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Tribeca Films, the distribution label from Tribeca Enterprises and Giant Pictures, has acquired the critically acclaimed documentary “We Can Be Heroes” from filmmakers Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons. The film will be released digitally on July 29.

“We Can Be Heroes” follows the story of “a group of self-proclaimed nerdy teenagers at a live action role-playing (Larp-ing) summer camp.” The film had its world premiere at SXSW 2024, where it was awarded a Special Jury Award for Bravery and Empathy.

“The film has been a labor of love from the entire team from the start, with a unique opportunity to pay tribute to the teenage experience and the journey of self-transformation — in the most magical way,” said Mia Wong in a press release. “In a time where we are constantly overwhelmed by news of turbulence and uncertainty, we hope the film will inspire you to look around with fresh eyes and...

Sixty-six past guests of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast were recognized with Emmy nominations on Tuesday morning. You can find their names and links to listen to their episodes below, and you can click here to subscribe to the podcast — for free — in order to access all past and future episodes.

Elizabeth Banks, best game show host (Press Your Luck) — Listen

Javier Bardem, best limited/anthology series and supporting actor (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story) — Listen

Kathy Bates, best drama actress (Matlock) — Listen

Cate Blanchett, best limited/anthology actress (Disclaimer) — Listen and Listen

Adam Brody, best comedy actor (Nobody Wants This) — Listen

Sterling K. Brown, best drama actor (Paradise) — Listen

Quinta Brunson, best comedy series, actress and writing (Abbott Elementary) — Listen

James Burrows, best comedy directing (Mid-Century Modern) — Listen

Bill Camp, best limited/anthology supporting actor (Presumed Innocent) — Listen

Stephen Colbert, best talk series and variety...

The 2025 Humanitas Prize nominations have been announced, once again honoring television and film writers who masterfully explore the depth of the human experience. This year’s awards will be presented at a Sept. 7 ceremony in Hollywood hosted by actress and comedian Fortune Feimster.

On the TV side, drama nominees include Emmy contenders The Pitt, The Last of Us, The Handmaid's Tale, and Brilliant Minds. Comedy contenders include The Studio, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, A Man on the Inside, and Clean Slate. Limited series being honored include Dying for Sex, Interior Chinatown, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, and Say Nothing.

In the film categories, last year's Oscar contenders Conclave, Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing will battle it out for Best Drama Feature, while Dìdi (弟弟), My Old Ass, and A Real Pain compete in comedy. Inside Out 2, Out of My Mind, and The Wild Robot are nominated for Best Family Feature.

The Humanitas org has revealed nominations for this year’s Humanitas Prizes, which will reveal winners at Avalon Hollywood on Sept. 7, hosted by actress/writer/comedian Fortune Feimster. Among the nominees on the TV side are “The Pitt,” “The Last of Us” and “The Studio,” while film nods include “Inside Out 2” and “The Nickel Boys.”

Also announced on Wednesday: Gina Prince-Bythewood will join Mara Brock Akil in presenting Lena Waithe with one of Humanitas’ top honors, the Voice for Change Award. As Variety first revealed in May, Waithe was chosen for this year’s prize because it “honors those who have created or championed visionary and courageous storytelling.”

A nonprofit that seeks to “honor and empower writers of film and television exploring the human experience,” Humanitas last year honored projects including “Hacks,” “Fellow Travelers,” “Black Cake” and Ava DuVernay‘s “Origin.”

The Humanitas Prizes are for film and television...

Training Day gains a new following 24 years after its theatrical release, it has now entered the Paramount+ top ten streaming chart. A must-watch for crime thriller fans, this cult classic was one of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington's early collaborations.

Training Day is seventh on Paramount+ streaming top ten this week, per FlixPatrol. Acclaimed by audiences and critics, this 2001 police drama was also a commercial success when it was released, grossing $104.9 million against its $45 million budget. Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke lead the all-star ensemble, with standout performances from Macy Gray, Eva Mendes, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Cliff Curtis, and Scott Glenn. Training Day won multiple accolades, including a 2002 Academy Award for Washington. Hawke also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Training Day follows LAPD narcotics officers Alonzo Harris (Washington) and Jake Hoyt (Hawke) during a routine patrol inside Los Angeles' gang-ridden neighborhoods. It's Hoyt's first day joining the narcotics squad,...

