As award-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss prepared to shoot their new documentary Girls State, they had no way of knowing real-world events would intrude upon the production in a major way. Nor, of course, did their protagonists.
Just as hundreds of young women in Missouri were assembling for an annual exercise in mock government, the draft Dobbs opinion leaked, signaling the U.S. Supreme Court’s intent to reverse Roe v. Wade. McBaine and Moss join Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss their film and how the Dobbs ruling impacted high school-age girls embarking on their campaigns for governor, state supreme court and other high offices.
The filmmaking couple calls Girls State a “sibling” – not a sequel – to their 2020 film Boys State, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Missouri’s Girls State and Boys State programs took place at the same time and same location,...
Just as hundreds of young women in Missouri were assembling for an annual exercise in mock government, the draft Dobbs opinion leaked, signaling the U.S. Supreme Court’s intent to reverse Roe v. Wade. McBaine and Moss join Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss their film and how the Dobbs ruling impacted high school-age girls embarking on their campaigns for governor, state supreme court and other high offices.
The filmmaking couple calls Girls State a “sibling” – not a sequel – to their 2020 film Boys State, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Missouri’s Girls State and Boys State programs took place at the same time and same location,...
- 4/10/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Documentary filmmaking has never been a profession one enters into to get rich — though for a brief period it seemed possible.
Cable expanded documentary’s reach to wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and films like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “March of the Penguins,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” became legitimate box-office breakthroughs, but nonfiction features on the whole remained something of a stepchild within the larger Hollywood ecosystem until 2017, when Netflix acquired Brian Fogel’s “Icarus” for $5 million.
At the time, the deal was one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film. And it was followed by even bigger deals: In 2019 Netflix shelled out $10 million for Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House.” The following year Apple TV+ and A24 partnered to buy Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” for $10 million, and in 2021 Searchlight and Hulu bought Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” for $12 million.
On the surface it seemed like people,...
Cable expanded documentary’s reach to wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and films like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “March of the Penguins,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” became legitimate box-office breakthroughs, but nonfiction features on the whole remained something of a stepchild within the larger Hollywood ecosystem until 2017, when Netflix acquired Brian Fogel’s “Icarus” for $5 million.
At the time, the deal was one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film. And it was followed by even bigger deals: In 2019 Netflix shelled out $10 million for Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House.” The following year Apple TV+ and A24 partnered to buy Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” for $10 million, and in 2021 Searchlight and Hulu bought Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” for $12 million.
On the surface it seemed like people,...
- 4/6/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Get ready to go gaga for another group of earnest teenagers hoping to change the world, or at least win a fake election at a famous youth retreat.
The contender to watch this week: “Girls State”
In 2021, “Boys State” picked up recognitions from the National Board of Review, Directors Guild of America, Emmys, and several critics groups, so of course we’re getting a sequel. This time, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss move from Texas to Missouri to profile teenagers attending the eponymous mock-government program. The ambitious, excitable girls are just as fascinating as their male counterparts, and you can see them in action on Apple TV+.
Other contenders:
“The Zone of Interest“: If you still haven’t caught Jonathan Glazer‘s mesmerizing Holocaust drama, which won two Oscars and continues to spark controversy, it’s newly streaming on Max. “How to Have Sex”: Molly Manning Walker...
The contender to watch this week: “Girls State”
In 2021, “Boys State” picked up recognitions from the National Board of Review, Directors Guild of America, Emmys, and several critics groups, so of course we’re getting a sequel. This time, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss move from Texas to Missouri to profile teenagers attending the eponymous mock-government program. The ambitious, excitable girls are just as fascinating as their male counterparts, and you can see them in action on Apple TV+.
Other contenders:
“The Zone of Interest“: If you still haven’t caught Jonathan Glazer‘s mesmerizing Holocaust drama, which won two Oscars and continues to spark controversy, it’s newly streaming on Max. “How to Have Sex”: Molly Manning Walker...
- 4/6/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
You may remember Boys State, the 2020 documentary in which filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss embedded themselves with the decades-old program that lets teenagers get a taste of the political process. Watching as hundreds of young Texans played out mock versions of campaigning, strategizing, stumping and either sticking to their ideological guns or compromising their values for votes, you could easily see the reflection of the real thing in miniature. These politicos-in-training were learning just how miraculous, how malleable and how broken our 21st century system for policy-making is, courtesy...
- 4/5/2024
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
What would American democracy look like in the hands of exclusively women? What would it look like in the hands of teenage girls? A follow-up to the award-winning “Boys State,” the filmmakers return to follow 500 young female leaders across Missouri as they engage with an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up. “Girls State” will make its streaming debut on Friday, April 5, on Apple TV+. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+.
How to Watch 'Girls State' When: Friday, April 5, 2024 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month apple.com About 'Girls State'
The Apple Original Film makes its streaming debut after its 2024 Sundance Film Festival debut. The film is the follow-up from directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, whose 2020 documentary “Boys State,” which tracked the journey of 1,100 teenage boys...
How to Watch 'Girls State' When: Friday, April 5, 2024 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month apple.com About 'Girls State'
The Apple Original Film makes its streaming debut after its 2024 Sundance Film Festival debut. The film is the follow-up from directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, whose 2020 documentary “Boys State,” which tracked the journey of 1,100 teenage boys...
- 4/5/2024
- 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.
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...
