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Black Public Media awarded a total of $610,000 to film and immersive projects and creatives at its seventh PitchBLACK Forum — the largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists developing new projects about the global Black experience — at the PitchBLACK Awards.

The figure was the highest ever amount awarded at PitchBLACK. Sponsored by Netflix and PBS, the event — held Thursday at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center — was hosted by Baltimore-based comedian Sir Alex and included the presentation of the Bpm Trailblazer Award to Emmy-winning filmmaker Sam Pollard.

The winner of the $150,000 film award was Zenón, a documentary about the life of Puerto Rican fisherman and revolutionary Carlos “Taso” Zenón, who spearheaded protests against the U.S. Navy’s occupation, exploitation and environmental degradation of his home, the island of Vieques. Puerto Rican director Juan C. Dávila and producer Camila Rodríguez Estrada accepted the grant for their film about...

Exclusive: Dick Wolf and his Wolf Entertainment are planning a feature documentary about Emmett Till.

Wolf and his longtime collaborator Tom Thayer are exec producing Murder In America: The Lynching of Emmett Till, a two-hour feature documentary, alongside James Moll, the Oscar winner behind Holocaust doc The Last Days.

It will be directed by Sam Pollard, who has directed documentaries including MLK/FBI, and Llewellyn Smith, who directed South to Black Power and produced American Experience.

Based on A Few Days Full of Trouble by Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr. and Christopher Benson, the feature doc will explore two parallel tracks of the Till story. One was set in motion by the last four years of an FBI investigation with details never revealed before, including significant new revelations of the case and its findings. The traumatic memory of Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., the last surviving witness to the crime and Emmett Till’s cousin,...

Chicago – Sam Pollard has established himself as a top director of documentaries, to add to his stellar career as a film editor … including for Spike Lee. His latest doc is a deep dive into the 20th Century curiosity of the Negro League. With interviews, archival photos/footage and comprehensive storytelling, the doc is entitled “The League.”

The Negro Leagues were born because of Major League Baseball’s segregation in the first half of the 20th Century, as the owners colluded to keep blacks off their teams. It took black entrepreneur Rube Foster to organize the rag-tag “negro” teams of the era into a collective in 1920. At the League’s peak they forged their own top players, introduced a more modern speed-oriented game and produced many future stars … including Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Barely surviving the Depression, the barnstorming league changed teams and areas of the country with impunity,...

There’s no shortage of great movies about baseball, but there is a severe lack of films about the Negro leagues. The fifth inning of Ken Burns’ expansive “Baseball” covers them with admirable reverence, but feature-length projects — whether narrative or documentary — are vanishingly rare. “The League” is therefore something close to required viewing for devotees of our national pastime just by virtue of its existence, so it comes as a relief that Sam Pollard’s documentary (exec produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson) is also quite good on the merits.

Given his résumé, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Pollard’s prior work as director includes “MLK/FBI” and “Citizen Ashe,” and he’s also edited several Spike Lee joints; in addition to a Peabody Award and career achievement prize from the International Documentary Association, he shared an Oscar nomination with Lee for 1997’s “4 Little Girls” about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

During the opening frames of Sam Pollard’s “The League,” a wistful and profound documentary about the rise and fall of the Negro Leagues, baseball hall-of-famers Hank Aaron and Monte Irvin share how they played the game as kids, even when they had nothing more than broomsticks.

As footage of Black kids playing on a sandlot rush by, what’s being discussed isn’t merely successful men reminiscing about their past hardships, they’re talking about how they overcame those obstacles through resourcefulness and guile. Pollard’s newest incisive documentary about one of the largest Black-owned businesses in America, the Negro Leagues, is filled with those gems of perseverance and adaptation.

And yet, Pollard doesn’t skirt from the deeply felt dangers that afflicted these athletes living under the cloud of systemic racism. He tells this history through his narration and chronologically. He begins by straightening a misconception: Though Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier,...

Exclusive: Longtime IFC Films and Cinetic Media PR colleagues Laura Sok and Kate McEdwards are launching new PR and strategy firm, Track Shot.

Track Shot will be based in New York City and work across independent, foreign and genre films as well as distribution strategy. The duo brings more than two decades in the publicity and communications field as well as a deep knowledge of the distribution landscape. Sok and McEdwards have built and led hundreds of film campaigns during their careers working in-house and alongside major distributors on the agency side. Previously, they led PR efforts for IFC Films, IFC Midnight, Sundance Selects, IFC Films Unlimited (streaming service) and most recently Shudder and Rlje.

