News

Exclusive: When Andy Mundy-Castle took to the stage at the 2024 BAFTA Television Awards to collect his trophy for winning the Best Specialist Factual category for Channel 5 doc White Nanny, Black Child, he delivered one of that night’s most unexpectedly memorable speeches.

His voice cracked with emotion as he told an enraptured audience his story: “I come from a council estate in Brixton and this place has been a tough, tough challenge for me to consistently prevail in, and it means a lot. I watched this show for many years as a teenager and I dreamt of being on this stage.”

Spontaneous applause broke out before he added, “I’d just like to say to everybody watching at home who may come from the same background as me: Keep on dreaming, keep on working, get into good trouble.”

In an interview with Deadline, he recalls the evening: “It happened...

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Yance Ford has been named visiting artistic director of the 2026 edition of True/False, the preeminent international non-fiction documentary festival in Columbia, Mo.

Ford will lead the programming team to curate a lineup of over 30 new creative nonfiction films that will screen at the 23rd edition of True/False in March.

“As visiting artistic director for True/False 2026, I’m thinking about how we can keep the festival grounded in creative risk and personal perspective, where you can feel the filmmaker’s hand in both the story and craft,” says Ford. “The goal is to curate work that feels driven by inquiry. Films that are honest and creatively purposeful, inquisitive, and formally alive.”

Launched in 2004 by co-founders David Wilson and Paul Sturtz, True/False is more of a showcase than premiere festival. The community-based affair is known for its enthusiastic, politically diverse audience and upbeat vibe, making the...

I’m Not Your Negro, The Invisible War, Minding the Gap, The Mole Agent, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail: These are just a sampling of the iconic films that Itvs has co-produced with independent filmmakers for decades, more than 900 films over the last 35 years.

But the future of our public-private partnership is at risk with the short-sighted and destructive July 18 vote to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Cpb) by Congress. Itvs, which is funded by Cpb, will continue to receive federal funding until Sept. 30, 2025 and then nearly $9 million annually will no longer go to independent documentary filmmakers.

It’s perhaps ironic that Itvs was founded in 1989 through a visionary and bipartisan act of Congress that instructed Cpb to fund an independent television service that would serve the American public with innovative and diverse content made by independent producers. Since then, Itvs’ mission — done in partnership with PBS, series like American Masters and Pov,...

Exclusive: Prolific doc makers from both sides of the Atlantic are teaming up for a doc series on Afrobeats icon Fela Kuti.

Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams and his One Story Up banner has teamed with BAFTA-winning UK producer Andy Mundy-Castle’s DocHearts to create the program, which we understand is likely to be a four-part limited series on the African music pioneer.

Access has been secured to those close to the late Nigerian star, whose funeral in 1997 attracted hundreds of thousands of people. His focus on meshing West African music with funk and jazz, along with his ultra-charismatic performances, made him one of the 20th Century’s most important musicians, influencing the likes of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

“We’re embarking on a landmark project to tell the definitive story of a radical African icon whose fearless fusion of music and politics shook the...

The entertainment world is yet buzzing with another news, and this time it is about a veteran actress who is set for a collaboration with an actor rumored to take on a major role in a secret Marvel Cinematic Universe project.

The Substance actress Demi Moore’s quest for an Oscar is leading her to forge new developments in her career, and it is with Colman Domingo, who will probably be playing a villain for Marvel soon. As we delve into this story, one thing is clear: Hollywood is unpredictable yet full of surprises for its fans.

Demi Moore’s hunt for an Oscar is making her forge surprising collaborations

Demi Moore’s powerful performance in The Substance earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the 2025 ceremony. However, it failed to make it through the Oscars, making Moore lose to Anora’s Mikey Madison,...

Exclusive: Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams has won numerous honors in his career – an Academy Award for Music by Prudence, Primetime Emmy Awards for The 1619 Project and The Apollo, two News and Documentary Emmys for Life, Animated, a directing award from Sundance also for Life, Animated, and many others.

Tonight, he will be in New York for an awards ceremony – not to receive one himself but for the presentation of one named in his honor. The inaugural Roger Ross Williams Documentary Award will be unveiled by the City College of New York (Ccny) as part of The Americas Film Festival of New York celebration of Ccny’s Mfa and Bfa Film Programs.

The award will go to the best documentary by a Bfa or Mfa student at Ccny.

“The newly established Roger Ross Williams Documentary Award is named in honor of Roger Ross Williams, a groundbreaking filmmaker and a trailblazer in nonfiction storytelling,...

