Posted by Larry Gleeson
Last night, the AFI FEST audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre was treated to the World Premiere of tick, tick…BOOM! Check out the exclusive photos from the red carpet, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens, Judith Light, Robin de Jesus, Joshua Henry, Alexandra Shipp and more.
Check out the red carpet video tick, tick…BOOM!
Tickets Still Available for Select In-person Screenings Tomorrow!
Posted by Larry Gleeson
Meet the Press Film Festival in collaboration with AFI opens the first day of the 2021 AFI FEST. Meet the Press Film Festival highlights topics such as criminal justice reform, climate change, immigration and racial and gender bias. Along with the shorts, the festival also features live discussions with filmmakers, subjects, NBC News correspondents and anchors. These are excellent films with timely topics! Also available today virtually. Director of AFI Festivals, Michael Lumpkin on the Meet The Press Film Festival:
“We are all storytellers, whether as journalists or filmmakers, our job is the same. We share a commitment to bringing important truths to our audience — be it in a theater, on television or any other screen..
Julie Cohen’s deliberative documentary Julia on Julia Childs, the 20th Century American pioneer in the kitchen and out is an informative piece – well researched. The night belongs to the Jane Campion directed The Power Of the Dog as it makes its Red Carpet Premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre – a “must-see” film for AFI FEST 2021.
The Virtual Screenings make their premiere as well with the Meet the Press viewings available and the AFI Conservatory Showcase. Both are HollywoodGlee recommended selections. The short form is often overlooked, yet the stories are succinct, informative, while showcasing fresh voices and pertinent messaging.
Until next time, I’ll see you at the movies!
For ticketing and more information visit fest.afi.com.
Posted by Larry Gleeson
Audiences are seeking out more documentaries than ever before. Producers and distributors on Producing Standout Documentary Features Panel, moderated by Kevin Iwashina, Head of Documentary, Endeavor Content, discuss producing for success in the documentary marketplace answering the penultimate question, “What elements will help a doc stand out?” Panelists participating included Ross Dinerstein, Founder & CEO, Campfire Studios, Anna Godas, CEO, DogWoof, Helen Huang, Acquisitions Consultant, Dan O’Meara, EVP Non-fiction, NEON and Co-head, SUPER LTD.
Following are pertinent excerpts!
How are you working with streamers?
Ann Godas – “I think it’s evolved, as you say – it used to be that Netflix was the only sort of streamer really, in the market, and being very aggressive, and in the past couple of years, Apple TV, now HBO Max are launching internationally, Disney+, [etc]. Especially during COVID, we found that – cinemas were literally closed – there was a huge demand for content from these new players alongside the likes of Netflix. Obviously, Netflix are producing a lot more, but so are we…the relationship with streamers is changing in the sense that before, for us, they used to be a buyer, and now we have different types of relationships with them.”
“It [streaming] has really evolved and changed the game of the market, but I feel we’ve evolved alongside the market and that’s how we have stayed quite relevant…”
What is the theatrical life of a documentary?
Ross Dinerstein – “Some docs are verité talking heads that work really well to watch at home, but some docs have real scope to them and real cinematic imagery…it just really depends on the visual component and recognition before you’ve even seen the film.”
Helen Huang – “When I began in acquisitions at Showtime, I did have a much wider, broader mandate for buying documentaries before the streamers came along and started driving prices up for pay-services and first run. In the beginning, when I wasn’t competing in terms of dollars against the streamers, then I had a broader range of buying category as well. I could buy prestige documentaries, sports documentaries, music documentaries, I could buy narratives, I could buy any number of topics. And as the streamers started recognizing the value of nonfiction storytelling, the prices started going up for available independent documentaries…”
“When the prices started going up, we had to become much more specific about what we considered right for our platform – so our strategy had to change.”
“As we progressed in our documentary buying, we bifurcated into two directions – one was awards and prestige, and one was commerciality, and [overall] meeting a broader base of subscription value for each documentary that we bought.”
How is co-production impacting the global market for Docs?
Anne Godas – “As financiers and producers what we’re after is something a bit more, with potentially more return, which is to fully finance documentaries through accessing soft funding in specific territories. For us, the best ones tend to be so far Denmark, and Scandinavia in general, Australia, and you can get a fully financed project with some equity from us and soft funding and maybe a couple more investors but that’s a model we, as financiers, we prioritize over the old coproduction model that again – it’s a good model, but not such an entrepreneurial model if you’re looking for a bigger return.”
Ross Dinerstein – “As someone who raises money for indie docs I have investors that will say, ‘well why don’t we sell a couple of territories to cover our risk?’ and I’ll say we can’t do that because if we take a film to the market, and the world isn’t available, we are going to miss out on the big splashy Netflix deal or NEON deal.”
When you look at acquiring films, do you need to have the world available or you just buy it for US?
Dan O’Meara – “Truth is, that it really does depend on the deal. If we’re being asked to pay a significant MG, if we’re competing with a streamer for the world, then yeah, we need the world to be available.” “more and more, we just need to, yes, mitigate our risk if we’re paying a big MG and then also – honestly if it’s an awards film (and this is important) to be able to control the world allows us to be able to do what we need to do when it comes time to campaign for Academy Award. So much of the doc branch is international and very often we find ourselves at this time of year trying to get ahold of the distributors of some of our films in all these various territories and find out what their level of commitment is to spend on screenings that we need to do in those individual territories in order to get people to watch the movie. So, owning the world allows us to you know holistically go out and make sure that we’re reaching all the doc branches. But look, it’s hard.”
Dan O’Meara – “There’s only like three or four buyers in the streaming space that would buy something that would just be North America…Hulu, HBO proper, Showtime…”
“It’s a different game…and luckily I have empirical evidence with some of my indie docs down the road, years later, that we made for X and sold for 2X, 3X, that I can use.”
“The stuff that I’m in production [for] now, take it to the market next year, and who knows what the world’s going to be ? Whereas back in the day, I would have a $5 million genre film with 30% covered in tax credits, and a $1.5mil in presales with Germany, UK, France, and US (I would have Kevin [Iwashina] sell US) and we typically did pretty well – but that’s just not a way to raise money anymore.”
Helen Huang – “[For Showtime], we didn’t just buy for US, we also needed part of the LATAM territory…If you had sold of your entire LATAM territory exclusively somewhere else, you couldn’t complete a deal with us.”
Biggest area of ROI on docs?
Dan O’Meara – “Before the streaming boom really sort of happened, I was trying to get things financed at a level where I could afford to work on them for as long as it takes…”
“I had to be making a lot of films and they all take forever to get financed they take forever to sell and then to deliver and then to actually see any money on and so you need to have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. I think there’s a lot more information now than certainly back then…now there are so many streamers, and so many of them are trying to make a name for themselves with original content in nonfiction that I feel like this opportunity keeps expanding. And maybe that’ll also plateau at some point, I’m sure it has to…”
“What Ross [Dinerstein] is doing is very smart, which is looking at…what’s working well for the streamers and making the kinds of films that are entertaining, engaging, that go beyond the festival audience…they don’t even think of it as a documentary, they think of it as a movie they saw…”
“These weren’t documentaries, these were movies. Some of it is just following your taste – so if your taste leads you to something that is more artistic and idiosyncratic, there’s a market there as well. But if your tastes are really broad, then year, I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity right now and it’s a good time to be getting into it.”
