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Five of New York’s Most Celebrated Companies,

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre,

Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and New York City Ballet,

Return for Five Nights as part of Summer for the City at Lincoln Center

Free: July 25-29, 2023 at 7:30pm

Made possible by Chanel

New York, NY – Five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—return for the third annual Baand Together Dance Festival, sharing the spotlight and an outdoor stage as a part of Lincoln Center’s second annual Summer for the City.

From July 25–29, audiences will be treated to exciting evenings of programming curated collaboratively by the artistic directors of the companies, featuring works that are quintessential of each company’s style and brilliance, as well as the World Premiere of Pas...

Music mogul Clive Davis, prima ballerina Wendy Whelan and director Rory Kennedy are among the guests that will participate in this summer’s newportFILM festival.

Davis will take part in a Q&A following the July 27 screening of Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, which is set to screen on the lawn of The Elms, the historic mansion in Newport, R.I., once called home by coal baron Edward Julius Berwind. The screening will be presented in partnership with the iconic Newport Folk Festival.

The series of sunset screenings kicks off Thursday with Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story at the Redwood Library...

Eighth season of outdoor screening series kicks off on June 29 in Newport, Rhode Island.

newportFILM has announced its line-up of documentaries for the annual summer series newportFILM Outdoors, with guests including Clive Davis, Wendy Whelan, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, and Rory Kennedy.

The sunset screenings begin on June 29 and run through August 31, with weekly Thursday night screenings accompanied by pre-film live music and post-screening conversations with filmmakers. Film screenings are free to the public.

newportFILM Outdoors will open with Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story at the Redwood Library & Athenaeum. The film centres on the 1940s film whose work as an inventor helped revolutionise modern communication.

Also screening are Clive Davis: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, to be followed by a conversation with Davis himself; May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers from Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio; and Linda Saffire and Adam Schelsinger’s Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, followed by a conversation...

“Wonder Woman” captured the weekend zeitgeist with reviews as good as any new adult-appeal specialized opener — and gobbled up potential audience. But that’s not the sole reason the specialty box office went to hell this weekend.

“Churchill” (Cohen), with the pedigree of an arthouse crossover winner, went nationally in top theaters but failed to capture more than desultory business. A trio of niche releases showed some mid-level interest in New York and Los Angeles — “The Exception”(A24), “Letters from Baghdad” (Vitagraph), and “Band Aid”(IFC) — but none looks likely to cross over beyond the big-city arthouse market.

The scariest weekend news: the total lack of response to Ken Loach’s Cannes 2016 Palme d’Or-winner “I, Daniel Blake.” While it’s been a long wait after a year-end qualifying run, it’s shocking that the well-reviewed BAFTA-winner met with near total disinterest.

Last weekend’s top opener “Long Strange Trip...

Documentaries come in al shapes and sizes. Some are groundbreaking works from experimental art world heavyweights while others are rudimentary pieces of filmmaking that are elevated by a captivating subject or theme.

Somewhere in the middle is Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan.

Directed by Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger, Restless Creature introduces viewers to Wendy Whelan, prime ballerina and tenured member of the New York City Ballet. With three decades of professional work under her belt, Whelan has worked with a who’s who of ballet greats, with legendary choreographers like Christopher Wheeldon even crafting roles specifically for her. However, when we meet Whelan, it’s not as she’s taking a bow after yet another superb performance. Instead this story is one as much about the human spirit and it’s resilience as it is specifically about Whelan and her work.

Blending archival materials from Whelan’s youth and present-set...

This Memorial Day weekend at the specialty box office is dominated by niche releases without much crossover theatrical appeal, often available for home viewing. The strongest performer: Sundance entry “Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead” (Abramorama), which opened in two cities, combining Thursday night event shows and full-week dates to overcome its four-hour running time.

While “The Tree of Life,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Before Midnight” all opened on this date, since 2013 top distributors have chosen not to launch major releases over the three-day holiday.

June will bring some top releases to flesh out a slow schedule, including Sofia Coppola’s Cannes success “The Beguiled” (Focus Features). Cannes competition films from Bong Joon Ho (“Okja”) and Noah Baumbach (“The Meyerowitz Stories”) will hit Netflix and select day-and-date theaters in June, and sometime after that, respectively.