Their final campaign for IFC Films was Matt Johnson’s chart-topping BlackBerry. This year they also launched Kyle Edward Ball’s breakthrough feature Skinamarink for Shudder/IFC Films.

Among their many successful campaigns at IFC...

February is Black History Month, and with such a wide array of streaming options, there’s no shortage of options for learning about Black heritage and celebrating Black excellence.

Amazon Prime Video

Among the programming being promoted in Prime Video’s “Celebrating Black History Month” lineup are the new second season of “Harlem,” which follows four female friends from Harlem as they navigate their love lives and careers. There’s also the new original unscripted series “Coach Prime,” which chronicles Deion Sanders in his third year coaching football at Jackson State. Other noteworthy selections include Regina King‘s Oscar-nominated “One Night in Miami,” the acclaimed documentaries “My Name is Pauli Murray” and “I Am Not Your Negro,” the Emmy-nominated romance “Sylvie’s Love,” Spike Lee‘s “Chi-Raq,” the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” starring Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning stage adaptation “Fences” from Denzel Washington, who also stars in Prime offerings “Devil in a Blue Dress...

Photo: 'Citizen Ashe' The Problem Sam Pollard’s Sports Docs Raises Its Head A truly good documentary has to try harder to be exceptional, and that’s where a film like ‘Citizen Ashe’ strikes me as disappointing. On paper, this is a fine film; it covers the life of famous Black tennis player Arthur Ashe, who grew up in the late days of the Jim Crow South, and who by the ‘70s would become one of the most famous athletes in the country. This new film, directed by Sam Pollard and Rex Miller, explores the circumstances of Ashe’s quiet relationship with the period’s civil rights movements, and how that relationship inspired his later outspoken association with HIV/AIDS awareness. Pollard is a prolific Black documentarian, with his 2020 feature ‘MLK/FBI’ being his most notable, and Arthur Ashe’s story is undoubtedly an attractive subject for the filmmaker.

As we continue to explore the best in 2021, today we’re taking a look at the articles that you, our dear readers, enjoyed the most throughout the past twelve months. Spanning reviews, interviews, features, podcasts, news, and trailers, check out the highlights below and return for more year-end coverage as well as a glimpse into 2022 in the coming weeks.

Most-Read Reviews

10. The Dig

9. WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn

8. kid 90

7. The Green Knight

6. Dune

5. The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

4. Mortal Kombat

3. The Girl Who Got Away

2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife

1. Saint-Narcisse

Most-Read Interviews

10. Adam Nayman on David Fincher’s Complicated Auteurism

9. Sparks on Annette, Polarizing Reactions, Leos Carax’s Vision, and Their Next Film

8. Sion Sono on Briefly Dying, His Favorite Nicolas Cage Performance, and Prisoners of the Ghostland

7. John Carpenter on Scoring Halloween Kills, Videogames, and Basketball

6. Gaspar Noé on Facing Death, Casting Dario Argento,...

“Boys State,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” The Social Dilemma,” and “76 Days” all won Emmys last weekend during the Creative Arts ceremonies, but they share another distinction: They are the last documentaries able to win a statuette from the Television Academy for the same nonfiction film that successfully qualified for Academy Award consideration.

The Television Academy shut down the controversial practice of awards double-dipping earlier this year, decreeing that, beginning in 2022, any documentary placed on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences viewing platform for Oscar shortlist consideration, “will be deemed a theatrical motion picture and thus ineligible for the Emmy competition.”

The straightforward rule is expected to have major awards-season ramifications for documentaries, and filmmakers surveyed by Variety about the subject have mixed feelings about it. For decades, documentary filmmakers and the companies that back their work have campaigned for Emmy statuettes after a fight for a little gold man,...

Titans of influence from their individual trenches, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali were instrumental in carving a prideful and revolutionary vision for the future of Black people stateside and abroad over the course of some of their most media-hectic years. That the two of them were connected not solely by being contemporaries, but through an intimate, if short-lived, friendship, resonates as a sonic boom of fateful proportions.

But as the documentary “Blood Brothers” from director Marcus A. Clarke examines, the schism that ended their fraternal bond was just as thunderous. Using the same-title book by researches Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith, both talking heads in the film, as a guide, Clarke first maps out in broad strokes their separate ascents to prominence: one as a radical speaker for Black liberation and the other displaying his towering prowess in sport.

briefly traces Malcolm X’s affinity for the ideals of activist Marcus Garvey,...

