News

Dieter Kosslick may be out of the Berlinale limelight, but he continues to champion two things that remain dear to his heart, film and the environment, and as the director of a new festival, he is combining the two in the hope of tackling the climate crisis and encouraging greater sustainability for the sake of a better world.

Kosslick was appointed by the city of Potsdam to head the new Green Visions Potsdam fest, which launched last year and will see its second edition take place May 22-25.

After stepping down as Berlinale director, Kosslick eased into his new life with a personal endeavor, writing a memoir.

“The transition was very simple because I had this project to write this autobiography,” Kosslick tells Variety. “And it took me one year to write this and it was a kind of fun and also it was a kind of a psychoanalytic meeting by myself.

Correction: An early version of this article indicated that Studiocanal had acquired global rights to 11 River Road Entertainment, but Searchlight holds domestic U.S. and Canada rights to “12 Years a Slave” and U.S. and U.K. rights to “The Tree of Life.”

Studiocanal and River Road Entertainment have announced an exclusive international distribution deal for 11 celebrated films, including Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave,” Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or-winning “The Tree of Life” and Sean Penn’s critically acclaimed “Into the Wild.”

The partnership brings together Europe’s leading production and distribution house, Studiocanal, and the American independent film production giant, River Road Entertainment, in a multi-territory arrangement covering TV, SVOD, theatrical and other media platforms.

Under the agreement, Studiocanal will distribute nine feature films and two documentaries, a roster of prestigious titles that have collectively earned over $440 million at the global box office.

Juliette Hochart,...

The 2008 documentary Food Inc. shone a light on troubling realities within America’s industrial food system. By following the path of our food from farms to processing plants to dinner tables, director Robert Kenner unveiled how a few powerful corporations grew to dominate agriculture. While some hoped increased awareness might spark change, the issues seemed deeply entrenched.

Then the Covid pandemic swept the world, and our food system was put under a microscope. Store shelves sat empty as supply chains faltered. Millions watched as crops were destroyed and animals culled, not due to a lack of supply but an inability to process and transport the bounty. It became clear that consolidating control among a select few left us all vulnerable.

So Kenner took up his camera once more. Along with co-director Melissa Robledo, he traveled across America and beyond, listening to all voices from the fields: farmers struggling under corporate control,...

Sony is rolling out Bad Boys: Ride Or Die at 643 locations to make it the widest release in the UK and Ireland this weekend.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles as two renegade cops standing in the way of a Miami drugs cartel, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directing.

It is the fourth installment in the Bad Boys franchise following the most recent, Bad Boys For Life, opening to £3.8m in January 2020, surpassing the £866,215 opening of 1995’s Bad Boys and the £3.2m of 2003’s Bad Boys II.

The Watched, known outside of UK-Ireland as The Watchers,...

Serving up morsels of good news amid platefuls of horrors regarding animal cruelty, ultra-processed diets and the environmental impact of dairy and meat production

Robert Kenner’s 2008 documentary Food, Inc was an angry wake-up call to the evils of industrialised food production. Now Kenner is back for another bite, co-directing with Melissa Robledo. In the ensuing 16 years, the food crisis hasn’t gone away – but what’s changed is that the message is out there. So, if you’re already that person in the supermarket looking on the back of the crumpet packet at the ingredients list, or you’re cutting down on meat, there’s perhaps not a lot here that you won’t already know.

Like the proverbial turd sandwich, the documentary feeds its audience thin slices of hope wrapped around the stomach-churning stuff. In positive news, Senator Cory Booker is on a mission in New Jersey to...

Former Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick is returning to the festival scene with a new event called Green Visions Potsdam, which kicks off on May 30 and runs until June 2.

Kosslick, whose 18-year tenure at the Berlinale spanned 2001 to 2019, is festival director of Green Visions Potsdam and has put together a line-up of 18 films addressing issues such as climate protection, sustainability, fast fashion, agriculture and nutrition.

The programme, which Kosslick has selected in collaboration with curator Karen Arikian, opens with the German premieres of French documentary filmmaker Jean-Albert Lièvre’s Whale Nation and UK director Mahalia Belo’s survival thriller The End We Start From,...

The sudden end of Participant Media came as a shock to many in the entertainment industry, but it hit documentary filmmakers particularly hard, with some concerned that backers for serious-minded, issue-driven projects are becoming ever more scarce.

