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Variety hosted its inaugural Doc Dreams NYC event on Nov. 12, featuring two panels with some of this award season’s top documentary feature contenders.

Speakers on the first panel included Carla Gutiérrez, director and editor of “Frida”; Irene Taylor, director and producer of “I Am: Celine Dion”; and R.J. Cutler, director and producer of “Elton John: Never Too Late.”

“I Am: Celine Dion” follows the Canadian singer’s musical journey and life-altering illness, the latter of which Taylor admitted she was not aware of prior to signing onto the project.

“I was so intrigued and encouraged by Celine herself when we had met and talked through the idea of a film,” Taylor said. “I think she was ready to spend the amount of time that a thorough biography with a living subject would offer.”

Gutiérrez’s documentary “Frida,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, traces the...

“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” swept the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, winning all six of its nominated categories. The Warner Bros. movie tied Netflix’s “Will and Harper” for Best Documentary Feature. See the full winners list below.

“Super/Man” also scored wins for Best Director (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui), Best Editing (Otto Burnham), Best Score(Ilan Eshkeri), Best Archival Documentary, and Best Biographical Documentary. “The Last of the Sea Women,” “Simone Biles Rising,” and “Sugarcane” each took home two awards.

The 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards were held Sunday, November 10 in New York City. The Pennebaker Award was presented to acclaimed documentarian Rory Kennedy. The award is named in honor of D A Pennebaker, a past winner. It was presented to Kennedy by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s long-time collaborator and widow.

2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards

Best Documentary Feature

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

Daughters (Netflix...

Christopher Reeve as Superman in the documentary feature ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’ (Photo © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

The top Ninth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda) nominees include Sugarcane, Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, Daughters, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Sugarcane leads the list with eight nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best New Documentary Filmmakers, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Historical Documentary, Best Political Documentary, and Best True Crime Documentary.

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, Daughters, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story followed close behind with six each. Winners will be announced on Sunday, November 10, 2024 in a ceremony hosted by Erich Bergen. The awards gala will be live-streamed on YouTube, X, Facebook, and the Critics Choice Association website.

“This year’s nominated films and series offered us new ways to see the world, celebrate our heroes, and better understand difficult histories,” said Christopher Campbell,...

National Geographic’s “Sugarcane” leads the ninth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations with eight nominations, including best documentary feature. The film’s other nominations are Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie for director and new documentary filmmakers, Christopher Lamarca and Emily Kassie for cinematography, Nathan Punwar and Maya Daisy Hawk for editing, historical documentary, political documentary, and true crime documentary.

Also nominated alongside Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s critically acclaimed film is “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story,” “Daughters,” “The Greatest Night in Pop,” “Jim Henson Idea Man,” “Music by John Williams,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper.”

The Critics Choice Association honors the year’s finest achievements in documentaries released in theaters, on TV, and major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified Cca members. The ninth annual awards ceremony is produced...

Sugarcane leads the nominations for the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, with eight nods, including for best documentary feature.

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, Daughters and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story received six nominations each, including for best documentary feature.

The other best documentary feature nominees are The Greatest Night in Pop, Jim Henson Idea Man, Music by John Williams, Piece by Piece, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin and Will & Harper.

In addition to best doc feature, Sugarcane, which investigates the abusive legacy of Catholic-run Native American missionary schools, is up for best director and best new documentary filmmakers (Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie), best cinematography (Christopher Lamarca and Emily Kassie), best editing (Nathan Punwar and Maya Daisy Hawk), best historical documentary, best political documentary and best true crime documentary.

Billy & Molly‘s Charlie Hamilton James is up for best new documentary filmmaker and, with Johnny Rolt and Bertie Gregory,...

The Critics Choice Association unveiled the nominees for its 9th annual documentary awards on Oct. 14. “Sugarcane” leads with eight bids including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director for Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, Cinematography, and Editing. This film about child abuse at an Indian residential school also contends in the historical, political, and true crime categories while the helmers are up for the newcomers prize.

Three films netted a half dozen nominations each: “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story,” “Daughters,” and “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.” All three contend for Best Documentary Feature. That race is rounded out by “The Greatest Night in Pop,” “Jim Henson Idea Man,” “Music by John Williams,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” and “Will & Harper.”