- 4/5/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
What can you say about a month of entertainment that opens with a TV series about a charming sociopath and closes with a movie about tennis players in love? It’s tempting to say there’s something for everyone to watch but, more accurately, April offers a lot of choices for those with specific tastes. From the theater to streaming services like Prime Video and Max, the best...
What can you say about a month of entertainment that opens with a TV series about a charming sociopath and closes with a movie about tennis players in love? It’s tempting to say there’s something for everyone to watch but, more accurately, April offers a lot of choices for those with specific tastes. From the theater to streaming services like Prime Video and Max, the best...
- 4/3/2024
- by Keith Phipps
- Rollingstone.com
Chris Smith’s “Devo” will open the ninth edition of Chicago’s Doc10 documentary film festival on May 2.
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
If the only April release was my top pick of the month it would be one of the finest lineups of the years, but thankfully there’s more to recommend. Featuring films about cinephilic obsession, subversive superhero tales, and what is sure to be at least one divisive big-screen near-future adventure, check out the list of must-sees below.
12 & 11. Kim’s Video (David Redmon and Ashley Sabin; April 5) and I Like Movies (Chandler Levack; April 8)
Anyone interested in physical media will appreciate a pair of films this month. Kim’s Video explores the strange story of the East Village establishment that housed around 55,000 DVDs while I Like Movies is a Canadian coming-of-age tale about a video store clerk who has bigger dreams in life, and is chockfull of cinephile-related humor that rang quite a familiar bell for this writer. John Fink said in his review of the former, “A sweeping documentary...
12 & 11. Kim’s Video (David Redmon and Ashley Sabin; April 5) and I Like Movies (Chandler Levack; April 8)
Anyone interested in physical media will appreciate a pair of films this month. Kim’s Video explores the strange story of the East Village establishment that housed around 55,000 DVDs while I Like Movies is a Canadian coming-of-age tale about a video store clerk who has bigger dreams in life, and is chockfull of cinephile-related humor that rang quite a familiar bell for this writer. John Fink said in his review of the former, “A sweeping documentary...
- 4/2/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
An incredibly moving, worthy and welcome chronicle of the strength, adversity, and determination of these young women. Watching this documentary leaves you with so much hope for the future. Inspiring.
This was our reaction when we caught Girls State at Sundance in January of this year. You can read our whole review here, but the gist from the summary above is the sooner you see this film the better. For those with AppleTV+, the date to watch out for is the 5th of April, as the film hits the streaming service.
To celebrate the film’s release Claire Bueno sat down with filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, and the stars of the documentary: Emily Worthmore, Nisha Murali, Faith Glasgow and Cecilia Bartin to talk about their incredible achievement.
The movie will premiere on Apple TV+ April 5, 2024. It’s well worth your time.
Girls State Interviews
Plot:
The Apple original...
This was our reaction when we caught Girls State at Sundance in January of this year. You can read our whole review here, but the gist from the summary above is the sooner you see this film the better. For those with AppleTV+, the date to watch out for is the 5th of April, as the film hits the streaming service.
To celebrate the film’s release Claire Bueno sat down with filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, and the stars of the documentary: Emily Worthmore, Nisha Murali, Faith Glasgow and Cecilia Bartin to talk about their incredible achievement.
The movie will premiere on Apple TV+ April 5, 2024. It’s well worth your time.
Girls State Interviews
Plot:
The Apple original...
- 4/1/2024
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Girls State tracks the high-schoolers taking part in a mock government simulation just as a devastating supreme court ruling is about to change everything
Nearly seven years ago, the film-makers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine went to Texas to see government in action, albeit one run by teenagers. The country was well into the Trump administration – Muslim bans and kids in cages dominated the headlines – when the two began filming an annual American Legion convention known as Boys State, a weeklong mock government simulation for 1,000 high school boys, in the summer of 2018. The duo tried to film a similar state program for girls, but were rebuffed; they ended up with Boys State, an incisive Apple TV+ documentary that captured the chaos, promise and peril of young masculinity in the US and went on to win the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.
But what if the girls were present?...
Nearly seven years ago, the film-makers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine went to Texas to see government in action, albeit one run by teenagers. The country was well into the Trump administration – Muslim bans and kids in cages dominated the headlines – when the two began filming an annual American Legion convention known as Boys State, a weeklong mock government simulation for 1,000 high school boys, in the summer of 2018. The duo tried to film a similar state program for girls, but were rebuffed; they ended up with Boys State, an incisive Apple TV+ documentary that captured the chaos, promise and peril of young masculinity in the US and went on to win the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.
But what if the girls were present?...
- 3/27/2024
- by Adrian Horton
- The Guardian - Film News
American Cinematheque Launches Major New L.A. Documentary Festival This Is Not a Fiction (Exclusive)
The American Cinematheque is kicking off a robust new Los Angeles nonfiction film festival dubbed This Is Not a Fiction, running from April 10-18. The festival opens with docuseries “Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story,” with Jon Bon Jovi in-person at the Aero Theatre for the L.A. premiere screening.
The event will include in-person tributes to distinguished documentary filmmakers including Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger, Brett Morgen, Bill Morrison, Kirsten Johnson, Terry Zwigoff, Jeff Tremaine and Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, as well as a virtual Q&a with Frederick Wiseman.
Other premieres will include “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,” “Power,” “Strong Island,” “Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg,” a restoration of “Lumumba: Death of a Prophet” and “Incident,” plus special presentations of Morgan Neville’s “Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces” and “Girls State.” A celebration of the 15th anniversary of “30 for 30” will feature a panel...