Ross Dinerstein – “It’s all about storytelling, and the basic fundamentals of storytelling are – is it engaging, is it universally relatable, is there a three-act structure? So, it doesn’t really matter for me if it’s a doc or narrative film, it’s something that I’m passionate about and something that’s interesting to me. We…have 16 productions in full blown production right now, and not one project is remotely the same…it is developing for specific buyers that we know are going to buy stuff…”
What is working for you – 2-3 things that you use to evaluate if a film is worth pursuing
Dan O’Meara – “The things that, for me personally, that I use to evaluate whether we should buy a film to release it theatrically is whether or not I want to go see it in a theater twice or three times. If I do, it means that I didn’t just appreciate it, but there are moments that I want to relive, and that I want to see other people experience for the first time. And that was the case…all of our most successful docs had those moments.”
Posted by Larry Gleeson
Audience Award for Best Feature Goes to
STORM LAKE
Audience Award for Best Short Goes to SHELTER
Short Film Grand Jury Prize Goes to RED TAXI
Among the Participants in 19th Annual Festival of Documentary Film:
Senator Amy Klobuchar, Morgan Neville, Garrett Bradley, Dawn Porter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 28, 2021, WASHINGTON, DC — The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the AFI DOCS 2021 Award Winners, concluding the six-day festival, with screenings presented online and in-person at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. The festival’s Audience Award for Best Feature went to STORM LAKE, directed by Jerry Risius and Beth Levison. The Audience Award for Best Short went toSHELTER, directed by Smriti Mundhra.
This year’s voting jury for the competitive Short Films slate was comprised of Mike Attie, award-winning filmmaker and professor of film at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; Greta Hagen-Richardson, Director of Programming at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and Lead Features Programmer at the New Orleans Film Festival; and Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo, Associate Producer for The New York Times’ award-winning short documentary series Op-Docs.
The Grand Jury Prize for Short Films went to RED TAXI, directed byAnonymous. The jury said of RED TAXI: “For its creative and accessible approach to telling a story from the perspective of those living and working in a moment of political upheaval, we award the Shorts Grand Jury Prize to RED TAXI. The courage of the anonymous filmmaker struck us for their commitment to depicting the nuances of reality on the ground.” The Shorts Grand Jury Prize at AFI DOCS is a qualifying award for Academy Award® eligibility.
The jury also awarded the Special Jury Prize to two films: THE COMMUNION OF MY COUSIN ANDREA, directed by BrandánCerviño Abeledo, saying,
“For its ability to tell a reflexive story with levity and tenderness, we award a Special Jury Prize to THE COMMUNION OF MY COUSIN ANDREA”; and S P A C E S (M E Z E R Y), directed by Nora Štrbová, saying, “For its intelligent use of multi-dimensional media in telling a fraught, emotional story, we award a Special Jury Prize to S P A C E S (M E Z E R Y).”
The 19th edition of AFI DOCS presented a diverse slate of 78 films from 23 countries, shedding light on overlooked stories from the past, honoring champions of change and giving us glimpses into the everyday lives of subjects close to home and around the world. This year, 52% of AFI DOCS films were directed by women, 40% by BIPOC directors and 18% by LGBTQ directors.
Among the festival participants were filmmakers and notables including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Academy Award®winners Morgan Neville, Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine and Mark Ronson; Academy Award®-nominated filmmakers Julie Cohen, Betsy West and Steve James; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen; award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter; Emmy® Award winner Chris Nee; CNN political contributor and host Van Jones; author and The New Yorker contributor Jelani Cobb; filmmaker and actor Sonja Sohn; musician and filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson; Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Curator Dwandalyn Reece; President of the African American Film Critics Association Gil Robertson; Georgetown University Professor Dr. Janet Mann; rapper KYLE; and son of late comedian and activist Dick Gregory Christian Gregory.
The festival’s panels and discussions provided filmmakers, film subjects and audiences the opportunity to delve deeper into the films with conversations led by some of the nation’s top journalists, including: NBC News Correspondent Morgan Radford; NBC News’ Meet the Press Moderator and NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd; NBC News Correspondent Anne Thompson; MSNBC Correspondent Trymaine Lee; Variety’s Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis; Axios Justice and Race Reporter Russell Contreras; Senior Segment Producer of WGN Morning News and WGN’s Entertainment Producer Tyra Martin; entertainment journalist & TV producer KJ Matthews; CQ Roll Call Deputy Editor Jason Dick andHealth Care Editor Rebecca Adams; and The Washington Post’s Managing Editor for Diversity and Inclusion Krissah Thompson, Chief Film Critic Ann Hornaday, Global Opinions writer Jason Rezaian, National Security Editor Peter Finn, Religion Reporter Michelle Boorstein, and Host and Editor of Food Video Mary Beth Albright.
This year’s inaugural DOCS Talks programming included the World Premiere of Netflix’s and Higher Ground’s WE THE PEOPLE, as well as “History Is Out of the Closet: Excavating Queer Stories for the Screen,” a live stream conversation celebrating LGBTQ+ pride. The AFI DOCS Industry Forum explored building accessibility practices into all steps of the production process, demystifying investigative documentaries, the making of the hit series PHILLY D.A., how documentaries shape conversations on racial violence, a behind-the-scenes look at the Hindsight Project films and new collaborations between public media and indie filmmakers. This year’s Industry Forum programming also included closed captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. The AFI DOCS Industry Forum is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts.
RED TAXI
DIR: Anonymous. As protests in Hong Kong escalate, taxi drivers experience a city in upheaval driving the streets day and night. Anonymously filmed by locals.
SHORT FILM SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
THE COMMUNION OF MY COUSIN ANDREA
DIR: Brandán Cerviño Abeledo. Andrea’s First Communion ceremony lacks glamour. For Andrea, things without sparkles are meaningless.
SHORT FILM SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
S P A C E S (M E Z E R Y)
DIR: Nora Štrbová. A multi-textured animated exploration of memory as a container of identity, based on the personal story of the filmmaker and her brother who was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
This year’s Premium Sponsor is Apple Original Films. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) returns as Official Sponsor of the festival. NBC News’ Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and The Washington Post return this year as Primary Media Partners. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are this year’s Official Media Partners. The Wrap is an Affiliate Media Partner.Screen Sponsors include SHOWTIME® Documentary Films, Netflix, WarnerMedia and HBO Documentary Films. Participant, National Geographic, and Eventive serve as Major Sponsors. This year’s Contributing Sponsors are ESPN, the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME). Supporting Sponsors include the Maryland Film Office, Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and Rev. The Embassy of Denmark in Washington, DC, and the Farhang Foundation are this year’s Cultural Sponsors. Generous individual support comes from Stephanie and Hunter Hunt.
About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival historically held in Washington, DC. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 19th year, the festival will be held June 22-27, 2021. Visit DOCS.AFI.com and connect onTwitter.com/AFIDOCS, Facebook.com/AFIDOCS, YouTube.com/AFIand Instagram.com/
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
Established in 1967, the American Film Institute is the nation’s nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring artists and audiences through initiatives that champion the past, present and future of the moving image. AFI’s pioneering programs include filmmaker training at the AFI Conservatory; year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and at AFI Festivals across the nation; workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community; honoring today’s masters through the AFI Life Achievement Award and AFI AWARDS; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films that uphold film history for future generations. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/
About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscribefor email updates.
About The Washington Post and Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership
The Washington Post is an award-winning news leader whose mission is to connect, inform and enlighten local, national and global readers with trustworthy reporting, in-depth analysis and engaging opinions. It combines world-class journalism with the latest technology and tools so readers can interact with The Post anytime, anywhere.