Amid the crowded, contentious field for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special one project has emerged as the early favorite: HBO's Pee-wee as Himself, a poignant tribute to Paul Reubens, the ingenious and enigmatic mind behind Pee-wee Herman. Blending an in-depth look at Reubens' personal journey with the offbeat humor and charm that made his iconic character a pop-culture phenomenon, the documentary looks poised to win over Emmy voters.

"He wanted people to believe that Pee-wee Herman was a real person," director Matt Wolf tells Gold Derby. "But on a deeper level, Paul was deeply protective of his privacy and anonymity." Herman became a household name through Tim Burton's debut film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and the groundbreaking Saturday morning kids' show Pee-wee's Playhouse. But Reubens faced public backlash after his 1991 arrest for indecent exposure in an adult theater, which led to years of retreat from the public eye. In...

Over three decades working in Silicon Valley, Jony Ive has shaped the shell of the iMac, designed the look of the iPod and come up with the form factor for the iPhone. Pretty much every major piece of Apple technology we touch, from the heyday of Alta Vista to today, went through Ive’s hands first.

No doubt such a legacy enticed Sam Altman to recruit Ive, with the OpenAI founder this week buying the former Apple designer’s startup io for $6.5 billion (that’s at least 130 million vintage iPod shuffles) — then announcing, in a cringey Davis Guggenheim video, the two would be working together to create an undisclosed “family of devices” to run the apps based on OpenAI’s models. io, io, it’s off to Ive we go.

Altman has been trying to convince investors and the public that he will change the course of civilization pretty much...

It’s “the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen.” It’s going to “completely reimagine what it means to use a computer.” It’s the “beginning of the greatest technological revolution in our lifetimes.”

It’s a floor wax and a dessert topping.

In one of the more head-scratching branding exercises in recent Silicon Valley history, OpenAI on Thursday dropped a nine-minute video of CEO Sam Altman and former Apple designer Jony Ive strolling the streets of San Francisco, settling onto a couple of stools in a macchiato bar, and chatting amiably — one might even say bromantically — about how much they admire one another.

Also, how the new mystery gizmo they’re building together — whatever the hell it might be — will change the course of human evolution.

Not surprisingly, the internet had a field day. “How is this not satire?” one viewer asked. “I’ll be happy...

Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (May 16-18)

The main stream

No one loves anything as much as Apple loves science fiction. But who's complaining?

The streaming service’s latest addition to its sci-fi heavy library is Murderbot, a 10-episode series adapted from All Systems Red, the first book in Martha Wells’ award-winning Murderbot Diaries series of novels. The show — the first two episodes of which are now streaming on Apple TV+ — hails from Oscar nominees Chris and Paul Weitz and stars Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård as a self-aware cyborg. Having dubbed itself Murderbot, its purpose is to protect a group of scientists led by the empathetic Mensah (Olivier Award winner Noma Dumezweni) as they explore the surface of an uninhabited planet. If you’d ask Murderbot, however, its mission...

(L-r) Tim Rarus, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Greg Hlibok, and Jerry Covell, the leaders of the Gallaudet protest, in Deaf President Now. Courtesy of Apple TV+

In 1988, in the biggest student protest you never heard of, when the Deaf students of Gallaudet University rose up to demand that, after 124 years, a Deaf person be chosen as President of the only university for the Deaf in the world. The powerful documentary Deaf President Now tells the story of that game-changing event that, odds are, you never heard of. The landmark, eight-day protest, which took place before the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, did much to change how other people saw Deaf people, and was a major turning point in the drive for equal rights for Deaf and others classified as disabled by society.

And the Gallaudet students had reason to hope for a Deaf president this time, as the university’s...

In “Deaf President Now!” directors Nyle Dimarco and Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim recount eight tumultuous days in 1988 at Washington, DC’s Gallaudet University – the only Deaf university in the U.S. At the time students were protesting after the school’s board of trustees appointed a hearing president over several very qualified Deaf candidates. In the University’s 124-year history, Gallaudet had never been led by a Deaf person despite growing sentiment from the community that it was time for a Deaf leader.

For the documentary, Dimarco, a Deaf actor-advocate, and Guggenheim interviewed the four Gallaudet graduates – Greg Hlibok, Jerry Covell, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, and Tim Rarus – who were responsible for organizing the week-long movement that consisted of rallies, boycotts and protests. In the film, the foursome describe events in their own words, which are signed on-screen and spoken aloud by unseen actors. Told primarily through American Sign Language, intermixed with...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Josh Westcott for Wbgr-fm on May 15th, 2025, reviewing the new documentary “Deaf President Now!,” the story of a 1980s protest at all-deaf Gallaudet University. Streaming on AppleTV+ beginning on May 16th.

