tribute Honorees, when honoree Michael Moore asked the crowd to take a pledge “to let our Jewish brothers and sisters know that we will never, ever allow what happened in the 20th century” to happen again.
The Gotham Hall gala marks the opening day of the 14th annual Doc NYC and attracts the who’s who of the doc community from both coasts. Hundreds of documentary filmmakers, cinematographers, producers, editors, publicists, and distributors hobnob with Academy doc branch members in hopes of winning their votes.
Moore, American Documentary executive director Erika Dilday, and docu filmmakers Deborah Shaffer and Maite Alberdi, were honored during the four-hour lunch.
“Few of us are in a very festive mood right now,” Moore said during his 40-plus minute acceptance speech. “And so I’d like to start by just asking you to join...
The Gotham Hall gala marks the opening day of the 14th annual Doc NYC and attracts the who’s who of the doc community from both coasts. Hundreds of documentary filmmakers, cinematographers, producers, editors, publicists, and distributors hobnob with Academy doc branch members in hopes of winning their votes.
Moore, American Documentary executive director Erika Dilday, and docu filmmakers Deborah Shaffer and Maite Alberdi, were honored during the four-hour lunch.
“Few of us are in a very festive mood right now,” Moore said during his 40-plus minute acceptance speech. “And so I’d like to start by just asking you to join...
- 11/9/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Every year the race for the Oscar for best documentary feature gets more expensive and less inclusive.
The challenging doc marketplace favors a handful of big-name filmmakers commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. During the last two years, directors of independently made docs, especially those tackling hard-hitting social issues, have been facing an uphill battle to secure distribution.
The major streaming services, who just a few years ago were spending millions to acquire indie fare, seem to no longer be interested in garnering titles out of festivals.
There have, of course, been exceptions. Matthew Heineman’s “American Symphony” sold to Netflix immediately after the film’s Telluride premiere in September, and HBO Documentary Films/Max picked up Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” eight months after it debuted in Park City. Netflix acquired Laura McGann...
The challenging doc marketplace favors a handful of big-name filmmakers commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. During the last two years, directors of independently made docs, especially those tackling hard-hitting social issues, have been facing an uphill battle to secure distribution.
The major streaming services, who just a few years ago were spending millions to acquire indie fare, seem to no longer be interested in garnering titles out of festivals.
There have, of course, been exceptions. Matthew Heineman’s “American Symphony” sold to Netflix immediately after the film’s Telluride premiere in September, and HBO Documentary Films/Max picked up Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” eight months after it debuted in Park City. Netflix acquired Laura McGann...
- 11/3/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The International Documentary Association announced its shortlists of features and shorts in the running for the 39th IDA Documentary Awards, a list as notable for what was left out as for what films made the cut.
A total of 17 feature docs earned a place on the shortlist, including Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, National Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Cannes winner The Mother of All Lies, and the Ukraine-themed film In the Rearview.
Among notable films left off the list: The Errol Morris documentary The Pigeon Tunnel, Kokomo City, Sundance winner The Eternal Memory, Roger Ross Williams’ Stamped From the Beginning from Netflix, and another Netflix title, American Symphony — the Matthew Heineman documentary about musician Jon Batiste. Scroll for the full list of nominated films.
Up to 10 nominees in the feature and short documentary...
A total of 17 feature docs earned a place on the shortlist, including Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, National Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Cannes winner The Mother of All Lies, and the Ukraine-themed film In the Rearview.
Among notable films left off the list: The Errol Morris documentary The Pigeon Tunnel, Kokomo City, Sundance winner The Eternal Memory, Roger Ross Williams’ Stamped From the Beginning from Netflix, and another Netflix title, American Symphony — the Matthew Heineman documentary about musician Jon Batiste. Scroll for the full list of nominated films.
Up to 10 nominees in the feature and short documentary...
