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One of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land was injured and detained after a conflict that took place on the West Bank.

Israeli director Yuval Abraham claimed on X on Monday that a group of settlers had beaten Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who was later detained by members of the Israeli military. “He has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding,” Abraham wrote.

Tuesday morning, Abraham, who co-directed No Other Land with Ballal, posted an update to say that Ballal had been released. “After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” he wrote.

The violence took place on Monday night in the village of Susiya, which is Ballal’s hometown, in the Masafer Yatta area. The activist group Center for Jewish Nonviolence said later that day that after residents of...

Update: Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning Israel-Palestine documentary “No Other Land,” has been freed, according to the latest post from co-director Yuval Abraham.

“After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” Abraham posted on X on Tuesday.

Previously: A petition to free Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning Israel-Palestine documentary “No Other Land,” has gathered more than 3,700 signatures on Change.org.

Ballal is reportedly missing after being attacked, according to a series of posts on X from co-director Yuval Abraham.

“We, members of the global film community urgently appeal for the immediate release and safety of filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of ‘No Other Land,’ the recipient of this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Reports that Mr. Ballal was forcibly removed by the Israeli army from an ambulance following a brutal attack by settlers,...

A tense Q&a session on Tuesday night at an FYC screening of a new documentary about late Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins suggests the film underwent substantial changes in tone and content from the filmmakers’ original intent.

Ever since Hutchins died on the 2021 set of the indie Western, the Ukraine-born cinematographer has slipped into the background, as the sprawling investigation into her accidental shooting death and the high-profile trials of Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have claimed the spotlight in news coverage.

The documentary, Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna Hutchins, which will premiere on Hulu March 11, seemed like it might push Hutchins back into the center of the frame. Made by Hutchins’ close friends, Circus of Books and An Update on Our Family director Rachel Mason and producer Julee Metz, and executive produced by her widower, Matthew Hutchins, the doc had extraordinary levels of access. Mason...

Hulu has revealed a new documentary film on the late Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, titled Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna.

Hutchins was killed on Oct. 21, 2021, in a shooting on the set of Rust, when a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin discharged.

The documentary, directed and produced by Rachel Mason (Circus of Books, An Update on Our Family), will take viewers “beyond the public narrative to reveal the untold human story of that terrible day and all that followed — from the vantage point of the people at the center of the tragedy. The film weaves together the accounts of those who were on the set of Rust that day and of those, like Mason, who not only lost a cherished friend and colleague but who are still navigating the trauma of the aftermath,” per a press release.

The film will also include behind-the-scenes material from the set of Rust,...

The Sundance Film Festival chose well in selecting the honorees for tonight’s Gala fundraiser at the newly opened Grand Hyatt Deer Valley.

Beyond freshly minted Oscar nominees Cynthia Erivo and James Mangold in the house to receive the Visionary Award and Trailblazer Award respectively, it was Michelle Satter — the Founding Senior Director of Artists Program for the Sundance Institute — whose stirring speech unified the high-profile packed ballroom.

Satter was recognized for her decades-long commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs. As many in the room knew and as Satter mentioned, she and her husband David Latt were among the thousands who lost their homes in the wildfires that scorched LA. Horribly, this tragedy came after Satter and Latt’s youngest son Michael, an advocate in the industry for social justice, was fatally shot in November 2023 at his Miracle Mile home in a senseless murder.

Exclusive: Up on the top floor of downtown’s Hall of Justice, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has little of the grandeur that the rest of the nearly 100-year-old ornate building itself would suggest, as the newly sworn-in Nathan Hochman himself points out.

“I wondered why all the windows were facing upwards, why they had what looked like bars on them,” the former U.S. Assistant Attorney General says. “I discovered this used to be the County jail before the building reopened in 2015,” Hochman adds with a laugh, waving his arms around his own largely bare office not far from where now dead Charles Manson and still living Sirhan Sirhan were once incarcerated.

Just a few days into his term, after a landslide victory over one-termer George Gascón with support from Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Oscar nominated documentarian Rory Kennedy, ex-Republican Hochman makes no secret of the...

Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 6 left many in what the incoming president has called “liberal Hollywood” stunned and soul-searching.

Left-leaning Hollywood activists aren’t exactly throwing up their hands and giving up — though several are taking a beat and reflecting on their apparent disconnect with many American voters. Instead, some political liaisons in the business predict that the industry’s advocates will shift their focus. Rather than mounting a broad “resistance” against a president that has so far narrowly won the popular vote, industry activists may focus on shoring up policies and advocating for Democrat-favored and/or progressive legislation down-ballot, including closer to home.