In March of 1988 another president of Gallaudet was about to be elected by the board of trustees. That president was Elisabeth Zinser, who like all presidents before her at was Not deaf. The ripple that began within the student body became a storm of protest, as the students demanded a deaf president, even going as far as shutting down the school. In this brief moment, it became a national story that again spotlighted a system that assumed that disabled people are never in charge of their own destiny.

”Deaf President Now!” streams on AppleTV+ on May 16th. Featuring interviews with Bridgetta Bourne, Jerry Covell, Greg Hilibok, and Tim Rarus.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)

Brady Corbet’s long-gestating architecture epic looks and feels as painstakingly crafted as its lead character’s intricate architectonics. For as barren and minimalist as László Tóth’s (a terrific Adrien Brody) designs are, they pack a beautiful, mysterious, occasionally revelatory punch, much like Corbet’s winding three-and-a-half-hour (complete with built-in intermission!) story about a Hungarian architect who immigrated to New York after WWII only to be mentally and emotionally sucked in by the tide of a momentous decades-long project initiated by a ruthless Pennsylvania business tycoon. Its scope is enormous––almost impossible not to get wrapped up in. A sense of impending gravity gives this film the weight of the real, as if we’re witnessing history.

When documentarian Davis Guggenheim released Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie on Apple TV+ last year, we were reminded of two things. First, that the Back To The Future star remains one of Hollywood's all-time greats; and second, well, that we just really miss seeing that man lighting up our screens. Happily then, today we've learned via Deadline that five years after making his last acting appearance in The Good Fight, Fox is set to take on a major guest role in Bill Lawrence's upcoming Shrinking Season 3.

Having led Lawrence's first creator credited series Spin City back in the late 90s, Fox entering the Shrinking fray represents a poignant reunion for both showrunner and star. And, if Deadline's understanding is accurate, then Fox's involvement in the show — which, in case you didn't already know, follows grieving psychotherapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) and his pals as they navigate their lives'...

On Thursday May 15 2025, ABC broadcasts Good Morning America!

Episode 154 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Good Morning America” promises an exciting lineup for viewers. Actress Ana de Armas will be featured, bringing her charm and talent to the show. Known for her roles in various films, de Armas is sure to share insights about her latest projects and experiences in the entertainment industry.

In addition to Ana de Armas, co-directors Nyle Dimarco and Davis Guggenheim will join the program. Their work has made an impact in the film world, and they will discuss their latest collaboration. This segment is expected to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process and the themes explored in their projects.

Tory Johnson will also be back with her popular segment, Deals & Steals. She will showcase some exciting products and special offers that viewers can take advantage of. This part of the show is always a hit,...

Documentary follows the 1988 anti-audism revolt in the US after the world’s first deaf university appointed a hearing person to head it

‘It’s awfully difficult to talk above this loud noise,” says the chair of the board of trustees at a liberal arts university. It’s the late 1980s, protesting students have shut down the campus and now, midway through a tense meeting, someone has set off the fire alarm. But here’s the thing, Gallaudet University in Washington DC is the world’s first deaf university. The students can have a conversation just fine with the alarms blaring – in sign language. But trustee chair Jane Bassett Spilman does not sign. In fact, she appears to be completely ignorant about deaf culture – and, dressed like a Margaret Thatcher lookalike, all handbags and helmet hair, she is the easy-to-loathe villain of this fascinating documentary.

Co-directed by actor and deaf activist Nyle Dimarco with Davis Guggenheim,...

One of the most interesting new launches on Apple TV+, Deaf President Now, is all set to release on May 16, 2025. This is a powerful documentary about a very important moment in civil rights history. It is directed by Nyle Dimarco and Davis Guggenheim, an Oscar-winning filmmaker.

The documentary deep dives into the student protests held at Gallaudet University in 1988, which is the only university in the world for the hard-of-hearing and deaf. The demand was for a deaf president for their university, highlighting the importance and representation of the students. It challenged the board’s decision to appoint overqualified university heads.

What to expect from the narrative of Deaf President Now?

The robust protests led to the historic appointment of Dr. I King Jordan as the first-ever Deaf President of Gallaudet University. This sparked a broader movement for the rights of disabled people, which eventually led to the Ada Act...

Apple Original Films has released the trailer for the groundbreaking new documentary, Deaf President Now!, from Academy Award-nominated producer, co-director and Deaf activist Nyle Dimarco, and Academy Award-winning producer and co-director Davis Guggenheim.

