Raoul Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost And Found and Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir’s The Brink Of Dreams have jointly won Cannes’ documentary award, the L’Œil d’or.
Ernest Cole: Lost And Found played in official selection as a Special Screening, while The Brink Of Dreams played in Critics’ Week.
Ernest Cole: Lost And Found marks the Cannes debut of Peck, whose body of work includes the Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro. The documentary is an account of the life of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black photographers from South Africa to chronicle apartheid,...
Ernest Cole: Lost And Found played in official selection as a Special Screening, while The Brink Of Dreams played in Critics’ Week.
Ernest Cole: Lost And Found marks the Cannes debut of Peck, whose body of work includes the Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro. The documentary is an account of the life of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black photographers from South Africa to chronicle apartheid,...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
In “I Am Not Your Negro” (2016), his profound and lacerating portrait of James Baldwin, the director Raoul Peck traced the haunted connection between two things: Baldwin’s staggering perception of what it was to be Black in America, and the depth of Baldwin’s struggle with melancholy, self-doubt, and his merciless ability to see truth. For Baldwin, the personal and political came together in uniquely despairing and revealing ways.
Peck’s new documentary, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” could be considered a companion piece to that earlier monumental film. No, it isn’t as powerful. But it, too, is the penetrating portrait of a Black artist — the photographer Ernest Cole, who was born in 1940 in Eersterust, South Africa, and who beginning in the late ’50s took his camera into the streets to chronicle the evils and everyday experience of life under apartheid. He escaped the regime and came to New...
Peck’s new documentary, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” could be considered a companion piece to that earlier monumental film. No, it isn’t as powerful. But it, too, is the penetrating portrait of a Black artist — the photographer Ernest Cole, who was born in 1940 in Eersterust, South Africa, and who beginning in the late ’50s took his camera into the streets to chronicle the evils and everyday experience of life under apartheid. He escaped the regime and came to New...
- 5/22/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Film festivals in North America have launched some of the greatest movies ever – whether nonfiction or fiction. Telluride premiered Free Solo, Slumdog Millionaire, and Argo; Sundance debuted sex, lies and videotape, Napoleon Dynamite, An Inconvenient Truth, and this year’s Oscar winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol; the Toronto International Film Festival premiered I Am Not Your Negro and Ray.
The importance of festivals to the industry is beyond question, but many of the most celebrated ones on this continent are facing a moment of crisis. Post-pandemic financial struggles are plaguing Sundance, TIFF, and Hot Docs among others, and the situation with the latter festival is serious enough that it may have to fold.
Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast digs into the precarious state of film festivals in our latest episode, examining that vital question with guests steeped in the field: Ken Jacobson, executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary...
The importance of festivals to the industry is beyond question, but many of the most celebrated ones on this continent are facing a moment of crisis. Post-pandemic financial struggles are plaguing Sundance, TIFF, and Hot Docs among others, and the situation with the latter festival is serious enough that it may have to fold.
Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast digs into the precarious state of film festivals in our latest episode, examining that vital question with guests steeped in the field: Ken Jacobson, executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary...
- 5/21/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
In his critically acclaimed documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck surveyed James Baldwin’s legacy and its contemporary resonance through the writer’s own words. Working from one of Baldwin’s unfinished manuscripts, Peck wrote a screenplay that Samuel L. Jackson then read over archival images and videos. The Haitian filmmaker returns to this speculative mode in his most recent feature, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a propulsive and weighty documentary about the South African photographer who chronicled the inhumanity of apartheid for the world.
Premiering at Cannes as a special screening, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is an introspective memoir punched up with the elements of a thriller. The discovery of a trove of Cole’s photo negatives in a Swedish bank safe inspired Peck to reappraise the photographer’s legacy. This project comes on the heels of a minor renaissance for Cole, whose 1967 book House of...
Premiering at Cannes as a special screening, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is an introspective memoir punched up with the elements of a thriller. The discovery of a trove of Cole’s photo negatives in a Swedish bank safe inspired Peck to reappraise the photographer’s legacy. This project comes on the heels of a minor renaissance for Cole, whose 1967 book House of...
- 5/21/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kino Lorber has acquired US rights in the Cannes market to Sundance documentary Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat, while Mediawan Rights has closed key territory sales.
Johan Grimonprez’s film unravels colonial power dynamics in Africa and re-examines the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, set against a soundtrack of American jazz greats.
The film includes eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, and speeches from Lumumba himself.
Kino Lorber plans a theatrical release later this year followed by a home video, educational, and digital release on all major platforms. The distributor is partnering with public...
Johan Grimonprez’s film unravels colonial power dynamics in Africa and re-examines the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, set against a soundtrack of American jazz greats.
The film includes eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, and speeches from Lumumba himself.
Kino Lorber plans a theatrical release later this year followed by a home video, educational, and digital release on all major platforms. The distributor is partnering with public...
- 5/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Switzerland is ranked third in Europe for its yearly output of documentaries, with more than 70 titles in 2023. On May 19, it will unveil four of its most promising features at the Swiss Cannes Docs Showcase.
The event is jointly organized by the national promotional agency Swiss Films, Visions du Réel —the country’s sole non-fiction film festival—and Cannes Docs.
“It’s actually the very first Swiss Showcase of docs-in-progress ever at Cannes Docs!” said Pierre-Alexi Chevit, head of the sought-after doc industry event.
“We’ve been talking about it with Swiss Films for many years, and it’s now finally happening in the framework of Swiss Country of Honour at the Marché du Film this year,” he added.
“It is fabulous to have Visions du Réel as a key collaborator for this Showcase, as it is such a great festival, run by amazing people,...
The event is jointly organized by the national promotional agency Swiss Films, Visions du Réel —the country’s sole non-fiction film festival—and Cannes Docs.
“It’s actually the very first Swiss Showcase of docs-in-progress ever at Cannes Docs!” said Pierre-Alexi Chevit, head of the sought-after doc industry event.
“We’ve been talking about it with Swiss Films for many years, and it’s now finally happening in the framework of Swiss Country of Honour at the Marché du Film this year,” he added.
“It is fabulous to have Visions du Réel as a key collaborator for this Showcase, as it is such a great festival, run by amazing people,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Raoul Peck’s life is as fascinating as his films, filled with unexpected twists and turns. From his early stints as a cab driver and journalist, to a minister of culture post in his native Haiti, to teaching, to founding his Velvet Film production shingle to his breakthrough when he earned an Oscar nomination as producer/director with the James Baldwin doc, “I Am Not Your Negro,” the common denominator is Peck’s drive to make life better through his work. “I went into film because there were things I wanted to say, to express or deconstruct,” he explained. “And there is a fight to be had about the state of the world and wherever I’m living.”
On May 20, Peck will have his third Cannes premiere with the Special Screenings doc “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” It chronicles the life of a South African photographer — another of Peck’s...