“The Show,” as the Telluride Film Festival programmers refer to its annual feature program, is back this year with a wide array of documentary award season contenders.

Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Jacques Cousteau, Anthony Fauci, Francisco Fellove and the Velvet Underground are the subjects of various docus in this year’s lineup. The nonfiction lineup also includes films about cows, rivers, caves, and family dynamics.

The secretive Telluride team unveiled the 2021 program just 24 hours before the festival begins. “The festival directors are always dedicated to programming what they believe to be the best films of the year,” a fest spokesperson said. “And our documentary lineup reflects that.”

Liz Garbus and Sam Pollard were supposed to attend last year’s fest with “All In: The Fight for Democracy” and “MLK/FBI,” respectively. This year, both of the Oscar-nominated helmers will be in the small Colorado community for the premieres of their latest...

One of Jeffrey Lurie’s first jobs was cooking hot dogs and selling soda at General Cinema, his family’s chain of drive-in movie theaters. When not working the grill or pouring fountain drinks, he was tasked with checking the trunks of customers to see if anyone was sneaking in friends without buying tickets.

Decades later, Lurie has a very different day job, as the billionaire head of the Philadelphia Eagles, guiding the franchise to a Super Bowl championship in 2018 and earning a reputation as one of the most progressive owners in the NFL. He’s used his platform to promote charitable work for causes ranging from improving educational opportunities to police reform. Now, he’s turning his attention to another love — the movies, where he hopes to use cinema to shine a spotlight on social justice issues.

“There’s an opportunity in this polarized world to tell vital stories...

Though Marvel has decided to consolidate all of its cinematic universe offerings onto Disney+, some outliers still live on for other streaming services. In May 2021, Hulu is set to premiere the latest non-canon Marvel series.

The animated comedy Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is set to premiere on May 21 and stars Patton Oswalt as the titular Marvel villain. Oswalt’s Modok is every bit the devious floating head that he’s depicted as in the comics. He’s also your every day family man and the show will take on the format of a workplace sitcom. Sounds kinda fun! It’s no wonder that M.O.D.O.K. is the last Hulu Marvel show standing.

In non-Marvel offerings this month, Shrill will debut its third and final season on May 7. This comedy based on Lindy West’s memoir and starring SNL‘s Aidy Bryant has been a consistently bright presence on the streaming scene since...

Dreams do come true when talented youngsters cross paths with mentors. For track and field U.S. prodigies, Sheppard sisters Tai, Rainn and Brooke, their encounter with coach Jean Bell, their fairy godmother, was pivotal in their sports and personal achievements.

The Netflix Original documentary “Sisters on Track” is unspooling this week in the Special Premiere strand of Scandinavian’s leading documentary festival Cph:dox (April 21-May 12), before heading off to Tribeca’s Viewpoint slot in June.

Brooklyn-based award-winning Corinne van der Borch (“Girls With Black Balloons”) is directing with Norway’s Tone Grøttjord-Glenne (“Brothers”).

The pic charts the inspiring coming-of-age story of the three young Brooklyn-born Sheppard sisters’ race to a brighter future, away from their homelessness past with their mother Tonia Hardy. We follow the three young athletes, Tai (12), Rainn (11) and Brooke (10), from the 2016 media frenzy that followed their plebiscite as “Sports Illustrated Kids of the Year,” to their...

I recently had the opportunity to speak to filmmaker Sam Pollard about his new HBO art documentary “Black Art: In The Absence of Light,” but I also couldn’t resist asking about his critically-acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. documentary, “MLK/FBI,” which centers on the way the civil rights leaders like King are often treated by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies like an enemy of the state.

Continue reading Directors Shaka King & Sam Pollard Discuss ‘MLK/FBI,’ ‘Judas & The Black Messiah’ & FBI Hostility Towards Black Civil Rights Leaders [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective

Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season

2021 Oscars Predictions:

Best Documentary Feature

Updated: Mar. 4, 2021

Awards Prediction Commentary: The documentary branch has a lot of international voters that have been added over the last few years. Some of the American stories that center around politics and social issues may get passed over...

Nearly a year after closing its physical location, New York City’s IFC Center is preparing to finally reopen on Friday, March 5. The theater has announced a range of new safety measures along with new releases and several screening series. The arthouse venue first shut its doors on March 13, 2020 as early lockdown measures called for the closure of a variety of cultural institutions. In late February, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City movie theaters had permission to reopen at 25 percent capacity and with a maximum of 50 people allowed per screen. Other areas of the state reopened months ago.