- 10/24/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Under the non de plume John Le Carre, David Cornwall penned a series of best-selling spy novels including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” ‘The Little Drummer Girl’’ and “The Russia House,” that are cerebral, unadorned, gritty. The antitheist of Ian Fleming’s suave James Bond. In fact, his most popular character George Smiley just blended into the crowd: “Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession,” Cornwall described him in “A Murder of Quality.” “The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colorful adventure of fiction. A man who, like Smiley, had lived and worked for years among his country’s enemies learns only one prayer; that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim.”
Before his death at the age of 89 in in December, 2020, Cornwall sat down for a rare interview with award-winning documentarian Errol Morris...
Before his death at the age of 89 in in December, 2020, Cornwall sat down for a rare interview with award-winning documentarian Errol Morris...
- 10/23/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
John le Carré (David Cornwell) in “The Pigeon Tunnel,” premiering October 20, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple+
If it is true that to be a great writer, you need an unusual childhood, then the great spy novelist John LeCarre may be Exhibit A. Or so it seems in this fascinating documentary by Errol Morris, The Pigeon Tunnel.
Errol Morris, one of the most creative, compelling documentarians ever, turns his camera on perhaps the greatest spy novelist ever, John LeCarre, in the documentary The Pigeon Tunnel. The British writer and former spy who uses the pen name John LeCarre, but whose real name was David Cornwell, has turned out a remarkable string of spy novels, nearly all of which became bestsellers. From The Spy Who Came Into The Cold onward, John LeCarre has thrilled readers with spy novels that have the intriguing ring of real spy craft to them, unlike the James Bond adventurer type,...
If it is true that to be a great writer, you need an unusual childhood, then the great spy novelist John LeCarre may be Exhibit A. Or so it seems in this fascinating documentary by Errol Morris, The Pigeon Tunnel.
Errol Morris, one of the most creative, compelling documentarians ever, turns his camera on perhaps the greatest spy novelist ever, John LeCarre, in the documentary The Pigeon Tunnel. The British writer and former spy who uses the pen name John LeCarre, but whose real name was David Cornwell, has turned out a remarkable string of spy novels, nearly all of which became bestsellers. From The Spy Who Came Into The Cold onward, John LeCarre has thrilled readers with spy novels that have the intriguing ring of real spy craft to them, unlike the James Bond adventurer type,...
- 10/23/2023
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It’s a big week for documentaries. Three major nonfiction films are hitting digital platforms, including two made by previous Oscar nominees. Check them out when you get home from seeing “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
- 10/21/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
In 2016, John le Carré published a memoir called “The Pigeon Tunnel,” which the late spy novelist — who died in late 2020 — claims had been the working title of nearly all his books at some point. For le Carré, the term describes the passage through which naive birds of sport were forced from their nests, only to emerge as targets for marksmen waiting with rifles poised at a hotel in Monte Carlo. That’s just one of several metaphors Le Carré uses to communicate his cynical worldview in a playful portrait from Errol Morris, whose career-long interest in truth and delusion fits his subject so well, the whole film ultimately feels like a bit of a ploy.
For starters, there was no such person as John le Carré, a pseudonym adopted by David Cornwell, an Oxford-educated ex-spy who turned to literature to process the absurdity of England’s so-called “intelligence” industry, which Cornwell slyly dubbed “the Circus.
For starters, there was no such person as John le Carré, a pseudonym adopted by David Cornwell, an Oxford-educated ex-spy who turned to literature to process the absurdity of England’s so-called “intelligence” industry, which Cornwell slyly dubbed “the Circus.
- 10/20/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
From the mind of Academy Award winner Errol Morris comes the mind of John le Carré. “The Pigeon Tunnel,” a six-decade documentary tour of the life and career of the British spy-turned-espionage novel writer, comes to Apple TV+ this Friday, Oct. 20, offering archival footage, dramatized vignettes, and le Carré’s final interview. You can watch The Pigeon Tunnel with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+.
How to Watch ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ When: Friday, October 20, 2023 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$6.99+ / month apple.com About ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”) takes a six-decade look into the life, career, and mind of David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré, the former British spy-turned-author best known for his espionage novels including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,...
