News

The Hulu series The 1619 Project and the Showtime feature Nothing Lasts Forever scored a leading three nominations apiece today as the Cinema Eye Honors announced its first round of contenders for the prestigious documentary-focused awards.

The 1619 Project, based on Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Pulitzer Prize-winning examination of slavery in North America and its impact up until the present day, earned nominations for Best Anthology Series, broadcast editing and broadcast cinematography. Oprah Winfrey, Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams and Hannah-Jones are among the producers of the six-part series.

‘Nothing Lasts Forever’

Nothing Lasts Forever, director Jason Kohn’s glittering examination of the world of diamonds – the real kind and the emergence of undetectable “synthetic” diamonds – earned nominations for Best Broadcast Film, broadcast editing and broadcast cinematography. Scroll for the full list of nominations announced today.

Other films and series that scored multiple nominations include Hulu’s Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields...

Hulu’s “The 1619 Project” and Showtime’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” lead all broadcast documentaries in nominations for the 17th annual Cinema Eye Honors, which were announced on Thursday during the Cinema Eye Fall Lunch at Redbird in downtown Los Angeles.

Each of the programs received three nominations in the five broadcast categories, with “The 1619 Project” nominated in the Anthology Series, cinematography and editing categories and “Nothing Lasts Forever” singled out in Broadcast film, cinematography and editing categories.

Other programs with multiple nominations include the broadcast movie “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” the nonfiction series “Dear Mama” and “Paul T. Goldman” and the anthology series “Edge of the Unknown With Jimmy Chin” and “Our Planet II.”

Hulu led all networks and platforms with eight nominations, followed by Netflix with five and Showtime with four.

Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based organization devoted to honoring all facets of nonfiction filmmaking, also...

Rihanna could score a touchdown at the 2023 Emmy Awards: The pop star is nominated for her explosive Super Bowl performance, where she debuted her baby bump and broke the internet.

Rihanna’s halftime show earned five Emmy nominations — and she specifically scored a bid for outstanding variety special (live), which she shares with executive producer Jay-Z. The rap mogul is also nominated for outstanding directing for a variety special, which he shares with Hamish Hamilton.

Jay-Z, along with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent, won outstanding variety special (live) last year for the 2022 Super Bowl halftime performance.

Elton John, Selena Gomez, Lizzo, Ed Sheeran, Dolly Parton and Kid Cudi were among the pop stars who also scored Emmy nominations Wednesday.

John will compete with Rihanna and Jay-Z for outstanding variety special (live), and if he wins, the Oscar, Grammy and Tony winner will become an Egot.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me Review — Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Alek Keshishian, written by Paul Marchand and Alek Keshishian and starring Selena Gomez, Nayanna Holley, Aglae Kounkou, Maestro Robinson and Benjamin Sturley. Alek Keshishian’s new documentary on the life of Selena Gomez titled Selena [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022): Alek Keshishian’s Documentary Gives Us a Hopeful Glimpse Inside a Music Star’s Mental Health Struggles...

Apple Original Films has released the trailer for the highly anticipated documentary feature about singer, songwriter, actress, producer, entrepreneur, and activist Selena Gomez, entitled Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, directed and produced by Alek Keshishian (Madonna: Truth or Dare). The announcement was on World Mental Health Day, in support of global mental health education and awareness, as Selena bravely shares her own journey in this revealing film.

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.

As a recording artist, Gomez has sold more than 210 million singles worldwide and amassed over 45 billion global streams of her music. This year, she received a Grammy nomination for her first all-Spanish EP and an Emmy nomination for her role in the critically acclaimed...

In Franco-Canadian director Guillaume de Fontenay’s compelling feature debut, a reckless reporter finds himself in Bosnia during the long and deadly Siege of Sarajevo, which began in 1992 and lasted for nearly four years.

Based on the experiences of French war correspondent Paul Marchand, Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) provides a firsthand account of the siege through the eyes of a young rebel who, as he spent more time on the ground, began to blur the lines between journalism and intervention, putting himself and others at risk. Released in France after making the festival rounds, where ...

In Franco-Canadian director Guillaume de Fontenay’s compelling feature debut, a reckless reporter finds himself in Bosnia during the long and deadly Siege of Sarajevo, which began in 1992 and lasted for nearly four years.

Based on the experiences of French war correspondent Paul Marchand, Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) provides a firsthand account of the siege through the eyes of a young rebel who, as he spent more time on the ground, began to blur the lines between journalism and intervention, putting himself and others at risk. Released in France after making the festival rounds, where ...

