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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for withholding explicit support for the Oscar-winning co-director of documentary “No Other Land” Hamdan Ballal after he was beaten and detained in the West Bank last week.

The film organization had sent an email to its members on Wednesday condemning violence. That email did not name the documentary’s title or the name of its co-director, and it drew widespread condemnation from members, around 700 of whom at the time of publishing signed an open letter on Friday morning that read, in part, “It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later.”

On Friday afternoon, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang sent an email to their nearly 11,000 members that read, “On Wednesday, we sent a letter in...

A number of documentary branch members have reacted angrily to a statement put out Wednesday by AMPAS leaders Bill Kramer and Janet Yang, which suggests that the beating and arrest of recent Oscar-winner Hamdan Ballal is something Academy members will have “many unique viewpoints” on.

Ballal, who won an Oscar earlier this month for co-directing best documentary feature winner No Other Land, was attacked and arrested by the Israeli military on Monday night during a confrontation with settlers that took place on the West Bank, in the village of Susiya, Ballal’s hometown. The Palestinian filmmaker sustained injuries to his head and stomach, and was zip-tied and blindfolded, according to co-director Yuval Abraham, before being released the next day.

In an email sent today to Kramer and Yang, Aj Schnack — a documentarian, branch member and founding director of the Cinema Eye Honors awards ceremony — wrote: “It’s hard for me...

The Academy has drawn backlash after issuing a statement to members seemingly addressing criticism for not speaking out in support of Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal — one of the filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” — who earlier this week was attacked by Israeli settlers and then detained by the Israeli army, according to the Associated Press. The statement, which was sent Wednesday night and signed by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang, did not mention “No Other Land” or Ballal by name.

“The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,” reads the statement in part. “We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty — across the globe, in the U.S. and within our own industry. Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events. In these instances,...

“Hearts and Minds,” the 1974 anti-war film that caused a furor at the Academy Awards when it won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, has been named recipient of the 2025 Legacy Award at the Cinema Eye Honors.

The doc from director and producer Peter Davis and producer Bert Schneider was made in the final years of the Vietnam War, which it presented as an unwinnable and criminal enterprise by the United States.

“Peter Davis’ film debunked the lies surrounding the then-still ongoing Vietnam War,” Cinema Eye founding director Aj Schnack said in a Tuesday statement to TheWrap. “’Hearts and Minds’ stands as one of the greatest films about war in the history of film and reminds us that attacks on unarmed civilians are neither new nor acceptable. We are honored to celebrate this film and to present Peter Davis with our 2025 Legacy Award.”’

In response, Davis added, “The Legacy Award honoring my...

Abramorama has acquired worldwide theatrical distribution rights for a fall release for “Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story,” the feature documentary about the seminal L.A. cult rock band.

Andrew Reich directed the doc covering brothers and founders Jeff and Steven McDonald and the band’s place in the Los Angeles music scene from the 1970s to now. Directed and produced by Reich and produced by Julian Cautherley, the film also features interviews with band members from Pearl Jam, The Go-Go’s, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, The Bangles, Black Flag, Dinosaur Jr and more.

“Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story” won the Jury Award for best documentary at the 2023 Sound Unseen Film Festival and has played numerous other festivals.

Variety‘s Jem Aswad called the band ahead of its time in his review, writing, “It seems ridiculous even now to say that their unabashed affection for those garish fashions, the Partridge Family,...

Director Aj Schnack takes viewers on an informative journey across Alaska in his documentary Majority Rules. Released in 2024, the film examines recent electoral reforms in the state, which eliminated traditional party primaries and introduced ranked choice voting. Drawing from interviews on both sides of the issues, Schnack aims to present an unbiased look at these changes and their potential wider implications.

Majority Rules centers on Alaska’s decision to open up its primaries and implement ranked ballots for certain races. This new system was unexpectedly put in place following the death of long-time Congressman Don Young. His vacant seat triggered a special election where the reforms could be tested for the first time. Viewers are shown campaign battles between familiar figures like Sarah Palin as well as new contenders embracing altered strategies.

On the national level, Schnack explores ongoing debates around modernizing America’s voting processes. While some see reforms as making elections more representative,...

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Filmmaker Aj Schnack spoke with MovieWeb's Matt Mahler about his new political film, which explores the introduction of rank choice voting in Alaska and its consequences on the democratic process.

In Majority Rules, Schnack, who is known for his nonpartisan documentaries that delve into American electoral politics, including Convention, Caucus and Midterms, follows Alaska as it is set to implement two novel election reforms: the elimination of traditional party primaries and the ability for voters to rank candidates based on preferences. When the state's longest-serving Congressman dies unexpectedly leaving an open seat, it prompts a special election to put this system to the test months earlier than anticipated. As dozens of candidates, including former Governor Sarah Palin, vie for the highly coveted seat, everyone must understand how the new voting reforms will alter the rules of campaigning and winning. The surprising outcome...