Last year, “American Symphony” earned a leading six nominations from the Ccda but was then snubbed by the documentary branch of the academy. The big...

The Gracie Awards, which are bestowed by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation to honor standout women in the media industry and recognize entertainment and news programming that addressed timely topics and social issues, has unveiled its winners for its 46th edition.

Kerry Washington, Lena Waithe, Kelly Clarkson, Michelle Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Erin Andrews are among this year’s winners, along with shows including Today, CBS This Morning, Black-ish and Taylor Swift’s hybrid Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. FX’s Mrs. America won twice, for Limited Series and Ensemble.

In other TV categories, 60 Minutes, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and This Is Us also scored wins, as did Caitriona Balfe of Outlander, Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan of Never Have I Ever and P-Valley’s Shannon Thornton. Obama and Clinton won for their work in their respective podcasts.

Winners will be...

True-crime is a popular genre of documentary these days, yielding multiple Emmy wins for nonfiction series like “The Jinx,” “Making a Murderer” and “Wild Wild Country.” But they haven’t been as common at the Oscars. The tragic story chronicled in “Finding Yingying” could change that.

SEE2021 Oscars: Watch chats with 8 creators of Best Documentary contenders

“Finding Yingying” tells the story of the disappearance of Chinese graduate student Yingying Zhang attending an American university, after which her family travels to the US from their home country to learn what happened to her. But while it deals with crime, it’s not just a procedural about the justice system. It’s also personal, as director Jenny Shi embeds with the Zhang family and draws parallels between herself and Yingying: they were the same age and both attended Peking University in China before traveling to the US.

The film was set to...

Gold Derby senior editor Joyce Eng recently conducted fascinating, in-depth discussions with the directors and/or producers of eight of the leading contenders for Best Documentary at many major awards in 2021, including the Oscars. Watch her one-on-one chats with each creator plus group roundtable talks about the creative challenges they all faced while making their films.

Discussions include “Rebuilding Paradise” Nat Geo; “Miss Americana” Netflix; “Boys State” Apple TV+; “40 Years a Prisoner” HBO; “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Amazon Prime Video; “On the Record” HBO; “Kingdom of Silence” Showtime; and “A Most Beautiful Thing” 50 Egg Films.

“Speaking truth to power, social justice documentaries are really part of a cutting edge of documentary,” argues filmmaker Kirby Dick about the wave of investigative nonfiction films we’ve seen in recent years, including those from our “Meet the Experts” documentary panelists. Watch our group discussion with those directors above.

SEEWatch our chats with top cinematographers, costume designers, documentary filmmakers and other crafts leaders

Dick and Amy Ziering exposed sexual abuse in the music business in “On the Record.” Rick Rowley investigated the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in “Kingdom of Silence.” Tommy Oliver followed a man’s journey to free his parents from an unjust prison sentence in “40 Years a Prisoner.” And Mary Mazzio explored racial inequality through the eyes of a team of high school rowers in “A Most Beautiful Thing.”

“All of the films here on this panel are great examples of what has been core...

“Honestly, it’s not a rowing film,” explains director Mary Mazzio about her documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing,” which tells the story of the first African-American public high school rowing team in the US, formed in the late 1990s against all odds. “It’s masquerading as a sports film, but it’s a true investigation and really amplification of young men from the West Side of Chicago, their reality, and all of the systemic obstacles that these young people face at such an early age.” Mazzio joined us for our “Meet the Experts” documentary panel. Watch our interview with the filmmaker above.

SEE2021 Oscar Predictions: Best Director

Mazzio came to this film from a rowing background — she competed at the 1992 Olympics — and finding out about this groundbreaking rowing team was what first sparked her interest. She read the self-published memoir of one of those rowers, Arshay Cooper, and reached out to him.

Six top film documentary directors will reveal the secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Oscar contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to be published on Tuesday, December 15, at 5:00 p.m. Pt; 8:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a group chat with Daniel and all of the group together.

RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Oscar contenders:

“All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Prime): Liz Garbus

Garbus is a two-time Oscar nominee for “What Happened, Miss Simone?...