Emmy-winning writer, producer and actor Lena Waithe has signed on to executive produce the documentary feature “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” from filmmaker Elegance Bratton.

The film documents a group of friends out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago as they turn a new sound into a global movement. In the chaos of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, a teenage usher named Vince Lawrence witnessed the fiery backlash against disco—a sound that defined freedom and pride. Undeterred by the hostility, Vince used his earnings to buy a synthesizer, setting in motion a journey that would change music forever.

“I am incredibly grateful for Lena’s support as we continue to bring the story and music of ‘Move Ya Body’ to audiences,” said Bratton. “Lena has an undeniable love for storytelling, music and dance which mirrored the vision we had when we...

On June 5, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2025 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for some of the most impressive and engaging work of this TV season. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind television well worth toasting. In the days leading up to the event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.

Below, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi reveals the personal qualities that make “Forever” creator Mara Brock Akil a star professional worthy of the Visionary Award at IndieWire Honors.

I had the opportunity to executive produce alongside Mara Brock Akil our award-winning Netflix documentary, “Stamped from the Beginning,” directed by Roger Ross Williams. I had the opportunity to travel around the world with Mara to promote our film. I had the opportunity to be a witness to Mara Brock Akil.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSEyes Wide Shut.Favorable tax breaks, a sturdy filmmaking infrastructure, and a more stable political climate have made London a new locus for film production, especially in the wake of American post-strike budget reductions and the recent spate of wildfires. However, it’s unclear whether President Trump’s ever-changing tariff policy will affect London’s status as a haven for American productions.On the eve of the Cannes Film Festival, over 100 film and television organizations appealed to various governments and organizations to “stand firm and safeguard the systems that support independent film and audiovisual creation” in light of President Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs on film imports. Hundreds of actors and filmmakers have signed a letter condemning...

Just outside the Motion Picture Association in Washington D.C., the street-wide, two-block letters that spelled out “Black Lives Matter” have been removed. The disappearance of the streetscape, put in place following the George Floyd protests in 2020, is indicative of what’s happened in Trump 2.0 — an all-out war on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, in the government and outside of it. Hollywood has had a varied response, with some entertainment figures speaking out, while studios and their corporate parents have tried to lay low, for now.

But there’s quite a contrast between pre- and post-Trump. Universal’s Wicked, which premiered in November, is still promoted on Comcast’s corporate page for its diversity, equity and inclusion (Dei), including a lead character who uses a wheelchair. By contrast, the March release of Snow White, with Rachel Zegler, a Latina actress, in the lead, put Disney into a bit of a...

Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are set to star in Strange Arrivals, an alien abduction-themed romance inspired by the true story of Betty and Barney Hill and based on the podcast by Toby Ball.

Betty and Barney Hill were “an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that notoriety simmered the truth of what really happened that night, which would test even the most epic of romances.“

Roger Ross Williams (Stamped from the Beginning) will direct Strange Arrivals for See-Saw Films, based on a screenplay by Jane Anderson (Olive Kitteridge).

In a statement, Williams said, “As a director, to be able to work with actors at the top of their craft, is a dream. Demi and Colman coming together for the first time to...

Will some serious star power reinvigorate the Cannes Film Market?

That’s the big question facing sales agents as studios and streamers hit the Croisette on the prowl for compelling new movies. At Sundance, Berlin and Toronto, the movie business seemed to be in the throes of a massive contraction. Having spent freely while launching their own in-house challengers to Netflix, studios like Warner Bros., Disney and Paramount, along with their indie brethren, were in full-on cost-cutting mode. Complicating matters was the fact that after being burned by overspending for projects and packages at festivals in the past, tech giants like Apple and Amazon have instead concentrated on producing in-house content. That left many filmmakers still searching for distribution long after the crowds dispersed.

But there’s something about the sunshine — or maybe the free-flowing rosé — in the South of France that always leads to a bidding war or two.

After both receiving Oscar nominations this year, Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are set to star in an exciting new romance film that blends love with a thrilling alien abduction twist. Titled Strange Arrivals, we've shared everything there is to know so far about this upcoming movie down below.

Strange Arrivals comes from See-Saw Films. One Story Up also works together with See-Saw Films to produce the movie. Roger Ross Williams (Stamped from the Beginning) is signed on to direct with Jane Anderson penning the script. Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Samantha Lang, and Anne Carey are producers. In addition, Simon Gillis, Garth Davis, Williams, Thorsten Schumacher, Aaron Mahnke, Bob Pittman, Conal Byrne, and Geoff Martz are executive producers of the film.