“I do think that the approach will be much more micro than macro this time around,” says Hannah Linkenhoker, the chief engagement officer at the industry law firm Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. “The work a lot of us are looking to do is protecting vulnerable...

“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” swept the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, winning all six of its nominated categories. The Warner Bros. movie tied Netflix’s “Will and Harper” for Best Documentary Feature. See the full winners list below.

“Super/Man” also scored wins for Best Director (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui), Best Editing (Otto Burnham), Best Score(Ilan Eshkeri), Best Archival Documentary, and Best Biographical Documentary. “The Last of the Sea Women,” “Simone Biles Rising,” and “Sugarcane” each took home two awards.

The 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards were held Sunday, November 10 in New York City. The Pennebaker Award was presented to acclaimed documentarian Rory Kennedy. The award is named in honor of D A Pennebaker, a past winner. It was presented to Kennedy by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s long-time collaborator and widow.

2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards

Best Documentary Feature

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

Daughters (Netflix...

The Critics Choice Association (Cca) unveiled the winners of the Ninth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards at a gala event in New York City on Sunday night. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper” shared the top award of the evening, as the films tied for Best Documentary Feature. It was a huge night for “Super/Man,” which swept all six of its nominated categories, including wins for Best Director for Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, Best Editing for Otto Burnham, Best Score for Ilan Eshkeri, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Biographical Documentary.

“The Last of the Sea Women,” “Simone Biles Rising,”and “Sugarcane” each took home two awards. “The Last of the Sea Women” won the awards for Best Cinematography for Iris Ng, Eunson Choo, and Justin Turkowski, and Best Science/Nature Documentary. “Simone Biles Rising” won Best Sports Documentary and Best Limited Documentary Series. “Sugarcane” picked...

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story led the pack of winners, sweeping with six accolades in all of its nominated categories at the ninth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, held today at The Edison Ballroom in New York City. In a surprise moment, the film also shared a win with Netflix’s Will & Harper for best documentary feature.

Also honored during the ceremony was Oscar-nominated documentarian Rory Kennedy, who received the Pennebaker Award, named for the late Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award winner D. A. Pennebaker (The War Room). Pennebaker’s widow and producing partner Chris Hegedus presented the award.

The celebration was live-streamed on platforms YouTube, X and Facebook, with viewing also made available on the Critics Choice Association website beginning at 7 p.m. Et.

Debuting at Sundance Film Festival, Super/Man became a favorite among critics upon its premiere. The movie tells the emotional story of Reeve’s rise...

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper tied for best documentary feature at the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards on Sunday night.

The first film won in all six of the categories in which it was nominated.

In addition to best documentary feature, Super/Man, about the actor who played the Man of Steel and his advocacy for disability awareness after he was paralyzed in a tragic accident, won best director (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui), best editing (Otto Burnham), best score (Ilan Eshkeri), best archival documentary and best biographical documentary.

Sugarcane, which scored the most nominations this year with eight, won two awards, for best political documentary and best true-crime documentary. The Last of the Sea Women and Simone Biles Rising also won two awards each. The first film, which counts Malala Yousafzai among its producers, won the awards for best cinematography (Iris Ng, Eunson Choo and Justin Turkowski...

A canny political survivor, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has run out of electoral lives.

The incumbent prosecutor has lost his bid for reelection against ex-u.S. Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman. The race ends with the latter getting 61.3% of the vote to the former’s 38.7%.

Despite some high profile moves such as seeking an early release from the life without parole sentences of the Menendez brothers and their 30 years behind bars, the one-term Gascón’s defeat was a done deal weeks ago. Backed by Netflix’s co-ceo Ted Sarandos and Oscar nominated documentary director Rory Kennedy, former George W. Bush’s appointee Hochman has held a double digit lead over ex-San Francisco D.A. Gascón for most of the campaign.

With no small irony, the success of Ryan Murphy’s nine-part Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was instrumental in bringing the case back to the headlines.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rory Kennedy will receive the prestigious Pennebaker Award at the upcoming Critics Choice Documentary Awards in New York, honoring a director whose body of work includes Ethel, a film about her late mother, Ethel Kennedy, as well as Last Days in Vietnam and Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.