Founded in 2007 by nonfiction filmmaker, writer, and visual artist Aj Schnack, Cinema Eye began as an awards event for documentary films, but by 2010, had blossomed into a multi-day celebration of the form, paying tribute to each year’s new class of nominees, as well as the influences that shaped them all. They were the first and remain the only international nonfiction awards organization to recognize the entire creative team, presenting awards for directing, editing, producing, cinematography, original score, visual design, and sound design, as well as non-competitive Honors for onscreen participants.

Doubling down on their commitment to recognizing all creative team members, starting in the year 2025, the named nominees for Cinema Eye’s highest honor, Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, will include the films’ directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound and visual designers, as well as the primary onscreen participants. Individuals will be nominated for this category regardless of...

Exclusive: Abramorama announced they have acquired the rights to North American theatrical distribution of veteran political documentarian Aj Schnack’s latest film Majority Rules, which captures a history-making period during which Alaska became the first state in the nation to implement new election reforms that promise to put voters back at the forefront of elections and governing.

In Majority Rules, Schnack, who is known for his nonpartisan documentaries that delve into American electoral politics, including Convention, Caucus and Midterms, follows Alaska as it is set to implement two novel election reforms: the elimination of traditional party primaries and the ability for voters to rank candidates based on preferences. When the state’s longest-serving Congressman dies unexpectedly leaving an open seat, it prompts a special election to put this system to the test months earlier than anticipated. As dozens of candidates, including former Governor Sarah Palin, vie for the highly coveted seat,...

DC/Dox has unveiled the lineup for its second annual edition, which takes place in Washington, D.C., from June 13-16. The documentary festival will kick things off with “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” the Warner Bros. Discovery film that premiered at Sundance earlier this year.

The second edition of the fest includes 51 features and 47 shorts from 17 countries. That’s up from last year’s state of 31 features and 21 shorts from eight countries. This year’s lineup is made of 60% of filmmakers identifying as women or non-binary. Films will screen at venues including Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, the Burke Theatre at the U.S. Navy Memorial, and the National Archives.

“The films on the 2024 slate highlight the remarkable breadth and depth of documentary storytelling today,” says DC/Dox co-founder and festival director Sky Sitney. “From filmmakers around the world, these works recalibrate the past through archival footage, immerse themselves...

The 2023 Cinema Eye Honors have unveiled the 20 titles for its Audience Choice Prize Long List, with voting now open.

The 17th annual awards ceremony also recognized the best nonfiction and documentary films and series across five Broadcast categories and a Shorts List with 10 of the year’s top documentary short films, as well as the 20 films in the running for the Audience Choice Prize Long List.

This year’s list includes films from Cinema Eye Honors alumni including “The Eternal Memory,” “American Symphony,” “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” “Stamped from the Beginning,” “32 Sounds,” “A Compassionate Spy,” “Confessions of a Good Samaritan,” “The Mission,” “The Pigeon Tunnel,” and “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”

Hulu series “The 1619 Project” and Showtime’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” lead the Broadcast Film and Series nominations with three nods each. The “1619 Project,” adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s work with The New...

After parting ways with its parent company First Look Media in December, the non-profit documentary production studio Field of Vision is at Sundance with four docus and actively seeking new donors and supporters.

Founded in 2015 by former Hot Docs programming director Charlotte Cook, “CitizenFour” Oscar winner Laura Poitras and SXSW prize winner A.J. Schnack (“We Always Talk to Strangers”), the company now run by Cook has become a force to be reckoned with in recent years. The filmmaker-driven visual journalism documentary company’s credits include the Oscar-winning film “American Factory” as well Academy Award nominated features including “Ascension,” “Strong Island,” and “Hale County This Morning, This Evening.”

Overall, Field of Vision has supported or produced more than 260 features, shorts, and series mainly via grant money provided by First Look Media, the company run by eBay founder Pierre Olmidyar. Over the last several years, the company has begun commercially investing in docus,...

Those living in Los Angeles in 1990 may remember hearing Courtney Love's voice blasting from radios tuned to Kroq as she belted aggressive punk-ish lyrics as the frontwoman of her band Hole. Legendary local DJ Rodney Bingenheimer was reportedly hounded by a young Love at the restaurant where he had breakfast, and she eventually convinced him to air Hole's debut single, a song with a decidedly inappropriate title. Hole's first record "Pretty on the Inside" was released in 1991, and Love became a celebrity in the growing grunge scene. In 1992, Love married superstar Kurt Cobain, frontman of Nirvana, and the couple instantly became icons of anti-commercial 1990s disaffected youth. Their celebrity, however, paired with unfair public images and a tragic addiction to heroin, affected the couple's mental health, and Cobain died by suicide in 1994.