Synopsis: The story of the greatest civil rights movement most people have never heard of. Deaf President Now! recounts the eight days of historic protests held at Gallaudet University in 1988 after the school’s board of trustees appointed a hearing president over several very qualified Deaf candidates. After a week of rallies, boycotts and protests, the students of Gallaudet University triumph as the hearing president resigns and beloved dean Dr. I. King Jordan becomes the university’s first Deaf president. The protests marked a pivotal moment in civil rights history, with an impact that extended well beyond the Gallaudet campus, and paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act (Ada). Deaf President Now! features exclusive interviews...

Apple TV+ is bringing light to one of the greatest civil rights movements that has largely been left in the shadows with its new documentary, Deaf President Now!. A new trailer previews the firestorm that erupted in 1988 when the board of trustees at Gallaudet University, the world's only college for the deaf, elected a controversial hearing president to oversee operations. Furious over the highly qualified deaf candidates who were passed over for the job, students rose up en masse to protest the decision in a watershed moment for the Deaf community that would have ramifications far beyond the campus grounds. Packed with exclusive interviews with those involved and archival footage, the film premieres on May 16.

The footage opens on news reports that demonstrate the massive scale of the week-long protests under the Deaf President Now! movement. Seeing a woman who could hear sail over two deaf candidates, one of whom...

One of the more moving documentaries to premiere at Sundance this year was Nyle Dimarco and Davis Guggenheim’s Deaf President Now!, which charts student protests against the 1988 hiring of a hearing person as the president of Gallaudet University, a school renowned for their education of the deaf and hard of hearing. While the film hits all the expected structural beats of a rousing, inspiring documentary about a historic moment of progress, the directors’ decision to augment the audio of certain archival sections to put one in the body of our courageous subjects is handled with care and purpose. It’s also gratifying to see the main leaders of the movement turn up on camera many decades later and recognize just how far on the right side of history they were. Ahead of a May 16 release on Apple TV+, the first trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “From Academy Award-nominated producer,...

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2025 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 12 to June 23, with the official Emmy nominations announced Tuesday, July 15. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 18 and ends the night of August 27. The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 14, and air live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt.

The State of the Race

The competition for the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special is so tight this year that Hulu alone could fill the category with its contenders. Some of the ones that have made a splash so far include “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band,” the latest collaboration between the New Jersey icon and director Thom Zimny,...

If you’ve already scoured through our massive summer movie preview, then you’re already aware the season’s kick-off is one of the most eclectic months in some time, featuring high-wire blockbusters, the return of beloved auteurs, the year’s finest comedy, and more gems to discover.

16. The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan; May 2)

After one of the most successful films of his career with last year’s Longlegs, Nicolas Cage returns this year with The Surfer, a beach-set psychological thriller directed by Lorcan Finnegan. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In The Surfer, an exploitation film set to pressure-cook, a mild-mannered man is pitted against a group who even Andrew Tate might find a touch extreme. It’s set in South Australia on fictional Luna Bay, the kind of place where if the heat doesn’t get you, something else probably will. The water shines turquoise-blue but the beaches look like scorched earth.

Apple TV+ has announced the programming that will be added to the streaming service next month. The Apple TV Plus May 2025 lineup includes Bono: Stories of Surrender, Deaf President Now!, Fountain of Youth, Long Way Home, Lulu Is a Rhinoceros, and Murderbot.

Apple TV+ offers drama and comedy series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment. It is available on the Apple TV app on the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, Tcl, and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and at the Apple site.

Murderbot Apple TV Plus May 2025 Schedule

Available May 9

Long Way Home (Motorcycle Adventure Series)

The epic motorcycle adventure series “Long Way Home” stars and is executive-produced by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. The 10-episode journey rekindles the duo’s famed road-tripping spirit, bringing them a little closer to home this time.

Concordia Studio has selected four filmmakers for its 2025 Documentary Filmmaker Fellowship, a prestigious artist development program cultivated within the independent film and television production studio co-founded by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim.

The fellows, selected on the basis of “excellence in craft, collaboration, and cinematic exploration of unknown worlds,” are Contessa Gayles, Jason M. Harper, Mohammed Naqvi, and Jennifer Tiexiera. Read more about the filmmakers below.

“At a time of rapid and dramatic changes in our film ecosystem, one thing has remained consistent; the bright light of creative imagination of filmmakers like these,” commented Rahdi Taylor, EVP of The Concordia Fellowship. “That’s why we believe that now more than ever, creative, strategic, financial and convening support can help visionary filmmakers chart their course to the future.”