The award, named for the late pioneer of direct cinema D.A. Pennebaker, will be presented by filmmaker Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s widow, as the Critics Choice Documentary Awards celebrates its 9th annual event. The ceremony will be held November 10 at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.

“Rory Kennedy is an Academy Award-nominated, Primetime Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker,” the Critics Choice Association writes in a release. “She has made over 40 films, including Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix), Last Days in Vietnam (American Experience), and Ethel (HBO), all of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her film, The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari,...

The Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be honoring Emmy-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy at the upcoming 9th annual edition of these kudos. Kennedy won the second of her six Emmy bids in 2007 for the non-fiction special “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.” She most recently contended in this same category in 2013 for “Ethel,” a film about her late mother, Ethel Kennedy. She also reaped a Best Documentary Feature Oscar bid in 2015 for “Last Days in Vietnam.”

The Critics Choice Documentary Awards ceremony on Nov. 10 will be hosted by Erich Bergen (“Madam Secretary”) at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. Chelsea Clinton and Amanda Zurawski, who is the subject of the documentary “Zurawski V Texas” about reproductive rights, are among those who will be presenting these prizes. Also on hand will be: Michael Cyril Creighton (“Only Murders in the Building”), R.J. Cutler (“Elton John: Never Too Late”), Lauren Greenfield (“Social Studies”), Ken Leung (“Industry”), Bridget Moynahan...

At their best, political documentaries make sense of complex issues. But getting them seen has become more challenging than ever given Hollywood’s preference for celebrity or true-crime nonfiction offerings over anything grappling with thorny, complicated issues or figures.

This hasn’t stopped top documentary filmmakers from tackling such topics. Errol Morris’ “Separated,” a look at Trump administration immigration policies on the U.S. border, will debut at the Venice film festival. Docs about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gun control and antisemitism are also in the works and could end up at fall festivals. There is also chatter about a doc focusing on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

It’s not at all clear who might distribute these films, which follow in the footsteps of political documentaries like Michael Moore’s record-breaking “Fahrenheit 9/11” and Amazon Prime Video’s 2020 offering “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés,...

Exclusive: Already under probation with the Department of Justice, scandal riddled and safety plagued Boeing is about to be grounded by one of America’s leading documentarians, again.

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing director Rory Kennedy has re-teamed with Imagine Documentaries with Netflix back on board for a follow-up on the troubled aerospace company whose’ planes seem to have their doors flying off in the sky.

Rory Kennedy

“I’ve never made two films about the same subject,” the Oscar-nominated Kennedy told Deadline of the yet untitled docu about Boeing’s freefall in recent years. “Due to my ongoing concerns that Boeing did not learn any lesson from the tragic 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people, and the shock at John Barnett’s suicide, I felt compelled to revisit the subject.”

Downfall debuted at the virtual Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2022, and on launched Netflix on February 18 of that year to strong viewership.

Alec Baldwin‘s fateful foray into the Western genre turns his career and his life upside down as the actor faces an upcoming trial on the tragic on-set accidental killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the production of Rust. It’s a story that’s ripe for a documentary. And for such an incident that’s tied to a high-profile name, it’s seemingly big enough for two documentaries. The Hollywood Reporter has said that amid the start of Baldwin’s upcoming trial that takes place in Santa Fe this week, two documentaries that are following the unfolding events will be having their own duel while covering the trial for their respective features.

The first documentary comes from the director of the 2019 Netflix documentary Circus of Books, Rachel Mason. Mason also happens to be a close family friend of Hutchins and she “has been making a film about the cinematographer since Hutchins’ widower,...

Among the many people who will be closely watching Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial when it begins in Santa Fe this week are two sets of documentarians covering parallel and potentially competing stories from the movie Rust.

Both sets of filmmakers have also become part of the still-unfolding tragedy of the indie Western set, where Baldwin accidentally shot 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.

Rachel Mason, director of the 2019 Netflix documentary Circus of Books and a close family friend of Hutchins, has been making a film about the cinematographer since Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, recruited her and producer Julee Metz for the task in 2021 amid a flurry of media requests about his wife.

Mason and Metz, who are shooting their film for Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan’s production company, Story Syndicate, have interviewed members of the Rust cast and crew, including director Joel Souza and cinematographer Bianca Cline, who...