While the state has enacted a number of guidelines for reopening theaters, IFC Center has added additional safety measures, including mandatory mask-wearing at all times, no concession sales, and no eating and drinking allowed in theaters. Its five screens will also feature reserved seating (with six feet between...

"Whenever you made work, it ought to be about something... And it ought to be about something that mattered." Another "how did we miss this when it was first released?!" trailer to feature. Black Art: In the Absence of Light is a documentary already available to watch via HBO that was initially released earlier this month for Black History Month. Inspired by the late David Driskell's landmark 1976 exhibition, “Two Centuries of Black American Art," the documentary Black Art: In the Absence of Light offers an illuminating introduction to the work of some of the foremost Black visual artists working today. Directed by filmmaker Sam Pollard, who also made the outstanding MLK/FBI doc released this year. The film shines a light on the extraordinary impact of Driskell's exhibit on generations of Black artists who have staked a claim on their rightful place within the art world. Featuring "insights and context from scholars and historians,...

Arriving on Hulu in the wake of “MLK/FBI” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” provides yet another angle on J. Edgar Hoover’s war against Black America. And while director Lee Daniels packs in as much righteous anger as those other films, he does so with his trademark love of melodrama and disdain for subtlety.

In her first major acting role, singer Andra Day gives an emphatic and multi-shaded performance as the legendary Lady Day, but she and her talented co-stars are subject to an often-clunky screenplay by the esteemed playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, not to mention Daniels’ signature sensibility of putting too fine a point on anything and everything.

The goal is to correct the conventional take on Holiday, one of the 20th century’s greatest singers, breaking from received ideas about her drug addiction and exploring the facts about her relentless harassment by the FBI,...

Just as FBI head J. Edgar Hoover was obsessed with bringing down Martin Luther King as chronicled in the acclaimed new documentary, “MLK/FBI,” he also was determined to “neutralize” Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton whom the government agency regarded as a potential “black messiah.”

On Dec. 4, 1969, the Chicago police raided the apartment of Hampton, shooting not only him dead but also fellow Panther Mike Clark. Four other members of the Party were critically wounded. The police fired off their guns nearly 100 times. Miraculously Hampton’s finance, Deborah Johnson who was pregnant with their son, had not been shot though she was sleeping next to him. It was William O’Neal, a FBI paid informant, who had provided a map to Hampton’s apartment on West Monroe Street.

Shaka King‘s new film, “Judas and the Black Messiah” is a riveting look at Hampton, O’Neal and the FBI’s...

There’s still a ton of mystery about what will receive Oscar nominations this year, but today a tiny bit of that disappeared. Yes, the Academy announced nine category shortlists, helping to let us know who and what are still in contention below the line. The categories are as follows: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects. Read on below to view the lists… Here is their press release: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in nine categories for the 93rd Academy Awards®: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects. Download shortlists by category here. Documentary Feature Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary...

The academy released the 2021 Oscars shortlists in nine categories on Tuesday, February 9. The hopefuls in a wide range of races found out if they are remain in contention for the 93rd annual Academy Awards. Among these are the marquee categories for Best International Feature Film (which was pared down to 10 films from the 93 submitted) and Best Documentary Feature (which went from 238 to 15).

Both music awards – Best Original Song and Best Original Score — were winnowed down to just 15 contenders from upwards of 100 submissions apiece. The Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects races as well as the three awards for shorts – animated, documentary and live-action — were culled from dozens of entries to 10 apiece.

Documentary Feature

Two hundred and thirty-eight films were eligible for consideration; there are 15 on the shortlist. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title,...

The largest field of documentaries in Oscar history has been narrowed down to 15 semifinalists, with almost all of the films that were expected to advance to the shortlist doing so.

Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” Alexander Nanau’s “Collective,” Viktor Kosakovskiy’s “Gunda,” James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham’s “Crip Camp” and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” which led all of the year’s nonfiction films in previous nominations and wins, were among the films that advanced from the record field of 238 qualifying docs. That number shattered the previous record of 170 eligible documentaries, which was set in 2017.

Other films that made the shortlist included “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Boys State,” “MLK/FBI,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “The Painter and the Thief,” “76 Days” and “The Truffle Hunters.” Two documentaries that were also entered in the Oscars’ international race, Chile’s “The Mole Agent” and Italy’s “Notturno,...