Love continued to work, however. Hole's 1995 record "Live Through This" was widely acclaimed, and the rocker moved...

Cinema Eye Honors, an influential bellwether in the race for documentary awards, kicked off its 15th year with non-fiction award-winners announced at its annual Los Angeles lunch attended by many top filmmakers. Steve James’ five-part Chicago series “City So Real,” and Spike Lee’s filmed portrait of David Byrne’s Broadway show “American Utopia” lead the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast nominations list with three nods apiece. “David Byrne’s American Utopia” is one of five films up for Outstanding Broadcast Film, while “City So Real” joins five other series in the Nonfiction Series category. Both projects were nominated for Outstanding Broadcast Editing and Cinematography.

“It is notable that both of this year’s most nominated Broadcast entries are part of the creative legacy of Diane Weyermann,” said Cinema Eye Founding Director Aj Schnack. The beloved documentary veteran, who died last week, was an Executive Producer on both “City So Real” and “American Utopia.

Cinema Eye Honors, an influential bellwether in the race for documentary awards, kicked off its 15th year with non-fiction award-winners announced at its annual Los Angeles lunch attended by many top filmmakers. Steve James’ five-part Chicago series “City So Real,” and Spike Lee’s filmed portrait of David Byrne’s Broadway show “American Utopia” lead the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast nominations list with three nods apiece. “David Byrne’s American Utopia” is one of five films up for Outstanding Broadcast Film, while “City So Real” joins five other series in the Nonfiction Series category. Both projects were nominated for Outstanding Broadcast Editing and Cinematography.

“It is notable that both of this year’s most nominated Broadcast entries are part of the creative legacy of Diane Weyermann,” said Cinema Eye Founding Director Aj Schnack. The beloved documentary veteran, who died last week, was an Executive Producer on both “City So Real” and “American Utopia.

Exclusive: Libby Geist, one of the architects of ESPN’s growing documentary business and exec producer of The Last Dance and O.J: Made In America, is leaving the Disney-owned sports network.

Deadline understands that Geist, who is Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films and Original Content, will work through to the end of 2020. It is understood that her departure is not connected to the recent layoffs introduced by the company and that she is leaving to move closer to production.

She is the latest top-level exec set to leave ESPN and comes after it emerged that content chief Connor Schell is leaving the company in the new year to set up his own production company.

Geist has been with ESPN for 12 years in a variety of roles. She has worked on more than 120 feature-length projects in various capacities and has overseen the docs department since 2016.

She has overseen development,...

As Hollywood production remains in lockdown mode — with a long road ahead before sets open up — filmmakers have been struggling to complete their films in time to meet their delivery dates. Many documentaries were in mid-production when the pandemic forced everyone into their homes.

How are documentary producers and directors getting past the multiple impediments to putting their films to bed? IndieWire is bringing together a panel of industry players to share their knowledge with us.

Join our live virtual panel discussion hosted by IndieWire on Tuesday, June 9 at 1 pm Pt, 4 pm Et. To watch the panel and submit questions for the Q&a, register at this form. Registration is free.

The panel is comprised of Submarine Entertainment’s Josh Braun, who with his brother Dan not only sells distribution rights for movies such as Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winner “Citizenfour,” but also produces such non-fiction as Emmy-winning Netflix series “Wild Wild Country...

As Hollywood production remains in lockdown mode — with a long road ahead before sets open up — filmmakers have been struggling to complete their films in time to meet their delivery dates. Many documentaries were in mid-production when the pandemic forced everyone into their homes.

How are documentary producers and directors getting past the multiple impediments to putting their films to bed? IndieWire is bringing together a panel of industry players to share their knowledge with us.

Join our live virtual panel discussion hosted by IndieWire on Tuesday, June 9 at 1 pm Pt, 4 pm Et. To watch the panel and submit questions for the Q&a, register at this form. Registration is free.

The panel is comprised of Submarine Entertainment’s Josh Braun, who with his brother Dan not only sells distribution rights for movies such as Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winner “Citizenfour,” but also produces such non-fiction as Emmy-winning Netflix series “Wild Wild Country...

"Watching those two guys - it was poetry." ESPN has debuted the first official trailer for a baseball history documentary titled Long Gone Summer, another impressive ESPN "30 For 30" feature film offering from the big sports network. Director Aj Schnack takes viewers back to the landmark 1998 baseball season – its tremendous highlights, massive impact, and undeniable complications. Mark McGwire of the Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs competed against each other in the 1998 season to beat the home run record. With a musical score composed by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, the doc film is a journey back through time that recalls how "seismic and emotional the story was – even as the legitimacy of the accomplishments at its center would later be called into question." Sadly, it was later discovered both of them used performance-enhancing drugs, but this still was an exciting and wild time in baseball's past. Check out the footage below.