The Press Freedom Partnership is a public service initiative from The Washington Post to promote press freedom and raise awareness of the rights of journalists who are in pursuit of the truth. Learn more at www.wapo.st/pressfreedom
About Meet the Press with Chuck Todd
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show for the 2019-2020 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. Meet the Press brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with MTP Daily weekdays at 1 p.m. ET, to the ongoing weekly podcast, The Chuck ToddCast, and to Meet the Press Reports, a 30-minute program on NBC News NOW and Peacock, focusing on a single topic explored through the Meet the Press lens. It’s the longest-running show in television history, recently expanding its brand to also include a political short-documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of Meet the Press; John Reiss is the executive producer.
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Ward, AFI DOCS PR, elizabeth@prcollaborative.com
American Film Institute: Stacy Adamski, 323.856.7759,SAdamski@AFI.com
THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES
SPONSORS FOR AFI DOCS 2021
Support Comes From Wide Range of Art and Cultural Institutions, Media Partners and Corporations
Apple Original Films Joins AFI DOCS as a Premium Sponsor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 18, 2021, WASHINGTON, DC — The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the sponsors for AFI DOCS 2021. Support for the festival comes from both local organizations based in the DC-metro area and major corporations across the nation. The 19th edition of AFI DOCS will run June 22–27, with films available to view on DOCS.AFI.com as well as in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD.
“AFI DOCS reaches a nationwide audience with the support of our sponsors,” said Sarah Harris, AFI Festivals Director of Programming. “It is their generosity that amplifies the voices of today’s most vital storytellers, and we thank them on behalf of all who find inspiration in the arts.”
In addition to supporting AFI DOCS film programming and events, sponsors provide services and exclusive experiences to filmmakers and audiences throughout the festival. Sponsor participation includes sponsoring specific film screenings, panels and events as well as national and local promotion of the festival.
This year, AFI is proud to have Apple Original Films support AFI DOCS for the first time as a Premium Sponsor. Top festival sponsors will give audiences sneak peeks at exclusive upcoming trailers and content on the festival’s streaming platform and in the AFI DOCS Festival Hub. Media partners will also provide DOCS audiences with access to their digital issues during the week of the festival via a virtual newsstand.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) returns as Official Sponsor of the festival. CPB is Official Sponsor of the AFI DOCS Industry Forum and the Spotlight on the Hindsight Project, a special selection of short filmsthat chronicle the experiences of BIPOC communities in the American South and U.S. Territories during the unprecedented events of 2020.
NBC News’ Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and The Washington Post return this year as Primary Media Partners. Meet the Press and The Washington Post, in conjunction with the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership, will provide moderators for a number of films in this year’s festival. Highlights include Meet the Press Moderator and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd moderating LFG and NBC News Correspondent Morgan Radford moderating the discussion following the Opening Night World Premiere of NAOMI OSAKA. In addition to supporting post-screening discussions, Washington Post Live, The Post’s live journalism platform, will host a conversation with ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN filmmaker Morgan Neville. Post Managing Editor for Diversity and Inclusion Krissah Thompson will also moderate the World Premiere of WE THE PEOPLE in the inaugural DOCS Talks program.
Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are this year’s Official Media Partners. This year, Variety sponsors the Charles Guggenheim Symposium, which will feature a conversation between the 2021 Guggenheim honoree Dawn Porter and Variety’s Clayton Davis, and The Hollywood Reporter will be a media partner for the screening of SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED).
The Wrap joins AFI DOCS as an Affiliate Media Partner this year and is a media partner for the screening of TOM PETTY: SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE.
Screen Sponsors are SHOWTIME® Documentary Films, Netflix, WarnerMedia and HBO Documentary Films. SHOWTIME® Documentary Films will once again host a networking event for filmmakers and industry, adjusted to be virtual instead of the in-person event they have hosted in the past. SHOWTIME® willalso send a special, customized gift to the festival filmmakers as they celebrate AFI DOCS from home.
Participant returns as a Major Sponsor, along with new sponsors National Geographic and Eventive.
This year’s Contributing Sponsors are ESPN, the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME).
Supporting Sponsors include the Maryland Film Office, Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and Rev.
The Embassy of Denmark in Washington, DC, and the Farhang Foundation are this year’s Cultural Sponsors.
Generous individual support comes from Stephanie and Hunter Hunt.
About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival historically held in Washington, DC. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 19th year, the festival will be held June 22-27, 2021. Visit DOCS.AFI.comand connect on Twitter.com/AFIDOCS,Facebook.com/AFIDOCS, YouTube.com/AFI andInstagram.com/
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
Established in 1967, the American Film Institute is the nation’s nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring artists and audiences through initiatives that champion the past, present and future of the moving image. AFI’s pioneering programs include filmmaker training at the AFI Conservatory; year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and at AFI Festivals across the nation; workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community; honoring today’s masters through the AFI Life Achievement Award and AFI AWARDS; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films that uphold film history for future generations. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media atFacebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute,YouTube.com/AFI, Twitter.com/AmericanFilm andInstagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia,Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates.
About The Washington Post and Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership
The Washington Post is an award-winning news leader whose mission is to connect, inform and enlighten local, national and global readers with trustworthy reporting, in-depth analysis and engaging opinions. It combines world-class journalism with the latest technology and tools so readers can interact with The Post anytime, anywhere.
The Press Freedom Partnership is a public service initiative from The Washington Post to promote press freedom and raise awareness of the rights of journalists who are in pursuit of the truth. Learn more at www.wapo.st/pressfreedom
About Meet the Press with Chuck Todd
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show for the 2019-2020 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. Meet the Press brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with MTP Daily weekdays at 1 p.m. ET, to the ongoing weekly podcast, The Chuck ToddCast, and to Meet the Press Reports, a 30-minute program on NBC News NOW and Peacock, focusing on a single topic explored through the Meet the Press lens. It’s the longest-running show in television history, recently expanding its brand to also include a political short-documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of Meet the Press; John Reiss is the executive producer.
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Ward, AFI DOCS PR,elizabeth@prcollaborative.com
American Film Institute: Stacy Adamski, 323.856.7759,SAdamski@AFI.com
Posted by Larry Gleeson
What does it feel like to be one of the best tennis players in the world?
Naomi OsakaFind out June 22nd as the American Film Institute’s AFI DOCS will host the Opening Night World Premiere of Naomi Osaka directed by Garrett Bradley (“TIME”) followed by a virtual Q&A with Bradley. Tickets and passes for Naomi Osaka and for the AFI DOCS 2021 festival are available here.
Naomi Osaka gives unprecedented access following Osaka during a historic two years in which she works on her game but also begins to find her voice. Whether she’s defending her grand slam titles —while wearing masks in defense of Black lives — mourning the unexpected loss of mentor Kobe Bryant, or finding her independence, the challenges Naomi faces on a personal level begin to align with those in the public sphere.
With fly-on-the-wall intimacy, the series chronicles Osaka’s hectic training and travel schedule, explores the layers of pressure she is under, and reveals how she spends her time off the court hanging with her closest family and friends. The episodes also travel the globe with Osaka to further explore her Haitian roots as well as examine her deep connection to Japan, the country she represents.
Naomi Osaka is a three-part documentary series. One you won’t want to miss!
Posted by Larry Gleeson
The American Film Institute has gone live with its tickets and passes for the AFI DOCS 2021 festival. With 77 films from 23 countries and 4 World Premieres, with 52% of the films directed by women, 40% by BIPOC directors and 18% by LGBTQ directors, this year’s AFI DOCS promises to be quite heated and equitably balanced.