The event will include in-person tributes to distinguished documentary filmmakers including Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger, Brett Morgen, Bill Morrison, Kirsten Johnson, Terry Zwigoff, Jeff Tremaine and Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, as well as a virtual Q&a with Frederick Wiseman.
Other premieres will include “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,” “Power,” “Strong Island,” “Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg,” a restoration of “Lumumba: Death of a Prophet” and “Incident,” plus special presentations of Morgan Neville’s “Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces” and “Girls State.” A celebration of the 15th anniversary of “30 for 30” will feature a panel...
- 3/19/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Apple Original Films recently unveiled the trailer for the riveting new documentary feature, Girls State. The film will be available on Apple TV+ on April 5!
Synopsis: Girls State follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humor and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of Girls State...
Synopsis: Girls State follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humor and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of Girls State...
- 3/16/2024
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
Today, Apple Original Films unveiled the trailer for its critically acclaimed documentary feature “Girls State,” directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, and Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio. A 2024 Sundance Film Festival selection, “Girls State” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ April 5, 2024.
After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary “Boys State,” also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: What about Girls State? “Girls State” follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization.
After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary “Boys State,” also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: What about Girls State? “Girls State” follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization.
- 3/14/2024
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
AppleTV+ has debuted the trailer for the documentary feature ‘Girls State.’ We saw the film at Sundance this year and loved it.
The Apple original film follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In the film, the country is now deeper into a democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humour and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of “Girls State...
The Apple original film follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In the film, the country is now deeper into a democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humour and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of “Girls State...
- 3/14/2024
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"Often when women start talking politics we get shut down." Apple TV has revealed the official trailer for the documentary film Girls State, the highly anticipated follow-up to the 2020 doc film Boys State by the same filmmakers - Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss. This premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, just as Boys State did, and it will be streaming on Apple TV+ this April. "There's something in the air—it’s politics." What would American democracy look like in the hands of teenage girls? A political coming-of-age story and stirring reimagination of what it means to govern, Girls State follows young female leaders — from wildly different backgrounds across Missouri — as they navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up. Sundance also adds: "McBaine and Moss stay embedded in Girls State, following several charismatic candidates, but these aspiring change-makers keenly take note of the Boys State program,...
- 3/14/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Four years ago, just before the pandemic was in full force, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ Boys State picked up the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Well-timed with the election year, it captured a week-long leadership program, sponsored annually by the American Legion and held in nearly every state, chronicling several-hundred Texas high school students gathering to form and choose a mock government. With another election year upon us, the directors are now back for a gender-swapped sequel Girls State, this time taking place in Missouri. Ahead of an April 5 release on Apple TV+, the first trailer has arrived.
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his review, “Four years later, McBain and Moss have returned to Sundance with Girls State, the proverbial, gender-swapped sequel that attempts to achieve likeminded goals. Perhaps because Boys State didn’t acknowledge this parallel sister program, Girls State is at once a chance to redeem that oversight,...
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his review, “Four years later, McBain and Moss have returned to Sundance with Girls State, the proverbial, gender-swapped sequel that attempts to achieve likeminded goals. Perhaps because Boys State didn’t acknowledge this parallel sister program, Girls State is at once a chance to redeem that oversight,...
- 3/14/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s Boys State and Girls State have carved out an appealing niche by asking the provocative question, “What would government be like if teenage boys or teenage girls were in charge?”
Erasing the confines of gender binary and reality, Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons’ We Can Be Heroes works as a companion text by asking, “What would an alternate world be like if it could be wholly reimagined by teenagers?”
All three documentaries are explorations of power, opportunities to see the best (and occasionally worst) of what might happen when an ascending generation takes on its destined roles as leaders, learners, heroes and villains.
We Can Be Heroes is a documentary that makes your heart swell and makes you instantly protective of its young subjects, except that for over 86 minutes you watch those subjects slay demons and reshape a dying universe. These kids may...
Erasing the confines of gender binary and reality, Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons’ We Can Be Heroes works as a companion text by asking, “What would an alternate world be like if it could be wholly reimagined by teenagers?”
All three documentaries are explorations of power, opportunities to see the best (and occasionally worst) of what might happen when an ascending generation takes on its destined roles as leaders, learners, heroes and villains.
We Can Be Heroes is a documentary that makes your heart swell and makes you instantly protective of its young subjects, except that for over 86 minutes you watch those subjects slay demons and reshape a dying universe. These kids may...
- 3/10/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Apple TV+ today announced release dates for a slew of new and returning series on the first day of the Television Critics Association’s Winter 2024 press tour. They include new seasons of returning series including Acapulco, The Big Door Prize, Acapulco, The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy and Trying.
Also announced were dates for new series The New Look, The Dynasty: New England Patriots, Constellation, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, Manhunt, Palm Royale, Sugar, Franklin, Dark Matter, Presumed Innocent and Land of Women.
“Today we are elated to be unveiling so many brilliant new stories and characters for audiences to fall in love with in 2024,” said Matt Cherniss, head of domestic programming, Apple TV+. “These compelling series all reflect Apple’s dedication to crafting stories that not only entertain but reflect the richness of our shared human experience, foster a sense of understanding and spark cultural conversations around the world.
Also announced were dates for new series The New Look, The Dynasty: New England Patriots, Constellation, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, Manhunt, Palm Royale, Sugar, Franklin, Dark Matter, Presumed Innocent and Land of Women.