ESPN will continue its Sunday night programming to fill the void left by the absence of live sports by airing three films in its documentary series “30 for 30” after the conclusion of the Chicago Bulls docu-series “The Last Dance,” including stories on Lance Armstrong, Bruce Lee and the steroid scandal that surrounded Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

The films “Lance,” “Be Water” and “Long Gone Summer” will air on ESPN on Sunday nights after “The Last Dance” ends and will be available on ESPN+ immediately after their premieres. Both “Lance” and “Be Water” made their premieres at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

First up is “Lance” on Sunday, May 24, a two-part film directed by Marina Zenovich (“Robin Williams: Come Inside my Mind) that grants new access to the disgraced cycling champion, and the second part of the film will air the following Sunday on May 31.

Also Read:...

Turns out, The Last Dance is not the end, but the beginning.

After ESPN found a ratings bonanza with the Michael Jordan/Bulls doc “The Last Dance” on Sunday nights, ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 series will pick up the Sunday night baton when Dance ends.

Just as The Last Dance was moved up to give sports-hungry fans something to watch during the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN has bumped the three new documentaries into May and June.

Leading off the slate on Sunday, May 24 will be part one of the two-part film Lance, which features unprecedented access to Lance Armstrong who delivers personal perspective on his towering rise and dramatic fall from grace. Lance is directed by Marina Zenovich. Part two will premiere the following Sunday, May 31.

Be Water, an intimate look at the life and motivations of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, will debut on Sunday,...

With SXSW now cancelled, filmmakers and other talent with projects at the festival are now adrift, with nowhere to premiere their films, many of which were bowing for the first time at the Austin festival. The city is currently in a state of emergency over coronavirus concerns, with 19 reported cases of Covid-19 confirmed so far in the state of Texas. The virus has rocked the film industry from top to bottom, hitting especially hard at SXSW. While plenty of studio fare was originally slated to bow at the festival, from Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island” to David Lowery’s “The Green Knight,” much of the program is made up of films seeking distribution. In the wake of the news, 2020 filmmakers and alumni directors took to Twitter to commiserate over a “heartbreaking” loss. See below, with more to come.

IndieWire recently spoke with filmmakers, sales agents, and publicists...

Exclusive: Film Independent is looking to enrich and inspire the industry with its latest lineup of keynotes, films and panelists for its 14th annual Film Independent Forum. Keynotes will be delivered by Late Night filmmaker Nisha Ganatra and Len Amato President of HBO Films. The Forum will kick off with a screening of Olivia Wilde’s comedy Booksmart and will also feature Justin Chon’s drama Ms. Purple. The event, which continues to champion inclusive storytelling in film, takes place April 26 – 28 at the Lmu Playa Vista Campus and Harmony Gold Theater.

“Once again, I am thrilled to congregate our community to explore the work of the most interesting creators this year,” said Maria Raquel Bozzi, Senior Director of Education and International Initiatives. “From our screenings of Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart and Justin Chon’s Ms. Purple to our Keynotes by acclaimed writer-director Nisha Ganatra and HBO Films President Len Amato,...

The International Documentary Association has announced its initial round of nominees for the 2017 Ida Documentary Awards, including special mentions and nods for limited series, curated series, episodic series, and more. Nominees for Best Feature and Best Short, and awards for creative recognition, will be announced on November 1. The Ida will honor director Marcel Mettelsiefen’s “Watani: My Homeland” with the Pare Lorentz Award. Also receiving a special mention in the category is Joe Berlinger’s “Intent to Destroy.”

Other standouts from this first list of nominees include Bryan Fogel’s controversial “Icarus,” Ryan White’s Netflix series “The Keepers,” Ken Burns’ revelatory miniseries “The Vietnam War,” and many more of the year’s best in documentary offerings.

Read More:Joan Didion and Arthur Miller Get the Documentary Treatment From Family Members, And That Makes All the Difference — Nyff

The 33rd edition of the annual ceremony will take place Saturday, December...

The scripted drama boom is changing the entire TV industry. But is it a change for the better?

“It’s an exciting time,” is a refrain now most commonly uttered by those in the business of making content for the Us streaming services.

Not only have Netflix, Amazon and co fuelled a surge in the volume of scripted content, subscription video on demand services (SVoDs) are also doing their bit, as they expand and evolve, to change the business and art of high-end television.

“Partly it’s driven by the SVoDs, partly it’s driven by the retrenching of the feature film business,” says Ted Miller, co-head of the television department at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), whose client Matthew Weiner is among the high-profile writer-producers working on streaming series.