Since its founding in 2004, the company — which sought to bring stories that could spark change to a wide audience — has been a staunch supporter of documentaries focused on social and justice issues, funded by the largesse of a billionaire, ex-eBay president Jeff Skoll.

None of its other nonfiction titles quite achieved the heights of 2006’s An Inconvenient Truth, released just two years after the company was formed: The Davis Guggenheim-directed film about Al Gore’s climate change slideshow rocketed to become the third-highest-grossing doc ever at the time and focused mainstream attention on climate change, inspiring studies about its impact. “That’s why we exist,” Skoll told The Hollywood Reporter in 2006, as Truth became a sensation.

Food, Inc. 2 follows the golden rule of Hollywood sequels: The second time around, the villain must be scarier and the death count higher. Directors Melissa Robledo and Robert Kenner’s 2008 documentary Food, Inc. helped spark a national conversation about the devastating economic, environmental and health effects of our industrialized food system, and built momentum for serious reform. They never intended to direct a follow-up. But since then, Big Ag has fought back, and by some measures the problems caused by corporate consolidation have only gotten worse.

Journalists Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), who co-narrated the first film, became famous for exposing the deep dysfunction of America’s food industry. They’ve since followed their curiosity to other realms — psychedelics for Pollan, for example, and nuclear warfare for Schlosser. But 16 years after the release of Food Inc., they’ve reteamed with the directors for the sequel,...

A 17-title buying spree from Scandinavian and Baltic distributor NonStop Entertainment includes deals for Mati Diop’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Dahomey, and Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance title A Different Man.

Diop’s documentary Dahomey tells the story of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (located within present-day Benin in Africa) that were returned to Benin after being held in a French museum. Films du Losange handles sales.

Sold by A24, Schimberg’s A Different Man stars Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson in the story of a man with neurofibromatosis, who undergoes surgery for a new start...

"I want rural America to vibrant again, that's my motivation here." Yes! Magnolia Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary sequel titled Food, Inc. 2, from filmmakers Robert Kenner & Melissa Robledo. This is a follow-up to the acclaimed, industry-shaking doc Food, Inc. from 2008 - both this film & its sequel are also based on books of the same name. This sequel is premiering at the 2024 Cph:dox Film Festival in Denmark this month. Their intro: "Turbo chickens, plant-based steaks and a pandemic. A lot has happened since the first Food Inc. film, and it's time for a fresh in-depth look at the food industry and at possible solutions." Food Inc 2 centers around innovative farmers, future-thinking food producers, workers' rights activists and prominent legislators such as U.S Senators Cory Booker and Jon Tester, who are facing these companies head-on to inspire change and build a healthier, more sustainable future.

“Food, Inc. 2,” the follow-up to the 2008 Oscar-nominated documentary on the effects of agribusiness on American consumers, is set for a special screening event from Magnolia Pictures on April 9. The feature documentary will be released on digital platforms on April 12.

Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo direct the film from Participant and River Road, which reunites the directors with authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser to take a fresh look at how corporate consolidation has left the food system vulnerable.

“When the pandemic hit, the curtain was pulled back. There were whole crops being buried,” Pollan says in the trailer. “At the same time, there were shortages in the supermarket.”

In a quest for solutions, the film looks at innovative farmers, food producers, workers’ rights activists and legislators including senators Cory Booker and Jon Tester, who are working to create a sustainable future.

“I sure as hell don’t want my...

More than a decade after the first film, Magnolia Pictures has released the trailer for Food, Inc. 2, a sequel to their critically acclaimed 2008 documentary, Food, Inc.

The film “is a timely and urgent follow-up” to the original, according to a release. The first installment earned an Oscar nomination and still holds a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

In the sequel, directors Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo reunite with authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) for another look at the country’s food system.

“There’s a lot at stake when you sit down to eat,” Pollan says in the trailer. “When the pandemic hit, the curtain was peeled back.”

Schlosser adds, “There were whole crops being buried, and at the same time there were shortages in the supermarket.”

In another scene, an activist asks: “How can I go to work for these...

Dogwoof boards international sales.

Magnolia Pictures has picked up US rights to Participant and River Road’s Food, Inc. 2, the follow-up to Robert Kenner’s Oscar-nominated documentary.

Kenner co-directed with Melissa Robledo on the Telluride world premiere in which investigative authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) take a fresh look at the nation’s food system.

Magnolia Pictures will release the film in the spring in the US. while Dogwoof has come on board to represent international sales.

While Food, Inc. fuelled a cultural conversation about the multinational corporations that control the food...