“Today we are elated to be unveiling so many brilliant new stories and characters for audiences to fall in love with in 2024,” said Matt Cherniss, head of domestic programming, Apple TV+. “These compelling series all reflect Apple’s dedication to crafting stories that not only entertain but reflect the richness of our shared human experience, foster a sense of understanding and spark cultural conversations around the world.
- 2/5/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
At the outset of Girls State, it seems as if filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss have deliberately set out to make a direct sequel to their 2020 documentary Boys State. Like any follow-up, they take the same general playbook and add in some wrinkles so the experience doesn’t feel like a rerun. Rather than following a group of rambunctious, ambitious teenage boys for a week in the mock government conference, this one’s for the girls.
Unlike their previous film’s larger-than-life Texan stomping grounds, which practically supplies its own mythology, the value of the setting here is subtler. McBaine and Moss selected a 2022 Girls State conference in Missouri for their project, which is notable primarily for being the state’s first instance of hosting events for both sexes simultaneously on the same campus. Try as they might to keep their documentary a self-sufficient microcosm of political anxieties and...
Unlike their previous film’s larger-than-life Texan stomping grounds, which practically supplies its own mythology, the value of the setting here is subtler. McBaine and Moss selected a 2022 Girls State conference in Missouri for their project, which is notable primarily for being the state’s first instance of hosting events for both sexes simultaneously on the same campus. Try as they might to keep their documentary a self-sufficient microcosm of political anxieties and...
- 2/3/2024
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
The Sundance Film Festival 2024 coverage continues with two entries involving youth and navigating social circles at a vulnerable age.
The first is a sequel to the documentary Boys State titled Girls State, where the girls run mock elections in a massive group.
The second film is a coming-of-age story called Didi, about an Asian American teenager learning to be true to himself in an awkward phase of life.
Both movies are derived from different genres but equally, have something to say about finding oneself in a large social gathering.
Should viewers see these movies?
Here are our capsule reviews of Didi and Girls State from Sundance 2024.
Girls State
Girls State is a documentary of a different flavor than its predecessor. The first entry was a captivating spotlight on how cutthroat politics can be, even among children. Boys State felt similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment, where personalities change when thrown inside a simulation.
The first is a sequel to the documentary Boys State titled Girls State, where the girls run mock elections in a massive group.
The second film is a coming-of-age story called Didi, about an Asian American teenager learning to be true to himself in an awkward phase of life.
Both movies are derived from different genres but equally, have something to say about finding oneself in a large social gathering.
Should viewers see these movies?
Here are our capsule reviews of Didi and Girls State from Sundance 2024.
Girls State
Girls State is a documentary of a different flavor than its predecessor. The first entry was a captivating spotlight on how cutthroat politics can be, even among children. Boys State felt similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment, where personalities change when thrown inside a simulation.
- 1/28/2024
- by John Dotson
- Monsters and Critics
One of the biggest hits at Sundance and winner of the festival’s U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize in 2020, Boys State was a rare window into teenage politics at a divisive time. Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, it showcased a week-long leadership program––sponsored annually by the American Legion and held in nearly every state––by chronicling several-hundred of Texas high school students gathering to form and choose a mock government. Outside of depicting the conference’s mechanics, Boys State showcased the diversity of Gen-z masculinity and previewed the next generation’s thought leaders, observing a handful of intriguing subjects jockey for position and learn how to attract groups of hormonal competition onto their side of the aisle.
Four years later, McBain and Moss have returned to Sundance with Girls State, the proverbial, gender-swapped sequel that attempts to achieve likeminded goals. Perhaps because Boys State didn’t acknowledge this parallel sister program,...
Four years later, McBain and Moss have returned to Sundance with Girls State, the proverbial, gender-swapped sequel that attempts to achieve likeminded goals. Perhaps because Boys State didn’t acknowledge this parallel sister program,...
- 1/22/2024
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
The list of accomplishments high school student Emily Worthmore reels off early in “Girls State” sounds impressive at first. Then it becomes a bit concerning. It’s not that the personable teen from suburban St. Louis has padded her resume — hardly. It’s that her list has the feeling of a too tightly wound drive to hit the right milestones on the way to being, as she hopes, the president in 2040. “Every election I’ve put myself in, I’ve won,” she says, “since fourth grade.”
So it comes as no surprise that Worthmore is among three young women featured in the Sundance-debuting documentary who have set their sights on the governorship of Missouri Girls State. For their engaging female-focused followup to 2020’s Texas-set “Boys State,” co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss traveled to the Show Me State in June of 2022 to show us the American Legion Auxiliary’s annual program for high school girls,...
So it comes as no surprise that Worthmore is among three young women featured in the Sundance-debuting documentary who have set their sights on the governorship of Missouri Girls State. For their engaging female-focused followup to 2020’s Texas-set “Boys State,” co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss traveled to the Show Me State in June of 2022 to show us the American Legion Auxiliary’s annual program for high school girls,...
- 1/21/2024
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance film festival: Film-makers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine struck gold with their film on a mock government program for 1,000 teenage boys. Now, it’s the girls’ turn.
In 2018, film-makers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine struck gold – or, rather, tuned into it – when they attended a weeklong Texas program in which 1,000 teenage boys elect and run a mock state government. Their subsequent film, Boys State, bottled the potential and peril of the future – the idealism and ambition of youth, the capacity to change one’s mind, the allure of power, the corrosive codes of masculinity – into two hours at once terrifying and hopeful, winning the 2020 Sundance documentary grand jury prize.