The road to the 2021 Academy Awards hit an important marker today with the announcement of nine shortlists for the following categories: International Feature Film, Documentary, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup and Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Live-Action Short Film, Documentary Short Subject, and Animated Short Film. Just as in previous years, members of the Academy will select from these reduced lists of contenders in each category the nominees for the 2021 Oscars. This year marked the third year in a row the Academy released nine of its shortlists on the same day.

The nominations for the 2021 Oscars will be announced Monday, March 15, ahead of the 93rd Academy Awards telecast on Sunday, April 25. The Academy pushed back the ceremony this year in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Films that were set for a theatrical release but headed to streaming and/or PVOD instead are eligible for Oscar consideration. The Oscar cutoff date for...

Music, score, visual effects, make-up and hairstyling, short film shortlists also unveiled.

The Academy has announced the 15 international and 15 documentary features that have made the cut as it unveiled nine Oscar shortlists on Tuesday (February 9).

Switzerland’s My Little Sister, Greece’s Apples and Poland’s Never Gonna Snow Again are notable absentees from an international list dominated by Europe with seven contenders, followed by Latin America on three, Africa and Asia on two apiece, and the Middle East with one.

In January the Academy expanded the international shortlist from 10 to 15, ruling that the international feature film preliminary committee would vote on the entire shortlist.

Music, score, visual effects, make-up and hairstyling, short film shortlists also unveiled.

The Academy has announced the 15 international and 15 documentary features that have made the cut as it unveiled nine Oscar shortlists on Tuesday (February 9).

Switzerland’s My Little Sister, Greece’s Apples and Poland’s Never Gonna Snow Again are notable absentees from an international list dominated by Europe with seven contenders, followed by Latin America on three, Africa and Asia on two apiece, and the Middle East with one.

In January the Academy expanded the international shortlist from 10 to 15, ruling that the international feature film preliminary committee would vote on the entire shortlist.

“Saint Maud,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Nomadland,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Ammonite” are among the leading films on the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ (BAFTA) longlist for annual British Film Awards that were announced Thursday.

The publication of the longlists follows the BAFTA 2020 Review, where over 120 wide-ranging changes were introduced across voting, membership and campaigning to address a lack of diversity in the 2020 Film Awards nominations. As part of these changes, a new longlisting initial round was introduced for the awards, resulting in three rounds of voting. Round one voting, which took place from Jan. 12-26, produced the longlists in all categories.

The directing category sees the BAFTA make an effort towards gender parity. To determine this longlist, in Round One, the directing chapter voted and the top eight female and top eight male directed films were automatically longlisted. The remaining two female and two...

BAFTA has published the longlists for its 2021 Film Awards, which members will now whittle down to the final nominations. You can see the lists in full below, there are 15 per category for most awards, with exceptions.

These aren’t nominations, so drawing too many conclusions from them is premature at this stage. However, if a title didn’t make the cut here, it won’t be getting a nom.

A few takeaways: as per the Globes, Minari is in for foreign-language movie but not for Best Film (Another Round made both); Tenet missed both Best Film and British Film but did make Director and below-the-line categories; Spike Lee isn’t on the Director list, but Da 5 Bloods is on nine including Best Film and Screenplay; Malcolm & Marie missed everything aside from the two lead performances; zilch for On The Rocks, and fairly slim pickings for Apple in total,...

Sam Lara and Cathy Henkel’s assisted dying documentary Laura‘s Choice and Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe’s sports biopic Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling will form part of the Australian International Documentary Conference’s (Aidc) public access program.

The Australian films will be shown alongside international titles such as 76 Days, Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson is Dead, David France’s Welcome to Chechnya, and Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott’s The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel in this year’s new non-fiction section. Johnson and France, keynote speakers at this year’s conference, will participate in conversation following the screening of their films.

Running from February 28 until March 11 at Melbourne’s Acmi the schedule also includes screenings of Days Of Cannibalism, Collective, The Painter And The Thief, MLK/FBI, Cunningham 3D, The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns...

February is now the month for guild award nominations announcements. And while the SAG Awards will be the first big ball to drop on Thursday, the Producers Guild of America began the rollout of their yearly honors with the documentary category. There were a number of familiar nominees including Oscar contenders “Time,” “Dick Johnson is Dead” and “The Truffle Hunters.”

Read More: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Minari” & “I May Destroy You” lead 2021 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

In what has become a very competitive Oscar race there were a number of surprising omissions, however, including “Collective,” “Boy State,” “All In The Fight For Democracy,” “Welcome to Chechnya,” “City Hall,” “Crip Camp,” “MLK/FBI,” “Totally Under Control,” “On the Record” and “The Dissident.”