On May 20, Peck will have his third Cannes premiere with the Special Screenings doc “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” It chronicles the life of a South African photographer — another of Peck’s...
- 5/19/2024
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
The setup reads like a thriller: 60,000 photo negatives were discovered in a safe in a Swedish bank, no one knows how they got there, and no one knows who paid to keep them there. But Raoul Peck’s Cannes-bound documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and Found aims to uncover the forgotten years of a photographer whose legacy and work could have easily been buried.
Peck, who was born in Haiti but fled the Duvalier dictatorship with his family, eventually landing in Berlin, felt a particular kinship with Ernest Cole, the South African photographer who captured the Apartheid state and published the 1967 book House of Bondage at only 27 years old. This led to the regime stripping him of his passport. Banished from his home country, Cole headed to New York City, where grants and assignments allowed him to continue photographing, but his past plagued him until his death.
Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,...
Peck, who was born in Haiti but fled the Duvalier dictatorship with his family, eventually landing in Berlin, felt a particular kinship with Ernest Cole, the South African photographer who captured the Apartheid state and published the 1967 book House of Bondage at only 27 years old. This led to the regime stripping him of his passport. Banished from his home country, Cole headed to New York City, where grants and assignments allowed him to continue photographing, but his past plagued him until his death.
Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hulu’s list of new releases for May 2024 is missing a certain amount of original series firepower. In the place of a blockbuster like The Handmaid’s Tale or Shōgun, however, is some content diversity.
The first of the month sees the premiere of four-episode British series Shardlake. This mystery drama takes place during the reign of Henry VIII and features none other than Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) investigating a murder. Other series of note this month include the Korean drama Uncle Samsik on May 15.
Movies are bit more interesting on Hulu in May. Teen comedy Prom Dates premieres on May 3. That will be followed by the 2023 Adam Drive film Ferrari on May 24. Before all that though is the real heavy hitter. You can watch Austin Butler’s acclaimed performance as The King in Elvis as early as May 1. But get to it quick before the Baz Luhrmann film departs on...
The first of the month sees the premiere of four-episode British series Shardlake. This mystery drama takes place during the reign of Henry VIII and features none other than Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) investigating a murder. Other series of note this month include the Korean drama Uncle Samsik on May 15.
Movies are bit more interesting on Hulu in May. Teen comedy Prom Dates premieres on May 3. That will be followed by the 2023 Adam Drive film Ferrari on May 24. Before all that though is the real heavy hitter. You can watch Austin Butler’s acclaimed performance as The King in Elvis as early as May 1. But get to it quick before the Baz Luhrmann film departs on...
- 5/1/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Talent-driven doc sales outfit Rise & Shine has boarded “Fire Fire Fire” (“Feu Feu Feu”), the feature debut of Swiss rising voice Pauline Jeanbourquin (“Dusk”), due to world premiere in the national competition strand of Nyon’s Visions du Réel docu festival. Variety has had exclusively access to the international trailer.
The poetic and captivating coming-of-age story of a young girl with healing talents, is produced by high-profile Geneva-based Close Up Films, credited for the 2023 Swiss Oscar entry “Thunder” and as co-producer of the Oscar-nominated “I Am Not Your Negro.”
“I enjoy working on first features, meeting a new voice, exploring and questioning what it means to direct, figuring things out together. It’s a responsibility I find deeply fulfilling,” producer and Close Up Films’ co-owner Flavia Zanon says.
“Pauline reached out to me in 2019, and I was instantly drawn to the types of stories she wanted to tell and...
The poetic and captivating coming-of-age story of a young girl with healing talents, is produced by high-profile Geneva-based Close Up Films, credited for the 2023 Swiss Oscar entry “Thunder” and as co-producer of the Oscar-nominated “I Am Not Your Negro.”
“I enjoy working on first features, meeting a new voice, exploring and questioning what it means to direct, figuring things out together. It’s a responsibility I find deeply fulfilling,” producer and Close Up Films’ co-owner Flavia Zanon says.
“Pauline reached out to me in 2019, and I was instantly drawn to the types of stories she wanted to tell and...
- 4/12/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck and Canadian cinematographer Iris Ng will be honoured at the 25th edition of Canada’s documentary festival Hot Docs (April 30 – May 1).
Peck, best known for the Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro, will be presented with the outstanding achievement award. His other credits include Lumumba, HBO miniseries Exterminate All The Brutes and most recently Silver Dollar Road.
A selection of Peck’s work will be shown at the festival where the director will participate in several post-screening Q&a’s.
Previous recipients of the outstanding achievement award include Werner Herzog, Patricio Guzmán and Tony Palmer.
Peck, best known for the Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro, will be presented with the outstanding achievement award. His other credits include Lumumba, HBO miniseries Exterminate All The Brutes and most recently Silver Dollar Road.
A selection of Peck’s work will be shown at the festival where the director will participate in several post-screening Q&a’s.
Previous recipients of the outstanding achievement award include Werner Herzog, Patricio Guzmán and Tony Palmer.
- 3/20/2024
- ScreenDaily
Raoul Peck, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind 2016’s I Am Not Your Negro, is in production on his latest documentary, an investigation into the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise.
Tentatively titled The Hands That Held the Knives, Peck is not only directing but producing the film under his Velvet Films banner alongside Jigsaw Productions, with Imagine Documentaries, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, who are also financing the project.
Peck’s take is being described as a “documentary thriller, in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré.” Per Monday’s announcement, Peck is going deep into the politics of Haiti, its relationship with the United States, and the corrupt business empires and criminal organizations that have now rendered the country a hellscape for its citizens.
The film will take audiences right up to the present moment, per the producers, “as ruthless gangs backed by oligarchs with well-paid lobbyists in Washington,...
Tentatively titled The Hands That Held the Knives, Peck is not only directing but producing the film under his Velvet Films banner alongside Jigsaw Productions, with Imagine Documentaries, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, who are also financing the project.
Peck’s take is being described as a “documentary thriller, in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré.” Per Monday’s announcement, Peck is going deep into the politics of Haiti, its relationship with the United States, and the corrupt business empires and criminal organizations that have now rendered the country a hellscape for its citizens.
The film will take audiences right up to the present moment, per the producers, “as ruthless gangs backed by oligarchs with well-paid lobbyists in Washington,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Filmmaker Raoul Peck’s next documentary will delve into the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise. The film, tentatively titled “The Hands That Held the Knives,” has been in production for over two years.
The documentary will be a thriller “in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré,” according to a press release. It will offer access to people involved in the murder of Moise, who was shot inside his home in July 2021. It will also feature secret footage from Haiti’s prisons and an encounter with a fugitive who witnessed the killing.