Netflix scored front-page movie-section reviews for their Brad Pitt starrer “War Machine...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– HBO has acquired the U.S. TV rights to “David Bowie: The Last Five Years,” directed and produced by Francis Whately. The film spotlights two critically acclaimed albums and the stage musical “Lazarus,” offering new insights into Bowie’s extraordinary creativity during the final five years of his life.

Featuring a wealth of rarely seen Bowie interviews, archival footage, audio from the recording sessions for “The Next Day” and “Blackstar,” and unprecedented access to Bowie’s closest friends and artistic collaborators, the film is a tribute to one of the greatest rock icons of all time.

Read More: Film Acquisitions Rundown: Sony Picks Up Tom Hanks’ ‘Greyhound,’ Lionsgate Acquires ‘Rally Car’ and More

– The Weinstein Company will...

The distributor has acquired theatrical rights to Linda Safire and Adam Schlesinger’s film that had its world premiere at last year’s New York Film Festival.

The film is an intimate portrait of prima ballerina Wendy Whelan as she prepares to leave the New York City Ballet (Nycb) after a record-setting three decades with the company.

Saffire and Schlesinger also produced Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, while Diana Dimenna served as executive producer.

Abramorama has set a May 24 debut at Film Forum and the Elinor Bunin Theater at Lincoln Center, with Los Angeles and other markets to follow. In addition, the film will play at the Miami International Film Festival and Riverrun International Film Festival.

Karol Martesko-Fenster, Richard Abramowitz and Robert Marcus brokered the deal on behalf of Abramorama with the filmmakers, Steven Schechter on behalf of Got The Shot Films, and Cinetic Media’s John Sloss and Linzee Trough.

The distributor has acquired theatrical rights to Linda Safire and Adam Schlesinger’s film that had its world premiere at last year’s New York Film Festival.

The film is an intimate portrait of prima ballerina Wendy Whelan as she prepares to leave the New York City Ballet (Nycb) after a record-setting three decades with the company.

Saffire and Schlesinger also produced Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, while Diana Dimenna served as executive producer.

Abramorama has set a May 24 debut at Film Forum and the Elinor Bunin Theater at Lincoln Center, with Los Angeles and other markets to follow. In addition, the film will play at the Miami International Film Festival and Riverrun International Film Festival.

Karol Martesko-Fenster, Richard Abramowitz and Robert Marcus brokered the deal on behalf of Abramorama with the filmmakers, Steven Schechter on behalf of Got The Shot Films, and Cinetic Media’s John Sloss and Linzee Trough.

Abramorama has acquired Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, the documentary about the prima ballerina that bowed in the fall at the New York Film Festival. It will get a theatrical release beginning May 24 at Film Forum and the Elinor Bunin Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, with Los Angeles and other markets to follow. Directed and produced by Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and Page One: Inside The New York Times), the pic centers on Whelan…...

Aquarius at The Paris Theatre in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The day after the Us premiere at the New York Film Festival of Kleber Mendonça Filho's fiery Aquarius, Sônia Braga spoke with me up at Lincoln Center on the magic in the film, reading the script, Clara's hair, Bette Davis in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, forming tribes and the influence her mother, Maria Braga Jaci Campos, had on her costumes when she starred with William Hurt and Raúl Juliá in Héctor Babenco's Kiss Of The Spider Woman. With the festival in full swing, Eugène Green, director of Son Of Joseph (Le Fils De Joseph) crossed our path, Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan slunk by and Kent Jones waved hello.

Sônia Braga: "… when I read the screenplay, I went to another dimension where I found Clara." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Clara (Braga), a music critic,...

Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters and Life Itself director Steve James's latest, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, in the New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Films by Steve James, Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens (on Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds), Errol Morris (on Elsa Dorfman), Bill Morrison, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Raoul Peck, Kasper Collin (on Lee Morgan), Sam Pollard, Aaron Brookner (on William Burroughs and Robert Wilson documentarian Howard Brookner), Olatz López Garmendia, Shimon Dotan, Mohamed Siam, Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger (on Wendy Whelan), Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker will shine in the New York Film Festival Spotlight on Documentary section.