Fellowship candidates are eligible for consideration by direct invitation and private nomination only, Concordia Studio notes. “Nominators for the 2025 Fellowship class included industry veterans...

British leading lights Olivia Colman, Jonathan Glazer, Riz Ahmed, and Jessie Buckley are among hundreds of Academy members who have signed a letter circulating on Friday in which they lambast the Oscar body’s response to the reported attack on and detention of No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal.

The missive has been sent to Academy members and decries the Academy’s “indefensible” position, after CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang sent a letter to members on Thursday in which they condemned harm or suppression of artists based on their viewpoints, but did not mention Hallal by name, and...

British leading lights Olvia Colman, Jonathan Glazer, Riz Ahmed, and Jessie Buckley are among hundreds of Academy members who have signed a letter circulating on Friday in which they lambast the Oscar body’s response to the reported attack on and detention of No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal.

The missive has been sent to Academy members and decries the Academy’s “indefensible” position, after CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang sent a letter to members on Thursday in which they condemned harm or suppression of artists based on their viewpoints, but did not mention Hallal by name, and...

The Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Festival will open with the world premiere of Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance from Canadian director Noam Gonick and the National Film Board of Canada on April 24.

The feature doc explores the trajectory and milestones in Canada’s 2Slgbtq+ movement, including pride and protest footage and first person accounts. “This is such a wonderful and meaningful acknowledgement,” Parade producer Justine Pimlott told a Hot Docs press conference on Tuesday. “There is still much work to be done. My hope is that our film serves as an inspiration and a call to action, not only for the queer community, but also for our allies,” she added.

News of the festival opener came as Hot Docs, North America’s biggest documentary showcase, released its full film lineup for its 32nd edition set for April 24 to May 4 in Toronto.

The Special Presentations program is programmed with mostly...

Elegance Bratton’s “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” will open the 10th edition of Chicago’s Doc10 documentary film festival on April 30.

The doc, which premiered at Sundance 2025, charts the rise of house music. The film recounts how the Disco Sucks movement led to the infamous Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, which resulted in thousands of people throwing records, mostly by Black artists, into a bonfire. The doc highlights Vince Lawrence, who was working as an usher at Demolition Night. Lawrence reveals how the event led him to become one of the founding innovators of house music.

Doc10, a five-day fest running April 30-May 4, will feature a selection of 11 of the past year’s most acclaimed feature documentaries. They include Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim and Nyle Dimarco’s recent SXSW audience award winner “Deaf President Now!” and Elizabeth Lo’s “Mistress Dispeller,” which premiered at...

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American rights to Elizabeth Lo’s “Mistress Dispeller,” a new documentary that had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Produced by Anonymous Content and Impact Partners, the film follows a woman in China who is desperate to save her marriage. She hires a professional to go undercover and break up her husband’s affair. Lo had intimate access to all the players in this family drama, enabling her to explore it from all sides of a love triangle.

“Mistress Dispeller” picked up two awards in Venice, before screening at festivals including Toronto, Camden, Chicago, Doc NYC and Camerimage, where it won the Golden Frog Grand Prix for best documentary feature. It received more than a dozen festival awards, as well as multiple nominations at the Cinema Eye Honors 2024. It will play next at Cph:dox 2025. Oscilloscope Laboratories will release the film in select theaters later this year.

The 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival has unveiled its coveted Audience Award winners.

After IndieWire announced the festival’s Jury Awards, with Amy Wang’s “Slanted” taking the top Narrative Feature Award, the Audience Awards have been totaled. “The Accountant 2” starring Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal has won the Headliner section, with “Fantasy Life” getting the Narrative Feature Competition vote. (Amanda Peet also previously won the Special Jury Award for her performance in “Fantasy Life.”)

Jay Duplass’ “The Baltimorons” received the Audience Award for the Narrative Spotlight section. Documentaries “Remaining Native” and “Luv Ya, Bum!” were also recognized in the Documentary Feature Competition and Documentary Spotlight categories, respectively. Rodney Ascher’s “Ghost Boy” was also a winners in the Visions category.

Audience Award winners were certified by Maxwell Locke & Ritter Llp.

“Our deepest thanks to the filmmakers, audiences, and volunteers who made this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival exceptional,...

Ben Affleck starrer The Accountant 2, Amanda Peet comedy Fantasy Life, and Remaining Native have won the Headliner and narrative feature and documentary 2025 SXSW audience awards.