Exclusive: After serving as the distributor for Participant and River Road’s Academy Award-nominated 2008 documentary Food, Inc., Magnolia Pictures has taken U.S. rights to the sequel, with Dogwoof coming aboard to rep international sales. An urgent continuation of the original film’s story, the doc is slated to premiere in the spring.

In the sequel, which world premiered at Telluride, directors Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo reunite with investigative authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) to take a fresh look at food in the U.S. The film reveals how corporate consolidation has gone unchecked by our government, leaving us with a highly efficient yet shockingly vulnerable food system dedicated only towards increasing profits. Seeking solutions, it introduces innovative farmers, food producers, workers’ rights activists, and prominent legislators such as U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Jon Tester, who are facing these...

Hollywood loves sequels, but in the nonfiction space it’s rare for a documentary to get a follow up. However, 15 years after Food, Inc. landed with huge impact, the sequel Food, Inc. 2 premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, bringing a fresh perspective on America’s spoiled food system.

“All of us swore we would never go to this area again,” said Robert Kenner, director of the original Food, Inc. He co-directed Participant’s Food, Inc. 2 with Melissa Robledo, a co-producer on the first film. “But I think on some levels this became such an important story to go tell that we all felt we needed to come back and we could talk about it in sort of stronger terms than we did [before].”

The catalyst for the sequel became the pandemic, which exposed the vulnerabilities of a food system dominated by a handful of massive agribusiness companies including Cargill,...

There’s an unintentionally surreal moment in “Food Inc. 2.” Eric Schlosser, the journalist who wrote “Fast Food Nation,” is talking about how the rise of our corporatized, centralized, industrialized food system stifles the very kind of competition that could pose a challenge to it. He reaches back, with a level-headed liberal boomer nostalgia comparable to that of Michael Moore, to talk about the growth of the middle class in the ’50s and ’60s, and how that was a period of rising wages for American workers, all of which has faded away.

Here’s the surreal part. To illustrate this postwar reverie, the movie accompanies it with a 60-year-old documentary film clip presenting the wonder of supermarkets, with the camera lingering on stacks of Campbell’s Soup cans and products like Minute Rice, Ritz Crackers, and Van Camp’s Original Baked Beans. Watching the clip, though, all I could think was:...

With the festival kicking off tomorrow, Telluride Film Festival has now unveiled its lineup, featuring new films from Jeff Nichols (the first image from which can be seen above), Emerald Fennell, Annie Baker, Andrew Haigh, Yorgos Lanthimos, Justine Triet, Wim Wenders, Kitty Green, Ethan Hawke, and many more.

“Fifty years is a long time to do anything. And while we might be a little biased, we feel the work that Tff does is pretty important,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “We take the charge of preserving the theatrical experience and promoting film seriously, but with necessary winks here and there. We’re ecstatic to share a program we feel reflects so much of the past fifty years, naturally and organically, films old and new, which stand as a testament to our beloved co-founders Tom Luddy and Bill Pence who are no longer with us.”

• All Of US Strangers...

2023 Festival dedicated to founders Tom Luddy, Bill Pence, Stella Pence, James Card.

Telluride Film Festival has announced its 2023 50th anniversary line-up with Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, and Steve McQueen’s Occupied City on the roster.

The selection, which will play in the Colorado Rockies locale from August 31 to September 4, includes Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders, Jonathan Glazer’s Cannes sensation The Zone Of Interest, Pablo Larrain’s El Conde, Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, Nyad from Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin,...

Films about Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste, Andy Kaufman and designer John Galliano are part of this year’s Telluride Film Festival documentary feature lineup.

In all, 22 feature and four short documentaries are heading to the 50th edition of Tff, where buzz for docs seeking Oscar consideration frequently takes hold.

The lineup, kept under wraps until the eve of the fest’s opening on Aug. 31, includes docs from novice and veteran documentarians, including Errol Morris (“The Pigeon Tunnel”), Madeleine Gavin (“Beyond Utopia”), Matthew Heineman (“American Symphony”) and Paul B. Preciado.

After premiering “Orlando, My Political Biography” in Berlinale last February, Preciado garnered four awards, including the Teddy award for best documentary. Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights to the doc in March.

In the docu, the first-time director, who is a trans writer and activist, uses Virginia Woolf’s 1928 book “Orlando,” the first novel in which the main...

The 50th edition of the Telluride Film Festival will include the world premieres of Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad,” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” among other top awards hopefuls, festival organizers announced on Wednesday.

