All About Documentary Feature: “A House Made Of Splinters”

Posted on February 8, 2023 by admin

Starting at Sundance last year, where the film won the Directing Award, “A House Made Of Splinters” has gone on to be nominated for: a Film Independent Spirit Award, IDA Awards for Best Documentary, Best Director and Cinematography, Cinema Eye Honors for Production and Cinematography, and a European Film Award for Best Documentary.

The documentary is a poignant and deeply intimate documentary three kids temporarily removed from their parents find friendship and flickers of hope inside the worn walls of a remarkable orphanage in Eastern Ukraine, as a group of dedicated social-workers create moments of joy and respite from childhoods all but lost.

In this war-worn and impoverished corner of Eastern Ukraine where addiction casts a long shadow, there sits a safe haven for children temporarily removed from their parents. A House Made of Splinters follows three kids awaiting their fate: will they go back or move on to a new home, while as a group of dedicated social-workers create small moments of joy and respite from childhoods all but lost.

The film is ffilmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s follow-up to his acclaimed first feature, The Distant Barking of Dogs, offering a unique look into how the long-term consequences of war on a society already under strain impacts the most vulnerable. His is a poignant and deeply intimate portrait of a remarkable way station filled with care, support, and trust for a group of kids who are in desperate need of more.

See the trailer below for “A House Made Of Splinters”:

Sundance 2023: “20 Days In Mariupol” Wins Audience Award

Posted on January 28, 2023 by admin

Directed by Ukrainian AP video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, the documentary tells the first hand account of early days of invasion in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Mstyslav Chernov is a Ukrainian war correspondent, filmmaker, photographer, and novelist. He is known for his coverage of the Ukrainian revolution; the Russian invasion in Ukraine; the wars in Iraq, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Afghanistan; as well as for his art installations and exhibitions. Chernov is an Associated Press journalist, and the President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers.

The documentary follows a team of Ukrainian journalists enter the strategic eastern port city of Mariupol on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

During the subsequent siege and assault, as bombs fall, inhabitants flee, and access to electricity, food, water, and medicine are severed, the team – the only international journalists left – struggles to cover the war atrocities and to transmit their footage out. Eventually surrounded by Russian soldiers, they shelter in a hospital, unsure of how they’ll escape.

Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist Mstyslav Chernov offers a window into the practices of conflict zone reporters and an unflinching, anguishing account of the 20 days he and colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko spent covering Mariupol. Their footage, widely disseminated through news media, not only documents the death and destruction – corpses in the streets and mass graves, the bombing of apartment buildings and a maternity ward, doctors despairing children they couldn’t save – but directly refutes Russian misinformation. Seeing so much death, Chernov wonders how capturing any more could make a difference. But residents implore them to let the world bear witness.

2023 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced

Posted on January 27, 2023 by admin

The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, returned back in person and across the country online for 2023. Whether you gathered in theaters or are joining us from home, the Festival offers the opportunity to be a part of the discovery of stories and artists that will inspire and entertain us for years to come. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival jurors and audiences have voted with the awards announced today during an event at The Ray Theatre in Park City and updated on Sundance Film Festival’s official social accounts. The award-winning films will screen in person and via the online Festival platform on Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29. Tickets for all award-screening films are available beginning at 1:00 p.m. MT today.

The jury and audience-awarded prizes amplify the fearless and dynamic stories across sections, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to A Thousand and One (U.S. Dramatic), Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (U.S. Documentary), Scrapper (World Cinema Dramatic), and The Eternal Memory (World Cinema Documentary), and the NEXT Innovator Award presented by Adobe was awarded to KOKOMO CITY.

Voted on by the audience, Radical was granted the Festival Favorite Award. Audience Awards for films in competition were presented by Acura to The Persian Version (U.S. Dramatic) and Beyond Utopia (U.S. Documentary), and presented by United Airlines to Shayda (World Cinema Dramatic) and 20 Days in Mariupol (World Cinema Documentary). KOKOMO CITY won the audience award for NEXT.

“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections for sharing their stories with the Sundance community.”

“In addition to acknowledging our artists, I want to thank this year’s jurors for their time and thoughtful consideration,” added Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “Their efforts help contextualize our artists’ work beyond the Festival program and elevate their stories to new audiences around the globe. The winners themselves represent a diverse mix of bold storytelling, thought-provoking reflections, and critical representations of our world today.”
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A Record Five Films from The New Yorker Studios Receive Academy Award Nominations

Posted on January 24, 2023 by admin

A record five films from The New Yorker Studios have been nominated for the 95th Academy Awards, joining a list of nominees announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this morning.

Every shorts category is represented: “Stranger at the Gate” and “Haulout” were nominated in the Documentary Short Film category; “Ice Merchants” and “The Flying Sailor” were nominated in the Animated Short Film category; and “Night Ride” was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category.

To date, fifteen New Yorker films have been nominated for an Oscar. The Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 12th, in Los Angeles.

“We are delighted that The New Yorker Studios has been recognized with a record five nominations,” Agnes Chu, the President of Condé Nast Entertainment, said. “The New Yorker is a trusted and powerful voice, and our team is passionate about producing films that bring its storytelling to life on screen in ways that connect and unite us all.”
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“Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” Doc Premieres At Sundance

Posted on January 21, 2023 by admin

The documentary is set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Festival tomorrow, Sunday January 22.

