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Bob Costas won't be sitting down for a third season of Back On the Record. HBO has cancelled the interview series, which features extended conversations with figures from sports, entertainment, and pop culture. The eighth and final episode aired last month.

Though it debuted in July 2021, Back On the Record was just the latest of several HBO interview series hosted by Costas. He was awarded seven Sports Emmy Awards as host of On The Record with Bob Costas (2001-2004) and Costas Now (2005-2009).

Guests over the two seasons of Back On the Record have included Rasheda Ali, Carmelo Anthony, Charles Barkley, Ken Burns, Billy Crystal, Jerry Jones, Bomani Jones, Billie Jean King, Peyton Manning, John McEnroe, Candace Parker, Aly Raisman, and Lindsey Vonn. Read More…...

The Atlantic Festival, the signature event held each fall in Washington D.C. by The Atlantic, is returning next week as once again a virtual gathering, with a varied lineup that includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, writer-producer David Chase and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.

The event also is running longer this year, from Sept. 22-24 and Sept. 27-30.

While this year has seen some return to in-person conferences and conventions, the summer uptick in cases due to the Delta variant has scrambled plans of some organizations.

The National Association of Broadcasters this week announced that it was canceling its show, slated for October, that has been one of the larger conventions held in Las Vegas. In D.C., the fall season, typically a prime time for book parties, panels and fundraisers, but organizers have been proceeding cautiously, either going all virtual or a hybrid with proof-of-vaccination or testing as in-person entry requirement.

In a new Netflix documentary, film-maker Marcus A Clarke explores the relationship between the two civil rights figures

Blood Brothers’ director, Marcus A Clarke, wants to show us a side of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali that we’re not familiar with, which is a considerable challenge. The two civil rights icons are the subjects of multiple biographies and documentaries, not to mention biopics directed by legends like Spike Lee (Malcolm X) and Michael Mann (Ali). And they were recently portrayed getting spirited and sentimental together in Regina King’s Oscar-nominated film One Night In Miami.

Related: ‘My dad’s movement is coming full circle’: Rasheda Ali on a boxing legacy...

Fall festival season officially launches this week, and the programmers at the Telluride Film Festival are ready to make up for time lost last year amid the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, just a day before the Telluride Film Festival officially kicks off for 2021, organizers announced an enormous lineup of 80 features, including the premieres of multiple buzzy awards contenders like Will Smith in “King Richard,” Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical drama “Belfast,” Joe Wright’s “Cyrano,” and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” (which will also screen during this year’s Venice Film Festival).

“I do think we’ve got the best movies of the year,” Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger told Indiewire in an interview. Unlike last year’s Telluride Film Festival, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic (although Telluride did announce its lineup and host a drive-in screening of “Nomadland” in Los...

As usual, Telluride Film Festival has unveiled their 2021 lineup just moments before the event gets underway. Taking place from Thursday, September 2 through Monday, September 6, 2021, the lineup features Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s King Richard, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, as well as Cannes highlights Bergman Island and Red Rocket, and more.

See the lineup below.

The Automat (d. Lisa Hurwitz, U.S., 2021) In person: Lisa Hurwitz

Becoming Cousteau (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2021) In person: Liz Garbus

Belfast (d. Kenneth Branagh, U.K., 2021) In person: Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan

Bergman Island (d. Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany/Sweden, 2021) In person: Mia Hansen-Løve

Bitterbrush (d. Emelie Mahdavian, U.S., 2021) In person: Emelie Mahdavian, Colie Moline

C’Mon C’Mon (d. Mike Mills, U.S., 2021) In person: Mike Mills,...

Mike Mills’ Joaquin Phoenix drama “C’mon C’mon,” Joe Wright’s adaptation of the Broadway musical “Cyrano” and Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” with Will Smith in the story of the tennis-titan Williams sisters and their father, Richard, are among the films that will play at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival, Telluride organizers announced on Wednesday.