Based on Toby Ball's podcast of the same name, the movie's story is inspired by a real-life event involving Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple from the 1960s.

After earning Oscar nominations, Demi Moore (“The Substance”) and Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) are teaming up for “Strange Arrivals,” which has quite the elevator pitch for a new feature film centred around an interracial couple in the 1960s.

Variety reports that the film, from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and See-Saw Films (“Slow Horses”), will revolve around one of the first documented stories of an alien abduction and is yet another exciting film heading to the Cannes Film Market this month.

Continue reading ‘Strange Arrivals’: Demi Moore & Colman Domingo Lead ’60s-Set Romantic Alien Abduction Pic at The Playlist.

Williams revive el caso Hill, el primer registro de abducción alienígena en Ee. Uu. © Getty Images

Según informa Deadline, Demi Moore (La sustancia) y Colman Domingo (Las vidas de Sing Sing) protagonizarán la película Strange Arrivals, el nuevo largometraje del oscarizado Roger Ross Williams (Cassandro) basado en el podcast de Toby Ball y adaptado por Jane Anderson (Star Trek: Discovery).

Strange Arrivals, que se presentará en el Marché du Film de Cannes, te de la historia real de Betty y Barney Hill, una pareja interracial cuya presunta abducción extraterrestre en 1961, mientras volvían de su luna de miel en las cataratas del Niágara, se convirtió en el primer caso documentado de este tipo en Estados Unidos. Su caso les catapultó a la fama y a la celebridad, pero bajo esa notoriedad latía a fuego lento la verdad de lo que realmente ocurrió aquella noche, que pondría a prueba hasta el más épico de los romances.

Colman Domingo and Demi Moore are teaming up for a new movie!

Hot off their respective Oscar nominations, the 55-year-old Sing Sing actor and the 62-year-old The Substance actress have signed on to star in the alien abduction-themed romance movie Strange Arrivals.

The movie is based on the podcast from Toby Ball, which Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams will direct. Emmy-winning playwright and screenwriter Jane Anderson will be writing the screenplay.

Keep reading to find out more… Strange Arrivals “is inspired by the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that notoriety simmered the truth of what really happened that night, which would test even the most epic of romances,” according to Deadline.

In a recent interview,...

The Barney and Betty Hill Incident is one that anyone interested in alien abduction tales is well acquainted with, and it’s the basis for an upcoming feature titled Strange Arrivals.

Variety reports that Demi Moore (The Substance) and Colman Domingo (Candyman) will star in Strange Arrivals for See-Saw films, described as “an epic romance.”

Oscar-winner Roger Ross Williams (Music by Prudence) is directing the film.

Strange Arrivals is, in Variety’s words, “inspired by the incredible true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that notoriety simmered the truth of what really happened that night, which would test even the most epic of romances.”

“As a director, to be able to work with actors at the top of their craft,...

Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are about to star in an epic romance movie with an alien twist. They will play Betty and Barney Hill, famous figures in the UFO community, in the Roger Ross Williams-directed Strange Arrivals.

The story of Betty and Barney Hill is a fascinating one. For a start, they were an interracial couple in the early '60s, which was rare enough in of itself. But then came the alleged alien abduction.The Hills always maintained that they were abducted by aliens while driving back from Nigara Falls in September 1961. They even underwent hypnosis to explain what they saw, but naturally many people disbelieved them, claiming they hallucinated as a result of sleep deprivation.

Moore was a darling of '90s cinema, and recently made her comeback with horror film The Substance, for which she was nominated for an Oscar for. Domingo is likewise an Oscar nominee,...

Demi Moore has joined the cast of 'Strange Arrivals'.The 62-year-old actress will join Colman Domingo in the alien-themed romance film, which is based on the podcast by Toby Ball and will be directed by Roger Ross Williams, with Jane Anderson writing the script.In a statement on the project, Williams told Deadline: “As a director, to be able to work with actors at the top of their craft, is a dream. Demi and Colman coming together for the first time to bring Jane Anderson’s beautiful script that illuminates the human condition to life, will be magic. I am also thrilled to work alongside the remarkable team at See-Saw. They have an amazing track record of making artist-driven stories, and we couldn’t be in better hands.”The plot is based on the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, a couple who, in 1961, claimed they had been abducted...