The 19th edition of the festival will present films in the following sections: Special Presentations, Guggenheim Symposium, Feature Films, Series, Cinema’s Legacy, Short Film Competition and Spotlight on the Hindsight Project. AFI DOCS 2021 runs June 22–27, with films available to view on DOCS.AFI.com as well as in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD, and select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. The Washington Post and Meet the Press return as the Primary Media Partners.
“We are living in the Golden Age of documentary film,” said Sarah Harris, AFI Festivals Director of Programming. “At AFI DOCS, we are proud to celebrate excellence in the films of 2021 – connecting audiences across the nation, engaging them in lively conversation and inspiring them with both the unprecedented challenges and the breathtaking beauty of the world around us.”
AFI DOCS‘ program of Special Presentations includes the previously announced Opening Night World Premiere of NAOMI OSAKA and Closing Night film CUSP, as well as the Centerpiece Screening of ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN.
This year, the Features section explores a diverse range of subjects including the growing movement in the medical community to push back against big pharma (WHITE COAT REBELS); an examination of law enforcement’s relationship with the community through the lens of a corruption scandal in the Baltimore police department (THE SLOW HUSTLE); the emotional complexities of family court trials (COURTROOM 3H); and Syrian artists working in exile in Europe (THE STORY WON’T DIE).
The Cinema’s Legacy program, now in its third year at AFI DOCS, presents historically notable nonfiction films that employ the personal documentary form: IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS (1992), SINK OR SWIM (1990) and STEVIE (2002). Cinema’s Legacy is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
This year’s Series section features multi-part documentaries that investigate pivotal moments in history and culture, from an exploration of the sound creation in modern music in WATCH THE SOUND WITH MARK RONSON, to an in-depth look at a day that changed our country forever with 9/11: ONE DAY IN AMERICA. The Series section will also feature the World Premiere of OBAMA: IN PURSUIT OF A MORE PERFECT UNION.
The Short Film Competition will be presented in six programs, with stories from across the globe and close to home, and are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize.
Special to AFI DOCS this year is the Spotlight on the Hindsight Project, sponsored by CPB. The section presents the world premiere of six short films, which chronicle the experiences of BIPOC communities in the American South and U.S. Territories during the unprecedented events of 2020. The project is produced in partnership by Firelight Media, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and Reel South.
As previously announced, this year’s Charles Guggenheim Symposium will feature a discussion with filmmaker Dawn Porter and a free screening of her new film RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER.
Audience Awards will be given to a feature and a short film based on votes cast by attendees throughout the festival. The winners of the Audience Awards for Best Feature and Best Short will be announced on Monday, June 28. For the second year, the AFI DOCS Short Film Competition Grand Jury Prize is a qualifying award for Academy Award® eligibility.
Passes to AFI DOCS 2021 are now available at DOCS.AFI.com . AFI Members receive exclusive discounts and benefits. To become an AFI member, visit AFI.com/join.
AFI DOCS 2021 PROGRAM
Featuring our Opening, Centerpiece and Closing films, this section spotlights the highest-profile and most anticipated films of the festival.
OPENING NIGHT SCREENING – Tuesday, June 22
NAOMI OSAKA: DIR Garrett Bradley. PRODS Lauren Cioffi, Katy Murakami and Sally Rosen. USA.
What does it feel like to be one of the best tennis players in the world? An intimate look inside the life of one of the most gifted and complex athletes of her generation offers insight into the tough decisions and ecstatic triumphs that shape Naomi Osaka as both an elite global superstar and a young woman navigating a pressure-filled world. World Premiere.
CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING – Sunday, June 27
CUSP: DIRS Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt. PROD Zachary Luke Kislevitz. USA.
This coming-of-age documentary follows three teenage girls for one wild, life-changing summer in their small Texas town as they grapple with what becoming an adult means, especially for young women.
CENTERPIECE SCREENING – Friday, June 25
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN: DIR Morgan Neville. PRODS Caitrin Rogers and Morgan Neville. USA.
A documentary about the uncommon life of the late storyteller, explorer and chef, Anthony Bourdain.
2021 CHARLES GUGGENHEIM SYMPOSIUM
GUGGENHEIM SYMPOSIUM WITH DAWN PORTER – Wednesday, June 23
Honoring a master of the nonfiction art form, this year’s Guggenheim Symposium will include an in-depth conversation with celebrated filmmaker Dawn Porter hosted by Variety’s Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis, featuring clips from her acclaimed work and a free screening of her most recent project.
RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER: DIR Dawn Porter. PROD Dawn Porter. USA.
One hundred years after the two-day Tulsa Massacre, one of America’s most violent racial conflicts, this documentary explores the role of media during these early 20th century events and today’s revived call for justice and anti-racism. Free Screening.
FEATURE FILMS
This year’s diverse features section is a collection of original, enlightening and daring explorations of the people and world around us.
COURTROOM 3H: DIR Antonio Méndez Esparza. PRODS Pedro Hernandez Santos, Rebeca Villar Rodriguez and Ana Castanosa Bielsa. Spain.
Inside Tallahassee’s Courtroom 3H, staggeringly emotional hearings and trials hint at the complexities of family histories, calling into question a justice system with the power to decide who is suitable to be a parent. North American Premiere.
DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD: DIR Brooke Pepion Swaney. PRODS Jeri Rafter, Kendra Mylnechuk and Brooke Pepion Swaney. USA.
Kendra grew up in white suburbia knowing little of her Native American heritage. The search for her birth mother leads her to face a legacy of family trauma and joy.
DELPHINE’S PRAYERS (LES PRIÈRES DE DELPHINE): DIR Rosine Mbakam. PROD Geoffroy Cemaix. Belgium, Cameroon.
Delphine, a 30-year-old Cameroonian woman, sits casually on a mattress. With filmmaker Rosine Mbakam, she will “just talk as usual,” describing what led her to this brightly lit room in a Brussels apartment.
FATHOM: DIR Drew Xanthopoulos. PROD Megan Gilbride. USA.
Have you ever wanted to introduce yourself to a whale? FATHOM follows women in the field of cetacean research trying to do just that and takes a deep dive into whale culture and our own.
THE FIRST STEP: DIR Brandon Kramer. PROD Lance Kramer. USA.
Brilliantly plotted and politically nuanced, THE FIRST STEP follows CNN commentator Van Jones’ trip down the rabbit hole as he forms an unholy alliance with Jared Kushner to effectuate prison reform legislation.
LFG: DIRS Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine. PRODS Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine and Abby Greensfelder. USA.
LFG is an inspiring and intimate documentary following the U.S. women’s national soccer team as it files a class-action, gender discrimination lawsuit against the team’s employer, the U.S. Soccer Federation.
THE LOST LEONARDO: DIR Andreas Koefoed. PRODS Christoph Jörg and Andreas Dalsgaard. Denmark, France, Sweden.
This intriguing thriller follows the story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold ($450 million) after it is claimed to be a long-lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
LUCHADORAS: DIRS Paola Calvo and Patrick Jasim. PROD Phillip Kaminiak. Germany, Mexico.
Three courageous female wrestlers, Luchadoras, confront crises in their personal lives and present strength in their community of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where women are all too often abused, kidnapped or murdered.
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY: DIRS Julie Cohen and Betsy West. PROD Talleah Bridges McMahon. USA.