Now the duo returns to the festival with Girls State, a similarly structured look at a Boys State sister program in Missouri. Though the mock government programs, run by the American Legion, remain separated by sex in the state, the...
In 2018, film-makers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine struck gold – or, rather, tuned into it – when they attended a weeklong Texas program in which 1,000 teenage boys elect and run a mock state government. Their subsequent film, Boys State, bottled the potential and peril of the future – the idealism and ambition of youth, the capacity to change one’s mind, the allure of power, the corrosive codes of masculinity – into two hours at once terrifying and hopeful, winning the 2020 Sundance documentary grand jury prize.
Now the duo returns to the festival with Girls State, a similarly structured look at a Boys State sister program in Missouri. Though the mock government programs, run by the American Legion, remain separated by sex in the state, the...
- 1/19/2024
- by Adrian Horton in Park City, Utah
- The Guardian - Film News
Winner of the U.S. Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2020, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” embodied the best and worst of the eponymous tradition that it captured on camera: An annual leadership program, funded by the American Legion and held in almost all 50 states since the 1930s, in which 1,000 or so hyper-ambitious teenage boys from all walks of life are given a week to form and elect a mock government.
On the one hand, their film offered a semi-realistic microcosm of the American system at work, and an optimistic preview of what Gen Z — at least its most politically engaged young men — might bring to the table as they become old enough to and run for office. On the other hand, the otherwise inclusive “Boys State” reinforced the American Legion’s history of preserving the status quo through a “separate but not so equal” approach...
On the one hand, their film offered a semi-realistic microcosm of the American system at work, and an optimistic preview of what Gen Z — at least its most politically engaged young men — might bring to the table as they become old enough to and run for office. On the other hand, the otherwise inclusive “Boys State” reinforced the American Legion’s history of preserving the status quo through a “separate but not so equal” approach...
- 1/19/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Filmmaking team Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine follow-up their 2020 documentary Boys State, naturally, with Girls State, making its Sundance debut in the festival’s Premieres category. Much like their previous film, Girls State follows a diverse group of teenage girls across the state of Missouri who engage in a week-long immersive project that requires them to collectively construct a government from the ground up, which this time includes building a judicial branch on both local and state levels. With the project unfolding as Roe v. Wade threatens to be overturned, the girls also ruminate on how real-world legislature could infringe […]
The post “Crafting Stories With My Head and My Heart”: Editor Amy Foote on Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Crafting Stories With My Head and My Heart”: Editor Amy Foote on Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/18/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Filmmaking team Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine follow-up their 2020 documentary Boys State, naturally, with Girls State, making its Sundance debut in the festival’s Premieres category. Much like their previous film, Girls State follows a diverse group of teenage girls across the state of Missouri who engage in a week-long immersive project that requires them to collectively construct a government from the ground up, which this time includes building a judicial branch on both local and state levels. With the project unfolding as Roe v. Wade threatens to be overturned, the girls also ruminate on how real-world legislature could infringe […]
The post “Crafting Stories With My Head and My Heart”: Editor Amy Foote on Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Crafting Stories With My Head and My Heart”: Editor Amy Foote on Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/18/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
After three years of virtual and hybrid event offerings, the Sundance Film Festival is set to celebrate its fortieth anniversary with its most robust in-person edition of the festival since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. While online offerings will still be available to those who wish to participate from home, with the official online viewing window opening on Thursday, January 25. That lineup will include at-home screenings of the five competition sections (including Next).
On the ground, however, seems like the place to be. As ever, this year’s festival boasts a wide variety of new films from some of our favorite filmmakers, plus an assortment of rising stars, new talents to keep an eye on, and perhaps a few surprises.
This year’s program includes new films from Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden,...
On the ground, however, seems like the place to be. As ever, this year’s festival boasts a wide variety of new films from some of our favorite filmmakers, plus an assortment of rising stars, new talents to keep an eye on, and perhaps a few surprises.
This year’s program includes new films from Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden,...
- 1/11/2024
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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
Just as “The Blackening” parodied the horror movie cliché that Black characters are killed off first, the “magical Negro” trope is now getting its own satirical take.
Writer-director Kobi Libii is behind “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” which premieres at 2024 Sundance. The film, distributed by Focus Features, stars Justice Smith as Aren, a young man who is recruited into a “secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier,” per the official synopsis.
“I know you can feel their discomfort,” the trailer says. “Watching you walk through a room full of white people is the most painful thing I’ve ever seen.”
The plot is further teased: “That’s why we fight white discomfort every day. Because the happier they are, the safer we are.”
David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds,...
Writer-director Kobi Libii is behind “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” which premieres at 2024 Sundance. The film, distributed by Focus Features, stars Justice Smith as Aren, a young man who is recruited into a “secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier,” per the official synopsis.
“I know you can feel their discomfort,” the trailer says. “Watching you walk through a room full of white people is the most painful thing I’ve ever seen.”
The plot is further teased: “That’s why we fight white discomfort every day. Because the happier they are, the safer we are.”
David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Mission tells the story of John Chau, a missionary who in 2018 attempted to bring Christianity to the indigenous people of remote North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal. The Sentinelese killed him for intruding.
Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine said they discovered that Chau’s story was as influenced by adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Tintin as it was the Scripture.