The annual Colorado festival, which was canceled last year because of the Covid pandemic, has been expanded by one day this year, beginning on Thursday instead of Friday. As usual, it did not announce its relatively small and carefully curated lineup until the day before the festival begins.

Among the films that will join “C’mon C’mon,” “Cyrano” and “King Richard” as Telluride world premieres are a number of documentaries, including Liz Garbus’ “Becoming Cousteau,” E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “The Rescue,” John Hoffman and Janet Tobias’ “Fauci” and Julie Cohen & Betsy West’s “Julia.

Muhammad Ali called himself the greatest, and filmmaker Ken Burns, director of the upcoming PBS documentary series about the boxing champion, “global icon and inspiration,” is not one to disagree.

“He comes to us, first and foremost, as the greatest athlete perhaps of all time, certainly of the 20th century, and as the greatest boxer,” Burns noted during the PBS TCA presentation Wednesday. “It is not a bad thing to die the most beloved person on your planet. And he did.”

The four-part, eight-hour series titled simply Muhammad Ali airs on consecutive nights on PBS beginning September 19. Burns, who directed the series with his daughter Sarah Burns and son-in-law David McMahon, says his take differs from previous Ali documentaries in its wide lens.

“We were interested in doing a pretty comprehensive look at his life, from his birth in segregated Louisville, Kentucky in the early ’40s to his death by...

In a new documentary City of Ali, the life of Muhammad Ali is explored alongside the effect his death had on his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky

Rasheda Ali was born too late to see her father in the arena in all his swaggering pomp but, thanks to the magic of film, the quick step, verbal taunts and regal bearing of Muhammad Ali never fade. “I watch him boxing all the time because he was so good at it,” she says. “It was like watching a Shakespearean actor. He was so beautiful when he moved.

“I don’t see that today. My dad had so much passion for the sport; he loved it so much. The earlier years in his prime, it was wonderful to watch him dance around the ring. It’s something that I don’t think we’ll ever see again.”...

Abramorama has acquired global distribution rights to “City of Ali,” a documentary that examines how the death of Muhammad Ali brought the people of his Kentucky hometown together for one memorable week.

The film is directed by Graham Shelby and produced by Jonathan McHugh (“Long Live Rock…Celebrate the Chaos”). It features interviews from Asaad Ali, Lonnie Ali, Rahman Ali, Rasheda Ali, Mayor Greg Fischer, members of the Muhammad Ali Center and many more.

Following a premiere event on June 3, screenings of “City of Ali” will take place throughout the week at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, as part of the annual Ali Festival, a weeklong community event that celebrates Muhammad’s legacy. It will be held from June 3 to June 13. “City of Ali” is set to have a national release Friday, June 4 as a Watch Now @ Home Cinema Release, via Abramorama.

“Muhammed Ali has been a shining example...

We Day, the world’s largest youth empowerment event, announced today the initial lineup of powerful speakers and performers attending We Day Illinois on April 25, 2018, at The Allstate Arena.

Alongside title sponsor The Allstate Foundation and other sponsors, We Day Illinois brings together 15,000 local youth who have made a difference in their communities for a life-changing experience celebrating the power of social change.

Now in its fourth year, We Day Illinois will bring together speakers, presenters and performers including Rasheda Ali, Ally Brooke, Celebrity Marauders, Lonnie Chavis, Monique Coleman, Grammy Award winner Daya, Jordan Fisher, Chris Gardner, Former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard, Anthony Gonzalez, Laurie Hernandez, Jack & Jack, Skai Jackson, Kenyan Boys Choir, Jason Mayden, Johnny Orlando, Jenna Ortega, Dr. Jacqueline Sanderlin, Becky Savage, Myreanna Smith, Esera Tuaolo, Margaret Trudeau, Cleo Wade, Spencer West and more. This dynamic lineup will join international activists and We co-founders, Marc and...