In keeping with tradition, the 2023 Telluride lineup was kept under wraps until 24 hours before the annual festival begins – although sharp-eyed pundits and awards experts were able to accurately speculate about many of the titles in this year’s lineup due to premiere designations at other festivals in Toronto, Venice, and New York.

“Saltburn” is Fennell’s second film after 2020’s “Promising Young Woman,” which landed the budding auteur a trio of Oscar nominations. The film stars recent Best Supporting Actor nominee Barry Keoghan, as well as Jacob Elordi of “Euphoria” fame, former Oscar nominees Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant,...

Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad,” Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” and George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin” are among the films that will screen at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, Telluride organizers announced on Wednesday.

The festival begins on Thursday, only one day after the announcement of the lineup. The late notice is a tradition at Telluride, which sells out its passes every year without revealing what films will be playing in the Colorado mountain town — although as the Toronto International Film Festival has gotten more detailed in announcing the premiere status of its bookings, it’s been increasingly easy to read between the lines of Toronto releases to figure out what’s headed to Telluride.

(This year, for example, Payne’s “The Holdovers,” which reunites the director with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti, was listed as an international premiere by TIFF, which meant that...

One of the primary charms of the small but mighty Telluride Film Festival has always been its chance meetings. Sharing a gondola ride with an auteur. Trading theater line gossip with an exec. Reaching for the same hat at that shop on Colorado Ave. as an Oscar winner (it looks better on her, obviously).

But this year, thanks to Hollywood’s dual strikes, Telluride arrives with a high potential for awkwardness. And that’s because everybody in the business … kind of hates each other right now. At least judging by social media, picket-line signs and dueling press statements.

Telluride kicks off its 50th annual festival on Thursday in the Rockies, with an extra day of programming ending Monday and a slate of Oscar hopefuls including the first public screenings of films like Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (Focus Features), Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (Amazon) and George C. Wolfe’s Rustin...

Exclusive: Participant has announced that it is producing Food, Inc. 2 — a sequel to its Academy Award-nominated documentary Food, Inc., to be released later this year.

The original film directed by Robert Kenner offered an unflattering look inside America’s corporate controlled food industry — spotlighting the harm this system has inflicted on animals, as well as its consumers and laborers. Robert Kenner directed from a script written with Elise Pearlstein and Kim Roberts. Kenner also produced alongside Pearlstein, with Bill Pohlad, Robin Schorr, Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann serving as exec producers.

Food, Inc. was released by Magnolia Pictures in 2009 after world premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, going on to claim not only an Academy Award nom for Best Documentary, Features, but a Cinema Eye Honors Award, a Gotham Award, a News & Documentary Emmy Award and numerous other accolades, as well.

Specifics as to Food, Inc. 2‘s focus are under wraps,...

The passing of documentary film champion and Participant Media executive Diane Weyermann has left a mark on the film community. The Participant chief content officer and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died on Thursday at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.

Weyermann played a formative role in the documentary space, executive-producing Oscar-winning documentaries such as Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s “American Factory.” While at Participant, she oversaw films including “Darfur Now” (2007), Robert Kenner’s “Food, Inc.” (2008), Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure” (2008), Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Look of Silence” (2014), Morgan Neville’s “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” (2015), and Marc Silver’s “3 1/2 Minutes” (2015).

“Diane and I met while I was directing ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and I immediately was struck by her creative brilliance,” said Davis Guggenheim in a statement.

Diane Weyermann, chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died Thursday of cancer in New York. She was 66.

For the last three decades, Weyermann played a seminal role in supporting the documentary community and shaping the nonfiction landscape during stints at Participant and the Sundance Institute. Oscar winning docus including Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006), Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour” (2014) and “American Factory” (2019) are among the many projects that Weyermann helped shepherd.

Weyermann joined Participant in 2005 – one year after Jeff Skoll founded the socially conscious production company. For 12 years, she was responsible for the production company’s documentary feature film and television slate. In 2017, Weyermann was promoted to president, and in 2019 named chief content officer of the L.A.-based media house, where she was responsible for Participant’s documentary, feature film and television slate.

During her tenure at Participant, Weyermann oversaw production of docus,...

When it comes to the true-crime genre, you often hear of schemes on how to get away with murder. But The Confession Killer, Netflix's latest docuseries, explores how Henry Lee Lucas willingly admitted to hundreds of murders in the early '80s. Directors Robert Kenner (Food Inc.) and Taki Oldham tackle Lucas's disturbing true story that consists of a tortured past, a scandalous romance, and what ultimately appears to be crime history's biggest hoax.