“The Hands That Held the Knives” will attempt to unpack Haiti’s politics, its relationship with the United States, as well as corrupt business empires and criminal organizations that deal drugs and contraband throughout the Caribbean. Per the official announcement, “the film will take us right up to the present moment, as ruthless gangs backed...
The documentary will be a thriller “in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré,” according to a press release. It will offer access to people involved in the murder of Moise, who was shot inside his home in July 2021. It will also feature secret footage from Haiti’s prisons and an encounter with a fugitive who witnessed the killing.
“The Hands That Held the Knives” will attempt to unpack Haiti’s politics, its relationship with the United States, as well as corrupt business empires and criminal organizations that deal drugs and contraband throughout the Caribbean. Per the official announcement, “the film will take us right up to the present moment, as ruthless gangs backed...
- 3/18/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Director Raoul Peck, who helmed the 2016 documentary “I Am Not Your Negro,” has announced his new documentary project. “The Hands That Held the Knives” will detail the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
The documentary, which took over two years to make, is said to be in the same vein as the works of Graham Greene and John Le Carré. Peck was given access to the people involved in Moïse’s killing, and even secretly filmed in Haiti’s prison system. The documentary will lay out Haitian politics, its relationship to the U.S. and the corruption and criminality the country deals with, including drugs and weapons trafficking.
“I am eager to tell my country’s real story beyond the usual exotic clichés and preposterous clickbait,” Peck said in a prepared statement. “I want to reveal for once, without holding back, the core stories and real reasons for Haiti’s tragic situation.
The documentary, which took over two years to make, is said to be in the same vein as the works of Graham Greene and John Le Carré. Peck was given access to the people involved in Moïse’s killing, and even secretly filmed in Haiti’s prison system. The documentary will lay out Haitian politics, its relationship to the U.S. and the corruption and criminality the country deals with, including drugs and weapons trafficking.
“I am eager to tell my country’s real story beyond the usual exotic clichés and preposterous clickbait,” Peck said in a prepared statement. “I want to reveal for once, without holding back, the core stories and real reasons for Haiti’s tragic situation.
- 3/18/2024
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Raoul Peck is in production on his latest documentary The Hands That Held The Knives which explores the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise.
Haitian-born Peck is producing through his Velvet Films alongside Jigsaw Productions, with Imagine Documentaries, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, who are also financing the project.
Editing is underway and shooting continues in Haiti, the US, Canada, France, and North Africa.
More than two years in the making, the documentary thriller is described as being in the vein of Graham Greene or John Le Carré and explores the politics of Haiti and its relationship with the United...
Haitian-born Peck is producing through his Velvet Films alongside Jigsaw Productions, with Imagine Documentaries, Anonymous Content, and Double Agent, who are also financing the project.
Editing is underway and shooting continues in Haiti, the US, Canada, France, and North Africa.
More than two years in the making, the documentary thriller is described as being in the vein of Graham Greene or John Le Carré and explores the politics of Haiti and its relationship with the United...
- 3/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Raoul Peck, the filmmaker behind Academy Award-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro, is in production on his next feature doc — an investigation into the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise, tentatively titled, The Hands That Held the Knives.
Over two years in the making, with unprecedented access to many of those involved, and including secret filming in Haiti’s prisons and an unexpected encounter with a fugitive who was an eyewitness to the murder, Peck’s film taking him back to his home country will be a documentary thriller, in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré.
His investigation takes him deep into the politics of Haiti, its relationship with the United States, and the corrupt business empires and criminal organizations — dealing drugs and contraband throughout the Caribbean, using weapons trafficked from the U.S. — which have now rendered the country a hellscape for its citizens. The...
Over two years in the making, with unprecedented access to many of those involved, and including secret filming in Haiti’s prisons and an unexpected encounter with a fugitive who was an eyewitness to the murder, Peck’s film taking him back to his home country will be a documentary thriller, in the tradition of Graham Greene or John Le Carré.
His investigation takes him deep into the politics of Haiti, its relationship with the United States, and the corrupt business empires and criminal organizations — dealing drugs and contraband throughout the Caribbean, using weapons trafficked from the U.S. — which have now rendered the country a hellscape for its citizens. The...
- 3/18/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Supernatural horror Deliver US is out now on digital platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon in the UK & Ireland.
Maria Vera Ratti (Inspector Ricciardi) stars as a nun who claims to have conceived twins through immaculate conception – that the Vatican fear will fulfil an ancient prophecy that one is the Messiah, and the other the Antichrist. Deliver US also stars co-director Lee Roy Kunz, as well as Thomas Kretschmann (Infinity Pool), and Peaky Blinders star Alexander Siddig.
Co-directed by Cru Ennis, Deliver US us a slick, striking and seriously scary slice of religious horror that will appeal to horror fans who enjoyed The Pope’s Exorcist, The Omen and The Nun movies.
Synopsis: When a nun in a remote convent claims immaculate conception, the Vatican sends a team of priests to investigate, concerned about an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to twin boys: one the Messiah,...
Maria Vera Ratti (Inspector Ricciardi) stars as a nun who claims to have conceived twins through immaculate conception – that the Vatican fear will fulfil an ancient prophecy that one is the Messiah, and the other the Antichrist. Deliver US also stars co-director Lee Roy Kunz, as well as Thomas Kretschmann (Infinity Pool), and Peaky Blinders star Alexander Siddig.
Co-directed by Cru Ennis, Deliver US us a slick, striking and seriously scary slice of religious horror that will appeal to horror fans who enjoyed The Pope’s Exorcist, The Omen and The Nun movies.
Synopsis: When a nun in a remote convent claims immaculate conception, the Vatican sends a team of priests to investigate, concerned about an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to twin boys: one the Messiah,...
- 2/27/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
A-listers Alice Eve and Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro) star in Cult Killer which is out now on Digital Platforms in the UK and Ireland. Also out on DVD on the 12th February 2024.
Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) is a fearless private eye (with Banderas as her mentor) who uncovers brutal secrets in a sleepy Irish town that puts her life in danger. The film also stars Shelley Henig (Unfriended), Olwen Fouéré (The Northman) and Nick Dunning (The Tudors).
Stylishly directed by John Keeyes (Codename Banshee), Cult Killer recalls the nerve-shredding thrills of Silence of the Lambs and 7even, and is unmissable for fans of intelligent, dark crime thrillers.
Synopsis: When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims.
Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) is a fearless private eye (with Banderas as her mentor) who uncovers brutal secrets in a sleepy Irish town that puts her life in danger. The film also stars Shelley Henig (Unfriended), Olwen Fouéré (The Northman) and Nick Dunning (The Tudors).
Stylishly directed by John Keeyes (Codename Banshee), Cult Killer recalls the nerve-shredding thrills of Silence of the Lambs and 7even, and is unmissable for fans of intelligent, dark crime thrillers.