Academy Award® nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen (RBG) profile the remarkable Pauli Murray, whose legacy as one of the 20th Century’s great human rights activists and legal scholars finally gets the attention it deserves.
THE NEUTRAL GROUND: DIR CJ Hunt. PROD Darcy McKinnon. USA.
Comedian and satirist CJ Hunt (THE DAILY SHOW) is asking difficult questions about this country’s Confederate monuments. In THE NEUTRAL GROUND, he hopes to discover some clarity, by diving into history.
NO STRAIGHT LINES: DIR Vivian Kleiman. PRODS Vivian Kleiman and Justin Hall. USA.
This wonderfully immersive look at the history of queer comics celebrates the queer artists who carved out a space in the culture where they could see themselves and be seen by others.
NORTH BY CURRENT: DIR Angelo Madsen Minax. PROD Felix Endara. USA.
After the death of his young niece and accusations that the family might somehow have been involved, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax has many questions that won’t have clear or easy answers.
THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY: DIR Andre Gaines. PRODS Andre Gaines and Valerie Edwards. USA.
In this affectionate tribute guided by other entertainers, the iconic comedian and activist Dick Gregory finds humor again after losing it in anger.
PRAY AWAY: DIR Kristine Stolakis. PRODS Jessica Devaney, Anya Rous and Kristine Stolakis. USA.
Former leaders of the “pray away the gay” movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma.
PRESIDENT: DIR Camilla Nielsson. PRODS Signe Byrge Sørensen and Joslyn Barnes. Denmark, USA, Norway.
Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe has been ousted, but the corrupt ruling party has already thrown their power behind a new candidate and, with democracy at stake, challenger Nelson Chamisa faces an impossible battle.
RADIOGRAPH OF A FAMILY: DIR Firouzeh Khosrovani. PRODS Bård Kjøge Rønning and Fabien Greenberg. Iran, Switzerland, Norway.
Filmmaker Firouzeh Khosrovani excavates and examines her parents’ marriage, which reflects the divide between traditionalism and modernization in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.
REBEL HEARTS: DIR Pedro Kos. PRODS Kira Carstensen, Shawnee Isaac-Smith and Judy Korin. USA.
In Los Angeles in the 1960s, the courageous Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary challenged the Roman Catholic Church in an effort to reform its engrained patriarchal strictures – but at a considerable cost.
SEARCHERS: DIR Pacho Velez. PRODS Pacho Velez, Joe Poletto, Sam Roseme and Cathy Tankosic. USA.
Swipe right or swipe left? Such love-life-altering decisions are explored in Pacho Velez’s enchanting, poignant exploration of online dating apps and those searching for love in all the digital places.
THE SLOW HUSTLE: DIR Sonja Sohn. PRODS Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson and Mahrya MacIntire. USA.
After Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter is shot and found dead while on duty, the tragedy soon becomes enmeshed in a widening corruption scandal that threatens to unravel the public’s already strained relationship with law enforcement. World Premiere.
STORM LAKE: DIRS Jerry Risius and Beth Levison. PROD Beth Levison. USA.
For 30 years, in Storm Lake, Iowa, Art Cullen and his family have been publishing a Pulitzer Prize-winning local newspaper. But, with newspapers everywhere going extinct, how long can they keep it up?
THE STORY WON’T DIE: DIR David Henry Gerson. PROD Odessa Rae, Abdalaziz Alhamza and Martin Marquet. USA, Germany, Denmark.
In their homeland of Syria, artists are routinely tortured, kidnapped, imprisoned and killed. While in exile in Europe, their talents speak truth to power, help them heal and find joy. US Premiere.
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED): DIR Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. PRODS Joseph Patel; Robert Fyvolent; and David Dinerstein. USA.
In 1969, the same summer as Woodstock, another epic music festival — celebrating American music and African American history — took place in Harlem, New York.
TOM PETTY, SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE: DIR Mary Wharton. PROD Peter Afterman. USA.
Newly discovered archival 16mm footage is weaved with intimate interviews to create a love letter to Tom Petty’s touchstone album “Wildflowers” and an artist’s story of his struggle to feel free.
TRY HARDER!: DIR Debbie Lum. PRODS Nico Opper, Lou Nakasako and Debbie Lum. USA.
Welcome to the high-pressure world of the college application process. TRY HARDER! features a wonderful cast of stressed-out high school seniors pulling out all the stops to make their college dreams a reality.
WE: DIR Alice Diop. PROD Sophie Salbot. France.
In this fascinating slice-of-life portrait of Paris and its outskirts, filmmaker Alice Diop turns her camera on the “ordinary” people living in the shadow of the RER B train that traverses the city.
WHITE COAT REBELS: DIR Greg Barker. PRODS. Diane Becker, Greg Barker, Christopher Buchanan, Dr. Harriet Fraser. USA.
In this probing look inside the medical profession, filmmaker Greg Barker examines the outsized influence of Big Pharma and the courageous “white coat rebels” who are pushing back against the powers that be. World Premiere.
Go on a binge or take it one episode at a time, these multi-part documentaries explore pivotal moments in history and culture that connect us.
9/11: ONE DAY IN AMERICA: DIR Daniel Bogado. PROD Caroline Marsden. USA.
In official collaboration with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, this documentary series take viewers through harrowing moments of the historic morning of September 11, 2001. AFI DOCS will present the first three episodes.
OBAMA: IN PURSUIT OF A MORE PERFECT UNION: DIR Peter Kunhardt. PRODS George Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt, Maya Mumma and Matthew Henderson. USA.
This multi-part documentary explores the journey of Barack Obama from his early upbringing to the 44th U.S. President, set against the backdrop of the country’s unfolding racial history. World Premiere. AFI DOCS will present the first two episodes.
WATCH THE SOUND WITH MARK RONSON: DIRS Mark Monroe, Morgan Neville and Jason Zeldes. USA.
Hosted by renowned DJ and award-winning artist and producer Mark Ronson, this docuseries explores sound creation and the revolutionary technology shaping modern music. US Premiere. AFI DOCS will host three episodes of the new series.
CINEMA’S LEGACY
Presenting historically notable nonfiction films, this year’s edition of Cinema’s Legacy section focuses on important works employing the personal documentary form. Now over a year into an extended quarantine, personal documentary has acquired a renewed relevance, reflecting a global turn towards introspection. Cinema’s Legacy is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS (1992): DIR Marco Williams. PRODS Michael Rubbo and Marco Williams. USA.
Marco Williams’ searing seven-year journey to track down the father he never knew. Thirty years on, the film remains a brilliant and powerful evocation of the personal documentary form.
SINK OR SWIM (1990): DIR Su Friedrich. USA.
In this canonical personal documentary, filmmaker Su Friedrich returns to a pivotal childhood memory – her father has thrown her into the deep end of the pool to teach her to swim.
STEVIE (2002): DIR Steve James. PRODS Steve James, Adam D. Singer and Gordon Quinn. USA.
Following HOOP DREAMS’ huge success, Steve James began a straightforward film about the man he had once mentored as a Big Brother. To James’ surprise, he would end up making his most complex and personal documentary.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Curated from hundreds of entries, this year’s short films highlight unique voices from around the world – presented in six programs.
AUDIBLE: DIR Matt Ogens. PRODS Nyle DiMarco and Peter Berg. USA.
Athletes at the Maryland School for the Deaf defend their winning streak while dealing with the loss of a friend. They face pressures of entering the hearing world in this coming-of-age story.
THE BEAUTY PRESIDENT: DIR Whitney Skauge. PROD Caley Shannon. USA.