Broadway alum Colman Domingo, along with Demi Moore, will star in the new romance film, Strange Arrivals, according to a report from Deadline. Both stars were nominated for Academy Awards this past season for Sing Sing and The Substance, respectively. Based on the podcast of the same name from Toby Ball, the new movie will be written by playwright and screenwriter Jane Anderson. Strange Arrivals is based on the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, a couple who claimed they were abducted by aliens in rural New Hampshire in 1961. Though the story catapulted them to fame, they faced infamy, which would ultimately test their relationship. Directed by Roger Ross Williams for See-Saw Films, the movie will be produced by <a...

Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are set to star together in “Strange Arrivals” an epic romance from See-Saw Films.

Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams is directing the film, which Rocket Science and Cross City Film will launch in Cannes.

“Strange Arrivals” is inspired by the incredible true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that notoriety simmered the truth of what really happened that night, which would test even the most epic of romances.

The film will be produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Samantha Lang and Anne Carey. Executive Producers are Simon Gillis, Garth Davis, Roger Ross Williams, Thorsten Schumacher, Aaron Mahnke, Bob Pittman, Conal Byrne and Geoff Martz. “Strange Arrivals” was developed at See-Saw’s label I Am That,...

Hot off respective Oscar nominations for The Substance and Sing Sing, Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are set to star in Strange Arrivals, an alien abduction-themed romance based on the podcast from Toby Ball, which Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams (Stamped from the Beginning) will direct for See-Saw Films.

Rocket Science will launch international sales at Cannes, in partnership with Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm. WME Independent, CAA Media Finance and Cross City Films are co-repping U.S. rights.

Adapted for the screen by Jane Anderson, the Emmy-winning playwright and screenwriter behind titles like The Wife and Olive Kitteridge, Strange Arrivals is inspired by the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that...

It’s always interesting to see which films are able to keep up their film festival momentum after buzzy premieres at early-in-the-year fests like Sundance and SXSW. Two to keep an eye on? Cole Webley’s Sundance premiere “Omaha” and Xander Robin’s SXSW crowdpleaser “The Python Hunt,” both of which just notched new wins over the weekend at the 2025 Miami Film Festival.

“The Python Hunt” picked up the Made in Mia Feature Film Award, sponsored by Panavision, which is designed to honor films “of any genre that prominently feature South Florida in their story, setting, and filming location, and best utilize South Florida’s story and theme for universal resonance.” Robin’s film, a documentary about snake-hunters in the Everglades, sure sounds like it fits the bill.

And Webley’s deep-feeling John Magaro-starring family drama, “Omaha,” earned the Jordan Ressler First Feature Award, created by the South Florida...

For a documentary filmmaker, there’s no greater compliment than to hear the words, “Your film made an impact.”

For that reason, it was particularly significant this week for Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams to earn the Impact Award from the Miami Film Festival.

“It means so much now in this day and age when everything I know and value is under assault,” Williams tells Deadline. “And especially documentary is under assault. We don’t even see ‘impact documentaries’ anymore. We see them at festivals, but they’re not being sold. The buyers aren’t really interested in impact documentaries anymore. So, it’s particularly meaningful and important that the Miami Film Festival has given me this award at this time in history.”

The presentation of the award, made by Mff executive director James Woolley, came after a screening of Williams’ 2023 feature Stamped From the Beginning – one of the rare...

The 42nd Miami Film Festival began Thursday, launching a 10-day program that includes almost 200 narrative, documentary, and short films from 45 countries. Thirty-five titles are making their world premiere during the event, which runs through April 13.

The festival opened with the Florida premiere of Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares), the latest work from Julie Delpy. Though originally scheduled to attend both the screening and a special 30th anniversary event for Before Sunrise, Delpy was unable to travel due to her casting in Ruben Östlund’s upcoming film The Entertainment System Is Down.

“She really, really wanted to be here,” said Lauren Cohen, the festival’s director of programming, during the event at the Olympia Theater. “This film means a lot to her.”

Delpy’s film, set in Brittany, France, follows a town preparing to host Ukrainian refugees, only to find itself navigating unexpected complications when Syrian migrants arrive instead. The title...

For the next 10 days, Miami will be known for sun, sea – and cinema.

The 42nd annual Miami Film Festival got underway Thursday night and before it wraps on Sunday, April 13, it will have presented almost 200 narrative, documentary and short films, hailing from 45 countries. The program includes 35 world premieres.

The festival kicked off with the Florida premiere of Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares), the latest film directed by Julie Delpy. The French actor-filmmaker was expected to be on hand for the event – as well as for a 30th anniversary screening of Before Sunrise today – but as Deadline reported, she was just cast in Ruben Östlund’s upcoming movie The Entertainment System Is Down.

