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Ross McDonnell, an Irish filmmaker known for his Emmy-winning cinematography on “The Trade,” has died, his family confirmed more than a week after his body was reportedly found on a New York City beach. He was 44.

McDonnell died “unexpectedly” on Nov. 5, according to a notice on Rip.ie. NBC News reported Monday that the “remains appeared to be of filmmaker Ross McDonnell.”

The police received a 911 call on Nov. 17 about a torso with human legs attached found lying in the sand at Queens’ Breezy Point Beach. McDonnell disappeared earlier this month and was last seen on Nov. 4 leaving his apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn on his bicycle — which was later discovered locked at Fort Tilden Beach in Queens on the Rockaway Peninsula next to Breezy Point.

The cause of death will be determined by the New York City medical examiner’s office. NBC’s sources reported that no foul play is suspected,...

After media speculation about a dismembered body found on a beach in Queens on Friday, CNBC and other outlets, citing “police sources,” are saying the remains “may be” those of Emmy-winning Irish filmmaker Ross McDonnell, 44. Police have not yet publicly confirmed or denied those reports.

McDonnell has been missing since November 4, when he went for a bike ride in his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. His bike was later found locked up at Fort Tilden Beach in Queens. That’s a mile or two away from Breezy Point Beach, where the headless and armless body was found on Friday.

McDonnell’s friends reportedly later found some of his clothes on the beach, and the thought is he might have gone swimming. A police source told the New York Daily News they believe the body was dismembered by the sharp rocks, waves and marine life over the past two weeks before it washed ashore.

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...

Content to kick off sales in Cannes; production to commence later this year.

Whoopi Goldberg and Giancarlo Esposito have joined previously announced Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church on the comedy Shriver.

Content will introduce the project to international buyers on the Croisette next week. The project is in pre-production and will shoot later in the year.

Shriver centres on a loner who gets mistaken for a famous reclusive author and assumes the writer’s identity.

The loner attends a conference in honour of the writer while masquerading as the star of the show, and falls for an English professor as the real scribe turns up.

Michael Maren directs from a screenplay he adapted from the novel of the same name by Chris Belden.

Thruline’s Josh Kesselman and Alfred Sapse are producing.

Content president of film Jamie Carmichael said: “From the very beginning we just loved the clever premise and I’m already imagining the laugh-out-loud...

Sci-fi described as cross between Arrival, Moon, and The Machine.

Content Media has bolstered its Cannes slate with worldwide sales rights to Seth Larney’s elevated sci-fi 2067.

President of Film Jamie Carmichael and executive vice-president of sales and distribution Jonathan Ford will introduce the project excluding Australia and Canada to buyers later this month.

Larney will direct 2067 from his original screenplay that takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change as mankind looks to the future to solve the problems of the present.

The sci-fi is set to commence production later this year in Australia and is described as cross between Arrival, Moon, and The Machine.

Lisa Shaunessy and Leonie Mansfield of Arcadia serve as producers with Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures, and Kate Croser of Kojo Entertainment. Michael Rymer serves as executive producer.

Larney directed the Malaysian fantasy Tombiruo, which is in post, and served as second unit director on Sundance entry Killing Ground. He has...

Exploring the personal and geopolitical political fall-out of the Elián González saga, Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden’s documentary is a comprehensive look at what occurred and its ramifications as the media and various stakeholders take charge of a narrative that the film’s narrator, Raul Esparza, points out was really only a five-year-old’s story to tell. Along with extensive archival materials, there’s also new interviews with subjects linked to the saga: Elián himself, now 23; his then-21-year old cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, who would become his caretaker and voice in the media; Jose Antonio Llama, the former head of the Cuban American National Foundation; Ins commissioner Dorris Meissner; Alan Diaz, an AP reporter who took the iconic picture of an Ins agent taking Elián at gun point; and, of course, Donato Dalrymple, the fisherman who found González tied to an inner tube and who never missed a chance to tell his story then,...

"What happened to me wasn't a movie. It was a true story." CNN Films along with Gravitas Ventures have revealed the official trailer for a documentary titled Elián, examining the story of Cuban immigrant Elián González. You may remember the story of Elián because it was huge news back in 1999/2000. Elián was 5-years-old when his mother attempted to take a small boat from Cuba to Florida. González's mother and ten others died in the crossing, but Elián was saved by a fisherman. The film tells his complete story for the first time, featuring interviews with González and his family, and narration by Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza. This is obviously a very timely doc now considering the immigration concerns in America, but it's also an important doc about humanity and everyone's eternal struggle to live a better life. Take a look below. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Tim Golden & Ross McDonnell's doc Elián,...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Gravitas Ventures has acquired the U.S. theatrical, digital and video rights to “Elián,” the story of Elián González, a five-year-old Cuban boy plucked from the Florida Straits on Thanksgiving Day in 1999, and how the fight over his future sparked a flashpoint for U.S. and Cuban tensions. Directed by Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden, the film is executive produced by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.

Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Fox Searchlight Picks Up ‘The Spy With No Name,’ FilmRise Buys ‘Marjorie Prime’ and More

“Elián” is slated for a platform theatrical release beginning in New York and Los Angeles on May 19. The film will also be premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival on...

Separately, Tribeca selections Elián goes to Gravitas Ventures while From The Ashes lands at National Geographic. Factory 25 takes Tribeca 2016 entry Icaros: A Vision.

Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights to Tom Of Finland, Dome Karukoski’s biopic about the life and work of Finnish artist and gay icon Touko Laaksonen.

Laaksonen was a pioneer in postwar erotic art whose work inspired the early days of the gay liberation movement and became a symbol for generations of Lgbtq people worldwide.

Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Taisto Oksanen, Seumas Sargent, Jakob Oftebro and Niklas Hogner star in the Helsinki Film production.

The film’s screenwriter Aleksi Bardy produced alongside Miia Haavisto and Annika Sucksdorff of Helsinki Film.

Gunnar Carlsson of Anagram Väst in Sweden, Miriam Nørgaard of Fridthjof Film in Denmark, and Ingvar Thordarson and Sophie Mahlo of Neutrinos Productions Germany were co-producers, in collaboration with Mike Downey and Sam Taylor of Film and Music Entertainment...

Exclusive: Prior to its April 21 premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Elian, the documentary about the five-year old boy who became embroiled in a United States-Cuban immigration controversy and custody battle 17 years ago, has been picked up by Gravitas Ventures for U.S. theatrical, digital, and video distribution. Pic will roll out in New York and Los Angeles on May 19. While the pic recounts the remarkable survival story of Elian Gonzalez, directors Ross McDonnell…...