The Crown

“You have artists who want to tell great stories and if those stories are not being done in the movie business they are being done now...

The Oscars can have its annual celebrity luncheon. This week, several documentarians celebrated the Cinema Eye Honors with an after-hours field trip to the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Conceived in 2008 as a bid to broaden awareness for documentary achievements, the Cinema Eyes highlight a dozen categories that range from best director to best cinematography to graphic design. However, while it began as a tonic to the five-nominee limitations that circumscribe the Oscars, the Cinema Eyes have evolved into an idiosyncratic celebration all its own. Although the awards are Wednesday night at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, the ceremony is now only the culmination of a full week of programming that includes three days of activities.

“It’s kind of like senior skip week,” said co-founder and filmmaker Aj Schnack, catching his breath on Monday night before delivering a speech to the filmmakers in attendance. “Yes,...

In the documentary short “Speaking is Difficult,” director Aj Schnack marries B-roll shots of public spaces where mass shootings took place with voiceover of the events’ 911 calls. It captures the mundanity of grocery parking lots, main streets, schools invaded by extreme violence, and how quickly life appears, superficially, to return to normal.

Read More: Field of Vision Founder Aj Schnack’s Powerful Short Visits Sites of Mass Shootings – Watch

Keith Maitland’s “Tower” is about the trauma that persists and how it’s sometimes possible to unearth and heal those wounds.

In broad daylight on August 1, 1966, the Austin campus of the University Texas was host to the United States’ first mass shooting at a school. From atop a tower in an open courtyard, sniper Charles Whitman held what was the equivalent of five city blocks of the campus hostage for 96 minutes, killing 17 people and wounding 32 others.

Dallas-born filmmaker Keith Maitland...

Members of the film community are coming out of the woodwork to band together and push back on the repression that is anticipated to come out of the incoming Trump administration. From documentarians reaffirming their commitment to exposing hidden truths to narrative filmmakers pledging to combat racism with their work, many are planning a strong response to the 2016 presidential election.

Read More: President Donald Trump: How the Indie Film World Will Respond

The Film Society of Lincoln Center assembled some of those voices Wednesday by convening an “urgent conversation” with Film Quarterly entitled “Film & Media in a Time of Repression.” Moderated by Film Quarterly editor and Uc Santa Cruz professor Ruby Rich, the event featured speakers including “House of Cards” creator Beau Willimon, blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein and Portugese documentary filmmaker Susana de Sousa Dias. Here are some of the highlights from the discussion, which outlined some key points...

Firelight Media and Field of Vision are establishing a new series in reaction to Donald Trump's presidential election win.

The new initiative is commissioning short films that "explore threats to U.S. democracy and the stories of its most vulnerable communities in the current highly polarized political climate," according to Wednesday's announcement. Ten films will be produced and distributed — on Field of Vision and with additional partners — for release next year. Funding and production support also will be provided.

The filmmakers and subjects will be jointly chosen by Field of Vision executive producers Laura Poitras, Aj Schnack and Charlotte...

Friday night’s 32nd annual International Documentary Association Awards at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood became another step in certifying a new American classic in Espn Films’ epic “O.J.: Made in America.”

Ezra Edelman’s nearly eight-hour documentary was named as the Ida’s 2016 Best Feature Award. It’s the latest in a series of accolades for the landmark saga of the life and trial of O.J. Simpson.

On the Best Short side, the top prize went to Netflix’s Syrian first-responders profile “The White Helmets,” from “Virunga” director/producer team Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara.

Ida members voted on these two categories from a list of six nominees each.

In addition to “The White Helmets,” Netflix programming comprised a significant portion of the evening’s winners. “Making a Murderer,” the true-crime investigation of the decade-spanning conviction and imprisonment of Steven Avery, was named Best Limited Series. The Best...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) hailed its own at Friday’s 32nd Annual Ida Documentary Awards and launched a $5m journalism project.

Espn’s episodic O.J.: Made In America won the best feature award in further recognition of Ezra Edelman’s work after wins at the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle.

The best Short Award went to Netflix’s The White Helmets directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. Best Cinematography was presented to Gianfranco Rosi for his Fire At Sea, distributed in the Us by Kino Lorber, while Netflix’s Making a Murderer earned best limited series award.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has gifted the Ida the four-year, $5m grant to establish the Ida Documentary/Journalism Project to improve and combine work from both fields in a manner that promotes the safety of it practitioners.

This year the Ida honored five filmmakers and documentary luminaries. Lyn and [link...

Keep up with the glitzy awards world with our weekly Awards Roundup column.