Guillaume de Fontenay’s film has won the Grand Prix, the Best Actor Award for Niels Schneider, as well as the Audience and Youth Jury Awards. Following its mission to highlight feature debuts and sophomore films, the 6th edition of the Saint-Jean-de-Luz International Film Festival has crowned Guillaume de Fontenay’s Sympathy for the Devil, which swept up four awards including the 2019 Grand Prix, handed out by the jury presided by director Catherine Corsini. A majority French production, the feature debut by the Canadian director was also given the Best Actor Award (for Niels Schneider), the Audience Award, and the Youth Jury Award. Written by the director together with Guillaume Vigneault and Jean Barbe and adapted from the novel by Paul Marchand, the script centres on the character of Paul Marchand who, after working in Lebanon, was for 18 months the sole special correspondent for all French radio stations during the.

Exclusive: Imagine Impact is launching its second mentoring program. The program launched last year, to find new writer voices and give them a seat at the table, pairing them with a veteran mentor and giving them a paid eight-week creative boot camp to develop saleable screenplays, teleplays and presentations that were pitched to buyers across town late last year at a Pitch Day.

The application process for Impact 2 is now underway, and Imagine Impact head Tyler Mitchell said that each and every application will be thoroughly considered. An improved infrastructure, and a dedicated app, has enabled them to handle up to 10,000 online submissions.

The application window closes Sunday, January 20th at 11:59Pm Pst. A link to the application can be found here.

Imagine Impact 1 road tested a philosophy by Imagine founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, that democratizing the creative process by inviting in new narrative voices from all over the world,...

Sales company was launched by Carole Baraton, Yohann Comte and Pierre Mazars last year.

Source: Charades

Marina Foïs in ‘Conviction’

Fledgling sales company Charades - launched by Carole Baraton, Yohann Comte and Pierre Mazars last year - makes its Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris (Dec 18-22) debut this week with two first features.

The Paris-based outfit, working out of roof-top offices above the Rendez-vous’s Gaumont Opéra Cinema screening hub, will kick off sales on Antoine Raimbault’s murder trial drama Conviction and Margaux Bonhomme’s Head Above Water, about a young woman who takes on the care of her mentally and physically challenged sister.

The company has released exclusive first looks at both films.

Source: Charades

‘Head Above Water’

“We fell in love with these personal stories at the script stage,” said Mazars and Baraton.

“They correspond with our desire to work with young film-makers and defend them internationally as well as support talented female...

Much has been said and written about the receiving and processing of music as a spiritual experience, either in the religious sense, as a way of attempting a connection with God, or in terms of feeling the lift to one’s emotions, the rush of excitement that a great piece of music well-played can offer to the human body and mind. The emotional aspect of musical transportation is pretty easily accessed, on its basest and highest planes. (Just ask any fan of screamo or Yo-Yo Ma.) And there are plenty of folks who will talk to you about how contemporary Christian artists as varied as Keith Green, Becoming Saints and Andre Crouch provide an aural pathway straight to the ear of God. For me, true incorporeal experiences with music are fairly rare. But when I hear the music of late, indisputably great jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius, or see him play,...

Nothing fits the music documentary format quite so compellingly as a life cut tragically short. In addition to the ready-made dramatic arc, a subject who leaves this mortal coil before their time usually also leaves a certain amount of mystery in their wake, providing ample grist for filmmakers (and the folks they interview) to chew on.

Even when the hows and whys of an artist's tragic exit are a matter of uncontroversial record, questions of "What might have been?" inevitably linger over their prematurely truncated discography — in itself a far...

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.

South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.

SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.

Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.

On the small screen,...

Chris Rock is being sued for $5 million by Regina Kimbell, producer and director of "My Nappy Roots: A Journey Through Black Hair-itage."

Kimbell is saying that Rock's upcoming film, "Good Hair" (opening in limited release this Friday), copied her "Nappy Roots" documentary. She claims that, "after hearing the buzz about the film, Rock requested a private screening at Paramount Studios. Unaware that Rock had a deal to produce a black hair documentary for HBO, Kimbell agreed to let him see the film."

"Good Hair" is directed by Jeff Stilson with the script written by Lance Crouther, Paul Marchand, Rock, Chuck Sklar, and Stilson.

So the issue is -- there are two documentaries about African-American hair, and Rock copied Kimbell's take on the subject. Really? A good copyright lawsuit argues that the way ideas are expressed are very similar. Upon looking at trailers for both films, I don't think there's a...