“We’re obviously very sad that [Julie] can’t join us tonight,” Mff Director of Programming Lauren Cohen told the audience at the Olympia Theater. “She really, really wanted to be here… She was so, so sad to miss...

Updated: Hamdan Ballal and his fellow “No Other Land” filmmakers are expressing gratitude to top members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for signing a letter urging Academy leadership to take a stronger stance in condemning an attack on Ballal by Israeli settlers.

The Academy released a statement Wednesday condemning “harming artists” but did not name the individuals involved. By Thursday morning, a letter began circulating among AMPAS members criticizing the Academy’s leadership for failing to publicly support Ballal.

As of Monday afternoon, nearly 900 Academy members — including actor Mark Ruffalo, director Ava DuVernay and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón — had signed the letter denouncing the Academy’s silence following Ballal’s reported detainment by Israeli authorities. Most recent signatories include J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Ben Affleck, Jane Fonda and more.

Ballal and his fellow “No Other Land” directors shared the following letter with all the signatories:

Dear friends,...

Updated, 12:50 Pm: More than 900 Academy members have now signed the letter, including actors Carey Mulligan, Glenn Close, Andrew Garfield, America Ferrera, Edward Norton, Jane Fonda, Pedro Pascal, Kristin Scott Thomas, Frances Fisher and Elizabeth Olsen; actor-directors Taika Waititi, Ben Affleck and Todd Field; filmmakers Denis Villeneuve, Michael Moore, Stephen Frears, Abigail Disney, Asif Kapadia, Jay Roach, J.J. Abrams and Michael Mann; composer Carter Burwell; Board of Governors VP/Secretary Howard Rodman (writers branch); and all three documentary branch Governors — Simon Kilmurry, Chris Hegedus, and Jean Tsien.

Exclusive: Deadline has learned the Academy’s board of governors is meeting in extraordinary session this morning to confront a deepening crisis over its response to the beating and detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of No Other Land.

As that meeting nears an 11 am Pacific Time start, Deadline can report a new statement has been signed by...

Following his attack by Israeli settlers and subsequent arrest by Israeli authorities, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal — the co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land — has been freed.

“After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” Ballal’s co-director Yuval Abraham wrote on X. It was Abraham’s posts that helped circulate the news of Ballal’s attack, which occurred just outside his West Bank village home.

Abraham first reported on Monday, March 24 that Ballal was “lynched,...

One of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land was injured and detained after a conflict that took place on the West Bank.

Israeli director Yuval Abraham claimed on X on Monday that a group of settlers had beaten Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who was later detained by members of the Israeli military. “He has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding,” Abraham wrote.

Tuesday morning, Abraham, who co-directed No Other Land with Ballal, posted an update to say that Ballal had been released. “After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” he wrote.

The violence took place on Monday night in the village of Susiya, which is Ballal’s hometown, in the Masafer Yatta area. The activist group Center for Jewish Nonviolence said later that day that after residents of...

Update: Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning Israel-Palestine documentary “No Other Land,” has been freed, according to the latest post from co-director Yuval Abraham.

“After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” Abraham posted on X on Tuesday.

Previously: A petition to free Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning Israel-Palestine documentary “No Other Land,” has gathered more than 3,700 signatures on Change.org.

Ballal is reportedly missing after being attacked, according to a series of posts on X from co-director Yuval Abraham.

“We, members of the global film community urgently appeal for the immediate release and safety of filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of ‘No Other Land,’ the recipient of this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Reports that Mr. Ballal was forcibly removed by the Israeli army from an ambulance following a brutal attack by settlers,...

Jason Isaacs, the veteran British actor who is currently starring on the third installment of HBO’s hit limited series The White Lotus, will receive the Miami Film Festival’s Precious Gem Award on Thursday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. Et, at Miami Dade College’s Chapman Center in downtown Miami, the Mdc-hosted fest announced on Monday.

Isaacs, 61, will be presented with the prize — which is designated for “one-of-a-kind artists whose contributions to cinema are lasting and unforgettable,” and has previously been awarded to Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz, Isabelle Huppert, Rita Moreno, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Sebastian Stan — immediately following a career-retrospective interview that will be recorded in front of a festival audience for subsequent airing on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, moderated by yours truly.

Isaacs has been nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, International Emmy, Critics Choice and London Critics Circle awards, and has won Spirit,...