How to Watch ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ When: Friday, October 20, 2023 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$6.99+ / month apple.com About ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”) takes a six-decade look into the life, career, and mind of David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré, the former British spy-turned-author best known for his espionage novels including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
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.
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
- 10/20/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A former spy, literary genius, and most importantly, a masterful storyteller, David Cornwell narrated much of his life in polished literary language in his biographical documentary The Pigeon Tunnel directed by Errol Morris. The Apple documentary film is a perfect character study of David Cornwell, a spy who hid his entire past life behind a pen name: John Le Carre. Although Errol Morris’s interview style is somewhat interrogative, in The Pigeon Tunnel, we find Morris in a very friendly mood. Almost entirely behind the camera, Morris becomes an important pillar throughout the film at times. Not only do we get to know more about Cornwell’s life, his ideology, and his writings, but there is a friendly and serene chemistry between him and Morris.
The Pigeon Tunnel is cinematically enriched in every way. Centered on famous espionage novelist David Cornwell, aka John Le Carre, the film has a dark,...
The Pigeon Tunnel is cinematically enriched in every way. Centered on famous espionage novelist David Cornwell, aka John Le Carre, the film has a dark,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
When it comes to interviews, there aren’t many as good as conducting them, than venerable documentarian Errol Morris. So needless to say, interviewing him was something of an intimidating task. Though when we spoke to the filmmaker, for the release of his latest film, The Pigeon Tunnel, which looks across the life of the late spy novelist John le Carré – in his own words – we released, we had nothing to worry about.
Morris was in good spirits as he speaks about his subject, and bringing such a wonderful life to screen. He also talks about how tonally, and stylistically, his own cinematic language can be informed by his subjects, while he tells us what he truly believes to make a good interview. Notes have been taken.
Watch the full interview with Errol Morris here:
Synopsis
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” is a riveting portrait of the master of espionage fiction, John...
Morris was in good spirits as he speaks about his subject, and bringing such a wonderful life to screen. He also talks about how tonally, and stylistically, his own cinematic language can be informed by his subjects, while he tells us what he truly believes to make a good interview. Notes have been taken.
Watch the full interview with Errol Morris here:
Synopsis
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” is a riveting portrait of the master of espionage fiction, John...
- 10/20/2023
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 2023 Cinema Eye Honors have unveiled the 20 titles for its Audience Choice Prize Long List, with voting now open.
The 17th annual awards ceremony also recognized the best nonfiction and documentary films and series across five Broadcast categories and a Shorts List with 10 of the year’s top documentary short films, as well as the 20 films in the running for the Audience Choice Prize Long List.
This year’s list includes films from Cinema Eye Honors alumni including “The Eternal Memory,” “American Symphony,” “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” “Stamped from the Beginning,” “32 Sounds,” “A Compassionate Spy,” “Confessions of a Good Samaritan,” “The Mission,” “The Pigeon Tunnel,” and “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”
Hulu series “The 1619 Project” and Showtime’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” lead the Broadcast Film and Series nominations with three nods each. The “1619 Project,” adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s work with The New...
The 17th annual awards ceremony also recognized the best nonfiction and documentary films and series across five Broadcast categories and a Shorts List with 10 of the year’s top documentary short films, as well as the 20 films in the running for the Audience Choice Prize Long List.
This year’s list includes films from Cinema Eye Honors alumni including “The Eternal Memory,” “American Symphony,” “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” “Stamped from the Beginning,” “32 Sounds,” “A Compassionate Spy,” “Confessions of a Good Samaritan,” “The Mission,” “The Pigeon Tunnel,” and “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”
Hulu series “The 1619 Project” and Showtime’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” lead the Broadcast Film and Series nominations with three nods each. The “1619 Project,” adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s work with The New...