Jay Duplass’s comedy The Baltimorons won the Narrative Spotlight section, and Sam Wainwright’s Luv Ya, Bum! Took Documentary Spotlight honours, while Matt Johnson’s Blackberry follow-up Nirvanna The Band The Show was the audience favourite from Midnighter.

The 32nd edition of the festival announced its juried winners last week and screened 114 features including 93 world premieres, three international premieres, three North American premieres, four US premieres, 11 Texas premieres, and 57 shorts. The festival ran March 7-15 in Austin,...

SXSW on Monday said that Matthew Shear’s Fantasy Life, Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal’s reteam The Accountant 2 and Paige Bethmann’s documentary Remaining Native were among the big winners of the 32nd annual festival’s Audience Awards.

The news of the honors across the Austin fest’s competition, narrative, documentary, shorts, TV and Xr Experience sidebars comes after the 2025 edition revealed its juried awards last week, with honors going to Amy Wang‘s thriller Slanted for Best Narrative Feature among others.

Fantasy Life, Shear’s feature writing and directorial debut, won the marquee Narrative Feature Audience Award. It stars Shear as a man who suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist’s three granddaughters, where he begins to fall for the girls’ mother, played by Amanda Peet. Peet earlier won a special jury prize for acting.

The Headliners section audience prize went to The Accountant 2,...

The 27th edition of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, launching on April 3, will feature a lineup of 34 feature documentaries and 15 short docs. The Durham, N.C.-based, four-day doc film fest will kick off with Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s “Prime Minister, “about the life of former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

“Prime Minister” debuted at Sundance 2025, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award. The film is one of 16 Sundance feature docs screening at Full Frame this year. Others include U.S. Grand Jury Prize winner “Seeds,” “The Librarians,” “Preditors, “Nat. Geo’s “Sally” and “The Perfect Neighbor,” which Netflix recently acquired.

Often referred to as “a filmmaker’s festival,” Full Frame is not a premiere or market-focused fest. Instead, it’s known within the doc industry as a well-organized, intimate gathering that gives well-received docs out of Sundance, Camden Intl. Film Festival and the...

Exclusive: AppleTV+ has set a premiere date of May 16 for the Nyle Dimarco and Davis Guggenheim directed feature documentary, Deaf President Now!

The pic world premiered at Sundance and is currently playing at SXSW.

Deaf President Now! follows “the greatest civil rights movement most people have never heard of” per its blurb. During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world’s only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob to change the course of history.

Dimarco told Deadline’s Matt Carey at Sundance, “The Deaf President Now protest was a part of a much larger movement that was very much spurred by the actions of the deaf community in placing a deaf president as the head of Gallaudet. Not only did we succeed, but this protest, in fact, gave rise to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects so many of...

Hot Docs, North America’s leading documentary festival, has unveiled the first slate of films to screen as part of its Special Presentations program. Subjects include Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin, Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist and co-founder of Bellingcat, Israeli comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi, and Silas Malafaia, Brazil’s most prominent televangelist, in the latest film from Petra Costa, Oscar-nominated for “The Edge of Democracy.”

Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh’s “The Nest,” described as a “deeply personal exploration of memory, identity and intergenerational storytelling,” makes its world premiere.

International premieres include “Deaf President Now!,” a chronicle of the landmark student protest that transformed accessibility rights in the U.S.; and “Life After,” in which filmmaker Reid Davenport investigates the troubling implications of assisted suicide laws for disabled people.

Making their Canadian premieres are “Antidote,” a real-life thriller following investigative journalist Christo Grozev, co-founder of Bellingcat, and political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza...

Exclusive: Veteran producer and film executive Jonathan King is joining Zhang Xin at Closer Media in the newly created role of president. With 25 years of experience developing and producing award-winning films, King brings a background shepherding narrative and documentary storytelling to the company’s portfolio.

Launched in 2021 by billionaire entrepreneur Zhang Xin and most recently run by William Horberg, the production and finance company has been growing quickly in the independent space and is leaning more into its narrative side. King’s resume included a slate of more than 50 films over his years at Concordia Studio, Participant, Focus Features and Miramax Films.

Coming in 2025 for Closer Media are Justin Lin’s Last Days, and Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s documentary Middletown, both of which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. New titles this year include Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound, starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Conner, recently...

Fresh from winning the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at Sundance, Seeds will germinate at True/False, the acclaimed documentary festival in Columbia, Mo. Brittany Shyne’s film, exploring the experience of Black farmers who till the soil in the South, bows on the festival’s opening night on Thursday, with additional screenings on Friday and on Sunday, the closing night of True/False.