Synopsis: When a renowned private investigator is murdered, his protege takes on the case. As her investigation unfolds, she is forced into a dangerous alliance with his killer to uncover the town’s grisly secrets and bring justice to its victims.
- 2/20/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Lakeith Stanfield, the Oscar-nominated star of “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Atlanta,” has joined Raoul Peck’s “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” The upcoming documentary chronicles the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa, whose early pictures showed Black life under apartheid. They were images that shocked the world.
Stanfield will be the voice of Cole, helping to bring his words to life on screen. Magnolia acquired North American rights from Mk2 Films and is planning a theatrical release for later this year. Peck is an acclaimed filmmaker. His credits include “I Am Not Your Negro,” an Oscar-nominated look at writer and activist James Baldwin, and the HBO documentary miniseries, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” which received a Peabody Award. Magnolia released “I Am Not Your Negro.” Stanfield’s other credits include “Get Out,” “Knives Out” and “Haunted Mansion.”
Cole fled...
Stanfield will be the voice of Cole, helping to bring his words to life on screen. Magnolia acquired North American rights from Mk2 Films and is planning a theatrical release for later this year. Peck is an acclaimed filmmaker. His credits include “I Am Not Your Negro,” an Oscar-nominated look at writer and activist James Baldwin, and the HBO documentary miniseries, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” which received a Peabody Award. Magnolia released “I Am Not Your Negro.” Stanfield’s other credits include “Get Out,” “Knives Out” and “Haunted Mansion.”
Cole fled...
- 2/12/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Photo: gorodenkoff (iStock by Getty Images)
Sure, there are plenty of great free movies on YouTube—but while YouTube is awesome, it’s not the only game in town. So we decided to put together a list of other sites that also offer free movies, break down the pros and cons of each one,...
Sure, there are plenty of great free movies on YouTube—but while YouTube is awesome, it’s not the only game in town. So we decided to put together a list of other sites that also offer free movies, break down the pros and cons of each one,...
- 2/6/2024
- by Ian Spelling
- avclub.com
What’s new on Amazon’s Prime Video in February 2024?
In light of Valentine’s Day, Prime Video nailed it. This February, the platform is bringing a variety of new shows and movies for you and yours. There is something for everyone — from the latest releases to classic romantic comedies to thrillers and more.
Rom-com “Upgraded,” starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, hits the streamer on Friday, while a series adaptation of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s steamy spy thriller “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” is already taking the world by storm since its Feb. 2 debut with stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The platform will also debut 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” with Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson, last year’s animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the well-liked 2014 indie “St.Vincent” with Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts and Chris O’Dowd.
And don’t forget about...
In light of Valentine’s Day, Prime Video nailed it. This February, the platform is bringing a variety of new shows and movies for you and yours. There is something for everyone — from the latest releases to classic romantic comedies to thrillers and more.
Rom-com “Upgraded,” starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, hits the streamer on Friday, while a series adaptation of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s steamy spy thriller “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” is already taking the world by storm since its Feb. 2 debut with stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The platform will also debut 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” with Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson, last year’s animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the well-liked 2014 indie “St.Vincent” with Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts and Chris O’Dowd.
And don’t forget about...
- 2/5/2024
- by Francie Ebert
- The Wrap
All caught up on this year’s Oscar-nominated movies? Catch one of the winter’s biggest not-nominated movies. It’s one the whole family can enjoy.
The contender to watch this week: “Wonka“
Come with me and you’ll be in a world of Paul King‘s imagination. The “Paddington” director’s Willy Wonka prequel dominated the holiday box office en route to $553 million worldwide and counting. Now it’s also available to rent or purchase on VOD. Timothée Chalamet earned a Golden Globe nomination for the title role, but that was the extent of the movie’s awards favor aside from one BAFTA nod. In a rare rebuff for a big-budget original musical, none of its numbers made the Oscars’ Best Original Song shortlist. Oh well. “Wonka” is a pleasing movie, sugary but nowhere near as phoned-in as its early trailers suggested.
Other contenders:
“Orion and the Dark”:...
The contender to watch this week: “Wonka“
Come with me and you’ll be in a world of Paul King‘s imagination. The “Paddington” director’s Willy Wonka prequel dominated the holiday box office en route to $553 million worldwide and counting. Now it’s also available to rent or purchase on VOD. Timothée Chalamet earned a Golden Globe nomination for the title role, but that was the extent of the movie’s awards favor aside from one BAFTA nod. In a rare rebuff for a big-budget original musical, none of its numbers made the Oscars’ Best Original Song shortlist. Oh well. “Wonka” is a pleasing movie, sugary but nowhere near as phoned-in as its early trailers suggested.
Other contenders:
“Orion and the Dark”:...
- 2/3/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Prime Video’s big February drop is Mr. & Mrs. Smith! No, not the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie action movie, but a new TV series kinda based on it starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. The set up for the show version? Glover and Erskine are two strangers who both get jobs at a shady spy agency and are asked to get married so that they can pretend to be a couple undercover, but things get more complicated when they start falling in love for real. Uh oh!
If you’re in the mood for a movie or two this month, you can also check out the Prime debuts of Strays, Bottoms, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. In the meantime, here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month. Amazon Originals are accompanied by an asterisk!
New on Amazon Prime Video – February 2024
February 1
12 Angry Men...
If you’re in the mood for a movie or two this month, you can also check out the Prime debuts of Strays, Bottoms, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. In the meantime, here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month. Amazon Originals are accompanied by an asterisk!
New on Amazon Prime Video – February 2024
February 1
12 Angry Men...
- 2/1/2024
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Love is in the air this February at Prime Video! From the long-awaited espionage comedy series “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” to Jennifer Lopez’s new album companion film “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story,” the streamer is days away from adding dozens of classic and fresh titles to its seemingly endless catalog, including the premieres of many more Amazon Originals like “The Second Best Hospital in The Galaxy,” “Five Blind Dates,” and “The Silent Service.”
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for February on Prime Video, and find out everything coming to the platform this coming month!
30-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Prime Video in February 2024? “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” | Friday, Feb. 2
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star in the long-awaited spy comedy series about two lonely strangers who land a job working for a mysterious spy agency...
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for February on Prime Video, and find out everything coming to the platform this coming month!
30-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Prime Video in February 2024? “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” | Friday, Feb. 2
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star in the long-awaited spy comedy series about two lonely strangers who land a job working for a mysterious spy agency...
- 1/30/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
IFC Center
Francis Ford Coppola’s latest recut, One from the Heart: Reprise, begins a run; Ken Russell’s Whore, Saw III, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Donnie Darko, and Spongebob Squarepants have late showings.
Roxy Cinema
A Ryan O’Neal retrospective brings Barry Lyndon and Tough Guys Don’t Dance on 35mm, while Peter Bogdanovich’s cut of Nickelodeon also screens.
Museum of Modern Art
One of the year’s great series, “To Save and Project,” continues.