Lucas's Troubled Early Life

Lucas grew up in a household rife with turmoil. His mother was a sex worker who allegedly forced him to watch her have sex with clients, and his father was an alcoholic who died of hypothermia after losing his legs in a railroad accident. Lucas himself lost an eye due to infection during childhood after a fight with his brother. He developed troubling behavior during his teenage years, sexually violating...

Tony Sokol Dec 5, 2019

Psychotic murderer or pathological liar, Henry Lee Lucas cuts a twisted path through law enforcement in The Confession Killer doc series.

The Netflix documentary series The Confession Killer is filled with more twists than a feature film. Convicted murderer Henry Lee Lucas actually changed law enforcement procedure. The Texas Rangers and the state's police both wanted a piece of him. District Attorney Vic Feazell wanted to ride the case to a political career. Dallas homicide detective Linda Erwin submitted a fake file to catch the lies, but wound up catching the Texas Rangers.

The case happened at the very beginning of the awareness of the existence of serial killers, Ed Gein and Jack the Ripper had not yet been classified, but it served as a template. The murderous Lucas had fans, including prison nun Sister Clemmie Schroeder, and a groupie who also paid calls on Ted Bundy and Charles Manson.

Thanks to Netflix, true-crime fans will be getting a holiday gift earlier than expected next month: The Confession Killer. The five-part docuseries will explore the infamous legacy of Henry Lee Lucas, a serial killer who confessed to hundreds of murders in the early '80s. Although his confessions brought closure to plenty of unsolved cases and the grieving families related to the victims, the documentary will also touch on the number of glaring inconsistencies related to his claims found by journalists and attorneys.

According to Netflix's official description of The Confession Killer, there was no direct evidence to link Lucas to many of the crime scenes, but "he stunned authorities with his ability to sketch victims' portraits while citing brutal details of each attack." (Chilling.) But investigations from officials looking into the crimes and Lucas's confessions also yielded "impossibilities" in both his timeline and the DNA testing that started to contradict his internationally reported claims.

Netflix is back with its newest offering to feed the national serial killer documentary obsession. But we’re getting a new spin on the increasingly popular genre — is the man at the center of the story a killing machine or a liar? The docuseries is “The Confession Killer,” directed by Oscar nominee Robert Kenner and Taki Oldham. It tackles the story of Henry Lee Lucas, a man who confessed to around 600 murders.

Continue reading ‘The Confession Killer’ Trailer: Your Next True Crime Obsession Follows The Shocking Story Of Henry Lee Lucas at The Playlist.

Henry Lee Lucas confessed to killing hundreds of people in the Eighties — but it’s unclear whether he actually killed all of them. As such, he is single-handedly responsible for hundreds of unsolved murders; he likely confessed to murders he didn’t commit, thus ending investigations into cases that should not yet be closed.

Lucas is the subject of Netflix’s newest true crime docuseries The Confession Killer, debuting December 6th. The five-part series was directed by Oscar nominee Robert Kenner (Food Inc.) and Taki Oldham.

Lucas was sent to...

Tony Sokol Nov 18, 2019

Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas admitted to hundreds of crimes. Netflix's The Confession Killer documentary lowers the body count.

"Either they'd found the world's biggest serial killer or it was the world's biggest hoax in American criminal justice history," we hear in the trailer for Netflix's upcoming The Confession Killer. The five-part documentary series comes from Taki Oldham, who helms the film along with Robert Kenner, the Academy and Emmy Awards-nominated director of the 2008 film Food Inc. That film found health risks in corporate-run agribusinesses. The Confession Killer tells the story of Henry Lee Lucas, once labeled the most prolific serial killer in history.

"During the early '80s, Henry Lee Lucas confessed to hundreds of murders, bringing closure to unsolved cases and grieving families," reads the official synopsis. "Even with no direct evidence linking Lucas to the crime scenes, he stunned authorities with his ability...

Catalogue includes Ong Bak, Man On Wire, Troll Hunters.

Magnolia has expanded its digital footprint and struck a carriage deal with Sling TV for its Magnolia Selects streaming platform featuring international hits like Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In and James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire.

The company has also placed three channels launched on the Ott service: Warriors & Gangsters, Dox, and Monsters & Nightmares. Magnolia Selects launched on Roku services last March and is also carried on Amazon.