Peacock has unveiled a slate of original films, all of which will debut on the service in September.

The NBCU streamer, which launched nationally just over a month ago, will premiere a doc on Harry Belafonte’s brief stint hosting “The Tonight Show,” Emilio Estevez’s pic “The Public,” starring Alec Baldwin, and a doc from NFL star Malcolm Jenkins which celebrates the humanity of Black men and boys.

“The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show” was supposed to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival, but soon after the festival didn’t take place, Variety caught up with the doc’s producers and director Yoruba Richen to talk about the significance of Belafonte hosting, and how it reflects on the current late night landscape.

“It says a lot about the politics of today and where we are,” Richen said. “And that late night is still dominated by white men.

Documentarian Mary Mazzio has met several women and girls who survived the sex trafficking industry — and one thing that surprised her was how many of them were willing to go on camera to share their stories.

“Every one of them looked at me and said, ‘So it won’t happen to my little sister or my friend,’ ” Mazzio recalls.

Another girl looked her in the eye and said, “‘I’m doing this so it doesn’t happen to your daughter.’ ”

Their collected accounts are the focus of Mazzio’s documentary I Am Jane Doe, which opens Friday. The title is...

Tom and Nacole were frantic — desperate — when their 15-year-old daughter disappeared in the spring of 2010. They were afraid to think of what could be happening to the teen, who had rarely been away from their suburban Washington home for more than a day.

The truth was beyond even their fears.

Their daughter, J.S., was a freshman honor student who played the violin and ran with her high school’s track team — but she was also an adventurous spirit. Unknown to her parents, she decided to run away to check out Seattle.

Within days, J.S. met a man twice her age,...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

This Past Weekend:

Bomb, bomb bomb bomb, Boooooomb! Things just kept getting worse and worse at the box office as this past weekend saw more new releases not meeting up to their potential. The horribly-reviewed horror movie Rings (Paramount) ended up around where I predicted with $13 million, taking second place to M. Night Shyamalan’s Split. The sci-fi romance The Space Between Us (Stx Entertainment) didn’t make much of a mark, opening in ninth place with just $3.8 million with about $1,300 per theater. Robert De Niro’s The Comedian (Sony Classics) tanked worse than many recent movies, making less than a million in 848 theaters or about $1,000 per theater. By comparison, the doc I Am Not Your Negro made about 78% of that amount in 800 less theaters.

There are two outrages at the investigative heart of I Am Jane Doe: the horrifying truth that a market in child sex trafficking is thriving, and the persistence of a legal loophole that protects the websites where children are sold. Zeroing in on what one victims’ advocate calls the public square for a modern-day form of slavery, Mary Mazzio’s eye-opening documentary reveals that the buying and selling of tweens and teens, long recognized as a plight in some developing nations, is also very much a domestic problem, and one that’s significantly enabled by a 20-year-old piece of American law.

...

LatinoBuzz got to see “Underwater Dreams” written and directed by Mary Mazzio, and narrated by Michael Peña. It is a beautiful story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build an underwater robot from Home Depot parts. And then go on to defeat engineering powerhouse MIT in the process. It is a powerful conundrum of sheer beauty and heartbreak. At the end what we are left with, through tears, is some hope but so many questions about immigration reform. We urge you to see this film!

LatinoBuzz: How did you come across this subject?

Mary : A Teacher sent me the story many years ago. I looked into it and saw that CNN had done a piece as had Nightline. There was also a terrific article in Wired Magazine by Josh Davis. But no film. When I called the teachers involved (many years ago), they thanked me for calling and told me that there were in the middle of signing a deal with Warner Brothers, and that as they say “was that”… Until it wasn’t. I called every year to check in and every year Warner Brother would extend their option. Only when I called in late 2012, that had changed. The studio’s rights had lapsed and I was able to dive into the project. I was extraordinarily lucky.

LatinoBuzz: How invested were you with the protagonists? Are you still in their lives?