– Megan Ellison will receive the Producers Guild of America’s 2017 Visionary Award at the PGA Awards on January 28, 2017 in Los Angeles. The award recognizes television, film, or new media producers for their unique or uplifting contributions to our culture through inspiring storytelling or performance.

Ellison is being recognized with the award for her work as a fierce supporter of distinctive and creative voices in films such as “American Hustle,” “Her,” “The Master,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher,” and most recently “20th Century Women.”

Read More: Annette Bening to Receive Career Achievement Award, Ridley Scott Honored By Directors Guild and More

“Megan Ellison joined our industry when she founded Annapurna Pictures just over six years ago, and she got here just in time,” PGA awards chairs Donald De Line and Amy Pascal said in a statement. “Megan and her...

Laura Poitras isn’t waiting for traditional media to tell the stories that will change the world. One year after co-founding Field of Vision, the visual journalism unit of First Look Media, Poitras and co-founders Aj Schnack and Charlotte Cook are doubling down on their efforts to commission original works of nonfiction that address global events.

Read More: Field of Vision Launches New Website and New Slate of Short-Form Documentaries

While Poitras will be leaving The Intercept, the journalism outfit co-founded by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, to focus on expanding Field of Vision, her day-to-day work of commissioning films and short form work will not change, and the two organizations will continue their collaboration on nonfiction storytelling. Field of Vision commissioned 22 nonfiction shorts, three episodic series and two feature-length documentaries in its first year, but Poitras and her team are working to expand their collaborations with filmmakers, reporters and...

Cinema Eye has named 10 filmmakers and 20 films that have been voted as the top achievements in documentary filmmaking during the past 10 years. Founded in 2007 to “recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film,” Cinema Eye polled 110 members of the documentary community to determine the winning films and filmmakers just as the organization kicks off its tenth year.

Read More: Behind the Scenes of Cinema Eye’s Secret Field Trip for Nominees

Among the films chosen are Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” and Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Poitras and Oppenheimer were both also named to the list of the top documentary filmmakers, joining Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman, who recently won an honorary Oscar and will be saluted at the annual Governors Awards on November 12.

“It’s fantastic that he is being recognized by the Academy for a...

First Look Media, which co-financed the Best Picture Oscar winner “Spotlight” as its first project and helped produce Laura Poitras’ upcoming Julian Assange documentary “Risk,” has hired Todd Green as its Senior Vice President of Content Distribution and Licensing and Carrie Lieberman as Director of Content Distribution and Licensing.

Read More: Cannes: With ‘Risk,’ Laura Poitras Ignites Demand For Julian Assange’s Release

Green and Lieberman will identify and secure distribution partnerships and licensing deals for content produced and acquired by First Look across film, television and short form digital. Green was previously a Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution at the now-defunct Alchemy, prior to which he was a General Manager at Tribeca Film and a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising at AMC Networks.

“Todd brings a wealth of experience with a range of distribution deals, partners and models from his extensive time at AMC Networks and Tribeca Film,...

The company said on Wednesday that Todd Green has been named senior vice-president of content distribution and licensing and Carrie Lieberman director of content distribution and licensing.

First Look Media also announced that Lydia Cheuk has been named senior vice president, business and legal affairs. Josh Epstein, executive vice-president and chief business officer, made the announcements. Green and Lieberman are pictured.

eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar launched the company in 2013. It co-financed Spotlight and the slate of projects include Risk by Laura Poitras and director Aj Schnack’s docuseries on the presidential campaign, NomiNation.

Chinese actress Jing Tian will star alongside John Boyega, Scott Eastwood and Cailee Spaeny in Legendary Entertainment’s Pacific Rim sequel, set to open through Universal Pictures on February 23, 2018. Legendary will distribute directly in China through its parent company Wanda. Steven S. DeKnight directs. Tian’s Chinese credits include New Police Story and Special ID with Donnie Yen. She will next...

Field of Vision, the cinematic journalism unit of First Look Media, has just kicked off its second year with a new website whose centerpiece is SecureDrop, a means of anonymously leaking newsworthy images and videos. It’s also been announced that Laura Poitras, who won an Academy Award for her 2014 documentary “Citizenfour” and co-created Field of Vision alongside Aj Schnack and Charlote Cook, is leaving The Intercept to focus on expanding the nonfiction platform.

Read More: Field of Vision Founder Aj Schnack’s Powerful Short Visits Sites of Mass Shootings – Watch

“Without the images from Abu Ghraib Prison disclosed by whistleblower Joseph Darby, the world would never know the torture and abuse that occurred there,” Poitras, who co-founded Field of Vision, said in a statement. “Images can literally transform how we understand the world. We believe the public has a right to not only know, but also a right to see.

The Critics’ Choice Awards are getting real. The popular annual event show is branching off, thanks to a brand-new awards ceremony that will focus on the year’s best achievements in documentary features and non-fiction television, appropriately branded as the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.