This year’s nominees are:

“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”

“Dick Johnson Is Dead”

“My Octopus Teacher”

“Softie”

“A Thousand Cuts”

“Time”

“The Truffle Hunters”

Nominees in the Sports,...

The true story of assassinated activist Fred Hampton is brought to vibrant life with never-better performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield

The sad, shifty and inglorious business of government informants working inside radical protest groups is something that usually takes years to come out – if at all – because nobody wants to talk about it. Governments don’t want to gloat because it might mean admitting they knew all about certain events or attacks in advance but did nothing because they wanted to keep their asset in place to forestall some bigger situation. And the protest groups are angry and ashamed at the infiltration. And something desolate attaches to the long-term snitches themselves, who look horribly dysfunctional, like bigamists revealed to have a second wife and family. Sam Pollard’s documentary MLK/FBI touched briefly on the supposedly loyal insiders within Martin Luther King’s organisation who were secretly reporting to...

Monday is the start of five days of voting to determine shortlists in the nine Oscar categories that narrow down the field before the start of nomination balloting. In the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film categories, 238 and 93 films, respectively, will be reduced to 15 semifinalists.

In each of those categories, voters must see a minimum number of entries, drawn from a “required viewing” list sent to each member, in order to vote. Documentary voters must see more than 30 films, international voters must see 12. Shortlists in all categories will be announced on Feb. 9.

Here are our thoughts on these contests; on Tuesday, we’ll look at the below-the-line categories that also use shortlists.

‘Time’ / Amazon Studios

Best Documentary Feature

Ever since the Documentary Branch rules were changed to do away with the small committees that previously viewed films in the preliminary round of voting, the documentary shortlists have invariably...

Remember when the 2014 docudrama “Selma” came up surprisingly short at the Oscars, only earning nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song and nothing for writing, directing or acting? Star David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr. in that film, came forward to say that Oscar voters rejected the film because the cast and crew wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts to protest police brutality. What a difference six years makes. In the wake of yet more instances of police violence, there are numerous films in the awards conversation questioning whether cops should really be the heroes of all our narratives.

See‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ producer Charles D. King on the ‘divine’ timing of telling this story amid the BLM movement [Exclusive Video Interview]

The “Selma” team was protesting the murder of Eric Garner by NYPD officers, who choked him to death for allegedly selling loose cigarettes while he told them he couldn’t breathe.

Shortlists to be announced on February 9.

The Academy on Thursday (January 28) published a list of 93 films eligible for international feature film Oscar category.

Algeria’s Heliopolis, about the brutal suppression by French colonial authorities of an uprising in 1945, is omitted from the list. Screen understands the national selection committee withdrew the submission.

There were also a record number of documentary submissions – 238 compared to the previous high of 170 – in light of amended eligibility rules this season due to the pandemic, and a reduced field of 27 animation contenders.

The shortlists will be announced on February 9. The 93rd annual Academy Awards are scheduled...

The number of films available to Oscar voters in a screening room devoted to the Best Picture category hit the 200 mark on Wednesday, which means that $2.5 million has entered the Academy coffers from films paying $12,500 each to be represented in the screening room.

The members-only Academy Screening Room hit the milestone with the addition of more than a dozen movies this week, including Fisher Stevens’ “Palmer,” Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things,” the Russo brothers’ “Cherry,” Josh Trank’s “Capone,” the documentary “Coup 53,” the Studio Ghibli animated film “Earwig and the Witch,” the international films “Funny Boy” and “Bacarau” (neither eligible in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category) and some off-the-wall selections, including “Snake White – Love Endures” and “Soorarai Pottru.”

Other late additions to the screening room have included “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The White Tiger” and “Cherry,” which were not added until January.

Photo: ''71'/Universal Pictures '71 is a historical action/thriller about an inexperienced British soldier, Gary Hook, (Jack O’Connell) who is caught in a particularly deadly situation after being unexpectedly sent to Belfast during The Troubles in the titular year, 1971. It is a tense and raw depiction of a complex, much ignored (at least cinematically) conflict that is consistently high in thrills despite its thin plot. '71 is extremely tense from beginning to end. After the first violent incident, the plot takes a sharp turn which thrusts our soldier into a seriously dangerous situation. The tension then continuously escalates until the last few minutes. The violence is very well handled. It often feels random, which is why it works - many deaths feel like tragic shocks rather than expected casualties. '71 is brutal in a way that is horrifying without ever being exploitative. It is extremely tense - you...