“Seeds is such a beautiful film. It’s one of my absolute favorites in the lineup,” notes True/False Artistic Director Chloé Trayner. “I know I’m not meant to have favorites, but it’s just pure cinema.”

Long before the documentary’s premiere, it earned support from True/False. “Seeds was a part of our Rough Cut Retreat, which we run in partnership with Catapult Film Fund. And so Brittany brought the project to the retreat along with her editor Malika [Zouhali-Worrall], and we spent five days together,...

During a recent appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Will Ferrell playfully told Oscar documentary branch voters to “suck it” for snubbing “Will & Harper” in the best doc feature race. Although Ferrell was joking, he voiced a sentiment held by a number of doc branch members.

Netflix acquired “Will & Harper” for a reported eight figures after the film’s acclaimed premiere at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. The doc centers on a road trip Ferrell took with Harper Steele after she came out as transgender 30 years into their friendship. Although it covers a controversial, timely subject matter – gender transition – the film was, thanks in large part to Ferrell’s celebrity status, a success. But that success, depending on who you speak to in the doc branch, could be one reason why the film was not nominated.

Over the last several years, some of the most critically acclaimed,...

The 22nd edition of the True/False Film Fest, kicking off Feb. 27, will feature a lineup of 30 feature documentaries and 24 short docs. The Columbia, Missouri-based four-day doc film festival will showcase eight Sundance 2025 films, including U.S. documentary prize winner “Seeds,” “Predators,” and “The Dating Game.”

The fest’s lineup includes seven world premieres, one international premiere, and three North American premieres. Fourteen of the True/False feature docus were made by first-time feature directors.

“This year’s films run the gamut when it comes to form, tone, and perspective, but the thing that unites them is their unwavering commitments to their artistic visions,” said True/False artistic director Chloé Trayner. “The lineup is a kaleidoscope of reflections on our modern world, embracing past, present, and future in beautiful, devastating, and hopeful ways. We can’t wait to share these films with our audience soon.”

Since launching in 2004, True/False...

SXSW announced the rest of its 2025 film and television lineup on Wednesday, including the world premiere of Jillian Bell's directorial debut Summer Of '69. It was also announced that the festival will feature the U.S. premiere of On Swift Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan. The film stars Jacob Elordi...

The “now” in “Deaf President Now!” refers to the second week of March 1988 — when the students of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., united in protest of the board’s choice of a non-deaf candidate to lead the school. But the activism depicted is still relevant to identity-centric struggles today. For 124 years, the school had operated under an ableist set of assumptions, treating deaf and hard of hearing people as needing “help” from patronizing outsiders. But in the seven days depicted here, the students took charge, teaching their elders — and anyone who would listen — not to underestimate them.

A collaboration between deaf actor-advocate Nyle Dimarco and “An Inconvenient Truth” director Davis Guggenheim, the propulsive nonfiction story feels as inspirational as any scripted feature, reuniting the four Gallaudet grads who organized the movement to describe events in their own words — words of passion, dynamically signed on-screen and spoken aloud by unseen actors.

Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley in ‘Come See Me in the Good Light, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Brandon Somerhalder)

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up with the announcement of the Festival Favorite Award. The documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White, was voted by audiences as the best of the feature films screened at the 2025 festival.

“Throughout the Festival we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in Come See Me in the Good Light. Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds us what it means to be alive as we face mortality,” stated Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming.

As the 2025 festival comes to a close, the Sundance Institute announced...

Sundance audiences have cast a bright light on Ryan White’s, Come See Me in the Good Light, by delivering a festival favorite prize on the feature film documentary.

Come See Me in the Good Light follows two poets, Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley, as they “go on an unexpectedly funny and poignant journey through love, life and mortality,” per the official festival description, spurred by the former’s incurable cancer diagnosis. The doc’s high profile roster of producers and executive producers includes such names as Tig Notaro, Brandi Carlile, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Kevin Nealon and Sara Bareilles, among others.

“Throughout the festival we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in Come See Me in the Good Light. Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds...

Come See Me in the Good Light, in the Premieres category, received the Festival Favorite award at the 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, voted for by the audiences from all the new feature films presented. Looking ahead to next year, the fest announced dates for the 2026 edition, taking place in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1.

“The past 11 days of the Festival have been a meaningful opportunity to connect as a community in support of independent storytelling,” acting CEO of the Sundance Institute Amanda Kelso said. “We look forward to being reunited with audiences, artists, industry, and press next January for another edition of the Festival.”

Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival director of programming, added: “Throughout the Festival we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in Come See Me in the Good Light. Festival goers embraced the humor...

A couple of weeks back, apropos of nothing, a small cadre in the cesspool formerly known as Twitter decided that the most important cultural irritant of the moment was the rise of visible Asl interpreters at press conferences and public events.

It was a brief moment of directionless outrage that offered a reminder of how eager some people are to marginalize even small traces of accommodation and to erase even incremental traces of progress.

Look no further than Nyle Dimarco and Davis Guggenheim’s new Apple documentary Deaf President Now! for an efficient and inspiring primer on how hard-won and important that progress truly was and still is.

A fine entry in the generally prolific “Birth of a Movement” documentary genre, Deaf President Now! illustrates what is and was distinctive about the Deaf rights movement, but also the elements that connect it to many recent campaigns for visibility and recognition.

In two days the Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City with a robust slate of nonfiction films (we leave it to others to cover the fiction slate!). Opening day/night alone features several world-premiere documentaries including the latest from two Oscar winners: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) and Mstyslav Chernov’s 2000 Meters to Andriivka.

On the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, we welcome Sundance documentary programmers Basil Tsiokos and Sudeep Sharma to explore some of the most anticipated nonfiction films and episodics on the 2025 slate. Along with the Questlove and Chernov’s docs, they tell us about the mystery surrounding a late add to the festival – The Stringer, directed by Bao Nguyen. We say “mystery” because the film already is generating controversy before its debut, and the Sundance programmers aren’t even at liberty, at this point,...

Before "La La Land" was causing chaos at the Oscars, musicals were putting the ceremony in another mini-crisis back in 2008. That was the year that saw the box office hit "Enchanted" (a Disney kids film starring Amy Adams) nominated for three songs: "Happy Working Song," "So Close," and "That's How You Know." Those tunes lost to a ditty from the lesser-known Irish film "Once," titled "Falling Slowly."

The year before, another popular musical in the form of "Dreamgirls" (which is about a 1960s music trio and stars Beyoncé) was also nominated for three songs, all of which also lost to a movie with only one nomination. That time the winner was "I Need to Wake Up" from Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." This was the first time a documentary had ever won the award.

Both outcomes were somewhat controversial at the time, mainly because they were...

Updated with details on documentaries from Elegance Bratton, Amy Berg, Jesse Moss, and Amanda McBaine, and Sally key art. Some of the biggest talents in documentary film will be unveiling new work at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, including Oscar winners Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Davis Guggenheim, and Mstyslav Chernov.

The marquee names in the nonfiction slate extend to the subjects of films – musical great Sly Stone examined in Questlove’s Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius); the late Selena Quintanilla’s story told in a film by Isabel Castro; Actress Marlee Matlin’s trailblazing career explored in Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, from director Shoshannah Stern; astronaut Sally Ride’s gravity-defying journey and personal life revealed in Sally, directed by Cristina Costantini.

No Sundance premiere documentary may attract more attention than Pee-wee as Himself, “A chronicle of the life of artist and performer Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman.

The next “A Real Pain” might be found in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival film lineup, which was announced on Wednesday.

Next year’s festival includes several big names, including Jennifer Lopez (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”), Carey Mulligan (“The Ballad of Wallis Island”), and Josh O’Connor (“Rebuilding”). Notable directors with films at the festival include Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (“Sly Lives! aka The Burden of Black Genius”), Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (“Deaf President Now!”), and Oscar winner Barry Levinson (“Bucks County”).

This year, several top indie features premiered at Sundance, including “A Real Pain,” a top awards contender, and films like “Didi,” “A Different Man,” “Daughters,” and “Sugarcane.”

“The Sundance Film Festival remains steadfast in its commitment to elevating unique and urgent voices in independent storytelling. Audiences can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally,” said Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President.

“The Festival is...

Sundance Film Festival’s 2025 line-up comprises 87 features, nearly half of which are directed by women, and is crammed with new work by returning stars and indie stalwarts including Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jennifer Lopez, Isabelle Huppert, Mark Ruffalo, and Dev Patel.

Among anticipated highlights are the feature directorial debut of UK playwright and incoming Young Vic artistic director Nadia Fall with her Bankside Films sales title Brides inWorld Cinema Dramatic Competition,about teenage friends who plan to travel to Syria.

Scroll down for the full line-up

Peter Hujar’s Day, a drama in Premieres about the New York portrait photographer...