Film Forum
I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Artie Shaw: Time Is All You Got begin runs, the former bringing with it a three-film program and I Am Not Your Negro; The Third Man continues a 75th-anniversary 35mm engagement; Sounder plays on Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Skip Norman play through the weekend; Eisenstein’s Old and New plays on Saturday.
IFC Center
Francis Ford Coppola’s latest recut, One from the Heart: Reprise, begins a run; Ken Russell’s Whore, Saw III, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Donnie Darko, and Spongebob Squarepants have late showings.
Roxy Cinema
A Ryan O’Neal retrospective brings Barry Lyndon and Tough Guys Don’t Dance on 35mm, while Peter Bogdanovich’s cut of Nickelodeon also screens.
Museum of Modern Art
One of the year’s great series, “To Save and Project,” continues.
Film Forum
I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Artie Shaw: Time Is All You Got begin runs, the former bringing with it a three-film program and I Am Not Your Negro; The Third Man continues a 75th-anniversary 35mm engagement; Sounder plays on Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Skip Norman play through the weekend; Eisenstein’s Old and New plays on Saturday.
- 1/18/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Editor’S Note: The following blog originally ran in June of 2020. We’re re-posting it here in honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 15. The updated piece includes minor edits and, more importantly, updated info re: streaming availability.
***
In the wake of international protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, 2020, practically every big-name streaming service quickly assembled, from their selection of available titles, their own specially curated collection of Black cinema. These collections have provided an invaluable resource for film fans of all racial demographics eager to learn more about the troubled history of American racial inequality.
Thankfully, there’s a lot of truly amazing stuff being spotlighted within these curated lists. We’ve plucked out a few (but definitely not all) of our favorite titles below. Whether based on a true story or totally invented, narrative or nonfiction,...
***
In the wake of international protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, 2020, practically every big-name streaming service quickly assembled, from their selection of available titles, their own specially curated collection of Black cinema. These collections have provided an invaluable resource for film fans of all racial demographics eager to learn more about the troubled history of American racial inequality.
Thankfully, there’s a lot of truly amazing stuff being spotlighted within these curated lists. We’ve plucked out a few (but definitely not all) of our favorite titles below. Whether based on a true story or totally invented, narrative or nonfiction,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Film Independent
- Film Independent News & More
Now a week into the new year, Max is, like many of us, cleaning house. The streamer is ushering in a new month of library additions and new originals, and, like usual, we have to give to get.
While the streamer has lost a few titles already this month, including 2018’s “The Nun,” nearly all of Max’s departures will make their exit during the final week of the month, including “Birdman,” “Barbarian,” and more!
Before January comes to an end, check out The Streamable’s top picks of what to watch before they’re gone, and see the full list of what’s leaving Max throughout the rest of the month!
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Max in January 2024? “Barbarian” | Wednesday, Jan. 24
Georgina Campbell leads the horror-thriller as Tess, a young woman who books a rental home only to...
While the streamer has lost a few titles already this month, including 2018’s “The Nun,” nearly all of Max’s departures will make their exit during the final week of the month, including “Birdman,” “Barbarian,” and more!
Before January comes to an end, check out The Streamable’s top picks of what to watch before they’re gone, and see the full list of what’s leaving Max throughout the rest of the month!
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Max in January 2024? “Barbarian” | Wednesday, Jan. 24
Georgina Campbell leads the horror-thriller as Tess, a young woman who books a rental home only to...
- 1/10/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
The family of Michael Latt, the social activist and founder of entertainment marketing firm Lead With Love who was fatally shot at his home in November, wants to continue his legacy.
Michelle Satter, Latt’s mother and founding senior director at the Sundance Institute, announced a newly established fund to further Latt’s work in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“As many know, we lost our beloved son Michael Latt to an act of violence,” Satter wrote in her post. “The Michael Latt Legacy Fund will continue his work using art to foster love, hope & healing by leveraging storytelling for enduring social impact.”
Latt founded Lead With Love in 2019 to promote the work of underrepresented creatives in the entertainment industry. He had worked with filmmakers such as Ryan Coogler, Barry Jenkins, Ava DuVernay and Raoul Peck, actor-musician Common and with companies such as Netflix and the Emerson Collective.
“The...
Michelle Satter, Latt’s mother and founding senior director at the Sundance Institute, announced a newly established fund to further Latt’s work in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“As many know, we lost our beloved son Michael Latt to an act of violence,” Satter wrote in her post. “The Michael Latt Legacy Fund will continue his work using art to foster love, hope & healing by leveraging storytelling for enduring social impact.”
Latt founded Lead With Love in 2019 to promote the work of underrepresented creatives in the entertainment industry. He had worked with filmmakers such as Ryan Coogler, Barry Jenkins, Ava DuVernay and Raoul Peck, actor-musician Common and with companies such as Netflix and the Emerson Collective.
“The...
- 12/22/2023
- by Justin Hagey
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project centers on the poet, with Giovanni herself on screen. Co-director Joe Brewster said he did not want to do a traditional documentary or biopic, and drew inspiration from documentaries on James Baldwin and Kurt Cobain.
“We actually pitched it as I Am Not Your Negro meets Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” Brewster said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary.
Co-director Michèle Stephenson added that she wanted the film to center on Giovanni, rather than other talking heads reflecting on her impact.
“Some of our visual vision and story vision came out of a bit of frustration with watching certain biographical documentaries,” Stephenson said. “We wanted to center her and her work and see everything through her voice to get a sense of how the process, the artistic poetry-making process happened.”
Brewster and Stephenson also got creative when Giovanni’s memory was limited,...
“We actually pitched it as I Am Not Your Negro meets Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” Brewster said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary.
Co-director Michèle Stephenson added that she wanted the film to center on Giovanni, rather than other talking heads reflecting on her impact.
“Some of our visual vision and story vision came out of a bit of frustration with watching certain biographical documentaries,” Stephenson said. “We wanted to center her and her work and see everything through her voice to get a sense of how the process, the artistic poetry-making process happened.”
Brewster and Stephenson also got creative when Giovanni’s memory was limited,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
Just in time to ruin Christmas, gruesome horror comedy The Mean One, is out now on DVD and Digital Platforms from Altitude Film Distribution.
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
David Howard Thornton, the award-winning actor who plays Art the Clown in the hugely popular Terrifier movies, stars as The Mean One, a gruesome grouch in a Santa suit who is intent on causing Christmas carnage. Directed by Steven Lamorte (Bury Me Twice), The Mean One also stars Krystle Martin as Cindy, who takes on the Christmas killer with a baseball bat wrapped in tree lights.
Like recent horror hit Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, The Mean One is another buzzy slasher mixing mirth, murder and all-out action in equal measure, as the townsfolk decide to take on the green meanie with all the weapons they can lay their hands on. Already a viral sensation (over 5 million people have watched the trailer online) The Mean One...