Photo: ‘MLK/FBI’/IFC Films 'MLK/FBI' - King vs. Hoover Those with any lingering doubts about the deep systemic racism in the US Justice System would do well to watch ‘MLK/FBI’, the new documentary from Sam Pollard. The film examines the tireless campaign the FBI waged against Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., beginning in the 1960s and leading up to his assassination by a sniper’s bullet in 1968. Purportedly beginning due to paranoia that King would shepherd African Americans to embrace communism, the Bureau developed an intricate counterintelligence network against him, tapping his phones, smearing him in the media, and infiltrating his ranks with spies and informants. Most damningly, the FBI sent an audio recording of King allegedly engaging in an act of sexual infidelity to both King and his wife, coupling it with a letter suggesting that King commit suicide. Related article: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A version of this story about “MLK/FBI” and Sam Pollard first appeared in the Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

The documentary “MLK/FBI” delves into the years in the 1960s when the FBI engaged in a clandestine campaign to spy on and discredit civil rights activist and leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Director Sam Pollard’s film is a portrait of a turbulent time when the country was divided and race relations were a flashpoint for conflict — and it appears now in a different era, but one that is bitterly divided in its own way.

The film premiered at 2020’s Toronto International Film Festival, in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests around the country. It was released theatrically and on VOD on Jan. 15, in time for Martin Luther King Day and for the end of the Donald Trump administration, with its attempted demonization of those protestors. “It seems...

Following a long theatrical run and a month at $19.99, “Tenet” is now thriving at $5.99 and holds the top spot at all three lists that rank by purchases. At FandangoNow, which ranks by revenue, it is #6, the highest among standard-price entries. Best of all for Warner Bros., its normal share of a VOD release is around 70 percent. That compares to the 63 percent it demanded from theaters.

“Tenet” held off two significant new PVOD entries from Universal and Focus, “News of the World” and “Promising Young Woman.” Paul Greengrass’ Tom Hanks western led Apple TV for three days and placed second to “Tenet” at Google Play over the weekend. This comes as Universal’s “The Croods: A New Age” continues its strong presence at $19.99. “News” is #1 at FandangoNow, with “Promising” at #3 on their PVOD-dominated list.

“American Skin,” the first film from Nate Parker after “The Birth of a Nation,” priced at $6.99, placed...

Moviegoers didn’t have much time to miss Liam Neeson, whose Honest Thief debuted in the top box-office spot back in October. Because now, just three months later, the AARP action star is back and this time he’s No. 1 with a bullet as his latest thriller, The Marksman, pulled in $3.2 million over the weekend and in total $3.7 million including the MLK Jr. holiday —more than enough to finally unseat Wonder Woman 1984, which had spent three straight weeks as the highest-grossing movie in North America.

Open Road Films, the indie behind The Marksman, has certainly found a good luck charm in the 68-year-old leading man. His new PG-13-rated suspenser, about an Arizona rancher who comes to aid of a Mexican boy being hunted by a south-of-the-border drug cartel, is his third No. 1 debut for the studio following 2012’s release of The Grey and 2020’s Honest Thief.

While Neeson’s films often have muscular openings,...

The title of Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI should be taken literally. This is a two-pronged investigation into a conspicuously fraught and, for the FBI, embarrassing moment in the American political establishment’s too-recent past. The documentary is primarily a study of the public and private selves of the men it names up top: Martin Luther King Jr., the enduring image of black Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and beyond, and King contemporary J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI and — notoriously, with little real discretion — one of King’s most ardent,...

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was obsessed with the Reverend Martin Luther King. And while the Civil Rights activist was putting his life on the line with his message of non-violence as he struggled and protested to bring civil liberties, freedoms and unalienable rights to African Americans, Hoover doggedly surveilled and harassed Dr. King. By the time of his “I Had a Dream” galvanizing speech on Aug. 26, 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King was described by the head of FBI domestic intelligence William C. Sullivan in a memo that the activist as “the most dangerous Negro in the future of this nation.”

The new award-winning documentary ‘MLK/FBI” is a vividly and frighteningly look at the extent of Hoover’s obsession with the Nobel Prize-winner. Directed by veteran documentarian/producer/editor Sam Pollard, “MLK/FBI” is the first film to utilize recently discovered and declassified material that was...