“John was possessed of two faiths,” Moss said at Deadline Contenders Film: Documentary. “Charting both of those faiths in our story, we discovered that the film was a reflection of our own history.”
Chau discovered missions work at Oral Roberts University. The university had safe work, but Chau soon grew hungry for riskier endeavors.
Related: Deadline’s Contenders Documentary – Full Coverage
“I think it became his hunger for adventure to test himself put him on this more dangerous course,” Moss said.
McBaine said Chau believed...
Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine said they discovered that Chau’s story was as influenced by adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Tintin as it was the Scripture.
“John was possessed of two faiths,” Moss said at Deadline Contenders Film: Documentary. “Charting both of those faiths in our story, we discovered that the film was a reflection of our own history.”
Chau discovered missions work at Oral Roberts University. The university had safe work, but Chau soon grew hungry for riskier endeavors.
Related: Deadline’s Contenders Documentary – Full Coverage
“I think it became his hunger for adventure to test himself put him on this more dangerous course,” Moss said.
McBaine said Chau believed...
- 12/10/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
By the time December rolls around, a frontrunner has typically emerged in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. Not this year. The contest remains wide open, more so than in any year in recent memory.
For that reason alone, it’s essential to hear from the leading filmmakers in the mix. And that’s where Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary event comes in. Out essential guide featuring an awards-worthy slate of outstanding nonfiction films kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. Pt featuring panels from nine of the year’s most buzzy titles.
Click here to sign up for and launch the livestream.
Among the all-star talent on hand is Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, director of Apple Original Films’ Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, about the beloved Hollywood icon. Guggenheim’s film recently won five prizes at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Also...
For that reason alone, it’s essential to hear from the leading filmmakers in the mix. And that’s where Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary event comes in. Out essential guide featuring an awards-worthy slate of outstanding nonfiction films kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. Pt featuring panels from nine of the year’s most buzzy titles.
Click here to sign up for and launch the livestream.
Among the all-star talent on hand is Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, director of Apple Original Films’ Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, about the beloved Hollywood icon. Guggenheim’s film recently won five prizes at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Feature and Best Director.
Also...
- 12/10/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
By Glenn Charlie Dunks
The Academy has announced the long list for this year’s Best Documentary Feature category. 168 titles have qualified for members of the doc branch to whittle down to a 15-wide shortlist and then a nominated five. That figure is higher than last year, which had 144 eligible titles and which culminated in a win for Daniel Roher’s Navalny.
If you were to ask me right now what titles I expect to find on this year’s shortlist, I might say the following: Against the Tide (Sarvnik Kaur), American Symphony (Matthew Heineman), Anonymous Sister (Jamie Boyle), The Eternal Memory (Maite Alberdi), Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania), Lakota Nation vs United States, Little Richard: I Am Everything (Lisa Cortés), The Mission, Occupied City (Steve McQueen), Silver Dollar Road (Raoul Peck), Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints), A Still Small Voice (Luke Lorentzen), Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim...
The Academy has announced the long list for this year’s Best Documentary Feature category. 168 titles have qualified for members of the doc branch to whittle down to a 15-wide shortlist and then a nominated five. That figure is higher than last year, which had 144 eligible titles and which culminated in a win for Daniel Roher’s Navalny.
If you were to ask me right now what titles I expect to find on this year’s shortlist, I might say the following: Against the Tide (Sarvnik Kaur), American Symphony (Matthew Heineman), Anonymous Sister (Jamie Boyle), The Eternal Memory (Maite Alberdi), Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania), Lakota Nation vs United States, Little Richard: I Am Everything (Lisa Cortés), The Mission, Occupied City (Steve McQueen), Silver Dollar Road (Raoul Peck), Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints), A Still Small Voice (Luke Lorentzen), Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim...
- 12/10/2023
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
As more and more of the season’s precursor prizes are announced, one major Oscar mainstay has made its way home. Block out a solid chunk of time — it’s a long one.
The contender to watch this week: “Killers of the Flower Moon“
Fresh off an AFI honor and four National Board of Review distinctions, including Martin Scorsese for Best Director and Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, “Killers of the Flower Moon” has arrived on VOD ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut. The ambitious crime epic adapted from David Grann‘s nonfiction book about white men killing Osage Nation residents and stealing their oil headrights will surely continue this awards-season upswing when the Golden Globe nominations are announced on Monday, so now is the perfect time to catch up. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and composer Robbie Robertson are among the movie’s other top candidates.
Other contenders:...
The contender to watch this week: “Killers of the Flower Moon“
Fresh off an AFI honor and four National Board of Review distinctions, including Martin Scorsese for Best Director and Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, “Killers of the Flower Moon” has arrived on VOD ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut. The ambitious crime epic adapted from David Grann‘s nonfiction book about white men killing Osage Nation residents and stealing their oil headrights will surely continue this awards-season upswing when the Golden Globe nominations are announced on Monday, so now is the perfect time to catch up. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and composer Robbie Robertson are among the movie’s other top candidates.
Other contenders:...
- 12/9/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
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.
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Just in time to ruin Christmas, gruesome horror comedy The Mean One, is out now on DVD and Digital Platforms from Altitude Film Distribution.
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
- 12/7/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
The Sundance Film Festival has always been about discovery. The reason so many agents, casting directors, producers, filmmakers, and executives attend the annual January festival is because they want to be there, on the ground, when the next Steven Soderbergh or Richard Linklater pops up. Or, even when they pop up again: Both veterans are bringing projects to this year’s fest.
