News

Today is Music Freedom Day, which brings attention to persecuted, prosecuted, and imprisoned musicians worldwide, whose only crimes are speaking out against injustice and pursuing the desire to express themselves creatively. It serves as an appropriate backdrop to unveil the first five minutes of the forthcoming documentary, "They Will Have To Kill Us First: Malian Music In Exile." Read More: Review: Documentary 'Death Metal Angola' Kicks Out The Jams In The Name Of Justice Directed by Johanna Schwartz, making her debut feature film, and featuring a score by Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a soundtrack featuring Songhoy Blues, Kharia Arby, Fadimata “Disco” Walet Oumar, and Moussa Sidi, the film tells the powerful story of Malian musicians who continue to strive to make their music and have voices heard after the country came under the control of Islamic jihadists in 2012. Here's the synopsis: Music is the beating heart of Malian culture,...

Jeremy Xido’s “Death Metal Angola” is being considered by many who’ve seen it to be a serious Best Documentary contender in the Oscar race this year and it’s not hard to see why. Xido’s doc – which examines the death metal subculture that emerged from the war-torn streets of Angola, a republic that is still reeling and rebuilding after a civil war that lasted twenty-seven years – is ultimately an affirming testament to the power of an art form that will ultimately unite and solidify a fractured culture. Given that the art form in question is death metal – that allegedly “dangerous” kind of hard-rock music that Joe Lieberman warned us about, the kind characterized by chugging, down-tuned guitars, Cookie Monster vocals and assaultive drums that sound like aural air raids – it’s a curious prospect, but it turns out to be an immensely rewarding one. “Death Metal Angola” is deeply involving and,...

Angola is the very definition of a war-torn African nation. The country endured almost constant war for the forty years prior to 2002. A lasting peace accord was finally reached, but four decades of violence have decimated Angola's cultural legacy, and left a populace deeply wounded by the ravages of war. This is the backdrop for Death Metal Angola, a documentary about the surprising, and thriving, death metal scene in the West African country. Anchoring this inspired film is an almost transcendental couple; Sonia Ferreira and Wilker Flores live and breathe hardcore rock and roll, and dream of holding the first-ever national rock concert in their war-torn city of Huambo. They also run the Okutiuka Orphanage, where Ferreira is "mother" to 55 children. These youths prove...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

For any given subculture, there are assumptions about who the true arbiters and fans of that group should be. There are rules about who can play - the same rules that made teenage metal band Unlocking The Truth such an oddity and a sensation, because many simply don't see young black boys from Brooklyn as the face of heavy metal music. Feature documentary "Death Metal Angola" turns this idea on its head as it spotlights a group of rockers and metal enthusiasts a world away from the music's roots in Europe and the United States. Amid a nation ravaged by generations of war and internal conflict, the subgenre of death metal is used as an emotional outlet and in fact, a...

Heavy-hitting holdovers Foxcatcher, The Theory Of Everything and Birdman were robust in expansion in the specialty release side of the box office this weekend. Meanwhile, a pair of limited-release newcomers, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and doc Monk With A Camera – both Kino Lorber releases – bowed with solid numbers.

A Girl, Ana Lily Amirpour’s self-described “Iranian vampire Western” that debuted at Sundance, opened in two theaters in New York and L.A., grossing $26K, for a $13K average.

Kino Lorber also opened Monk With A Camera, Guido Santi and Tina Mascara’s documentary, with an exclusive run at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in an 85-seat theater that had sell-out showings. The film grossed $10K Friday to Sunday.

“We’ve been waiting for this dual break all year,” said Kino Lorber president Richard Lorber Sunday. “Both a girl and monk connect with core audiences for our … releasing labels.

Christopher Bourne first brought Death Metal Angola to our attention in his coverage of Doc NYC 2013. Following its successful festival run, the film is currently in consideration for a Best Documentary Oscar nomination, and will be unleashed in the Us this Friday.Sonia Ferreira and Wilker Flores live and breathe hardcore rock and roll. They run the Okutiuka orphanage in the war-ravaged city of Huambo, Angola and dream of mounting the first-ever national rock concert. Raucous and righteous, Death Metal Angola follows their story, giving audiences a look at a rock show off the grid that is fulfilling, haunting, and real.Check out the images below, and definitely don't miss the fantastic trailer for this *spoiler alert* marvelous documentary. Then come back for our full review...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Nearly all art is reactionary, and death metal is no different. The extreme nature of this usually apolitical subgenre (whose most influential outposts are Tampa, Florida, and Gothenburg, Sweden) takes on new meanings in Death Metal Angola, Jeremy Xido's documentary charting the rise of heavy music in the wake of that south African nation's decades-long civil war. For many of the budding musicians interviewed here, the genre's aggressive qualities aren't just a coping mechanism, but also a means of recontextualizing their personal and national traumas — stories of lost loved ones are the norm, not least because an orphanage run by a saint of a woman named Sonia Ferreira hosts much of the footage. "I think the beats in death and black metal are derived from Af...

