Category Archives: Documentary

Quannah Chasinghorse-Narrated Documentary “The American Southwest” to Open in Theaters September 5

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the-american-southwestThe American Southwest, a new environmental documentary narrated by Indigenous model and activist Quannah Chasinghorse, will open in theaters on September 5, following its debut at MountainFilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado.

Directed by Ben Masters (Unbranded, The River, The Wall, Deep in the Heart) and produced by Len Necefer of NativesOutdoors, the film explores the environmental and cultural challenges facing the American Southwest. It focuses on the region’s ecosystems, climate threats, and Indigenous-led conservation efforts.

The film received a strong reception at its festival premiere, including sold-out screenings and standing ovations. It is scheduled for theatrical release across Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, California, Texas, and Colorado. Distribution is being managed by Michael Tuckman of mTuckman Media, known for his work on independent documentaries including No Other Land and Deep in the Heart.

Additional details on screenings and ticket availability will be announced on the film’s official website: www.theamericansouthwest.film.

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Bono Documentary “Stories of Surrender” Premieres May 30 on Apple TV+

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bono-stories-of-surrenderApple TV+ will premiere Bono: Stories of Surrender globally on Friday, May 30. The documentary reimagines Bono’s acclaimed one-man stage show, blending intimate storytelling, live performance, and rare behind-the-scenes footage.

The film offers a candid look at the U2 frontman’s life, exploring themes of family, activism, fame, and faith. Through a mix of narration and music, Bono reflects on his journey as a son, husband, father, and global rock icon—accompanied by performances of signature U2 songs.

Produced by RadicalMedia and Plan B Entertainment, the film features a creative team with credits including Summer of Soul, Hamilton, and 12 Years a Slave. Bono also serves as executive producer.

Bono: Stories of Surrender is available to screen on the Apple TV+ press site. Watch the official trailer below.

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Sebastião Salgado, Famed Documentary Photographer, Dies at 81

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Sebastião Salgado, the celebrated Brazilian photographer known for his powerful black-and-white images of global crises and natural beauty, has died at the age of 81. His death was confirmed by Instituto Terra, the environmental organization he co-founded with his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado.

Across a five-decade career, Salgado photographed life in over 130 countries, documenting events such as the Sahel famine, the Rwandan genocide, and the Gulf War oil fires. His final major work, Amazônia, focused on the rainforest and its Indigenous communities and was exhibited internationally.

Originally trained as an economist, Salgado turned to photography in the 1970s and later founded his own agency, Amazonas Images. He received numerous honors, including the 2024 Sony World Photography Award for Outstanding Contribution to Photography and recognition as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Salgado was also a passionate environmentalist. Through Instituto Terra, he and his wife led a major reforestation project in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, planting over three million trees.

Though praised for his artistry, Salgado also faced criticism for the way he depicted human suffering. He remained committed to using photography as a tool for social change.

He is survived by his wife and creative partner, Lélia Wanick Salgado.

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Tribeca 2025: “This Land” Documentary Short Film to Have NY Premiere

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this-land“This Land,” a documentary short film directed by Mike Bradley, will have its New York premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The film is included in the Shorts: Common Ground program and will be screened on June 9, 14, and 15. The director is scheduled to attend all three screenings in person.

The film documents the formation of Ganienkeh, a self-governed Mohawk community in upstate New York.

Here’s the doc’s synopsis:

In 1974, a group of Mohawk Indians occupied a defunct girls’ camp in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and established a community they called Ganienkeh. Aiming to practice a more traditional lifestyle and asserting aboriginal title to the land, they stayed for three years, with occasional violent clashes with local residents.

In 1977, they negotiated a land swap with the State of New York and agreed to relocate to a permanent settlement near Plattsburgh, where the community remains. Ganienkeh is one of the only known examples of an Indigenous people reclaiming land from the United States, but it may not be the last.

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SFFILM Announces Golden Gate Award and Audience Award Winners at the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival

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SFFILM-Announces-Golden-Gate-Award

L to R, top row: New Directors Awardee: INK WASH, Global Visions Awardee: ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU. L to R, bottom row: Cine Latino Awardee: BELOVED TROPIC, Kirby Walker Documentary Award Awardee: SEEDS Seeds. Courtesy of SFFILM and rights holders.

Today, SFFILM announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Awards competition and the Audience Awards at the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival). Since the Festival’s first edition in 1957, the prestigious Golden Gate Awards have served as a launching pad for internationally renowned filmmakers who are early in their careers and have grown to include Audience Awards as well as serving as a qualifier for films under 40 minutes for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). In 2025, Academy Award-qualifying honors presented at the Festival included Narrative Short, Documentary Short, and Animated Short. 

Golden Gate Awards were given in the feature film categories of New Directors–Ink Wash, Global Visions–All That’s Left of You, Cine Latino–Beloved Tropic, and the newly named Kirby Walker Documentary Award–Seeds.

Honoring the best documentary feature, the Kirby Walker Documentary Award celebrates the legacy of Kirby Walker, beloved Bay Area activist and filmmaker, whose profound curiosity about the lives of others and the world in general sparked a lasting love and respect for documentary filmmaking that allows audiences to develop their own informed viewpoint.
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First Authorized Documentary on Hollywood Blonde Bombshell Mamie Van Doren in the Works

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Entitled “Mamie Exposed! The Life and Loves of the Last Blonde Bombshell”, the first authorized doc on Hollywood’s Blonde Bombshell Mamie Van Doren is in the works. The feature film is an intimate and unprecedented look inside the life of one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, and will reveal intimate never-before-shared secrets of Van Doren’s enigmatic, scandalous, and fiercely private personal life.