While there was some trepidation going into this year’s programming selection that the post-pandemic production lull and two long strikes might impact the number or quality of submissions, lo and behold, the 2024 festival has broken the festival’s record with 17,435 submissions from 153 countries.
When we checked in (via a recent Zoom chat) with three Sundance executives to get the low-down on this year’s festival, they were bullish. And they had changes to share.
Every year, the Sundance Film Festival makes them; 2024 is no exception. For starters,...
While there was some trepidation going into this year’s programming selection that the post-pandemic production lull and two long strikes might impact the number or quality of submissions, lo and behold, the 2024 festival has broken the festival’s record with 17,435 submissions from 153 countries.
When we checked in (via a recent Zoom chat) with three Sundance executives to get the low-down on this year’s festival, they were bullish. And they had changes to share.
Every year, the Sundance Film Festival makes them; 2024 is no exception. For starters,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Sundance Institute has announced the feature film lineup for the 2024 festival, taking place January 18-28, 2024, in person in Utah, along with a selection of films available online across the U.S. January 25-28. The lineup includes Competition titles; the Premieres, Spotlight, and Episodic sections; and the Midnight slate, with 82 feature-length films (representing 24 countries); eight episodic titles; and a New Frontier interactive experience. Of the films and episodic titles, 94 percent are world premieres — many of which appeared on IndieWire’s Sundance Wish List.
Many recognizable filmmakers are presenting new work this time around, including Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Yance Ford, Ramona S. Diaz, Rory Kennedy, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, among many others.
Notable actors at the 2024 edition range from Kristen Stewart in “Love Lies Bleeding” and alongside Steven Yeun in “Love Me,...
Many recognizable filmmakers are presenting new work this time around, including Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Yance Ford, Ramona S. Diaz, Rory Kennedy, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, among many others.
Notable actors at the 2024 edition range from Kristen Stewart in “Love Lies Bleeding” and alongside Steven Yeun in “Love Me,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Netflix Releases Trailer for “The Crown” Season 6, Part 2
Netflix has released the trailer for the second and final half of “The Crown” Season 6, concluding the reign of the award-winning period drama.
Part 2 of the final season, which premiered its first four episodes on Nov. 16, will pick up in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death as Queen Elizabeth (played by Imelda Staunton) must reflect on her life and legacy and pave the way for her successors, Charles and William.
Watch the trailer for “The Crown” Season 6, Part 2 below:
Dominic West, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Claudia Harrison, Olivia Williams, Bertie Carvel, and Salim Daw make up the rest of the ensemble with Ed McVey, Luther Ford, and Meg Bellamy joining in the final part as Prince William, Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton, respectively.
The final six episodes of “The Crown” will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 14.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com...
Netflix has released the trailer for the second and final half of “The Crown” Season 6, concluding the reign of the award-winning period drama.
Part 2 of the final season, which premiered its first four episodes on Nov. 16, will pick up in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death as Queen Elizabeth (played by Imelda Staunton) must reflect on her life and legacy and pave the way for her successors, Charles and William.
Watch the trailer for “The Crown” Season 6, Part 2 below:
Dominic West, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Claudia Harrison, Olivia Williams, Bertie Carvel, and Salim Daw make up the rest of the ensemble with Ed McVey, Luther Ford, and Meg Bellamy joining in the final part as Prince William, Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton, respectively.
The final six episodes of “The Crown” will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 14.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com...
- 12/1/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
‘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
Apple Original Films has set a new documentary feature Girls State, directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, and Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio. After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary Boys State, also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: what about Girls State?
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch,...
The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day.
In Girls State, the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
IndieWire’s longtime commitment to highlighting boundary-pushing documentary filmmaking reached new heights this fall during the inaugural Art of the Doc screening series. Presented in partnership with National Geographic, Art of the Doc showcased six of the best nonfiction films of 2023 at the Landmark Westwood in Los Angeles. Each screening featured in-person conversations with filmmakers and documentary subjects moderated by IndieWire editors.
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
- 11/27/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Updated with details about the next and final screening, which is “Stamped from the Beginning” on November 20. Learn more here.
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
- 11/17/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
On November 17th 2018, five years to the day before this film's release, a young man died. What makes The Mission so striking isn't the certainty of that fate but the complexity of the circumstances that brought him to it. Treading a delicate path as it explores his difficult course, the film tries to explore without judgement. In a story where judgement is often lacking, and in a telling where there are a few unusual decisions, this is itself a source of questions, of discomfort, and the better for it.
Amanda McBaine and frequent collaborator Jesse Moss have been producing (in both senses) documentaries for decades. 2014's The Overnighters explored overlapping territories, crises of faith among oil men. They documented another utopian and paean to youth in Boys State. Moss also contributed to 2019's docuseries The Family about the influence of a particular evangelical group on US politics. That quasireligious...
Amanda McBaine and frequent collaborator Jesse Moss have been producing (in both senses) documentaries for decades. 2014's The Overnighters explored overlapping territories, crises of faith among oil men. They documented another utopian and paean to youth in Boys State. Moss also contributed to 2019's docuseries The Family about the influence of a particular evangelical group on US politics. That quasireligious...