The Critics’ Choice Awards previously awarded documentary-facing awards, including Best Documentary Feature and Best Unstructured Reality Show, as part of its annual awards show.

Read More: What the Critics’ Choice Awards Can and Cannot Tell Us About the Emmy Race

The inaugural event will take place on Thursday, November 3 in Brooklyn, New York and feature awards in the following categories:

Best Documentary Feature Film (Theatrical Premiere) Best Documentary Feature (Television Premiere) Best Director of a Documentary Best First Documentary Feature Best Music Documentary Best Sports Documentary Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary Best Limited Documentary Series for Television Best Ongoing Documentary Series for Television Best...

The “direct cinema” and “cinéma vérité” movement pioneered by non-fiction filmmakers like Robert Drew and the Maysles was in part fueled by advances in camera technology. Similar to how the digital technology has forever altered our current documentary landscape, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the big advancement was faster film stock (which needed less light for exposure) and portable 16mm cameras with a crystal sync — which allowed sound to be recorded independently and later synchronized in post-production. That gave tremendous freedom to filmmakers to follow subjects and capture everyday life.

Read More: How the Footage of Bernie Sanders Being Arrested in 1963 Was Discovered By Kartemquin Films

The intimacy and fluidity of these films that spawned from the new equipment inspired three aspiring documentarians from University of Chicago: Stan Karter, Jerry Temaner, and Gordon Quinn, who founded Kartemquin Films (the company’s name came from a combination of letters...

Amy Nicholson’s award-winning short “Pickle” has no business being as funny as it is. The award-winning 15-minute short is an energetic and amusing overview of what sounds like an entirely traumatizing experience, as it chronicles 25 years of Tom and Debbie Nicholson’s unbelievably bad luck with a bevy of rescue animals, from the eponymous Pickle the fish to an entire flock of ill-fated fowl.

The film’s official synopsis strikes the appropriate balance between off-kilter humor and almost overwhelming heartache: “Let us reflect on the brief existence of Pickle the fish. Although he could not swim, he was lovingly cared for by a couple that kept him propped up in a sponge. Along with an obese chicken, a cat with a heart condition, and a paraplegic possum, his life is a celebration of man’s eternal capacity to care for all creatures. He will be dearly missed.”

Read More: Attention,...

Last fall, following the mass shooting in which 10 people were killed at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, Field of Vision co-founders Aj Schnack and Laura Poitras had a conversation about how they could make an artistic and cinematic film about the tragedy.

“I had this idea of not just talking about Oregon, but the fact that it seemed in the way that we responded to these events that they were constantly echoes of each other and that we were having these conversations on social media that were cyclical,” Schnack told IndieWire in a recent interview.

Read More: How Field Of Vision’s Quick Production Turnaround Is Changing The Way Documentaries Are Made And Seen

In the hope of capturing the cyclical nature of these events, Schnack sent 18 local cinematographers to visit 25 different sites of mass shootings to capture what life was like at those sites now. What he quickly realized...

It might be missing the industry saturated Park City fervor, but the smaller, shorter, and more intimate Columbia, Missouri based True/False Film Festival is the Rolls-Royce (by way of John Deere) of doc focused cinema. Filmmaker Laura Poitras is not alone in stating that her “love for True/False runs deep – from the smart programming, passionate audiences, inspired buskers, and fabulous venues.” Time and time again, selected filmmakers throughout this year’s edition expressed their love of the fest, while plenty of filmmaker personalities from prior editions could be spotted milling around town as casual filmgoers happy to pay to relive the experience.

With a highly curated program just shy of 50 films shown on 9 different screens (each of which are walkable in just 5-10 minutes of one another) over just 4 days, True/False centers its attention on quality and community, both locally and cinematically. For a city with a...

Iffr’s new artistic director Bero Beyer brings television back to the big screen in Rotterdam.

Following on from the 2013 strand Signals: Changing Channels, Beyer and former Critics’ Week programmer Léo Soesanto have jointly created Episodic/Epidemic - a new strand that highlights filmmakers working within television formats.

The section sits within Perspectives - an over-arching part of the festival Bero considers as “film-making that detours to the left, to the right and upside down of cinema”.

Both Soesanto and Beyer assert it is not another festival trend, which has seen TV strands such as Berlinale’s Special Series and Toronto’s Primetime, but instead an extension of Iffr’s programming.

“This is at the heart of Rotterdam [Iffr] - we want to celebrate all the ways a filmmaker can express themselves. Whether it’s music, art, gaming, Vr or episodic - we want to find the best way to present different types of storytelling,” said Bero.

A...