- 12/7/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
A woman has been arrested for the fatal shooting of Michael Latt, the founder of entertainment marketing firm Lead With Love.
The 33-year-old was shot in his Miracle Mile home on Monday night and died after being transported to a hospital. Latt was the son of Michelle Satter, the founding senior director at the Sundance Institute, and film producer David Latt. His brother, Franklin, is an agent at CAA.
“Our beloved son Michael Latt fell victim to a tragic act of violence this week,” wrote Satter in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Michael devoted his career to supporting artists, championing organizations that raised up artists of color and leveraged storytelling for enduring change. We celebrate his legacy, love and compassion.”
On Thursday, Jameelah Elena Michl was charged with the killing of Latt. She faces one count of murder and another count of first-degree residential burglary, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The 33-year-old was shot in his Miracle Mile home on Monday night and died after being transported to a hospital. Latt was the son of Michelle Satter, the founding senior director at the Sundance Institute, and film producer David Latt. His brother, Franklin, is an agent at CAA.
“Our beloved son Michael Latt fell victim to a tragic act of violence this week,” wrote Satter in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Michael devoted his career to supporting artists, championing organizations that raised up artists of color and leveraged storytelling for enduring change. We celebrate his legacy, love and compassion.”
On Thursday, Jameelah Elena Michl was charged with the killing of Latt. She faces one count of murder and another count of first-degree residential burglary, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.
- 11/30/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Michael Latt, a film marketing consultant who worked closely with Ryan Coogler and Common on a series of social justice campaigns, was shot and killed at his home on Monday night, the LAPD has confirmed.
Latt, 33, was the founder and CEO of Lead With Love, a social impact marketing agency. In addition to Coogler and Common, he worked with Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins, and studios like Warner Bros. and Netflix on events and political initiatives that married art and activism.
According to the LAPD, he was shot in the 900 block of Alandele Avenue around 6 p.m. on Monday. He was taken by paramedics to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Police arrested Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, who lived in her car. Prosecutors charged her with murder and burglary on Wednesday. She is being held on $3 million bail. Police have not disclosed a motive.
In a press release on Thursday, the Los...
Latt, 33, was the founder and CEO of Lead With Love, a social impact marketing agency. In addition to Coogler and Common, he worked with Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins, and studios like Warner Bros. and Netflix on events and political initiatives that married art and activism.
According to the LAPD, he was shot in the 900 block of Alandele Avenue around 6 p.m. on Monday. He was taken by paramedics to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Police arrested Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, who lived in her car. Prosecutors charged her with murder and burglary on Wednesday. She is being held on $3 million bail. Police have not disclosed a motive.
In a press release on Thursday, the Los...
- 11/30/2023
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The suspect in the killing of former Netflix staffer and Array consultant Michael Latt this week has been revealed by the LAPD, as has the victim himself.
The police say Jameelah Elena Michl was arrested on Latt’s doorstep soon after the fatal shooting of the veteran studio operative and activist at his mid-Wilshire home at 6 p.m. November 27. Apparently living nearby in her car, the homeless woman had seemingly invaded the residence of Latt and his girlfriend on Monday evening. She did not make any effort to leave the scene of the crime, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Latt died soon afterwards at nearby hospital.
Still investigating the killing of Latt, 33, the LAPD tells Deadline no motive has emerged yet. Michl was arrested by officers from Wilshire Division and remained in custody on $3 million bail.
Latt’s mother, Michelle Satter, founded the Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Lab in 1981. She...
The police say Jameelah Elena Michl was arrested on Latt’s doorstep soon after the fatal shooting of the veteran studio operative and activist at his mid-Wilshire home at 6 p.m. November 27. Apparently living nearby in her car, the homeless woman had seemingly invaded the residence of Latt and his girlfriend on Monday evening. She did not make any effort to leave the scene of the crime, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Latt died soon afterwards at nearby hospital.
Still investigating the killing of Latt, 33, the LAPD tells Deadline no motive has emerged yet. Michl was arrested by officers from Wilshire Division and remained in custody on $3 million bail.
Latt’s mother, Michelle Satter, founded the Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Lab in 1981. She...
- 11/29/2023
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Alex Pettyfer stars in the terrifying action thriller Black Noise, which is out out now on Digital Platforms including Google, Apple TV, Sky and Amazon Prime Video in the UK & Ireland.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
“We go in, we get the client, and get out”. If only it was that simple for Alex Pettyfer (Alex Rider in Stormbreaker) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), on a rescue mission from hell in Black Noise, a chilling action horror set in a lush paradise, also starring Eve Mauro (Wicked Lake) and Ashton Leigh (Big Shark).
Sent to the remote island of Esperanza to rescue a tech heiress, a security team finds their communications cut off, and starts having nightmarish hallucinations… but the worst is yet to come. Coming on like 80s classic Predator Black Noise is an action adventure that turns into all-out horror.
Synopsis:
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.
- 11/13/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
For the 10th year in a row, the Scad Savannah Film Festival, the 26th edition of which ran from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, was the place to be for documentary filmmakers and documentary lovers — specifically on Oct. 25, when The Hollywood Reporter presented and your humble correspondent hosted the fest’s Docs to Watch panel that brings together the directors of up to 10 of the year’s finest documentary features.
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
Over the past nine years, 45 films were nominated for the best documentary feature Oscar, 19 of which were first highlighted as Docs to Watch. And in seven of those nine years, one of the Docs to Watch went on to win the best documentary feature Oscar: 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul and 2022’s Navalny. (The other two eventual winners — 2014’s Citizenfour and 2020’s My Octopus Teacher — were not screened...
- 11/4/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For the descendants of Elijah Reels, an area of coastal North Carolina in Carteret County has been their sanctuary – where they could raise their families, earn a living, and enjoy the bounty and the pleasures of the waterways.
But in recent decades, those descendants — Gertrude Reels, her children, and their children — have been trying to hold onto the family land, caught up in a legal system that historically advantages white interests over those of African Americans like the Reels.
The family’s long struggle — which has seen two members of the family, Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels, jailed for years for defying a court order — is told in the documentary Silver Dollar Road. The film directed by Oscar nominee Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) is now streaming on Prime Video.
Gertrude Reels (seated) surrounded by her children.
“When you are there, you feel that you in a sort of,...
But in recent decades, those descendants — Gertrude Reels, her children, and their children — have been trying to hold onto the family land, caught up in a legal system that historically advantages white interests over those of African Americans like the Reels.
The family’s long struggle — which has seen two members of the family, Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels, jailed for years for defying a court order — is told in the documentary Silver Dollar Road. The film directed by Oscar nominee Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) is now streaming on Prime Video.
Gertrude Reels (seated) surrounded by her children.