Ava DuVernay’s documentary The 13th was announced earlier as the Opening Night Gala film, Gimme Danger's Jim Jarmusch appears in Brookner's Uncle Howard and Sacro Gra director Gianfranco Rosi has his latest Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) screening in the Main Slate program.

Chaired by Festival Director Kent Jones,...

Documentaries starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, New York prima ballerina Wendy Whelan and works from Errol Morris and Steven James highlight the Spotlight on Documentary section of the 54th New York Film Festival, which runs September 30-October 16. The Film Society of Lincoln Center has unveiled the full roster for the section which includes James’ Abacus: Small Enough To Jail about the only bank prosecuted after the 2008 financial crisis as well as Morris’ The…...

Festival top brass announced on Wednesday the selections that will screen in the 54th New York Film Festival’s Spotlight On Documentary.

The roster includes Steve James’ Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, Errol Morris’ The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography, Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, and Mohamed Siam’s Whose Country?

The festival runs from September 30-October 16 and as previously announced will open with Ava DuVernay’s documentary The 13th.

Spotlight On Documentary

(All 2016 unless stated otherwise)

Abacus: Small Enough To Jail (USA) Steve JamesThe B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (USA) Errol MorrisBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (USA) Alexis Bloom and Fisher StevensThe Cinema Travellers (India) Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya — Us premiereDawson City: Frozen Time (USA) Bill Morrison — North American premiereHissen Habré, A Chadian Tragedy (France-Chad) Mahamat-Saleh HarounI Am Not Your Negro (USA-France-Belgium-Switzerland) Raoul PeckI Called Him Morgan (Sweden) Kasper CollinKarl Marx City (USA-Germany) Petra Epperlein and Michael...

A Little Chaos with Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Gail Egan, Peter Gregson and Ellen Kuras Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

From Julie Taymor's premiere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, attended by Helen Mirren and Anne Hathaway, who had just finished performing in Taymor's Grounded, to Livia Firth's fashion event, where Alan Rickman stopped by, we end our week in New York with A Little Chaos, starring Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, with Helen McCrory, Jennifer Ehle, Stanley Tucci, Paula Paul, and Rickman as Louis Xiv.

A Little Chaos director Alan Rickman Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Kathleen Turner, Christian Slater, Cornelia Guest, William Ivey Long, Lilly Englert, David Siegel, Fred Schepisi, Gay Talese, Theodora Woolley, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Katrina Eugenia, John Buffalo Mailer, Ann Curry, Diane Sawyer, America Olivo, Christian Campbell, Lisa Falcon, Wendy Whelan. Thomas Matthews, Chuck Scarborough, Meredith Ostrom, Ashley McDermott, Jennifer Creel, and Oksana Jager were among those attending the...

Last year, AOL's web series city.ballet. caught me by surprise. I don't usually look to AOL for original content, and while my appetite for dance documentaries in general is insatiable, I generally prefer longer-form, more in-depth pieces. But city.ballet. captured me completely, and the series' second season, which premiered yesterday, is much of the same: a fascinating, moving, sometimes transcendent behind-the-scenes look at the New York City Ballet. I just wish there were more of it.The longest episodes of the new 12-episode season are still only clocking in around eight minutes, and while those eight minutes are absorbing and evocative, I need more than a Meatloaf song to really grasp what it means to retire from being a dancer. I expected the series, and, in particular, that episode, to make a bigger deal about Wendy Whelan's retirement, but it's mentioned only in passing. As much as...

Susan Stroman and Wendy Whelan are set to host the 2014 Clive Barnes Awards, which will be held on January 6 3pm, at the Walter Reade Theatre. This years' nominees for theatre are Aaron Clifton Moten for his performance in The Flick, Jonny Orsini for his performance in The Nance, Phillipa Soo for her performance in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, and Amber Iman for her performance in Soul Doctor. This year's nominees for dance are Talli Jackson Bill T. Jones Arnie Zane Dance Company, Lloyd Mayor Martha Graham Dance Company, Xiaochuan Xie Martha Graham Dance Company, and Calvin Royal IIIAmerican Ballet THeatre.