Elegance Bratton, whose documentary “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” had its international premiere this week at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, speaks to Variety about the relevance of house music’s history in Trump’s America, and his feelings as he prepares to shoot crime thriller “By Any Means,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Bratton, who first broke through with documentary “Pier Kids” and drama “The Inspection,” and was selected as one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2023, has a personal connection to house music because of how it empowered him as a gay teenager. When he was growing up, he was bullied because of his name. “There was all this pressure on me to be less effeminate,” he says. Within his family and community, if he were “naturally flamboyant,” “they attempted to bully or beat it out of me,” he says. Then, on television, he saw...

House music typically thumps at 120-130 beats per minute, in 4/4 time.

That’s an awfully clinical description of the sound that shakes the floor and the walls at dance clubs around the world. What’s truly important — it makes you move ya body.

That, in fact, is the title of Elegance Bratton’s new documentary – Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, which screens at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival on Monday after holding its international premiere at TiDF on Saturday.

Bratton, director of Pier Kids and The Inspection, hails from New Jersey, but his documentary takes him to Chicago, where House Music emerged in the late 1970s. “Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side,” notes TiDF, “a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.”

Vince Lawrence at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

One of those friends, Vince Lawrence, played a key role developing the music,...

The Miami Film Festival today revealed the lineup for its upcoming 42nd edition, a slate of almost 200 narratives, documentaries, and short films, including 35 world premieres.

The cinematic showcase, set to unfold April 3-13, will open with Meet the Barbarians, directed by and starring two-time Oscar nominee Julie Delpy. The French-born star and filmmaker will receive the festival’s Impact Award on April 3. The festival, a presentation of Miami Dade College, will close with On Swift Horses, the drama directed by Daniel Minahan that stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle.

Musician Willy Chirino

Mff will host the world premiere of Chirino directed by Jorge A. Soliño, “the story of Willy Chirino, one of the greatest musicians in the history of Cuban music.” Among the festival’s other world premieres are Ethan Bloom, directed by Herschel Faber; A Line of Fire, directed by Matt Shapira; Interstate,...

Miami Dade College’s (Mdc) Miami Film Festival has announced its lineup for its upcoming festival taking place from April 3 – 13 in Miami. This year’s festival includes a number of highly-anticipated premieres, plus special honoree events, anniversary celebrations, and a raft of awards-focused entrants.

Mostly, it will be quite the event for fans of Julie Delpy (count us in), whose latest directorial effort, “Meet the Barbarians,” will open the festival on April 3. The multihyphenate will also be on hand to receive the festival’s Impact Award, and on April 4, she will offer an extended introduction to a 30th-anniversary screening of Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise.” The festival will close with “On Swift Horses,” directed by Daniel Minahan, on April 12.

Other highlights include honors for Mark Duplass, Paul Feig, Melanie Lynskey, Roger Ross Williams, and Billy Zane. Other anniversary specials include “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” “Center Stage,” and “Pride & Prejudice.

The Oscars, at its best, is a time-honored tradition that focuses on the magic of the movies and the movie industry. It basks us all in the warm golden glow of massive celebrity and wealth. The faces change (every Oscar host ever has a quip or three about this being due to plastic surgery), but the iconic archetypes they fill stay the same. Who is this year's ingénue, rising star, member of the old guard, decade-long celeb finally earning a nom, fresh-faced director, standby legendary filmmaker with countless wins to their name... the list of roles goes on.

It's like the water in a river; the ripples look consistent, but the water itself continues to pass through rapidly. Under the surface of it all, though, is this unique big business's dual identity as a modern art form. The Oscars always try to remind us that behind the pretty faces are...

Exclusive: “Ukraine is like Porcelain. Easy to break but impossible to destroy.”

That is a line from the Oscar-nominated documentary Porcelain War, which just won the DGA Award for Documentary Feature for directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, the latter a Ukrainian artist also one of the subjects of the film who stayed behind to use his art, rather than guns, as he says, to put up a powerful resistance to the Ukraine war and Russia’s invasion.

Among others, three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is speaking out for the film and its cause, most recently in a virtual Q&a with the directors.

Leontyev explains to him how he learned the camera, such as used for this film, is far more powerful than a rifle, giving him a “new brush” to paint with.

Del Toro praises the film for emphasizing the value of art, but offers a stark...

New York City has hip-hop, and Chicago has house music. Although each genre became a global phenomenon, the latter still generates far less mainstream coverage. To this day, a cloud of mystery still surrounds house music with most people largely unfamiliar with its origins and its impact. Director and producer Elegance Bratton, best known for his 2022 feature debut “The Inspection,” along with Oscar and two-time Emmy winner Roger Ross Williams set out to change that with their documentary, “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House Music,” which premiered at Sundance.