Production is currently taking place in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, and will be completed by the end of 2025.

Van Doren is on board as Executive Producer. Producers are Alan Eichler, Stephen Israel and Marc Saltarelli, who also directs – the same team that brought audiences the award-winning 2024 documentary “Studio One Forever.” They are also developing a narrative feature based on her published memoirs.

Van Doren in a swimsuit photoshoot in 1955 (source: wikipedia)


Said Van Doren, “I have been fiercely private my whole life, and at ninety-four I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and reveal intimacies, secrets, and never before shared moments from my incredible life as the last original Hollywood Blonde Bombshell. Marc Saltarelli and his exceptional team are truly talented stewards of my documentary life story. Together we’re going to reveal and celebrate a provocative, entertaining, and indelible life journey.”
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Stanley Nelson’s Soulful Doc “We Want The Funk!” To Stream on PBS and YouTube

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we-want-the-funkDirected by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, a new documentary explores the roots of funk.

Distinctly rooted in joy, funk music reflected a post-Civil Rights Movement sensibility. “We Want the Funk!” examines the symbiotic relationship between the explosion of funk music out of the Midwest and the political and racial dynamics in 1970s inner-city America.

A syncopated and star-studded voyage through the journey of funk music, the film delves into the genre’s influence on contemporary music, fashion, and freedom of expression as well as its role in the rise of hip-hop. At the heart of the film are the first-hand stories, recollections, and experiences of the people who created and defined along with additional perspectives from Questlove and Thomas DeFrantz.

The film also features archival interviews with musical icons, including James Brown, Elton John, David Bowie, and more.

“We Want The Funk!” is set to premiere on April 08, 2025.

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Lou Ye’s Docufiction AN UNFINISHED FILM + Four Ye Features | Opening March 14 at Film Forum

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an-unfinished-filmFilm Forum has announce the US theatrical premiere of Lou Ye’s AN UNFINISHED FILM on Friday, March 14.

Using outtakes and on-set footage from SUZHOU RIVER and other films (SPRING FEVER, MYSTERY, THE SHADOW PLAY), and casting real actors from these films to play themselves, Lou creates an intense yet playful catharsis for filmmakers, artists, and, ultimately, all of us — a chance to revisit that time, and to heal.

In this enthralling, poignant docufiction, director Lou Ye (SUZHOU RIVER) and his crew reunite in Wuhan in January 2020 to complete a film started a decade earlier. When the first wave of COVID precipitates lockdown and fear, this story of revived artistic vision pivots to a thriller-paced account of the early spread of the virus — both the devastation and the deep connections borne of shared isolation.

AN UNFINISHED FILM had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section and was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, MoMA Doc Fortnight, and more.


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Theatrical Release of the Cannes Doc “The Falling Sky”

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the-falling-skyKimStim has announced the North American theatrical release of The Falling Sky (A Queda do Céu), the immersive and lyrical Brazilian documentary co-directed by acclaimed documentarian Eryk Rocha (Cinema Novo) and first-time director Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha.

Inspired by the 2010 book of the same name by Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa—who serves as both protagonist and narrator—and French anthropologist Bruce Albert, this breathtaking and collaborative film gives voice to the remote Yanomami and Watoriki communities as they issue a dire warning to the world: environmental catastrophe is imminent, driven by the greed of industrialized nations.

A standout at major international festivals—including Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, DOC NYC, and Doclisboa—this powerful and award-winning portrait of Indigenous resilience will open with a one-week theatrical engagement at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City on Friday, March 7, followed by a theatrical release at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles beginning Friday, April 2, with additional cities to be announced.
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“Documentary Feature Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines” Debuts on Knowledge Network

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Arthur-Erickson-Beauty-Between-the-LinesBlack Rhino Creative has announced that the documentary feature Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines from Vancouver-based directors Ryan Mah and Danny Berish will premiere on Knowledge Network Tuesday, February 25th at 9pm and will be available to viewers across Canada for the first time online through Knowledge Network’s streaming service and apps.

Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines, which has been held over in Vancouver at the VIFF Centre for fourteen weeks, delves into the personal life and work of Arthur Erickson, a visionary architect first in Canada and ultimately across the globe. The film was made with unprecedented access to the Erickson archives and with the full cooperation of the Erickson family making this a “definitive” film about a truly exceptional man. With intimate interviews, unseen archival footage, and an exploration of his architectural masterpieces, the film weaves together the complexities of Erickson’s personal life, his sexuality and his public-facing professional life.

It reveals a man who transcended traditional boundaries, who fused art, culture, and nature and in the process, redefined modern architecture. Beauty Between the Lines explores the impact his relationships had on his work.

Danny Berish and Ryan Mah are award-winning documentary film directors whose credits include the one-hour documentary film for TELUS Outside In, the 6-part series Red Chef Revival, Nude to Me a documentary selected by the Hot Docs Film Festival in 2020, and House Special, a 5-part documentary series. Danny and Ryan are also in their third season of directing the travel series Postcards from… for AMI. Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines is their first feature documentary. The film will continue its festival run before its broadcast on Knowledge Network February 25th.
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