A judge decided on Monday that footage from a documentary about the making of the movie Rust, the beleaguered production where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead in 2021, will not be allowed as evidence in the prosecution of Alec Baldwin, according to Variety. Baldwin, whom prosecutors claim fired the fatal bullet, will be standing trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter next month. He faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

Filmmaker Rory Kennedy, whose Last Days in Vietnam was nominated for the Best Feature-length Documentary Oscar...

A judge on Monday ruled that filmmaker Rory Kennedy does not have to turn over footage from her upcoming Alec Baldwin documentary to prosecutors in his manslaughter case.

Kennedy is working on a film about Baldwin and the accidental shooting on the set of his film “Rust.” Baldwin is set to go on trial in July in Santa Fe, N.M., on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In April, prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Erlinda Johnson filed a subpoena seeking interview footage of Baldwin and of witnesses, saying the footage includes “critical pieces of information concerning key elements of this criminal prosecution.”

Kennedy’s company, Moxie Films, filed a motion to quash the subpoena, calling it “an impermissible fishing expedition.”

A Los Angeles judge granted the motion on Monday, after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office — which is tasked with enforcing the out-of-state subpoena — conceded the issue.

A New Mexico judge on Friday asked a series of skeptical questions of the prosecutor in the Alec Baldwin manslaughter case, suggesting she might decide to throw out the indictment.

Baldwin is scheduled to face a trial in Santa Fe in July for negligently pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and pulling the trigger. In New Mexico, involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.

Baldwin’s defense has asked Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to throw out the case, arguing that prosecutors failed to make defense witnesses available to the grand jury.

At a hearing on Friday, Marlowe Sommer asked the prosecutor, Kari Morrissey, why she had not made more of an effort to contact those witnesses before the grand jury proceeding.

“Common sense tells me you should have reached out ahead of time,” she said.

The judge also questioned why Morrissey had cut off a witness...

Alec Baldwin’s lawyers have filed two more motions to throw out his manslaughter indictment in the “Rust” case in New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Rory Kennedy, who is making a documentary about Baldwin and the “Rust” shooting, is fighting a subpoena that would force her to turn over interview footage to the prosecutors in the case.

Baldwin faces a trial in July on a charge of negligently causing the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The actor was preparing to film a scene in the Western film in October 2021 when his Colt .45 fired, striking Hutchins and also wounding the director.

The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was sentenced last month to 18 months in prison for mistakenly loading a live bullet into the gun.

Baldwin’s latest motions argue that the charge is not legally justified, and that he has been deprived of a fair trial because the FBI broke the gun in the case during testing.

Alec Baldwin’s lawyers alleged a “stunning abuse of prosecutorial power” in the “Rust” case on Tuesday, arguing that a favorable plea offer was withdrawn last fall due to a misunderstanding about Baldwin’s role in a documentary about the case.

Baldwin is facing a trial in July in Santa Fe, N.M., on a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. If convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison.

Last October, prosecutors offered him a misdemeanor plea that would carry no jail time. But prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in a recent filing that she rescinded that offer after learning that Baldwin had “commissioned his own documentary” about Hutchins’ death, and was pressuring witnesses in the case to participate.

Concerned that Baldwin’s conduct would cause ongoing harm the victims and their families, she withdraw the offer and decided to seek a felony indictment.

On Thursday afternoon, members of the Kennedy endorsed President Joe Biden at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.

Biden’s rally in Philadelphia is the last major stop in a three-day swing through Pennsylvania.

During this trip, he laid out his economic and tax agenda and attacked former President Donald Trump as an enemy of working people.

Kennedy family members approached the Biden team and requested a joint event for the endorsements.

Joseph Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Maxwell Kennedy and Christopher Kennedy backed Biden during this rally.

The event is a further rejection of their family member and independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The president’s campaign released a list of 15 Kennedys scheduled to appear at this rally but also mentioned that other family members would endorse him.

Joe Kennedy III, a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, introduced Biden at a second event.

“We can say today,...