“If a bad actor can be president, why not a good drag queen?” In 1992, Joan Jett Blakk made a historic bid for the White House as the first openly queer write-in candidate. World Premiere.
THE BROTHER (LE FRÈRE): DIR Jérémie Battaglia. PROD Amélie Lambert Bouchard. Canada.
Suffering from an illness that causes body paralysis, Kais dreams he is the hero of his favorite anime, along with his brothers, Fehd the bodybuilder and Zaïd the ninja. US Premiere.
BUG FARM: DIR Lydia Cornett. PROD Brit Fryer. USA.
Four women in Central Florida establish a unique bond while working with crickets, superworms and roaches on an insect farm in the rural town of LaBelle.
CODED: DIR Ryan White. PRODS Christopher Leggett, Rafael Marmor, Conor Fetting-Smith, Jessica Hargrave and Marc Gilbar. USA.
The coded advertisements of legendary early-20th century gay illustrator J.C. Leyendecker quietly, but directly, acknowledged a community that was forced to live in the closet.
THE COMMUNION OF MY COUSIN ANDREA: DIR Brandán Cerviño Abeledo. PRODS Brandán Cerviño Abeledo and Sabrina Zimmermann. Spain.
Andrea’s First Communion ceremony lacks glamour. For Andrea, things without sparkles are meaningless. World Premiere.
EAGLES (ÁGUILAS): DIRS Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre. PRODS Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre. USA.
Once a month, along the scorching southern desert border in Arizona, one group of searchers, the Aguilas del Desierto, set out to recover missing loved ones.
THE GALLERY THAT DESTROYS ALL SHAME: DIRS Aurora Brachman and Jessie Zinn. PRODS Aurora Brachman and Jessie Zinn. USA.
One evening in L.A., a group of womxn gather to learn how to take back the speculum. World Premiere.
THE GAME: DIR Roman Hodel. PROD Franziska Sonder. Switzerland.
A whistle. The crowded stands of the stadium roar. Players protest angrily. Announcers follow the action on the field. In the middle of it all is the referee.
GOLDEN AGE KARATE: DIR Sindha Agha. PRODS Malcolm Pullinger and Rachel Serada Barth. USA.
Teen karate pro Jeff Wall teaches senior citizens self-defense at a local nursing home, giving them the tools to feel in control, connected and cared for.
THE HAIRDRESSER (LA COIFFEUSE): DIR Lorraine Price. PROD Lorraine Price. Canada.
At 83, Kathleen is still doing hair, though not how you might expect. Her work is special. World Premiere.
HALPATE: DIRS Adam Piron and Adam Khalil. PRODS Alexandra Lazarowich and Everett Osceola. USA.
Alligator wrestling, considered a staple of Florida tourism, is a dangerous spectacle that has been performed by members of the Seminole Tribe for over a century.
THE I AND S OF LIVES: DIR Kevin Jerome Everson. PRODS Madeleine Molyneaux and Kevin Jerome Everson. USA.
The smoothest area of resistance. The “I and S” of “Lives” is traced by a lone rollerskater on Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, on a summer afternoon in 2020.
INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY: DIR John Greyson. PROD John Greyson. Canada.
On International Dawn Chorus Day (May 3, 2020), birds from six continents join a Zoom call, where they gossip about storms, cats, wires, dates and two Egyptian activists. US Premiere.
INVISIBLE MONSTERS AND TOMATO SOUP: DIRS Stevie Borrello, Marcie LaCerte and Meghan McDonough. USA.
A batch of mushy sourdough. Two radioactive lizards. Three cans of Campbell’s tomato soup. When COVID-19 lockdowns began in 2020, people around the world began reporting more vivid dreams.
MAMA: DIR Pablo de la Chica. PRODS David Torres, Pablo de la Chica, Kathleen McInnis, Miguel González, Eduardo Jiménez, Jordi Rubio, Diego Urruchi and Néstor Lopez. Spain.
Deep in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, one of the most violent places in the world, Mama Zawadi and her baby chimpanzees find that unconditional love can heal the wounds of war. North American Premiere.
MISSION: HEBRON: DIR Rona Segal. PROD Idit Kliger. Israel.
Israeli soldiers are recruited at age 18 and, only months later, are already overseeing Palestinian civil life. Former soldiers describe their time in Hebron, the most troubled city in the West Bank. North American Premiere.
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA: DIR Sergei Loznitsa. PRODS Philippe Martin, Dimitri Krassoulia-Vronsky, Emmanuel Perreau and Louis Vaudeville. France.
Filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa revisits the Palais Garnier of the 1950s and 1960s, reviving the era when kings and queens, celebrities and heads of state ascended the stairs to worship the art of opera.
NSENENE: DIR Michelle Coomber. PROD Michelle Coomber. UK.
In this poetic portrait of a Ugandan tradition, Masaka’s grasshopper catchers light up the sky. World Premiere.
THE ONE WHO CROSSED THE SEA (DER ÜBERS MEER KAM): DIR Jonas Riemer. PRODS Jonas Riemer and Johannes Schubert. Germany.
In a makeshift boat, a GDR refugee escapes to West Germany. His newfound freedom is disorienting, and it is only later, with a growing nationalist movement, that he begins to feel at home.
PARTY LINE: DIR Lydia Cornett. PROD Lydia Cornett. USA.
At the early voting line in Ohio’s most populous county, civic duty is a public performance. World Premiere.
R.I.P. T-SHIRTS: DIRS Kate Davis and David Heilbroner. PRODS David Heilbroner, Grace Harry and Anwan Glover. USA.
A small custom T-shirt shop in Washington, DC, sees a generation of Black youth experience gun violence. World Premiere.
RED TAXI: DIR Anonymous. Hong Kong.
As protests in Hong Kong escalate, taxi drivers experience a city in upheaval driving the streets day and night. Anonymously filmed by locals.
S P A C E S (M E Z E R Y): DIR Nora Štrbová. Czech Republic.
A multi-textured animated exploration of memory as a container of identity, based on the personal story of the filmmaker and her brother who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. North American Premiere.
SCUM BOY: DIR Allison Swank. PROD Allison Swank. South Africa.
A look at the off-the-wall psyche of Gen Z by way of visionary 3D artist Scum Boy, a young South African, Jewish transgender man living his life with illuminating fearlessness.
SENIOR PROM: DIR Luisa Conlon. PRODS Jessica Chermayeff and Luisa Conlon. USA.
At an LGBTQ retirement home, the annual “senior” prom takes on a whole new meaning – a celebration of the lives and legacies of resistance of the eldest queer generation. World Premiere.
SHELTER: DIR Smriti Mundhra. PROD Maya Gnyp. USA.
A verité documentary that follows three young children and their families as they grapple with housing insecurity in Los Angeles. World Premiere.
SINCE YOU ARRIVED, MY HEART STOPPED BELONGING TO ME (DESDE QUE LLEGASTE MI CORAZÓN DEJÓ DE PERTENECERME): DIR Erin Semine Kökdil. PROD Erin Semine Kökdil. USA.
Central American mothers journey by bus through Mexico, searching for their children who migrated north towards the United States but disappeared en route.
SOUVENIR SOUVENIR: DIR Bastien Dubois. PROD Amiel Tenenbaum. France.
An account of filmmaker Bastien Dubois’ multiple unsuccessful attempts to initiate a dialogue with his grandfather, who had been a soldier in the French-Algerian war.
TRADE CENTER: DIR Adam Baran. PRODS Adam Baran and Ethan Weinstock. USA.