Magnolia Selects features Alex Gibney’s Oscar-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room, comedy-horror Tucker & Dale vs Evil,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its fall programming lineup for both Los Angeles and New York. A full event schedule and ticket information can be found here: www.oscars.org/fall-at-the-academy.

Schedule is as follows; participants listed will be in attendance (schedules permitting):

September

Edgar G. Ulmer’s “Detour” (1945) – September 17, 7:30 p.m.

Linwood Dunn Theater, Hollywood

With special guest Arianne Ulmer Cipes. Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, the Museum of Modern Art and the Cinémathèque Française. Restoration funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.

Women in Indie Animation – September 21, 7 p.m.

Academy at Metrograph, New York City

With filmmakers Signe Baumane, Emily Hubley, Candy Kugel and Debra Solomon. Moderated by Oscar®-winning producer Peggy Stern.

“Food, Inc.” (2009) – September 24, 7:30 p.m.

Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Beverly Hills

With Oscar-nominated director Robert Kenner,...

The International Documentary Association has announced the keynote speakers for the biennial Getting Real ’18 conference which takes place Sept. 25-27 in Los Angeles.

The three-day conference will welcome acclaimed curator and film scholar Chi-hui Yang, award-winning filmmaker and human rights attorney Michèle Stephenson, and Executive Producer and founder of A&E IndieFilms Molly Thompson.

Getting Real is the largest conference in North America focused on documentary storytelling. It will feature a 10-year anniversary screening of Robert Kenner’s Food Inc. and a Masterclass with acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. The conference will also host the first-ever convening of filmmakers with disabilities and a panel discussion with Jennifer Brea, Lawrence Carter-Long, Day Al-Mohamed, and James Lebrecht.

Three-day conference to run in Los Angeles in September.

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman will take part in a masterclass and A&E IndieFilms founder and head Molly Thompson will deliver a keynote at the International Documentary Association’s (Ida) three-day Getting Real ’18 conference in Los Angeles in September.

The event, held in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a biennial conference on documentary media and takes place from September 25-27.

Getting Real ‘18 will kick off with a pre-conference screening to mark the 10th anniversary of Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc., presented by the Academy, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment.

Natalie Portman takes narration duties in Christopher Dillon Quinn’s documentary Eating Animals, based on a memoir by Jonathan Safran Foer. The IFC Films release, which examines dietary choices, opens with two exclusive engagements in New York before heading to L.A. next week. Lea Thompson makes her feature film directorial bow with The Year of Spectacular Men, written by her daughter Madelyn Deutch and starring Zoey Deutch. The trio appeared at the New York premiere of the film in New York for the Cinema Society Wednesday night ahead of its bow in a dozen cities this weekend via MarVista Entertainment. Rock band Deer Tick is at the center of Abramorama doc Straight Into a Storm by William Miller. And Mike Tyson stars in Cleopatra Entertainment’s China Salesman by Chinese filmmaker Tan Bing.

Gotti starring starring John Travolta as mob boss John Gotti is among other limited releases opening this weekend.

The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the three-person jury that will judge the documentary films in this year's selection.

Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser, who worked as a producer on Richard Linklater’s screen adaptation of his nonfiction best-selling exposé of the industrial food industry; German documentary director Ulrike Ottinger; and Cintia Gil, co-director of Portuguese documentary film festival Doclisboa, will select the winner of this year's Glashutte Original Documentary Award.

In addition to Fast Food Nation, Schlosser was a producer on Robert Kenner's 2008 Oscar-nominated doc Food Inc. and Paul Thomas Anderson's drama There Will Be Blood (2007),...

Let's hear it for the writers!

The Writer's Guild of America held their annual awards show on Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, where Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Donald Glover's breakout series, Atlanta were among those recognized for their achievement of the written word.

Read on below to see the full list of winners.

More: John Legend, Justin Timberlake and Lin-Manuel Miranda Among 2017 Oscars Performers

Film Winners

Original Screenplay

Moonlight, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; A24

Adapted Screenplay

Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang; Paramount Pictures

Documentary Screenplay

Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner & Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser; American Experience Films

Television And New Media Winners

Drama Series

The Americans, Written...