Starting today, The Vladar Company - an independent motion picture and entertainment studio - opens the critically acclaimed feature documentary "Death Metal Angola," from director Jeremy Xido ("The Machinist"), produced by Joseph Castelo ("The War Within"), with Vlad Yudin and Edwin Mejia exec producing. The film is now in a limited theatrical release in New York & Los Angeles, and will be available on iTunes on November 21. The film first caught our attention when it screened at Doc NYC - New York’s premier documentary festival - in 2013. The short version of the story, goes... Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war,...

This weekend is shaping up to mirror early fall, when specialty distributors packed theaters with new titles. Many of those disappeared quickly, and this weekend could be similar as companies usher in about a dozen limited-release theatrical newcomers. Focus Features’ The Theory Of Everything, however, has amassed a good amount of attention. Directed by Oscar winner James Marsh (Man On Wire), the Stephen Hawking biopic is opening two months after its Toronto debut. Two notable nonfiction titles also join the fray this weekend: Cinema Guild’s Actress, from director Robert Greene, and Zipporah Films’ National Gallery by nonfiction maverick Frederick Wiseman. Both deserve attention as the awards-race heats up. Two years after the theatrical bow of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President is the focus of Amplify’s The Better Angels — though it focuses a very different phase of his life. Distrib Films is opening Italian political...

Whoopsy. I forgot to share this list... Herewith the films that could be up for Best Documentary Feature this year. We'll get a finalist of 15 at some point next month followed by 5 nominees in January "until we crown A Winnah!" If we've reviewed the titles, you'll notice their pretty color which you can then click on to read about them. The magic of the internet. You can also see the animated and documentary Oscar charts here.

The 134 Semi-Finalists

A-c

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq, Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case, Algorithms, Alive Inside, All You Need Is Love, Altina, America: Imagine the World without Her, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, Anita, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, Art and Craft, Awake: The Life of Yogananda, The Barefoot Artist, The Battered Bastards of Baseball, Before You Know It, Bitter Honey, Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, Botso The Teacher from Tbilisi,...

One hundred thirty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 87th Academy Awards. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

“Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq”

“Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case”

“Algorithms”

“Alive Inside”

“All You Need Is Love”

“Altina”

“America: Imagine the World without Her”

“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs”

“Anita”

“Antarctica: A Year on Ice”

“Art and Craft”

“Awake: The Life of Yogananda”

“The Barefoot Artist”

“The Battered Bastards of Baseball”

“Before You Know It”

“Bitter Honey”

“Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity”

“Botso The Teacher from Tbilisi”

“Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart”

“The Case against 8”

“Cesar’s Last Fast”

“Citizen Koch”

“CitizenFour”

“Code Black”

“Concerning Violence”

“The Culture High”

“Cyber-Seniors”

“DamNation”

“Dancing in Jaffa”

“Death Metal Angola”

“The Decent One”

“Dinosaur 13”

“Do You Know What My Name Is?...

Citizenfour, Life Itself, Red Army, Warsaw Uprising among long-list contenters for the 87th Academy Awards.

The Salt Of The Earth, Happy Valley, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, Food Chains and Point And Shoot are also named.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

20,000 Days On Earth

Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Algorithms

Alive Inside

All You Need Is Love

Altina

America: Imagine The World Without Her

American Revolutionary: The Evolution Of Grace Lee Boggs

Anita

Antarctica: A Year On Ice

Art And Craft

Awake: The Life Of Yogananda

The Barefoot Artist

The Battered Bastards Of Baseball

Before You Know It

Bitter Honey

Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity

Botso The Teacher From Tbilisi

Captivated The Trials Of Pamela Smart

The Case Against 8

Cesar’s Last Fast

Citizen Koch

Citizenfour

Code Black

Concerning Violence

The Culture High

Cyber-Seniors

Damnation

Dancing In Jaffa

Death Metal Angola

The...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its list of 134 film vying for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar at the 87th Annual Academy Awards in February. A number of the nonfic hopefuls have yet to get their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Those that don’t will be cut from the contention. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December. Oscar noms will be revealed January 15, and ABC will broadcast Hollywood’s Big Night live on February 22 from the Dolby Theatre.