The voices of gay men who cruised for sex at the World Trade Center in the 1980s and 1990s haunt the sanitized, commerce-driven landscape of the newly rebuilt Freedom Tower.
THE TRAIN STATION: DIR Lyana Patrick. PROD Jessica Hallenbeck. Canada.
In this beautifully animated documentary short, filmmaker Lyana Patrick narrates her family’s powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School. US Premiere.
UNDER THE LEMON TREE (تحت شجرةالليمون): DIR Noor Fawzi Alasswad. PROD Yassmine Hammoudi. Qatar, Palestine.
Under the shade of a lemon tree, a Palestinian woman, Khaldieh, prepares herself a humble breakfast, remembering her former life and lost homeland with an assemblage of simple elements. US Premiere.
UNFORGIVABLE (IMPERDONABLE): DIR Marlén Viñayo. PRODS Marlén Viñayo and Carlos Martínez. El Salvador.
Inside an evangelical Salvadoran prison, a ruthless 18th Street gang hitman is guilty, not only of his crimes, but of the unforgivable sin of being gay.
THE WAY WE WAIT: DIR Ji-Yoon Park. PROD Ji-Yoon Park. South Korea, UK.
The filmmaker has just moved into her 22nd house when she receives a phone call that her grandmother is in critical condition. Belatedly attempting to strengthen their relationship, she awaits the impending loss. North American Premiere.
WHEN WE WERE BULLIES: DIR Jay Rosenblatt. PROD Jay Rosenblatt. USA.
A mind-boggling “coincidence” leads a filmmaker to track down his fifth-grade class, to examine a memory of his own complicity in a bullying incident 50 years ago.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE HINDSIGHT PROJECT
Special to AFI DOCS this year is the Spotlight on the Hindsight Project, sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.The section presents the world premiere of six short films, which chronicle the experiences of BIPOC communities in the American South and U.S. Territories during the unprecedented events of 2020. The project is produced in partnership by Firelight Media, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and Reel South.
FOOD FOR THE POOR (COMIDA PA’ LOS POBRES): DIR Arleen Cruz-Alicea. PRODS Arleen Cruz-Alicea. Puerto Rico (USA).
COMIDA PA’ LOS POBRES follows a young Puerto Rican activist as he confronts the island’s persistent crisis of food insecurity. World Premiere.
MISSING MAGIC: DIR Anissa Latham. PRODS Anissa Latham, Kelsey Harrison. USA.
MISSING MAGIC centers on a young poet and activist in Birmingham, Alabama, as he tries to write his way through the complex history of the city. World Premiere.
NOW LET US SING: DIR Dilsey Davis. USA.
An interfaith, interracial choir in Durham, North Carolina, is forced to take a new direction during the pandemic. World Premiere.
THIS BODY: DIR Zac Manuel. PRODS Lauren Cargo. USA.
As Sydney Hall participates in an experimental coronavirus vaccine trial in hopes of protecting her beloved New Orleans community, she and her loved ones confront the history of medical abuse and experimentation on Black bodies. World Premiere.
UDAAN (SOAR): DIR Amman Abbasi. PRODS Alex Nystrom. USA, Pakistan.
UDAAN (SOAR) follows a young Pakistani woman as she immigrates from Karachi, Pakistan, to a small town in Arkansas to begin her first year of college. World Premiere.
WE STAY IN THE HOUSE: DIR Kiyoko McCrae. PRODS Kiyoko McCrae, Eritria Pitts. USA.
A group of New Orleans mothers struggle to care for their families and themselves throughout the pandemic. Utilizing video diaries, it provides an intimate portrait of mothering during a time of crisis. World Premiere.
About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival historically held in Washington, DC. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 19th year, the festival will be held June 22-27, 2021. Visit DOCS.AFI.com and connect on Twitter.com/AFIDOCS, Facebook.com/AFIDOCS, YouTube.com/AFI and Instagram.com/
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
Established in 1967, the American Film Institute is the nation’s nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring artists and audiences through initiatives that champion the past, present and future of the moving image. AFI’s pioneering programs include filmmaker training at the AFI Conservatory; year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and at AFI Festivals across the nation; workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community; honoring today’s masters through the AFI Life Achievement Award and AFI AWARDS; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films that uphold film history for future generations. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/
About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates.
About The Washington Post and Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership
The Washington Post is an award-winning news leader whose mission is to connect, inform and enlighten local, national and global readers with trustworthy reporting, in-depth analysis and engaging opinions. It combines world-class journalism with the latest technology and tools so readers can interact with The Post anytime, anywhere.
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About Meet the Press with Chuck Todd
Meet the Press with Chuck Todd is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show for the 2019-2020 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. Meet the Press brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with MTP Daily weekdays at 1 p.m. ET, to the ongoing weekly podcast, The Chuck ToddCast, and to Meet the Press Reports, a 30-minute program on NBC News NOW and Peacock, focusing on a single topic explored through the Meet the Press lens. It’s the longest-running show in television history, recently expanding its brand to also include a political short-documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of Meet the Press; John Reiss is the executive producer.
HollywoodGlee inside the Sundance Film Festival Headquarters at the Park City Marriott on January 23, 2019, in Park City, Utah, the day before the opening of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo credit: Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)Posted by Larry Gleeson
The most pleasant surprise of my 2021 Sundance Film Festival screenings goes to Jamie Redford’s Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. I was deeply saddened upon hearing Redford passed away before the film’s screening. Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir was produced by Karen Pritzker and is a PBS American Masters Picture Production. Tan is most recognized for her Joy Luck Club work. The 1993 film, directed by Wayne Wang, spoke volumes to what was lost between generations illuminated through the onscreen conflict between Chinese-American daughters and their immigrant mothers. The film was based on Tan’s 1989 novel, The Joy Luck Club. To date, Tan has written two widely acclaimed novels, the aforementioned Joy Luck Club and the 1991 The Bonesetter’s Daughter, based on Tan’s own relationship with her mother and the stories of her grandmother. In addition, Tan has written and published two children’s books, six fiction novels, a few short stories, and several non-fiction books including The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings (2003) and the 2017 Where The Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir.
It’s one thing for me to simply reflect and write about Tan’s body of work. It’s entirely another issue for me to delve into Redford’s approach. Utilizing traditional documentary techniques of voice-over narration (in this case Tan’s), archival footage and photos, film clips, direct interviews, personal testimony, and the more recent animation technique, Redford reveals a writer’s life in all its fullness and in all its complexities. As consumers, we all often believe writers simply write and occasionally have to deal with the infamous and godforsaken “writer’s block.”
Furthermore, Tan’s openness in sharing her family’s history, especially the women’s side of it, her own personal process, and professional writing history, allowed Redford to provide a very intimate look into Tan’s impressive body of work and into her psyche. For example, Amy Tan began her career as a technical writer and she found it paid well yet unfulfilling from a humanistic viewpoint. So, in her pursuit of some sort of self-actualization, she became a fiction writer as she felt fiction would actually allow for a more expansive expression of the truth. I suspect, other than her mother, that anyone would have guessed the impact her writing The Joy Luck Club would have on her life, and on audiences here in America and around the world. It was a bonafide game-changer.
I found Redford’s work, Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, inspiring and heartwarming. On a deeper personal level, I felt I understood how Tan had become one of our most beloved contemporary authors – she learned to listen! Simultaneously, I identified with Tan’s immense intellectual curiosity and her overwhelming desire to express her world experience. Facing racism, misogyny, and intergenerational conflict of growing up in a new world separate and distinct from her mother’s she managed to also write for truth. I was so enthralled after watching Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, I ordered and purchased two of her books. Currently, Tan has embarked on painting artistry from her home base in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California. Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, a fascinating portrait of a deeply beloved and deeply poetic American author. Highly recommended!