- 10/19/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Errol Morris is not one for adversarial interviews. Whether he’s talking to alleged murderers or mourning pet owners, defense secretaries or political svengalis — the documentarian has no interest in moving deftly through a list of questions until he gets to some satisfying gotcha. He’d rather just talk it out, see where things go.
That’s not to say he isn’t up for some sparring, at least when he’s the one being interviewed. When we meet in a New York City hotel room turned press-junket base camp earlier this month,...
That’s not to say he isn’t up for some sparring, at least when he’s the one being interviewed. When we meet in a New York City hotel room turned press-junket base camp earlier this month,...
- 10/19/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Final five nominations to be announced on November 2.
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
- 10/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Heralded as perhaps the greatest espionage novelist of all time (though some find this label horribly reductive), David Cornwell, best known by his pen name John le Carré, wrote 26 novels over the course of his 60-year career. But filmmaker Errol Morris decided to chronicle the life and career of the English writer and former British Intelligence agent through the lens of his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life. This decision makes perfect sense on paper: why wouldn’t Morris utilize Cornwell’s own recollections and reflections as the backbone of his documentary profile, particularly with a subject who, […]
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/18/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Heralded as perhaps the greatest espionage novelist of all time (though some find this label horribly reductive), David Cornwell, best known by his pen name John le Carré, wrote 26 novels over the course of his 60-year career. But filmmaker Errol Morris decided to chronicle the life and career of the English writer and former British Intelligence agent through the lens of his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life. This decision makes perfect sense on paper: why wouldn’t Morris utilize Cornwell’s own recollections and reflections as the backbone of his documentary profile, particularly with a subject who, […]
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/18/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The documentary festival Doc NYC has unveiled the full lineup for its 14th edition. It will be a total of 114 features and 129 short films. The festival runs in-person November 8-16 at IFC Center, Sva Theatre and Village East by Angelika and continues online through November 26 with films available to viewers across the U.S.
The Short Lists sections showcase a selection of nonfiction features and shorts that the festival’s programming team considers to be among the year’s strongest contenders for Oscars and other awards. The Winner’s Circle are films already feted at major international film events while Come As You Are section highlights films about people striving to find their place in the world, or in their communities.
Short List: Features
20 Days In Mariupol
Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Derl McCrudden
An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the...
The Short Lists sections showcase a selection of nonfiction features and shorts that the festival’s programming team considers to be among the year’s strongest contenders for Oscars and other awards. The Winner’s Circle are films already feted at major international film events while Come As You Are section highlights films about people striving to find their place in the world, or in their communities.
Short List: Features
20 Days In Mariupol
Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Derl McCrudden
An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the...
- 10/18/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Documentary filmmaking legend Errol Morris has built his extraordinary reputation on two principle foundations: what might be called dramatizations (he rejects the terms reenactments or recreations) and interviews of incredible insight and verve. He has conversed with a fascinating array of people — Robert McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld, Steve Bannon, owners of pet cemeteries, a woman accused of kidnapping and raping a Mormon missionary, to name a few.
Now, on Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, it’s our turn to interview Morris, about his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel. In the film, which is about to premiere on Apple TV+, the director trains his lens on perhaps his most elusive subject yet – the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, known to the world by his pen name, John le Carré.
Morris tells Doc Talk why his encounter with Cornwell made him question the very nature of documentary interviews. And he gets into whether any person...
Now, on Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, it’s our turn to interview Morris, about his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel. In the film, which is about to premiere on Apple TV+, the director trains his lens on perhaps his most elusive subject yet – the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, known to the world by his pen name, John le Carré.
Morris tells Doc Talk why his encounter with Cornwell made him question the very nature of documentary interviews. And he gets into whether any person...
- 10/17/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Philip Glass has been composing soundscapes of ambient intrigue for documentary filmmaker Errol Morris for decades, from the groundbreaking true-crime doc “The Thin Blue Line” to the Robert McNamara portrait “The Fog of War.” Now, the three-time Oscar-nominated modernist composer and co-writer Paul Leonard-Morgan have crafted the original score for Morris’ John le Carré documentary “The Pigeon Tunnel,” the Apple TV+ documentary that opens Friday, October 20. Also premiering that day will be the film’s original soundtrack from Platoon, and IndieWire shares an exclusive track off the album below.