Mary: Both of the teachers – as well as the original four young men (and many students in their wake that they inspired), they are such remarkable people. Oscar and I were recently together on The Colbert Report and he was cool, calm and collected. So strong. The other three and I spent time together at the Nclr convention – and I was reminded, again, how similar we all are and how so often we analyze our differences in such a polarizing political climate but really, how alike we are. I admire the strength and courage that these boys (and teachers) all have – and the many students who came after them – how aspirational they are even when faced with artificial impediments to success.

LatinoBuzz: My favorite scene was when they went to visit MIT ( The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) and how all their lives had taken other paths. It was melancholy -- how did you feel behind the camera hearing it?

Mary: Great question. Here were four young men who had the skill and smarts and practical common sense to compete against the likes of MIT in a sophisticated engineering competition, and how their lives turned out, 10 years later. The MIT students, all incredible bright and able, were pursuing extraordinary engineering paths. One young man invented the Ear Bud for Apple. Another joined a company looking for the missing Malaysian airliner. However, the four young men from Phoenix, Az – their professional path took a very different turn, due in large part to poverty and due in large part to poverty and due in another large part, to the issue of documentation. Here we have remarkable talent, from zip-codes and places that are often overlooked and America is in desperate need of this talent. By 2018, there will be over 1.2 million jobs open for scientists, engineers, computer programmers and mathematicians. American companies need this kind of talent to fuel innovation and growth. The critical question is this: How do we catalyze this talent? Nurture it? Create equal opportunities for college education (or even vocational education) for these kinds of students.

Listening to all of the students go around the room, talking about their lives and where they were. What really struck me in the moment, was that it was a discussion among peers, among engineers and MIT treated the Carl Hayden team as equals, as engineers and vice versa. So, even though the scene reveals the real disparity of what happens when you, as a student, are facing poverty and, more specifically, the inability to move forward because of documentation, there was also the fact that the MIT team and the Carl Hayden team approached each other as equals. I had the opportunity to screen the film on the west coast and several of MIT students appeared, one of them said to me: “I had no idea how important that competition would be or my roll in it. This is a really important story to tell”

LatinoBuzz: How did Michael Peña get involved?

Mary: Michael was my first choice to narrate this film and he also came aboard as an Executive Producer. I found his agent and manager and wrote them a three paragraph email about the project, about me, about my goals with the project. I received an email within the next 72 hours. Michael was in. His narration was brilliant, moving, accessible and at points, funny.

LatinoBuzz: What do you hope this achieves for immigrants?

Mary: If the film can help shine a spotlight on the incredible, but overlooked talent and capability of immigrants and specifically those from low income zip-codes, people who are not out of central casting who look the part. Talent comes in many different sizes and shapes and for us, as a nation, to overlook this talent, it is… well, “un-American”.

LatinoBuzz: What do you think we can do as artists for the undocumented?

Mary: Wow, what a question. I think the reason that people are drawn to the film is because it humanizes the issue. The four young men were teenage boys, funny, each with his own distinctive personality and you come to root for them, to love them, in the film, and if this film can serve as a reminder that people from low income communities or people who don’t look “the part”, have incredible talent that can move this country forward. Then we all have won. As I mentioned before, making this film reminded me, yet again, how alike we all are!

The film starts a 100 city tour of free screenings around the country in partnership with AMC Theaters and NBCUniversal. It is also On Demand with most cable providers as well. Details are on www.UnderwaterDreamsFilm.com.

Written by Juan Caceres , LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...

Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up North American rights to “The Apple Pushers,” a documentary about immigrant street vendors narrated by Edward Norton. Mary Mazzio wrote and directed the film, which she also produced with Tom Scott and Christine Vachon. It explores the world of New York City pushcart vendors, many of them immigrants. “The Apple Pushers” premiered at The Hamptons International Film Festival 2011 and has screened elsewhere on the festival circuit. The documentary will be part of the Whole Foods DoSomethingReel Film Festival on April 22. There will be screenings of the...

Nothing like a major update on one of the year’s most anticipated films. A press release (via Deadline) tells us that Sony Pictures Classics are, once again, teaming up with Michael Haneke on his latest guilt-fest, Amour; there’s no hint as to when a theatrical release will take place, although this should more or less secure it for that long-expected Cannes debut next month. (To put things into perspective: Just about every film he’s made since Funny Games — 2008′s remake being the sole exception — have hit Southern France in mid-May. With this action taking place now, it’s pretty hard to imagine this missing the mark.)

Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, Amour centers on an elderly couple whose strength is tested following the wife’s debilitating stroke. Isabelle Huppert also stars, playing their daughter, while William Shimell is following up his feature acting debut (Certified Copy) in an undisclosed role.

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American rights to the documentary "The Apple Pushers," narrated by Edward Norton. Directed by Mary Mazzio, "The Apple Pushers" follows immigrant street vendors who roll produce into poor neighborhoods of New York City. The film premiered last year at the Hamptons International Film Festival and screened at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Oscilloscope will launch the film on VOD following its screening at The Whole Foods DoSomethingReel Film Festival on April 22. Full release below: Oscilloscope Acquires Acclaimed Doc “The Apple Pushers” Film, Narrated By Edward Norton, To Be Released On Multiple Platforms In The Coming Months New York, New York (April 17, 2012)-- Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Mary Mazzio’s documentary The Apple Pushers. Narrated by Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton, The Apple Pushers follows...

Here's the latest Austin news:

The 15th Annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival has announced its opening and closing night movies. The film Alguien Ha Visto Lupita? (Have You Seen Lupita?), which was partially shot in Austin, will open the festival on April 24 at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. The movie is about a Mexican girl who runs away from home after her family tries to commit her to a family hospital. O Palhaco (The Clown), about a father and son who perform in a traveling circus in Brazil, will close the festival on April 29. (via Austin Movie Blog)

Austin-based grocery store Whole Foods Market will stream a collection of films about food and environmental issues for a limited time beginning April 22. The annual Do Something Reel Film Festival kicks off with a theatrical screening of the documentary The Apple Pushers, followed by a panel discussion with the film's writer...

Mary Mazzio.s The Apple Pushers has nothing to do with MacBook Pros and the newest iPads. Instead, it.s an upcoming documentary about five immigrant street vendors who attempt to peddle their fruits in neighborhoods that are challenged by obesity. The uplifting and good-intentioned doc is getting national publicity because of narrator Edward Norton.s involvement and a new trailer that aptly hit Apple's trailer page does a fine job of selling the message, as well. Check it out below or in HD over there This isn.t just a lecture. The film appears to explore each vendor.s passage into the United States (through difficult channels), then settles into its heath-conscious lesson plan. "The people in the areas who needs fruits and vegetables don.t have access to them," one expert states in the clip. But what if healthy, nutritious options were brought to them?The experiment sends...

Chicago – With U.S. high school dropout rates at epic proportions, the new documentary “Ten9Eight” highlights a teaching program and competition for poorer, immigrant and at-risk students. One of those students is Chicagoan Rodney Walker.

“Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon” is the full title of the film directed by Mary Mazzio, that is getting a special nationwide screening through the AMC Theater chain in eight cities through November 19th. The film documents inner city high school students in competition, as they go through the steps leading up to the finals of the annual business plan contest sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (Nfte).

Rodney Walker, a Chicago native, was one of the finalists in the Nfte competition, which pits high school students from all over the country to present goods and services as viable businesses. Walker started a wedding video/music business, another contestant has vegetarian dog treats...

With a lack of available distributors to handle the spate of indie films seeking theatrical release, some filmmakers are taking matters into their own hands. Doc director Mary Mazzio went directly to a theater chain. Now her movie is playing in eight cities. Mazzio directed the indie doc Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon, backed by the Templeton Foundation, about 35 inner city kids-turned-entrepreneurs competing for a winning business plan in South Chicago and Harlem. After negotiations with Sony Pictures Classics fell apart after six months, Mazzio was stymied. There was no more Paramount Vantage or ThinkFilm to turn to. “Half the players were gone,” she says. …...

The trailer was added for the documentary "Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon" which finds limited release on November 13th. Trhe film was produced and directed by the award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio. This a thought provoking film which tells the inspirational stories of several inner city teens (of differing race, religion and ethnicity) from Harlem to Compton and all points in between, as they compete in an annual business plan competition run by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (Nfte).