“When you are there, you feel that you in a sort of,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a big week for documentaries. Three major nonfiction films are hitting digital platforms, including two made by previous Oscar nominees. Check them out when you get home from seeing “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
- 10/21/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
- 10/20/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The land troubles for the Reels family, which are chronicled in Raoul Peck’s new documentary “Silver Dollar Road,” all started when Elijah Reels passed away without a will. This left everyone in the family as a stakeholder in the property. “Because everybody is a stakeholder of the property, whether you live on it or move to New Jersey or Texas, you somehow have a piece of the property and one particular brother pretended that he owned that little 13 acres on the water,” Peck tells Gold Derby during our recent web chat (watch the exclusive video interview above). This has allowed the property to be sold to Adam’s Creek Associates, despite the Reels family having lived on that property for more than a century. “The justice itself has not played a good role in that story because they allowed the exploitations of loopholes and that the family was not properly informed of the situation.
- 10/18/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
While the sheer power of Taylor Swift scared off a number of October releases to flee further into the year, this month still offers no shortage of heavy hitters. From one of the most-anticipated films of the last many years to acclaimed documentaries to the final feature from a legendary director, there’s plenty to seek out.
13. Beyond Utopia (Madeleine Gavin; Oct. 23)
One of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year, Madeleine Gavin’s Sundance audience award winner Beyond Utopia tracks the intense, harrowing journey of a handful of individuals who attempt to flee North Korea. Considering how few dispatches we see from inside the country, this promises to be a rare, vital look at the costs of freedom.
12. Once Within a Time (Godfrey Reggio & Jon Kane; Oct. 13 in theaters)
Godfrey Reggio, the legendary director of the Qatsi trilogy, is back with Once Within a Time, co-directed by Jon Kane.
13. Beyond Utopia (Madeleine Gavin; Oct. 23)
One of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year, Madeleine Gavin’s Sundance audience award winner Beyond Utopia tracks the intense, harrowing journey of a handful of individuals who attempt to flee North Korea. Considering how few dispatches we see from inside the country, this promises to be a rare, vital look at the costs of freedom.
12. Once Within a Time (Godfrey Reggio & Jon Kane; Oct. 13 in theaters)
Godfrey Reggio, the legendary director of the Qatsi trilogy, is back with Once Within a Time, co-directed by Jon Kane.
- 10/3/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In “Silver Dollar Road,” documentarian Raoul Peck foregrounds two resolute women, Mamie Reels Ellison and Kim Renee Duhon — the heir of a deceased landowner and her niece — to tell a story of familial grit, land grabs and the failings, if not the outright biases, of the courts.
“Going to the water for me was always magical,” Ellison says early in the film, reminiscing about the pier and beach at one end of the family’s 65 acres in Carteret County, N.C. A montage of home movie footage and photo stills of children splashing, teens striking poses and adults having a fine time captures the warmth of the place. It was, says Duhon, recalling her summertime visits from Louisiana, “a place of freedom.”
Freedom figures into the story of how Ellison’s grandfather, Elijah Reels, came to own so much land off Adams Creek. And Peck makes effective use of the...
“Going to the water for me was always magical,” Ellison says early in the film, reminiscing about the pier and beach at one end of the family’s 65 acres in Carteret County, N.C. A montage of home movie footage and photo stills of children splashing, teens striking poses and adults having a fine time captures the warmth of the place. It was, says Duhon, recalling her summertime visits from Louisiana, “a place of freedom.”
Freedom figures into the story of how Ellison’s grandfather, Elijah Reels, came to own so much land off Adams Creek. And Peck makes effective use of the...
- 9/28/2023
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
The Scad Savannah Film Festival, which takes place each year at the Savannah College of Art and Design shortly before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to determine its Oscar shortlists, and which has become a premier showcase for documentary programming, has revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that it will highlight on this year’s edition of its popular Docs to Watch panel.
The Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, midway through the 26th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. For the 10th year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.
The films represented on this year’s Docs to Watch panel — all of which will also screen during the fest,...
The Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, midway through the 26th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. For the 10th year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.
The films represented on this year’s Docs to Watch panel — all of which will also screen during the fest,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Zhang Xin, the renowned Chinese entrepreneur who used her love of architecture and brilliant business acumen to reshape Beijing and Shanghai’s skyline, has turned her attention to a new challenge: film producer. In September 2022, the billionaire businesswoman — who spent her teenage years working in Hong Kong garment and electronics factories — resigned as CEO of Soho China, one of the world’s preeminent real estate companies she built with her husband, and took up permanent residence in New York City.
Zhang will celebrate the one-year anniversary of leaving Soho at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, where the Manhattan-based Closer Media, the startup indie production and financing venture she runs with veteran indie producer William Horberg, has no fewer than three films screening. Horberg’s numerous credits include The Queen’s Gambit and The Kite Runner.
Their Toronto lineup includes the Tony Goldwyn-directed Ezra, a dramedy about an autistic 11-year-old who embarks...
Zhang will celebrate the one-year anniversary of leaving Soho at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, where the Manhattan-based Closer Media, the startup indie production and financing venture she runs with veteran indie producer William Horberg, has no fewer than three films screening. Horberg’s numerous credits include The Queen’s Gambit and The Kite Runner.
Their Toronto lineup includes the Tony Goldwyn-directed Ezra, a dramedy about an autistic 11-year-old who embarks...
- 9/9/2023
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Whatever you do, don't let the White man have my land." Amazon's Prime Video has revealed the official trailer for the new documentary film from acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck, of the docs Fatal Assistance, I Am Not Your Negro, Exterminate All the Brutes. His latest is called Silver Dollar Road, another story about American racism. It's premiering at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, with screenings at the Camden, Aspen, & Nashville Film Festival as well. A Black family in North Carolina has been harassed for decades by land developers attempting to take their waterfront property. For generations, the North Carolina property known locally as Silver Dollar Road was passed through the hands of an African American family, the Reels. But the Reels family's fortunes changed in the 1970s when developers sought to drive out Black landowners and profit from the real estate. Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck tells the story of how the...
- 9/9/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
At a film festival with plenty of big picture movies about race (Roger Ross Williams’ “Stamped From the Beginning” and Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” among them), Raoul Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road” is a specific and damning case study of one place, one family and one monumental case of injustice.
Peck, director of the Oscar-nominated James Baldwin doc “I Am Not Your Negro,” is attuned to exploring larger issues through the reverberations of a single incident, in this case the eight-year jail terms served by two Black men for remaining on the land that had been taken from them in North Carolina.
The film, which premiered on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, would be baffling, except that cases of racial injustice can and have been both inexplicable and predictable. It’s infuriating, to be sure, but Peck makes sure that the takeaway is not so much talking points...
Peck, director of the Oscar-nominated James Baldwin doc “I Am Not Your Negro,” is attuned to exploring larger issues through the reverberations of a single incident, in this case the eight-year jail terms served by two Black men for remaining on the land that had been taken from them in North Carolina.