Currently unspooling across four episodes on HBO and continuing to stream on Max is The Synanon Fix, the latest true-crime catnip from the cable channel that’s not a juggernaut of the genre. And while the Sundance-debuting docuseries does involve the usual “suspects”, it’s also the latest HBO Original from director Rory Kennedy and writer Mark Bailey. Which means it’s less interested in lurid details and more focused on actual individuals with an optimistic vision who are drawn into — and failed by […]

The post “The Charismatic Leader Leads People, But What Toward?”: Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey on Their HBO Docuseries The Synanon Fix first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Currently unspooling across four episodes on HBO and continuing to stream on Max is The Synanon Fix, the latest true-crime catnip from the cable channel that’s not a juggernaut of the genre. And while the Sundance-debuting docuseries does involve the usual “suspects”, it’s also the latest HBO Original from director Rory Kennedy and writer Mark Bailey. Which means it’s less interested in lurid details and more focused on actual individuals with an optimistic vision who are drawn into — and failed by […]

The post “The Charismatic Leader Leads People, But What Toward?”: Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey on Their HBO Docuseries The Synanon Fix first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

How does a cult become a cult? How does a group of people that are often just trying to do something different, and sometimes even good, with their lives devolve into cult-ish behavior? Basically, since the advent of streaming, numerous docuseries have tried their hand at investigating this bizarre pipeline, from Wild Wild Country to Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults to The Vow. Now, Max is back at the game with The Synanon Fix: Did the Cure Become a Cult?, a four-episode-long Rory Kennedy miniseries about how a facility aimed at helping people with drug addictions eventually became one of the biggest cults in the United States. With its first two episodes already available on the platform and two more to drop on April 15 and April 22, the show aims to tell the whole story of this institution, from the moment it opened its door to addicts in the 50s...

In Rory Kennedy’s four-part HBO documentary “The Synanon Fix,” the director explores Synanon, an organization formed in Santa Monica and designed to assist individuals struggling with drug addiction. Established in 1958 by Charles “Check” Dederich, a former alcoholic, Synanon was the country’s first in-patient rehabilitation center designed for people suffering from dependency issues. Dederich was among the first to try to have drug addicts help each other instead of relying on therapists or medications.

After attracting donations from people around the country who wanted to help the rehab facility, Synanon metastasized into a “nonprofit” with more than $30 million in assets including communal properties and farms in California. Members, who consisted of addicts was well as “squares” (non-drug users), were encouraged to participate in the Synanon Game, which was attack talk therapy. Children were isolated from their parents and raised by caregivers. Eventually members shaved their heads and had to...

"There were rules on which Synanon was founded, and those were solid, until they weren't." Another cult story. Max has revealed an official trailer for a fascinating documentary series called The Synanon Fix, from acclaimed doc filmmaker Rory Kennedy. This is the latest in the true crime doc subgenre about cults, which I will dub the "true cult" genre. This 4-episode doc series explores the rise & fall of the Synanon organization through the eyes of the members who lived it, from its early days as a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program to its later descent into what many consider a cult. Obvious that it definitely was one. It recalls the story of a controversial heroin addiction program turned communal living center. Told through first person accounts of former members, this series is about the California rehab center called "Synanon", which grew from a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program in the 1950s into...

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the Max streaming service in April. The Max April 2024 lineup includes the HBO original limited series The Sympathizer, the Max original unscripted series Conan O’Brien Must Go, and the HBO original comedy special Alex Edelman: Just for Us.

The April schedule also includes the HBO original documentary series The Jinx – Part Two and The Synanon Fix, the HBO original documentaries Brandy Hellville & The Cult Of Fast Fashion and An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th, season four of HBO original We’re Here, And A24’s The Zone of Interest.

Sports fans will be able to watch live games from the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and studio coverage airing on TBS, TNT, and truTV. The coverage will include the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Semifinals and the 2024 Men’s National Championship.

The South by Southwest debut of “Stormy” was not your typical Imagine Documentaries premiere.

About adult film star Stormy Daniels’ alleged affair with former President Donald Trump, the film drew an eclectic crowd that included porn stars and “Muppet” director-producer Frank Oz, who sat in the same row as Daniels and her entourage made up mainly of buff bodyguards. Dogs sniffed Austin’s Stateside Theater prior to the screening. After it unspooled, Daniels spoke to the SXSW audience, revealing that she first met “Stormy” exec producer Judd Apatow when he hired her for a small part in his 2005 film “40 Year-Old Virgin.” When she was a no-show due to a death in the family, Apatow sent her flowers and rescheduled her shoot date.

“I thought he would replace me,” Daniels, who would go on to appear in “Knocked Up” for the filmmaker, told the crowd, with director Sarah Gibson standing nearby.

President Joe Biden welcomed over 30 members of the Kennedy family to the White House for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Sunday. Notably, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has embarked on a third-party bid for the presidency, was absent from the event.