Here are the docu feature submissions:

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Algorithms

Alive Inside

All You Need Is Love

Altina

America: Imagine the World without Her

American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs

Anita

Antarctica: A Year on Ice

Art and Craft

Awake: The Life of Yogananda

The Barefoot Artist

The Battered Bastards of Baseball...

One hundred thirty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 87th Academy Awards®. Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category's other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. Pt in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar...

Pretty good update this week as we kick things off with J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year and its R rating, the only "R" rating among the notable titles this week as fellow Oscar contender, Angelina Jolie's Unbroken comes in with a PG-13 rating, though by the sounds of it it's a pretty strong one. Possible foreign language contender, Two Days, One Night from the Dardennes and starring Marion Cotillard scored a PG-13, as did the upcoming Poltergeist remake. Also in the bulletin today is Bill Pohland's Love & Mercy starring Paul Dano as reclusive Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson. And, finally Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb takes home a family friendly PG. Oh, and as for The Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power, it's coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on January 20, 2015, and you won't believe it, but on top of starring Victor Webster...

The Vladar Company - an independent motion picture and entertainment studio - has acquired (from production companies Coalition Films and Cabula6) release rights to the critically acclaimed feature documentary "Death Metal Angola," from director Jeremy Xido ("The Machinist"), produced by Joseph Castelo ("The War Within"), with Vlad Yudin and Edwin Mejia exec producing. The company will release the film in a limited theatrical release on November 7, 2014, in New York & Los Angeles. The film first caught our attention when it screened at Doc NYC - New York’s premier documentary festival - in 2013. The short version of the...

The Vladar Company - an independent motion picture and entertainment studio - has acquired (from production companies Coalition Films and Cabula6) release rights to the critically acclaimed feature documentary "Death Metal Angola," from director Jeremy Xido ("The Machinist"), produced by Joseph Castelo ("The War Within"). The company will release the film in a limited theatrical release this fall in New York & Los Angeles. The film first caught our attention when it screened at Doc NYC - New York’s premier documentary festival - in 2013. The short story, goes... Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war, peace and...

The following is a guest post from Jeremy Xido, the director of Death Metal Angola, which screens at Doc NYC on November 16. A few years ago, I was traveling through Angola researching a film about a railway when I stopped at the only cafe in Huambo, the country’s bombed-out second city, that served a decent cup of coffee. A young man with tiny dreadlocks in a blue button-down Oxford shirt waved me over. I sat with him for a while and chatted. We talked about what I was doing there and I asked him about himself. He said he […]...

The following is a guest post from Jeremy Xido, the director of Death Metal Angola, which screens at Doc NYC on November 16. A few years ago, I was traveling through Angola researching a film about a railway when I stopped at the only cafe in Huambo, the country’s bombed-out second city, that served a decent cup of coffee. A young man with tiny dreadlocks in a blue button-down Oxford shirt waved me over. I sat with him for a while and chatted. We talked about what I was doing there and I asked him about himself. He said he […]...

New Yorkers are in for a profound experience from director Jeremy Xido, whose feature documentary, Death Metal Angola, will screen at Doc NYC, New York’s premier documentary festival, which returns for its 4th year, from November 14-21, to the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea’s Sva Theatre.It's one of 72 feature-length films selected for this year's Doc NYC event. The short story, goes... Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war, peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Damaged first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola was then ripped apart by a devastating civil war that orphaned...

Perusing the Dubai programme deciding what to see when your knowledge of Arab and African cinema is on the rudimentary side can generate a fog of confusion, so a film titled "Death Metal Angola" stands out like a screaming neon sign. Jeremy Xido, who directed this absorbing, beautifully shot documentary, which had its world premiere in Dubai, is a Detroit-born multi-talent (he has a European-based contemporary dance company and acted in "The Machinist") and was in Angola researching another documentary about a Chinese railroad when he discovered that the war-torn nation has a flourishing death-metal scene. An ex-Portuguese colony, Angola was wracked by civil war for nearly four decades (until the Us, China and Russia stepped up to end the conflict, lured by the country's abundant natural resources); its people are haunted and scarred by their history; and the angry aggression of death metal offers an ideal outlet for expressing that angst.