While time has lost much of its meaning during the work-from-home lockdown, it's still a holiday weekend which theoretically will give more of us an opportunity to catch up on screenings. For the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday weekend, Amazon Prime released One Night in Miami and, it's worth noting as perfect holiday viewing, that the Oscar hopeful documentary MLK/FBI is also available to rent online. Here's what was popular in movie theaters, such as they are right now...

The documentary ‘MLK/FBI’, directed by Sam Pollard, premiered at Telluride, continued to Toronto and New York Film Festival and won the Best Archival Documentary at the 5th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards. It is the first film uncovering the FBI surveillance of the greatest proponent of nonviolent Civil Rights protest the world has ever known.…

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Netflix’s “Crip Camp” won Best Feature at the 36th annual International Documentary Awards on January 16. This is a big boost for the inspirational film by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht about a refuge for people with disabilities as it comes just before balloting begins for the Academy Awards. “Crip Camp” hails from Barack and Michelle Obama‘s production company, Higher Ground, which also made last year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature “American Factory.” “Crip Camp” also took bagged the ABC News VideoSource Award.

Garrett Bradley won Best Director for Amazon’s “Time.” Her film, which chronicles the efforts of Sibil Fox Richardson to secure the release of her husband from prison, also contended for Best Feature. The other nominees were: “Collective,” “Gunda,” “MLK/FBI,” “The Reason I Jump,” “Reunited,” “Softie,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”

Two Netflix entries may have been snubbed in the top race but still went home winners.

Crip Camp, the Netflix documentary about a unique summer camp for disabled kids and its role propelling the disability rights movement, won Best Feature at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards, in something of an upset.

The film directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (the latter attended the titular camp as a teen) also won the ABC News VideoSource Award, recognizing its skillful use of archival video from the 1970s to 1990s.

“I want to thank everybody at Camp Jened, the staff, the counselors and the campers,” said an emotional LeBrecht as he, Newnham and producer Sara Bolder accepted the award. “My life set a course when I went there and you all are responsible for this–you are so much a part of this award.”

Newnham added, “The hippie teens and counselors of Camp Jened could never have imagined the wide-reaching impact that their brief utopian community...

“Crip Camp” has been named the best documentary of 2020 at the 36th annual IDA Documentary Awards, the International Documentary Association announced on Saturday at a virtual ceremony.

The film, about an upstate New York summer camp for disabled teens that helped launch the disability rights movement, also won the ABC News VideoSource Award for its use of archival footage and finished as runner-up to “My Octopus Teacher” for the Pare Lorentz Award.

“Crip Camp,” a Netflix film that premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, won in a category whose other nominees were “Collective,” “Gunda,” “MLK/FBI,” “The Reason I Jump,” “Reunited,” “Softie,” “Time,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”

Garrett Bradley won the best director award for “Time” and also won the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award for that film.

In the television categories, awards went to “American Experience” for curated series, “Last Chance U” for episodic series and...

The International Documentary Association has announced the winners of the 36th annual IDA Documentary Awards, with “Crip Camp” taking home the top prize.

The ceremony was hosted by actor Willie Garson, with musical entertainment from Ruby Ibarra, who performed the theme from “A Thousand Cuts.”

Directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, “Crip Camp” received the best feature award as well as the ABC News VideoSource award. Garrett Bradley won best director for his film “Time,” while “John Was Trying to Contact Aliens” from Matthew Killip received the best short award. “Dick Johnson Is Dead” took home the awards for best writing and best editing.

Besides “Crip Camp,” the nominees for best feature included “Collective,” “Gunda,” “The Reason I Jump,” “Softie,” “The Truffle Hunters,” “MLK/FBI,” “Reunited,” “Time” and “Welcome to Chechnya.” Nominees for best director besides Bradley included Newnham and LeBrecht for “Crip Camp,” Jerry Rothwell for “The Reason I Jump,...

While moviegoers cope with being shut indoors, HBO Max has a film that could have you feeling even more stir-crazy. “Locked Down” sequesters audiences for nearly two hours with an unhappy couple (played by Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor), who vent for a time, before hatching a plan to steal a huge diamond from Harrods. While hardly the antidote for confinement, it’s a creative response to the limitations Covid has placed on the world — which extends to how the film was shot, with big names like Ben Stiller and Ben Kingsley supplying cameos via Zoom.

With plenty of indoor time ahead on this long holiday weekend, why not fill it with a new movie or two? Amazon has timed the Prime Video release of Regina King’s acclaimed “One Night in Miami…” to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The film — which imagines a 1964 reunion of old friends Cassius Clay,...