“It is our pleasure to share ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ soundtrack,” said Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan, adding that “the orchestral journey this score took us on, combing the cimbalom of ’60s espionage soundtracks with symphonic orchestral work, led to 80 minutes of score, almost the entirety of the film.”
The film centers on four days of interviews with le Carré in 2019 that...
“It is our pleasure to share ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ soundtrack,” said Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan, adding that “the orchestral journey this score took us on, combing the cimbalom of ’60s espionage soundtracks with symphonic orchestral work, led to 80 minutes of score, almost the entirety of the film.”
The film centers on four days of interviews with le Carré in 2019 that...
- 10/17/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Updated: With the fall festivals behind us — we’re talking the triple whammy of Venice, Telluride, and Toronto, plus the just-wrapped New York Film Festival and BFI London — we’re taking stock of the best films of the circuit. While it’s always easy to use the fall festivals as a window into this year’s awards contenders, of which many debuted over the past few weeks, the festivals have also provided us with some of the best films of 2023, full stop.
These standouts include new films from perennial favorites like Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Bertrand Bonello, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Bill and Turner Ross, and Alexander Payne. Rising stars aren’t in short supply either, including first and second narrative features from TIFF winner Cord Jefferson, Annie Baker, and Kristoffer Borgli. Amongst this selection, words like “gem,” “masterpiece,” and “crowd-pleaser” are thrown around with regularity, but not without real consideration.
These standouts include new films from perennial favorites like Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Bertrand Bonello, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Bill and Turner Ross, and Alexander Payne. Rising stars aren’t in short supply either, including first and second narrative features from TIFF winner Cord Jefferson, Annie Baker, and Kristoffer Borgli. Amongst this selection, words like “gem,” “masterpiece,” and “crowd-pleaser” are thrown around with regularity, but not without real consideration.
- 10/16/2023
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
John le Carré was born to be a spy…and one of the premier espionage novelists of the last century. “Betrayal fascinates me,” Le Carré (real name: David Cornwell) tells Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris in The Pigeon Tunnel, a fascinating film about the life of the late bestselling author, whose credits include The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The biggest revelation is that, for a man who crafted tales of international government truths and lies, his most astounding story was his own. Courtesy of Penguin “What came out, was how much he was driven by his relationship with his own father,” says Simon Cornwell, who, with his brother Stephen, co-produced this look at their dad. Le Carré’s father was a charming, and at times violent, confidence man for whom “Life was a stage where pretense was everything,” the novelist recalls. “Of truth and conviction,...
- 10/14/2023
- TV Insider
David Fincher’s The Killer is now in the 61st New York Film Festival Spotlight program Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that David Fincher’s The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender with Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton has been added to the Spotlight programme of the 61st New York Film Festival.
“With corrosive wit and rigorously precise technique, this mesmerizing new film from director David Fincher pares the payback thriller down to its spare but deeply pleasurable essentials.” - Film at Lincoln Center.
Michael Fassbender stars in David Fincher’s The Killer
Other highlights include Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, starring Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his wife; Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron; Steve McQueen’s Occupied City; Errol Morris’s The Pigeon Tunnel (on John le Carré);...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that David Fincher’s The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender with Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton has been added to the Spotlight programme of the 61st New York Film Festival.
“With corrosive wit and rigorously precise technique, this mesmerizing new film from director David Fincher pares the payback thriller down to its spare but deeply pleasurable essentials.” - Film at Lincoln Center.
Michael Fassbender stars in David Fincher’s The Killer
Other highlights include Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, starring Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his wife; Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron; Steve McQueen’s Occupied City; Errol Morris’s The Pigeon Tunnel (on John le Carré);...
- 10/7/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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