The Sundance Film Festival, whose 2016 edition runs from January 21 through 31, has announced lineups for its Competitions and Next program, the 10th anniversary edition of New Frontier, and given us a sneak peek at the Midnight section. Today, the festival has added short films by Sebastian Silva, Aj Schnack, Terence Nance, Caveh Zahedi, Bryce Dallas Howard, Don McKellar, Jason Reitman and many more, 72 in all. We've got the complete list with synopses. » - David Hudson...

The Sundance Film Festival, whose 2016 edition runs from January 21 through 31, has announced lineups for its Competitions and Next program, the 10th anniversary edition of New Frontier, and given us a sneak peek at the Midnight section. Today, the festival has added short films by Sebastian Silva, Aj Schnack, Terence Nance, Caveh Zahedi, Bryce Dallas Howard, Don McKellar, Jason Reitman and many more, 72 in all. We've got the complete list with synopses. » - David Hudson...

Read More: Oscar Winner Laura Poitras on How Field of Vision Will Change Documentary Filmmaking Field of Vision has just announced its latest project: A four-part series telling the story of the European Union's confrontation with the Greek Syriza party. The documentarians gained unprecedented access to key Greek politicians and shine a light on the story of the citizens wrapped up in the debate. Field of Vision, the filmmaker driven film journalism unit co-created by Laura Poitras, Aj Schnack, and Charlotte Cook, is committed to telling important stories from around the globe. Some past subjects have been Lgbt rights, military surveillance, and the ongoing refugee crisis. "#ThisIsACoup" will be released for free in four episodes from December 15-18 on the Field of Vision website. Read More: Meet the New Face of Journalism: Cinema, Powered by Oscar Winner Laura Poitras' Field of Vision...

Last week, we had fun chiming in on how Sundance 2016 might look like with our Sundance predictions list. Our series was exactly one short from the promised 75. We decided to switch things up this year. Our last pick is reserved for what is a next to impossible, needle in the haystack guess at what films might break into the short film sections. Out of the 8000 plus submissions the Sundance Short Film programmers will receive, they’ll end up selecting a little less than a hundred short films. Here are some ideas as to who and what could show up.

The Bulb and The Procedure

No stranger to Park City, Calvin Reeder has supplied the fest with features such as The Oregonian (2011), The Rambler (2013) and could very well bring this Kickstarter pairing to public access television blitz and X-Files love. Production wrapped in August. Actors Linas Phillips and Christian Palmer star.

Field of Vision, the documentary unit launched earlier this year by "Citizenfour" director Laura Poitras, Aj Schnack and Charlotte Cook, has announced its premiere of "Eric & 'Anna,'" from directors Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway, who previously worked on the award-winning documentary "Better this World." Read More: Oscar Winner Laura Poitras on How Field of Vision Will Change Documentary Filmmaking The film, which is a short documentary, is woven entirely from FBI footage and provides a compelling vantage point from which to consider the personal, political and moral implications of surveillance. To watch the film on The Intercept, click here. Approximately one film each week will be published on The Intercept through December, with a second season debuting in early 2016.  Read More: Meet the New Face of Journalism: Cinema, Powered by Oscar Winner Laura Poitras' Field of Vision...

Read More: Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2015 Shorts List Cinema Eye has released its list of "The Unforgettables," 2015's most notable and significant nonfiction film subjects. Among the recognized figures are Amy Winehouse in "Amy," the Angulo Brothers in "The Wolfpack," Iris Apfel in "Iris" and Brenda Myers-Powell in "Dreamcatcher." The list includes the subjects of 15 films in total. "We’re proud to recognize the deeply collaborative nature of documentary filmmaking by celebrating the subjects at the heart of some of the year’s best films," said Cinema Eye Founding Director Aj Schnack, adding, "It’s especially appropriate to see that our voters have included our friend Albert Maysles and his subject Iris Apfel, since it was Al’s words about the relationship between subjects and filmmakers at Cinema Eye in 2011 that led us to create this distinctive honor." The full list of 2015's "The...

With an ambitious new visual-journalism unit at The Intercept, the Citizenfour director is planning to take non-fiction film-making into the unknown

Laura Poitras doesn’t like to rest on her laurels. Less than a year after winning a Pulitzer prize for reporting on Edward Snowden’s Nsa revelations and netting an Oscar for the ensuing documentary Citizenfour, she’s back in the spotlight with Asylum: a new short-form episodic series. In it she shadows Julian Assange as he publishes classified diplomatic cables and seeks asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.

Three episodes of her series, which serve as a prequel of sorts to Citizenfour, premiered on Sunday at the New York film festival. The shorts – scored by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails – were completed under the banner of Poitras’s new visual journalism unit, Field of Vision, which she recently launched with fellow film-maker Aj Schnack and producer/writer Charlotte Cook,...