Kerry Kennedy, the sister of Rfk Jr., took to X to share a photograph of the Kennedy family gathered alongside Biden, with the picturesque Rose Garden as the backdrop.

Biden expressed what a joy the Kennedy family was to host at the White House. In a message posted on X, he conveyed heartfelt regards, “From one proud Irish family to another — it was good to have you all back at the White House.”

Joe Kennedy III, Biden’s envoy to Northern Ireland, also took to X to share his enthusiasm for the gathering. With a touch of familial camaraderie, he remarked, “Small family gathering this afternoon!”

However,...

When the Oscar nominations came out last week, the Best Documentary Feature category contained some bombshells: no recognition for two of the most decorated nonfiction films of the year.

In the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, co-hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey drill down on the nominations, examining the snubs of American Symphony and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. And they explore why the Academy’s documentary branch, which determines the nominees, went for five internationally themed films, bypassing American-focused stories entirely.

Plus Carey, Deadline’s Documentary Editor, reports from the just-concluded 2024 Sundance Film Festival, talking with Best Director winners Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie of Sugarcane, Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey of the explosive series The Synanon Fix, EP Kerry Washington and two of the main participants in Daughters, Will Ferrell and Harper Steele of Will & Harper, and more.

Daughters, winner of both the Audience Award for U.

HBO kicked off the current iteration of the premium true-crime movement with The Jinx back in 2015.

As they prepare to launch The Jinx – Part 2, Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham, EVPs of HBO Documentary and Family Programming, laid out their strategy to find films involving “crime with a conscience.”

The pair, speaking at the Realscreen event in New Orleans, highlighted recent docs including The Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, directed by Anthony Caronna, and Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning from The Last Dance director Jason Hehir.

Heller said of The Last Call, which premiered in July, “[Caronna] feels that the true-crime in that case was a trojan horse to getting the audience there and then having a much deeper issue about homophobia and the NYPD and all of the bad things that allowed this bad man to stay on the loose and brutalize people. That was...

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines has been married to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since 2014. She’s on her second marriage, while Kennedy is already on his third.

Recently, the couple did a photo shoot for The Hollywood Reporter alongside Conor Kennedy and Kyra Kennedy, who are Kennedy’s children from his second marriage to Mary Richardson Kennedy. They had two other sons, Finn Kennedy and Aiden Kennedy, who died by suicide in 2012.

The blended family also included Hines’ daughter, Catherine Young.

Hines and Kennedy first met in 2004 at a celebrity ski fundraiser for Waterkeeper Alliance, which Kennedy funded. Before their divorces, the two families traveled and skied together.

In one instance, Hines and her ex, Curb star and creator Larry David, attended an event with no intention of skiing, but Kennedy urged them to join.

They continued to run in the same circles, seeing each other about once a...

Last October, White House hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a decision to switch parties in his presidential bid by exiting the Democratic party and running as a third-party Independent. The move was quickly denounced by members of his own family, including Oscar-nominated documentarian Rory Kennedy, who joined her siblings in posting a family statement.

“The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country. Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country,” read the Instagram post signed by Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a group that totals four of the 11 children shared by Ethel and Robert Kennedy.

Rory...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not attend his 70th birthday party fundraiser gala after celebrity guests who were billed as attendees stated that they never agreed to go.

Martin Sheen, Dionne Warwick, Mike Tyson and Andrea Bocelli were listed as attendees but later said they never agreed to attend the fundraiser.

The fundraiser supporting Kennedy’s presidential campaign was hosted by the super Pac American Values 2024 and took place in Indian Wells, California, on January 4.

On December 28, 2023, the Pac announced on X:

“Superstar tenor @AndreaBocelli will perform at fundraiser for US presidential hopeful @RobertKennedyJr with ‘well wisher’ guests including Martin Sheen, @MikeTyson and @dionnewarwick,” they wrote.

American Values Pac’s major donor is right-wing billionaire Timothy Mellon, who gave $15 million, leading experts to conclude that it is a Trojan Horse for Republican interests.

“I don’t know anything about this event,” Warwick wrote in her response on X. “I did...

After three years of virtual and hybrid event offerings, the Sundance Film Festival is set to celebrate its fortieth anniversary with its most robust in-person edition of the festival since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. While online offerings will still be available to those who wish to participate from home, with the official online viewing window opening on Thursday, January 25. That lineup will include at-home screenings of the five competition sections (including Next).