Yesterday evening, the Writers Guild of America handed out their awards, marking one of the season’s final precursor stops and last guild ceremony. As with many of the guilds this year, a slight curveball was tossed our way, namely in that one potential frontrunner is nominated in a different category at Oscar. You’ll see what I mean shortly, along with a few other precursors that went down over the weekend. Ballots for the Academy Awards are due by tomorrow, so voters are making their final decisions literally as you read this. It’s very much the moment of truth, with the results of it all less than a week away now… Below you will see not just the WGA winners, but also the Cinema Audio Society, which basically predict Best Sound Mixing at the Oscars, as well as the victors from the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists guild.

The Writers Guild Awards are being handed out in Beverly Hills. Film Original Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight Adapted Screenplay: Eric Heisserer, Arrival Documentary Screenplay: Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, Command and Control...

The Writers Guild Awards and the Academy writing nominees always don’t line up; many films are ineligible. This year, those included Oscar-writing nominees “Lion” and “The Lobster.”

This year, the WGA and the Academy differed dramatically. While the WGA deemed “Moonlight” and “Loving” as Original Screenplays, the Academy considered both as Adapted; only “Moonlight” landed a nomination.

At the WGA, as at the BAFTAs, Barry Jenkins’ script for “Moonlight” competed for the Original Screenplay Award against both Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” and Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land.” Unlike the BAFTAs, Jenkins emerged the winner over Lonergan, a sign of strength for “Moonlight,” which is nominated for eight Oscars.

Read More: Yes, Damien Chazelle’s ‘La La Land’ Really Will Win Director and Picture Oscars — Here’s Why

However, in the Oscars’ Original Screenplay contest, lauded playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lonergan (“You Can Count On Me,...

Live from New York! And also Los Angeles! It’s the 2017 Writers Guild Awards, honoring the best in writing for television, film and new media. This year’s big winners included some of the season’s most lauded productions — including “Moonlight,” “Arrival,” “Atlanta” and “The Americans.”

While “Moonlight” and “Arrival” will compete against each other in the Adapted Screenplay category at the Oscars, they were entered in the WGA Awards in different categories, allowing both to make off with an award. “The Americans” pulled out a win for Drama Series, while “Atlanta” snapped up both Comedy Series and New Series. Other winners included “Command and Control,” “Saturday Night Live,” “BoJack Horseman” and “This Is Us.”

Read More: The IndieWire 2016-17 Awards Season Winners Guide

Check out our full list of winners — noted in bold — all updated live as the awards were announced at concurrent ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles this evening.

The Writers Guild Of America, West and East held simultaneous ceremonies on both coasts on Sunday night.

Barry Jenkins enhanced his Oscar prospects with a win in the best original screenplay category for Moonlight based on a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

A24’s acclaimed drama beat Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and triumphed in a strong category that included Manchester By The Sea, Loving, and Hell Or High Water.

Eric Heisserer won the best adapted screenplay for Arrival, vanquishing heavyweight rivals Fences and Hidden Figures. Moonlight and Arrival compete for the adapted screenplay Oscar on Sunday.

Key categories appear below. For a full list of winners, click here.

Film Winnersoriginal Screenplay

Moonlight

Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Adapted Screenplay

Arrival

Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the story ‘Story Of Your Life’ by Ted Chiang.

Documentary Screenplay

Command And Control

Telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, story by [link...

PBS Distribution is expanding its theatrical distribution and non-theatrical sales efforts. The media distributor for the public television community has hired Erin Owens as head of theatrical distribution and Emily Rothschild as director of theatrical acquisitions and marketing. Both executives joined from their New York-based distributor Long Shot Factory. Owens and Rothschild will be looking to acquire theatrical, non-theatrical, home entertainment and VOD rights for films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which starts Thursday.

Read More: ‘Press’: Newspaper Industry Drama Coming to PBS’ ‘Masterpiece’ From ‘King Charles III’ Playwright

PBS Distribution has joint partnerships with public media’s Wnet, Wgbh, Itvs, and Pov, with a goal of acquiring and releasing up to six feature-length documentaries per year.

In a statement, Andrea Downing, PBS Distribution co-president, said Owens and Rothschild’s “extensive experience designing, managing and implementing theatrical campaigns, including festival and non-theatrical strategies, will further enhance what...

Deadpool Gallery 1 of 15

Click to skip More From The Web

Leave it to the Merc With a Mouth to muscle his way into Hollywood’s annual awards season, surprising just about everyone in one fell swoop. As the nominations begin to pour in, Tim Miller’s irreverent Deadpool has received nods from the Golden Globes, all the while being shortlisted in both the Best VFX and Makeup and Hairstyling departments ahead of the 89th Academy Awards.