- 11/17/2023
- by Andrew Robertson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Documentary traces a 21st-century American evangelical’s reckless efforts to convert an isolated tribe, and his fatal encounter with them
One of the most isolated Indigenous people on Earth, the Sentinelese of India’s North Sentinel Island remain a mystery to anthropologists. For evangelical Christian groups, however, these so-called “unreached” tribes represent a challenge – and a calling. Through illicit means, 26-year-old American missionary John Chau approached the island in 2018 with gifts and Bible verses. The Sentinelese responded with a hail of arrows, killing the young man. The incident made international headlines, with Chau’s death prompting a flurry of reactions ranging from claims of martyrdom to mocking memes. Diving into the heart of the puzzle, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s documentary strives to contextualise – and empathise – with Chau’s gruesome end.
Read out by actors, excerpts from Chau’s diary and a letter from Chau’s father illuminate the circumstances that spurred his quest.
One of the most isolated Indigenous people on Earth, the Sentinelese of India’s North Sentinel Island remain a mystery to anthropologists. For evangelical Christian groups, however, these so-called “unreached” tribes represent a challenge – and a calling. Through illicit means, 26-year-old American missionary John Chau approached the island in 2018 with gifts and Bible verses. The Sentinelese responded with a hail of arrows, killing the young man. The incident made international headlines, with Chau’s death prompting a flurry of reactions ranging from claims of martyrdom to mocking memes. Diving into the heart of the puzzle, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s documentary strives to contextualise – and empathise – with Chau’s gruesome end.
Read out by actors, excerpts from Chau’s diary and a letter from Chau’s father illuminate the circumstances that spurred his quest.
- 11/14/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
Alex Pettyfer stars in the terrifying action thriller Black Noise, which is out out now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon Prime Video in the UK & Ireland.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
- 11/13/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie was the top winner at the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were handed out Sunday night.
Among the other prizes the film collected was the best narration award for Michael J. Fox. It also won best biographical documentary, best direction for Davis Guggenheim and best editing for Michael Harte for a total of five awards overall.
Elsewhere, Jon Batiste won best score for American Symphony on the heels of his five Grammy noms, including album of the year. American Symphony also was named best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol won two awards, for best first documentary feature and best political doc.
The eighth annual edition of the awards show, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place at New York’s Edison Ballroom.
Winners were announced in 18 categories spanning theatrical film, TV and digital platforms. Also this year, the Critics Choice Association honored Ross McElwee with its Pennebaker Award,...
Among the other prizes the film collected was the best narration award for Michael J. Fox. It also won best biographical documentary, best direction for Davis Guggenheim and best editing for Michael Harte for a total of five awards overall.
Elsewhere, Jon Batiste won best score for American Symphony on the heels of his five Grammy noms, including album of the year. American Symphony also was named best music doc.
20 Days in Mariupol won two awards, for best first documentary feature and best political doc.
The eighth annual edition of the awards show, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place at New York’s Edison Ballroom.
Winners were announced in 18 categories spanning theatrical film, TV and digital platforms. Also this year, the Critics Choice Association honored Ross McElwee with its Pennebaker Award,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Kimberly Nordyke
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ Sweeps the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Complete Winners List)
One of the first big nights of the 2023 award season took place tonight at Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom when the best nonfiction filmmakers competed for the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The show, which is hosted by Wyatt Cenac, honors the most acclaimed documentaries of the year in one of the biggest early contests before the Academy Awards.
Netflix’s Jon Batiste documentary “American Symphony” led the pack with six nominations, while “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Kokomo City,” and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” were each honored with five nominations a piece. Other contenders for Best Documentary Feature include “Beyond Utopia,” “The Deepest Breath,” “The Mission,” “The Eternal Memory,” “Judy Blume Forever,” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” had the strongest story of the night. In addition to taking home Best Documentary Feature, the film won Best Biographical Documentary, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Narration for Fox himself.
Netflix’s Jon Batiste documentary “American Symphony” led the pack with six nominations, while “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Kokomo City,” and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” were each honored with five nominations a piece. Other contenders for Best Documentary Feature include “Beyond Utopia,” “The Deepest Breath,” “The Mission,” “The Eternal Memory,” “Judy Blume Forever,” and “Stamped from the Beginning.”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” had the strongest story of the night. In addition to taking home Best Documentary Feature, the film won Best Biographical Documentary, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Narration for Fox himself.
- 11/13/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Amber Heard (Aquaman) stars as a doctor battling against 19th-century superstitions and paranoia in In The Fire, also starring Luca Calvani (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), Eduardo Noriega (The Devil’s Backbone), and Sophie Amber (soon to be seen in The Last Girl with Antonio Banderas).
Directed by Cocor Allyn (No Man’s Land), In The Fire is an intense and thrilling experience featuring a searing career-best lead performance from Heard as a woman attempting to convince a community that medicine can overcome what they perceive as ‘evil’.
Synopsis:
A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.
In The Fire is available now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon.
About Altitude
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Directed by Cocor Allyn (No Man’s Land), In The Fire is an intense and thrilling experience featuring a searing career-best lead performance from Heard as a woman attempting to convince a community that medicine can overcome what they perceive as ‘evil’.
Synopsis:
A doctor travels to a remote plantation to care for a disturbed boy who has inexplicable abilities. She ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil.
In The Fire is available now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon.
About Altitude
Altitude Media Group is...
- 11/8/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
For the 10th year in a row, the Scad Savannah Film Festival, the 26th edition of which ran from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, was the place to be for documentary filmmakers and documentary lovers — specifically on Oct. 25, when The Hollywood Reporter presented and your humble correspondent hosted the fest’s Docs to Watch panel that brings together the directors of up to 10 of the year’s finest documentary features.
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
- 11/4/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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