Until next time. I look forward to seeing you at the movies…
Rainbow Portal at Cabrillo Ballpark in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Posted and reviewed by Larry Gleeson.
America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill, directed by Joseph Puleo and based on Rio Vitale’s book, St. Louis’s The Hill, was a walk down memory lane for me as a history buff with family ties to the area around The Hill, an Italian enclave and the last remaining Litlle Italy in the United States. America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill explores the deep historic roots of the iconic St. Louis neighborhood and the Italians who immigrated to The Hill in pursuit of the American Dream of owning a home and starting a family. This is a project I imagine the likes of Martin Scorcese making – only Marty tends to stick to his own neighborhood in New York City (Mean Streets, and The Oratorio). Nevertheless, when he sees this film, I hallucinate he’ll be beaming with Italian Pride. America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill which screened at the recent St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) is Joseph Puleo’s first feature and was the recipient of the Audience Choice Award at this year’s Cinema St. Louis Showcase. Rio Vitale is credited as the film’s Executive Producer.
With a smooth opening black screen coupled with non-diegetic chimes, the film meanders in the darkness before it reveals an interview with Msgr. Salvatore Polizzi. Msgr. Polizzi, a Roman Catholic priest and former associate pastor of The Hill neighborhood’s St. Ambrose Catholic Church in the late 1960s and early 1970s, begins speaking about the general fear many Americans experienced going into an Italian community, “And we were kind of happy there was a fear also.” The film transitioned as introduction titles rolled and the historical documentary was off and running informing the viewer of the setting with home videos and a still photograph of the most recognizable landmark in St. Louis, Missouri, The Gateway Arch. The editing and soundtrack are seamless and spot-on as both aspects enhanced the film’s narrative.
With America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill Puleo provides an eloquent treatment of the Italian immigrant coming to America and settling into the area and becoming a part of the social fabric. Puleo utilized a plethora of black and white photographs, newspaper articles as well as a multitude of interviews with a wide-ranging assortment of Hill residents and extended family members sharing their experiences, strength, and hope. Fr. Polizzi arrived at St. Ambrose Parish in the late 1960s immediately immersing himself in the community. The early 1970s was a time of great social and cultural upheaval and brought changes to the area – think of Travis Bickle’s opening voice-over monologue in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Fr. Polizzi and the men of The Hill neighborhood took matters into their own hands to ensure the neighborhood was kept intact and the darker elements were kept out. The women did the same (and more), to keep their Italian heritage alive and thriving. The nearby Shaw neighborhood by comparison (a war zone) didn’t fare so well.
For me, growing up in the Metro-East area of St. Louis and being a long-time St. Louis Cardinal baseball fan, my mother had friends on The Hill, notably Eleanor Berra Marfisi, a Berra family member, and author of The Hill: Its History – Its Recipes. Naturally, Mother informed me Lawrence “Yogi” Berra, a brilliant baseball player and manager, was from The Hill. Most baseball fans have heard of Yogi Berra and his Yogiisms as had I (“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”). However, I wasn’t aware of his 10 World Series Championships and the three Most Valuable Player Awards he earned while playing baseball for the New York Yankees. I was probably more familiar with The Hill’s Peabody Award-winning, and recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for outstanding broadcasting achievement, Joe Garagiola. Garagiola broke into the MLB with the 1946 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Team. Within a runtime of seventy minutes, Puleo covers all this and much more including how and why The Hill, named for its proximity to the highest point in St. Louis, is America’s last Little Italy today.
Viewing America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill brought back a lot of memories including the above mentioned. Others included learning about St. Ambrose from my dear friend Mike Cucchi (pronounced ˈko͝okē), a standout soccer player and local college soccer coach who made gossip fodder when he “finally moved off The Hill.” Niki Cusamano and Alisa Santangelo remain and are a part of the new generation of Italian-Americans who want to be a part of The Hill’s St. Louis Italian traditions. I can tell you whenever I visit family in St. Louis, I visit The Hill and Cunetto’s House of Pasta. Last visit my oldest brother Jim introduced me to Frank Cunetto, who is featured in the film as one of The Hill’s restaurateurs, and to our server at Cunetto’s, Vicki, a Hill resident of Sicilian heritage.
America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill TV premiere is scheduled for Monday, November 30th, 7 PM, with a second showing on December 6th, 4 PM on Nine Network PBS. DVD’s are also available in limited quantities on the film’s Facebook page. I’ve seen a lot of films this year and America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill sits at the top!
Highly recommended!
Posted and reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the virtual 2020 AFI FEST presented by Audi.
Filmmaker Matt Yoka, who I had the distinct pleasure of connecting with at the AFI FEST Industry and Filmmaker mixer, brings home Whirlybird, a fascinating, real-world tale of Los Angeles-based reporters, Bob Tur and Marika Gerrard, who revolutionized real-time news reporting from the air. Yoka crafts his work from 2,000 hours of recorded flight tape, direct interviews, news archives, still photos, and more.
The result is a dynamic visual history of the biggest Los Angeles news events in the last 30 years including the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 and the pursuant, criminal assault of truck driver, Reginald Denny, at Florence and Normandy after the Rodney King beating verdict and subsequent acquittal of the four white police officers charged. And, if that wasn’t enough the duo broke and captured the infamous O.J. Simpson ‘White bronco’ car chase which became “the apex of live news coverage” with approximately 80 million viewers tuning in.
Prior to these two major national news events, Bob had also previously rescued 54 people from a crumbling rooftop at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, Calif. during a winter storm with winds up to 50 miles per hour. The hotel was surrounded by water and was being pummeled by massive, crashing waves. As what can only be described as a herculean effort, Tur managed to whisk away the stranded guests to higher ground in fourteen separate takeoffs and landings. The rescue made news headlines and jumpstarted his and Marika’s network career with KCOP.
By itself, any one of these events would make for a great story. And they are. Interestingly, Yoka goes on to explore the interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics between Bob and Marika primarily with footage from their aerial reporting. What emerges is a strong working relationship with Bob’s perfectionism and Marika’s “go along to get along attitude.” The pair produced footage unmatched with Bob’s aggressive piloting and Marika’s willingness to hang outside and keep a steady camera rolling under less than optimal conditions including live rounds being fired at them during their three-day virtually non-stop coverage of the 1992 rioting.
Unexpectedly included in present-day time is MSNBC journalist, and Bob and Marika’s daughter, Katy Tur, an MSNBC journalist and author of the 2017 “Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History,” as she reflects on the rise and fall of her parent’s helicopter reporting empire, the current state of, and decline of, major network broadcast news reporting, and her parent’s marital relationship. Yoka includes this section as Katy and Marika are seen in casual conversation.
With Whirlybird Yoka manages to distill a 15 plus year time span into a 1:43 film run time. With a focus on the newsgathering, Yoka delivers a very informative segment before introducing and exploring a surprising and deeply personal human-interest twist reminiscent of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner as Zoey Tur comes to terms with who she is as a person and explains why she performed so aggressively and behaved so inappropriately as Bob.
A seminal piece on the newsgathering industry in Los Angeles coupled with a timely human-interest story involving transgenderism and news reporting at the highest national level, Whirlybird is highly recommended viewing.