That’s quite the feat for any feature film, let alone an R-rated superhero movie based on one of the lesser-known characters from the Marvel vault. No wonder Ryan Reynolds is so optimistic about the mercenary’s cinematic future.

Now, we can add another nomination to Deadpool’s collection – and it’s a doozy, for Tim Miller’s no-holds-barred actioner has scooped up a nomination for a Writer’s Guild Award, joining Arrival, Fences,...

With a cluster of frontrunners and a wide-open field of potential Oscar entrants, the 2017 Writers Guild nominations provide more intelligence about where the Oscars could be heading.

The trio at the head of the pack continue to be “La La Land,” “Manchester by the Sea,” and “Moonlight.” Getting a much-needed late-inning boost are modern western “Hell or High Water” and biracial romance “Loving.” Both are critics’ faves that opened earlier in the year.

However, the WGA and the Academy differ on their categories this year. The WGA says “Moonlight” and “Loving” are original screenplays; for the Oscars, they would compete as adapted. That means that Noah Oppenheim’s “Jackie,” and scripts by writer-director Mike Mills (“20th Century Women”) and two non-signatory films that aren’t WGA-eligible, “The Lobster” and “Toni Erdmann,” might have a shot at landing an Oscar nod.

Conversely, that means some of the WGA’s Adapted Screenplay...

With a cluster of frontrunners and a wide-open field of potential Oscar entrants, the 2017 Writers Guild nominations provide more intelligence about where the Oscars could be heading.

The trio at the head of the pack continue to be “La La Land,” “Manchester by the Sea,” and “Moonlight.” Getting a much-needed late-inning boost are modern western “Hell or High Water” and biracial romance “Loving.” Both are critics’ faves that opened earlier in the year.

However, the WGA and the Academy differ on their categories this year. The WGA says “Moonlight” and “Loving” are original screenplays; for the Oscars, they would compete as adapted. That means that Noah Oppenheim’s “Jackie,” and scripts by writer-director Mike Mills (“20th Century Women”) and two non-signatory films that aren’t WGA-eligible, “The Lobster” and “Toni Erdmann,” might have a shot at landing an Oscar nod.

Conversely, that means some of the WGA’s Adapted Screenplay...

Writers of Hell or High Water, La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards.

Writers of Hell or High Water (pictured), La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, set to be presented at ceremonies hosted by the West and East branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Feb 19.

Also nominated in the WGA’s original screenplay category are the writers of Loving, Manchester By The Sea and Moonlight. Fences, Hidden Figures and Nocturnal Animals produced the other nominations in the adapted screenplay category.

Documentary nominations went to Author: The Jt Leroy Story, Command And Control and Zero Days, while dramatic TV series getting nods were The Americans, Better Call Saul, Game Of Thrones, Stranger Things and Westworld.

Full list of feature nominees and selected TV nominees:

Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water Taylor Sheridan

La La Land [link...

Writers of Hell or High Water, La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards.

Writers of Hell or High Water (pictured), La La Land, Arrival and Deadpool are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, set to be presented at ceremonies hosted by the West and East brances of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Feb 19.

Also nominated in the WGA’s original screenplay category are the writers of Loving, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight. Fences, Hidden Figures and Nocturnal Animalsproduced the other nominations in the adapted screenplay category.

Documentary nominations went to Author: The Jt Leroy Story, Command and Control and Zero Days, while dramatic TV series getting nods were The Americans, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and Westworld.

Full list of feature nominees and selected TV nominees:

Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water Taylor Sheridan

La La Land [link...

The Writers Guild of America announced the nominees for the 2017 WGA Awards this morning, with “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight” both landing nods for Best Original Screenplay and “Arrival” and “Nocturnal Animals” among the contenders for Best Adapted Screenplay. Patton Oswalt is hosting this year’s ceremony, which takes place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, February 19. Full list of nominees below.

Read More: Casey Affleck Bashes Himself and 5 Other Surprises From the New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Original Screenplay

“Hell or High Water,” written by Taylor Sheridan; CBS Films

“La La Land,” written by Damien Chazelle; Lionsgate

“Loving,” written by Jeff Nichols; Focus Features

“Manchester by the Sea,” written by Kenneth Lonergan; Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions

“Moonlight,” written by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney; A24

Read More: 2017 Independent Spirit Awards: Nick Kroll and John Mulaney to Co-Host Ceremony

Adapted Screenplay

“Arrival,” screenplay by Eric Heisserer...