On the ground, however, seems like the place to be. As ever, this year’s festival boasts a wide variety of new films from some of our favorite filmmakers, plus an assortment of rising stars, new talents to keep an eye on, and perhaps a few surprises.

This year’s program includes new films from Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden,...

Uipdated with statement from Rfk Jr gala organizers: The arguably greatest fictional TV Potus ever is not endorsing the White House bid of Robert Kennedy Jr., and Martin Sheen sure as hell isn’t showing up as a warm prop at any Rfk Jr fundraiser anytime soon.

About a week ago, invites went out for a self-described “gala” on January 22 to celebrate the independent candidate’s 70th birthday. Sheen, Mike Tyson and Dionne Warwick were reported to be attending the event as “well-wishers.” On Thursday, some of President Jed Bartlet’s old West Wing staff have gone public to declare their old boss has no intention of attending.

In fact, via Bradley Whitford and Mary McCormack, Sheen says he remains an avowed supporter of incumbent Joe Biden, not Rfk Jr.

There’s a story going around saying that Martin Sheen is supporting @RobertKennedyJr for president. The story is incorrect. Martin...

The Sundance Institute has announced the feature film lineup for the 2024 festival, taking place January 18-28, 2024, in person in Utah, along with a selection of films available online across the U.S. January 25-28. The lineup includes Competition titles; the Premieres, Spotlight, and Episodic sections; and the Midnight slate, with 82 feature-length films (representing 24 countries); eight episodic titles; and a New Frontier interactive experience. Of the films and episodic titles, 94 percent are world premieres — many of which appeared on IndieWire’s Sundance Wish List.

Many recognizable filmmakers are presenting new work this time around, including Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, David and Nathan Zellner, Richard Linklater, Lana Wilson, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Dawn Porter, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Yance Ford, Ramona S. Diaz, Rory Kennedy, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, among many others.

Notable actors at the 2024 edition range from Kristen Stewart in “Love Lies Bleeding” and alongside Steven Yeun in “Love Me,...

Updated with teaser trailer for Whitney Houston in Focus below. Exclusive: The estate of Whitney Houston has resolved its concerns about the documentary Whitney Houston in Focus and is now throwing full support behind the film.

The 34-minute film directed by Benjamin Alfonsi is set to hold its world premiere next month at Doc NYC. The doc is centered on the recollections of photographer Bette Marshall who did multiple photo shoots with the young singer between 1982-86, the period Houston went from unknown to worldwide sensation. When Deadline first reported about the nascent film in December 2021, the estate told us it was upset over the project and hadn’t been consulted about it.

Seeing the finished film apparently dispelled any lingering qualms. Pat Houston, executor of the late singer’s estate, president of Whitney Houston Enterprises and Whitney’s former manager, called the documentary “an amazing story,” according to a release about the film.

White House hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday a decision to switch parties in his presidential bid by exiting the Democratic party and running as a third party Independent. The move — revealed during a rally held outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia that featured remarks by his actress wife Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame — was quickly denounced by members of his own family.

“The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country. Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country,” reads a post shared on Instagram by his sister, Oscar nominated documentarian Rory Kennedy.

The sister of Rfk Jr. is...

Alec Baldwin is working on a documentary about the 'Rust' shooting.In October 2021, the 65-year-old actor and producer was holding a Colt .45 handgun during rehearsals when it accidentally discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.Now, Baldwin - who resumed shooting the movie at Yellowstone ranch in Montana last week - is working on a documentary about the film with 'Last Days in Vietnam' and 'Ethel' director Rory Kennedy, Variety reports.This is the second documentary about the tragic incident, as director Rachel Mason and producer Julee Metz are also shooting a documentary about Hutchins with the cooperation of her husband Matthew Hutchins.Production on 'Rust' is expected to finish by the end of May.Attorney Melina Spadone said: “The production will continue to utilize union crew members and will bar any use of working weapons and any form of ammunition.

“Rust” resumed filming Thursday at the Yellowstone ranch in Montana, a year and a half after Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was injured in the shooting at a New Mexico movie ranch, is returning to finish the Western that stars Baldwin, Jensen Ackles, Travis Fimmel, and Frances Fisher.

Patrick Scott McDermott has also been added to the cast, taking over for Brady Noon, who was not available to complete filming due to other commitments.