The film, which premiered on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, would be baffling, except that cases of racial injustice can and have been both inexplicable and predictable. It’s infuriating, to be sure, but Peck makes sure that the takeaway is not so much talking points...
- 9/8/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Amazon releases the film in select theaters on Friday, October 13, and it will be available to stream on Prime Video on Saturday, October 21.
Captured in soaring overhead shots, Silver Dollar Road is hazy, lush, and calm, with tall pine trees towering over grassy fields on the way to the shoreline. Down on the ground, things are less tranquil. The road, which gives its name to Raoul Peck’s latest documentary, leads down to a sprawling beachfront property in North Carolina that’s been the site of a raging legal battle between the Reels, a Black family that owned the land for over a century, and the real estate developers trying to take it from them. Eventually, two Reels family members, Melvin Davis and Licurtus Reels, serve an eight-year prison sentence for failing to vacate their own homes.
Captured in soaring overhead shots, Silver Dollar Road is hazy, lush, and calm, with tall pine trees towering over grassy fields on the way to the shoreline. Down on the ground, things are less tranquil. The road, which gives its name to Raoul Peck’s latest documentary, leads down to a sprawling beachfront property in North Carolina that’s been the site of a raging legal battle between the Reels, a Black family that owned the land for over a century, and the real estate developers trying to take it from them. Eventually, two Reels family members, Melvin Davis and Licurtus Reels, serve an eight-year prison sentence for failing to vacate their own homes.
- 9/8/2023
- by Susannah Gruder
- Indiewire
The I Am Not Your Negro director’s adaptation of a 2019 ProPublica investigation effectively connects one family’s story with the larger scourge of legal Black land theft
In swift succession, the documentarian Raoul Peck has built a reputation as a connoisseur of the visual essay. His Oscar-nominated 2017 film I Am Not Your Negro reinvigorated the astonishing legacy of essayist and critic James Baldwin through a dramatization of notes on his relationships with such civil rights luminaries as Malcolm X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. The 2021 series Exterminate All the Brutes assembled an impressive bricolage of historical documents, archival footage, personal history, cultural ephemera, scripted scenes, animation and infographics to illuminate nothing less than the genocidal origins and cascading impacts of European colonialism.
Silver Dollar Road, Peck’s latest film, focuses on one Black family’s decades-long legal fight to maintain ownership of their coastal property in North Carolina,...
In swift succession, the documentarian Raoul Peck has built a reputation as a connoisseur of the visual essay. His Oscar-nominated 2017 film I Am Not Your Negro reinvigorated the astonishing legacy of essayist and critic James Baldwin through a dramatization of notes on his relationships with such civil rights luminaries as Malcolm X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. The 2021 series Exterminate All the Brutes assembled an impressive bricolage of historical documents, archival footage, personal history, cultural ephemera, scripted scenes, animation and infographics to illuminate nothing less than the genocidal origins and cascading impacts of European colonialism.
Silver Dollar Road, Peck’s latest film, focuses on one Black family’s decades-long legal fight to maintain ownership of their coastal property in North Carolina,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Adrian Horton
- The Guardian - Film News
If Raoul Peck’s previous two films––the sweeping essay documentary I Am Not Your Negro and the painterly authorial portrait The Young Karl Marx––set aims to national and global-scale politics, then his new documentary Silver Dollar Road pulls the microscope out and offers a far more intimate, distinct example of the grander sociological themes he’s been excavating throughout his filmography. His latest forgoes the landmark figures and events of racial and class history. Instead our sights are set on an extended Black family in North Carolina and the white developers who aim to steal their rightful, generationally owned property known as Silver Dollar Road.
Peck supplements the events of the film, taken from Lizzie Presser’s in-depth reporting for ProPublica and The New Yorker, with contextual title cards that give an idea of what happened to Black-owned properties following Reconstruction in the South. A family-tree diagram takes...
Peck supplements the events of the film, taken from Lizzie Presser’s in-depth reporting for ProPublica and The New Yorker, with contextual title cards that give an idea of what happened to Black-owned properties following Reconstruction in the South. A family-tree diagram takes...
- 9/8/2023
- by Soham Gadre
- The Film Stage
In 2021, Raoul Peck released Exterminate All the Brutes, an extraordinary HBO docuseries chronicling the history of white supremacy, its mythology and the rise of fascism around the world. It was a powerful project that, like his Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro, presented a cogent thesis about the rot of racism. In these works, the director foregrounded an essayistic narrative, using words to guide viewers through the brutality of Western civilization.
Peck takes a more conventional route in his latest documentary, but the results are no less stirring. In Silver Dollar Road, the Haitian filmmaker constructs an intimate drama about one family’s decades-long struggle to protect their land from developer encroachment. The Reels’ story will be familiar to anyone attuned to the contradictions embedded in America’s legal system and the failed promises of Reconstruction.
When Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reel refused to leave the waterfront portion of...
Peck takes a more conventional route in his latest documentary, but the results are no less stirring. In Silver Dollar Road, the Haitian filmmaker constructs an intimate drama about one family’s decades-long struggle to protect their land from developer encroachment. The Reels’ story will be familiar to anyone attuned to the contradictions embedded in America’s legal system and the failed promises of Reconstruction.
When Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reel refused to leave the waterfront portion of...
- 9/8/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Raoul Peck returns to the big screen with the documentary “Silver Dollar Road,” based on the harrowing American story of the Reels family in North Carolina.
Directed by the Oscar-nominated “I Am Not Your Negro” filmmaker, “Silver Dollar Road” follows the story of the Reels family as told by the matriarch Mamie Reels Ellison and her niece Kim Renee Duhon, two strong-willed women vying to take back their ancestors’ land in the South alongside their brothers and uncles Melvin and Licurtis, who were wrongfully imprisoned for eight years, the longest amount of time anyone has ever been sentenced for civil contempt in North Carolina history.
The official synopsis adds that though they were finally released from jail in 2019, Melvin, Licurtis, Kim, and Mamie continue their painstaking struggle to reclaim the land that was unjustly ripped from their ancestral embrace.
The film is set to premiere at TIFF and is based...
Directed by the Oscar-nominated “I Am Not Your Negro” filmmaker, “Silver Dollar Road” follows the story of the Reels family as told by the matriarch Mamie Reels Ellison and her niece Kim Renee Duhon, two strong-willed women vying to take back their ancestors’ land in the South alongside their brothers and uncles Melvin and Licurtis, who were wrongfully imprisoned for eight years, the longest amount of time anyone has ever been sentenced for civil contempt in North Carolina history.
The official synopsis adds that though they were finally released from jail in 2019, Melvin, Licurtis, Kim, and Mamie continue their painstaking struggle to reclaim the land that was unjustly ripped from their ancestral embrace.
The film is set to premiere at TIFF and is based...
- 9/8/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
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