Named after the 1986 Marshall Jefferson classic “Move Your Body,” widely considered the house music anthem, Bratton begins the doc with a postcard-worthy nighttime image of the city with “Chicago” in yellow letters emblazoned in the middle. Easing into the meat of the documentary, a nightclub becomes the focal point as the pulsating sounds of “Move Your Body” play as an...

Elegance Bratton’s documentary “Move Ya Body,” which tracks both the artistic evolution of house music and its historical and sociopolitical impact, emerged from the unlikeliest of sources: Hillary Clinton.

Bratton and “Move Ya Body” producers Roger Ross Williams and Chester Algernal Gordon visited the IndieWire Studio at Sundance, presented by Dropbox, to discuss the origins of the film. Williams was approached by the former Secretary of State, a Chicago native with a deep passion for the city’s distinct brand of joyfully repetitive dance music. He then brought Bratton, who was eager for a fun “palette cleanser” after directing “The Inspection,” on board.

“The project was brought to me by Roger, and he was like ‘I’ve got this project with Hillary Clinton, because she loves house music,” Bratton said. “I didn’t know she was a house head!”

Williams was excited by the enthusiasm he felt from Clinton,...

It’s hard to imagine an occasion that would make Sara Bareilles nervous, considering that the Grammy Award winner is a veteran of stages far and wide. But Friday night’s Celebrating Sundance Institute fundraiser at Park City’s Grand Hyatt Deer Valley proved to be such an event.

Upon taking her place in the ballroom lights to close out the starry event, Bareilles admitted that it was the “fancy room” that sent her nerves into overdrive. The fundraiser saw a long list of honorees and presenters take the stage including A Complete Unknown filmmaker James Mangold, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter, Glenn Close, Joel Edgerton, Marielle Heller, R.J. Cutler and Tessa Thompson. Guests making the rounds included Jon Hamm, Boots Riley, Kimberly Peirce, Roger Ross Williams and more.

Or maybe it was because the film that brought her to Sundance this year means so much to her.

When the actor known as “Russia’s Timothée Chalamet” attended the Gotham Awards last month, he never expected to come face-to-face with the real Timothée Chalamet. “It was such a crazy thing,” says “Anora” star Mark Eydelshteyn of meeting the Gotham Awards’ Visionary Tribute honoree. “I know many amazing actors, but they’re very far from me. I could feel Tim’s vibe up close. I was so lucky to talk with him, just to see that he’s a real, warm and kind person.”

You can expect more moments like this in the near future. Ever since Italian star Ever since Italian star Sophia Loren became the first actor to win an Oscar for a non-English speaking role in 1961 for “Two Women,” few award seasons have boasted as many top acting contenders from outside the U.S. as this one — which is not to say that it’s been an easy road for them.

Doc Short Contenders Give Voters Plenty to Ponder

The 15 films that made the shortlist in the Oscars’ documentary short category are all powerful and thought-provoking, making the competition for an Academy Award nod incredibly stiff this year.

Leading the charge are “Incident,” “The Only Girl in the Orchestra,” “The Quilters,” “Death by Numbers” and “Keepers.”

The first 89 seconds of Bill Morrison’s police brutality doc “Incident” is silent. Security footage captures a street in Chicago on a July afternoon in 2018. Minutes later, a man is dead. Through a series of recordings of CCTV and police bodycam footage captured from different vantage points, Morrison offers a raw look at the Chicago police shooting of a Black man. The 29-minute New Yorker film won the best short documentary award at the 2023 IDA Documentary Awards and garnered a spot on the influential Doc NYC shortlist earlier this year.

Netflix’s “The Only Girl...

Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World, a compelling new documentary short directed by Julio Palacio, chronicles the extraordinary story of Makayla, a teenage girl living with a rare form of autism that has rendered her essentially nonverbal. 

Her parents, driven by an unwavering belief in her potential, embarked on a remarkable journey to uncover and understand the true depth of her inner world. Premiering Dec. 11 on Netflix, the film, which wonBest Documentary Short at Tribeca Film Festival 2024,captures their dedication and the profound experiences that have defined Makayla's life.

Executive produced by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams, Khari Cain, Mañana Cain, Rostam Zafari, and Dylan Mulick, and produced by Sam Hanson, Sasha Levinson, and Julio Palacio, Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World, is crafted with sensitivity and respect for the complexities surrounding autism. With a uniquely in-depth perspective, the film...

Demi Moore, Denis Villeneuve, Malcolm Washington and Jason Reitman were announced as this year’s honorees of the Sffilm Awards Night.