“The George Washington of Video Art”…“Cultural Terrorist” … “Citizen Zero of the Electronic Superhighway”…But who really was Nam June Paik, pillar of the American avant-garde in the 20th century and arguably the most famous Korean artist in modern history?

Director Amanda Kim tells, for the first time, the story of Paik’s meteoric rise in the New York art scene and his Nostradamus-like visions of a future in which “everybody will have his own TV channel.” Thanks to social media, Paik’s future is now our present, and “Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” shows us how we got here.

Featuring an extensive archive of performance footage, original interviews from Paik’s contemporaries and collaborators, and a voiceover narration of Nam June Paik’s writings read by Executive Producer Steven Yeun ( Minari , Nope ), “Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” is a timely meditation on the contradictory ways in which technology elicits both fascist tendencies and intercultural understanding

Stephen Curry, Ryan Coogler, & More Premiere “Stephen Curry: Underrated” At Sundance 2023

Posted on January 20, 2023 by admin

Award-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks documentary is an intimate look at NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s improbable coming of age at tiny Davidson College, where, under the wing of coach Bob McKillop, the team made a thrilling run in the 2008 NCAA tournament. With access to Curry throughout the 2021 season, the film also weaves the Golden State Warriors’ attempt to win another NBA championship following one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

The documentary “Stephen Curry: Underrated” is an official selection of the Special Screenings section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It is an Apple Original Films along with A24.

The film is a remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic and unexpected players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry.

This feature documentary, blending intimate cinéma vérité, archival footage and on camera interviews, documents Curry’s rise from an undersized college player at a tiny backwater Division I college to a four-time NBA champion, building one of the most dominant sports dynasties in the world.

“Joonam” Sets World Premiere In U.S. Documentary Competition

Posted on January 12, 2023 by admin

“Joonam”, the documentary from director, editor, cinematographer Sierra Urich is set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Urich is a Persian-American interdisciplinary visual artist and filmmaker based in Vermont. The film features Behjat Samimi, Mitra Samimi-Urich, and Sierra Urich.

Named for a Farsi term of endearment, Joonam is infused with humor and heart like only a film about family could be.

Official film synopsis:
Spurred by a provocative family memory and a lifetime of separation from the country her mother left behind, a young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother’s complicated pasts, and her own fractured Iranian identity.

For screening times, go to programs list at festival.sundance.org.

Stan Lee Marvel Documentary Set to Stream On Disney+

Posted on December 29, 2022 by admin

Disney+ is set to release a documentary about comic book legend Stan Lee in 2023. The documentary will showcasing the life of Lee.

Marvel released the news about “Stan Lee Original Documentary” yesterday, which would be Stan Leee’s 100th birthday.

“100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.” reads the caption on Marvel Entertainment’s tweet alongside a short trailer for the upcoming documentary.

Lee was the primary creative leader of Marvel Comics and along with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created superheroes characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and many others.

Lee started his work in the company in the 1960s, and also he became a prominent figure when the Marvel Cinematic Universe took shape. Stan Lee died in 2018 at the age of 95.

Oscar Contender “Hidden Letters” Sets US Release

Posted on December 4, 2022 by admin

Oscar contender “Hidden Letters” is set to open this Friday, December 9 in select U.S. theaters.

The film is directed by Violet Du Feng and Zhao Qin.

Spanning between past and present, Hidden Letters follows two millennial Chinese women who are connected by their fascination with a secret language of sisterhood, and their desire to protect it against a perpetually patriarchal society.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
For centuries in China, the once-secret written language of Nüshu was calligraphed on folded fans and handkerchiefs as hidden letters so women could share stories and express solidarity in a repressive era when many women were denied literacy. Confronting patriarchy, two modern women find solace in Nüshu, rediscovering connections between traditional Chinese womanhood and contemporary feminism.

“I Didn’t See You There” Acclaimed Docu Debuts Jan. 9 On POV

Posted on November 25, 2022 by admin

Gotham & Independent Spirit Award nominee and Sundance winner, “I Didn’t See You There” documentary from director Reid Davenport, is set to debut on Jan. 9 on POV.

The award-winning documentary feature will have its national broadcast premiere on PBS television series POV on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 10:00 pmET (check local listings) and will be available to stream with no PBS Passport membership necessary until February 9, 2023 at pbs.org, and the PBS Video app.

Shot entirely from the filmmaker’s literal physical perspective, both from his wheelchair and his two feet, I Didn’t See You There is a groundbreaking work of documentary cinema by first-time feature director Reid Davenport.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
As a visibly disabled person, filmmaker Reid Davenport sets out to make a film about how he sees the world, from either his wheelchair or his two feet, without having to be seen himself. The unexpected arrival of a circus tent outside his apartment in Oakland, CA leads him to consider the history and legacy of P.T. Barnum’s Freak Show and its lingering presence in his daily life in the form of gawking, lack of access, and other forms of ableism. Informed by his position in space, lower to the ground, Davenport captures indelible images, often abstracted into shapes and patterns separate from their meaning. But the circus tent looms in the background, and is reverberated by tangible on-screen interruptions, from unsolicited offers of help to careless blocking of ramps. Personal and unflinching, I Didn’t See You There forces the viewer to confront the spectacle and invisibility of disability. Offering both a perspective and stylistic approach that are rarely seen, Reid brings an urgently needed storytelling eye to filmmaking with a documentary that is powerful and emotional, thoughtful and raw, intimate and political.