Manslaughter charges against Baldwin were officially dropped Friday.

While production is under way, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy is working on a documentary about Baldwin and the “Rust” movie accident, Variety has confirmed. Kennedy, who has directed documentaries including “Last Days in Vietnam” and “Ethel,” was seen filming Baldwin as he left his New York home for Montana and her documentary crew is also on set in Montana,...

When Deadline featured Alexander Rodnyansky for its International Disruptors column back in 2021, the media mogul said he’d “had five lives” when looking back at his prolific media career which spanned documentary filmmaking, founding Ukraine’s first indie TV network 1+1, managing Russian media company Ctc and producing indie films.

But now, one and a half years after that interview, the Kyiv-born super producer has embarked on yet another life, but this time far away from the country in which he built his career. Last year, one week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Rodnyansky fled his Moscow home of two decades with his wife and one suitcase. Having made no secret of his opposition to the war, the producer got wind that he was rousing suspicion within Russia’s top government heads and decided to sever ties with the country.

“We left the house and everything and since that moment I...

The season of rambling acceptance speeches is at hand, prompting that nasty question: Why can’t award winners learn how to edit their gratitude? Or find an editor to help?

The answer is in the process itself, which Cate Blanchett, upon winning over the weekend at the Critics Choice Awards for Tár, called a “patriarchal pyramid.” She should know because the pyramid has granted her more than 120 awards for her 70 movies (including two Oscars).

Whether in speeches or the projects generating them, filmmakers and writers classically distrust their editors. There’s even a new documentary about a classically feisty editing conflict. Titled Turn Every Page, it deals with books, not film — and, predictably, it’s too long.

Related Story ‘Tár’ Star Cate Blanchett Wants A New Way To Celebrate “Arbitrary” Awards Season During Critics Choice Awards After Best Actress Win Related Story Riz Ahmed & Allison Williams To Host 2023 Oscar Nominations:...

Not since 1997, with the release of Dante's Peak and Volcano, have viewers been treated to two major films centered on volcanoes in a single year. 2022 saw another duo of such films showcasing the fascinating, and ultimately devastating, effects of volcanic activity on professional scientists and curious civilians alike. Sara Dosa's Fire of Love and Rory Kennedy's The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari, documentary films streaming on Disney+ and Netflix, respectively, hit screens this past year and put some of the world's most eruptive wonders under a cinematic microscope. While each film stirs the imagination, offering audiences intimate and personal glimpses into the lives of people who had the tragic misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Fire of Love and The Volcano leave differing impressions about mankind's relationship to nature and the potential consequences of calculated risk.

As the ubiquitous “Wednesday” and mighty “Harry and Meghan” continue to dominate in series viewership on Netflix, a nonfiction film is breaking through in a surprising way: “The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari.”

Ranked as the number one film in the U.S on Wednesday, filmmaker Rory Kennedy directs the tense story of 47 tourists and guides trapped by a volcanic eruption off the coast of New Zealand in December of 2019. Through firsthand accounts, Kennedy retraces the event minute-by-minute, demonstrating mother nature’s power and the kindness of strangers in equal parts.

Breaking into the official Netflix Global Top 10 this week, “The Volcano” hit number one in countries including the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and much of Europe on Wednesday. It’s a notable performance often dominated by Netflix originals and holiday content. One source familiar with Netflix noted how rare it was for a documentary feature to make this kind of noise around the world,...

The pre-holiday report on home viewing on both VOD platforms and at Netflix reveals two things: it’s continuing to look a lot like Christmas and a pair of new films from double Oscar best director winners are getting less than top-tier viewing at this point.

Most noticeably, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Bardo,” following prime earlier festival showings and multiple weeks in limited theater play, has not yet showed up on Netflix’s Top Ten. Released last Friday, it is not among the four new other originals from the streamer that do rank this week.

Chances are most people who follow festival- and awards-aimed titles haven’t heard of any of these films for which the public has more interest. Number one is Rory Kennedy’s documentary “The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari.” Seasonal rom-com “I Believe in Christmas” debuts at #3. “The Big 4,” an action title from Indonesia is #5. “Who Killed Santa?...

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari is a Netflix documentary directed by Rory Kennedy.

A lowkey, down-to-earth documentary about the 2019 tragedy in Whakaari / White Island, New Zealand.

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

Release Date

December 16, 2022

Where to Watch ‘The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari’

Netflix...