The awards night, which “honors exemplary achievement in film craft and is a fundraiser with proceeds from the event supporting the organization’s mission to discover, nurture and showcase the next generation of film artists,” according to the organization, will take place Dec. 9 at San Francisco’s Gateway Pavilion at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.

“We are so proud to honor this group of individuals as we close out 2024,” says Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks. “Their crafts and artistry elevates the cinematic experience and reminds us why we collectively love the power of film. Denis, Demi, Malcolm and Jason are all intrepid, tenacious and imaginative creatives. We look forward to honoring their work at Sffilm’s annual fundraiser.”

Villeneuve (director of Dune: Part Two) will receive the Irving M.

Oscar-winning Ukraine-Russia war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol from Frontline, PBS and The AP, took home awards in two categories at The Grierson Trust’s 2024 British Documentary Awards on Wednesday night.

In association with All3Media, the ceremony took place at London’s Roundhouse arts and music venue, where Channel 4 took home the highest number of prizes with five, followed by the BBC with three and Netflix with two.

Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days in Mariupol, which won the Academy Award for best documentary earlier this year, earned the best current affairs documentary and best cinema documentary awards Wednesday. Me and the Voice in My Head, produced by Hungry Bear Media for Channel 4 won the best single documentary – Domestic award, with Joe Tracini winning the best documentary presenter.

This year’s award winners spanned a wide range of subjects with powerful documentaries on the war in Ukraine, a Turkish singer...

Apple TV+’s Girls State and HBO’s Ren Faire scored three nominations apiece to lead all broadcast nominees announced Thursday for the 18th Cinema Eye Honors. The group, which recognizes the year’s outstanding nonfiction and documentary films and TV series, also revealed the 16-film longlist for its annual Audience Choice Prize, won last year by National Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President, which went on to get nominated for the Documentary Feature Oscar.

The past six winners of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar — this year’s winner 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Summer of Soul, My Octopus Teacher, American Factory and Free Solo — were all Audience Choice Prize nominees. Fans voting will whittle the list to 10 beginning next week, with winners in that and all categories to be announced at an awards ceremony January 9 at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem.

The full list...

Cinema Eye Honors today shared a string of announcements, including the 16 films on its Audience Choice Prize Longlist, the unveiling of this year’s Unforgettables Honorees, nominees in its five Broadcast categories, and its annual Shorts List — spotlighting 11 of the year’s top documentary short films — at its 7th annual Cinema Eye Fall Lunch in Downtown Los Angeles on October 24, 2024.

Spotlighted on the film side are several major Best Documentary Feature contenders including “Will & Harper,” “Black Box Diaries,” and “No Other Land,” which all also factored into the organization’s list of Unforgettables — standout on-camera collaborators from eight feature documentaries. This next ceremony will be the first time those honorees, like Harper Steele, Shiori Ito, and Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham for those respective films, receive a special medallion honoring their contribution to their Cinema Eye-winning films.

Highlights among the Broadcast nominees include filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, nominated for both...

The Apple TV+ documentary “Girls State” and the HBO doc series “Ren Faire” led all projects in nominations in the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast categories, which were announced on Thursday in Los Angeles.

“Girls State” was nominated in the Broadcast Film category and also for its editing and cinematography. “Ren Faire” was also nominated in those last two categories, as well as for Nonfiction Series.

Other broadcast films and series with multiple nominations included Netflix’s “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,” Apple’s “The Enfield Poltergeist,” HBO’s “Telemarketers” and National Geographic’s “Photographer.”

At its annual Cinema Eye Fall Lunch at Redbird in downtown Los Angeles, the New York-based organization also announced the Audience Choice Award Long List, 16 films that will compete for the audience-voted award; 11 semi-finalists in the short doc category; and “The Unforgettables,” its annual list of the year’s most interesting documentary subjects.

The Audience...

The Woodstock Film Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary on Saturday night with an awards ceremony that recognized excellence in independent cinema. Located in Woodstock, New York, the festival has established itself as an important platform for showcasing new talent and honoring veterans of the independent film industry.

This year’s top prize, the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature, went to the debut film “My Dead Friend Zoe” and its director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes. The film tells the moving story of a female veteran confronting her past with her grandfather, also a veteran. Members of the jury, which included renowned filmmakers Oren Moverman, Roger Ross Williams, and Debra Granik, praised the film for its emotional central performance and depiction of the tragic effects of war. “My Dead Friend Zoe” also received awards for its cinematography and editing.

In the documentary category, the Grand Jury Award went to “Porcelain War” and...