‘All That Breathes’ Trailer: First Film To Win Both Cannes & Sundance Documentary Awards Releases October 21

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) will present AAFCA Salutes Broadway on Monday, October 17th at the Lamb’s Club in the heart of New York’s theater district.

Michaela Zee editor President Joe Biden’s turbulent first year in office is the focus of HBO’s forthcoming documentary, “Year One: A Political Odyssey.” In the trailer, which Variety can exclusively reveal, the documentary chronicles Biden’s first year as president, from his inauguration in 2021 to the State of the Union speech in March. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker John Maggio, “Year One” explores the dynamics of the President’s inner circle, featuring archival news footage and insider interviews with secretary of state Antony Blinken, national security advisor Jake Sullivan, secretary of defense Lloyd Austin, CIA director William Burns and White House chief of staff Ron Klain, among other members of Biden’s cabinet.

Joey Bada$$ is urging rappers to put an end to messages that may result in lethal actions, causing their own death or the demise of others.

Manori Ravindran International Editor It may officially be the year of the tiger in the Chinese Zodiac calendar, but in the world of film, it’s definitely the year of the wee donkey. The humble equine features in films such as Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and even Neon’s “Triangle of Sadness,” but nowhere is this loyal beast of burden in the spotlight more than Janus Films and Sideshow’s “EO,” from legendary Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. The film — which shared the Cannes Jury Prize with Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” — shares a vision of modern Europe through the prism of a gray donkey, EO, who is torn away by animal activists from his beloved circus performer owner, and passed from hand to hand in the service of humans. On his life’s path, EO meets all sorts of people and experiences joy and pain, as well as disasters and unexpected bliss.

Manori Ravindran International Editor In the Stone Age horror movie “The Origin,” a tribe of starving homo sapiens must fight for survival in early Britain. It’s a film set 45,000 years ago, but its message about humanity — told through a genre lens — is as dark as it is timeless. Directed by Scottish helmer Andrew Cumming (“Radiance,” “Clique”) and written by Ruth Greenberg (“The Spark”) in both of their feature debuts, the film — produced by “Saint Maud’s” Oliver Kassman — is launching at the BFI London Film Festival on Thursday with three sold-out screenings. Shot on location in 2020 in the Scottish Highlands, the story follows a group of early humans looking for food and shelter in a new land. They subscribe to their leader’s promise of a better life, but find themselves in a dangerous terrain, where they’re preyed upon by a supernatural force. The cast includes Safia Oakley-Green, Kit Young and Chuku Modu.

"The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson, the first movie that incorporated synchronized speaking parts for its actors, was released on this day in history, Oct. 6, 1927.  Primitive by today’s standards, the movie revolutionized cinema in the United States and beyond and is recognized as a landmark achievement in pop culture history.

Baseball fans have been following New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge as he made history with his 61st home run, which he hit during a game against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday to tie Roger Maris for the home run record.

Woman In Film, Los Angeles said Thursday that that She Said producer Dede Gardner, star Carey Mulligan and New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey will be honored next month at the 2022 WIF Honors. They join a recipient list that already includes the bestowing the group’s Crystal Awards to Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson, The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Don’t Worry Darling writer and director Katie Silberman and Olivia Wilde, respectively.

post to his social media app Truth Social on Wednesday, he noted that the war between Russia and Ukraine “would definitely not have happened if I were President.” He went on to offer his personal assistance in establishing a peace deal, writing: “Both sides need and want it. The entire World is at stake.

ABC and Vice led the news portion of the 43rd annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, which were handed out tonight at the Palladium Times Square in Manhattan. Both scored eight statuettes, followed by CNN and The New York Times with five each and CBS and NBC with three apiece. See the full list of winners here.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Grasshopper Film has acquired the North American distribution rights to “Rewind & Play,” Alain Gomis’ feature documentary on the late jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. The film is set to screen at the 60th annual New York Film Festival later this month, and will open in theaters early next year. The doc uses an interview with Monk in France from 1969, which many would now consider to be deeply problematic, as its centrepiece. In December 1969, Monk arrived in Paris for a concert at the tail end of a European tour. While there, he was invited to appear on a television interview program, where he was to answer questions in an intimate, one-on-one studio stage.

greeted with accusations of Islamophobia after its Sundance premiere from several Muslim and Arab filmmakers, Meg Smaker has told The New York Times that very few festivals have chosen to screen her film while she has struggled financially to promote it. “I don’t have the money or influence to fight this out,” Smaker said. “I’m not sure I see a way out.”“In my naïveté, I kept thinking people would get the anger out of their system and realize thisfilm was not what they said,” she added.

Former president Donald Trump was met with a civil fraud lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday, and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon can tell he’s getting worried. “He just asked Ron DeSantis to fly him somewhere random in the middle of the night,” he joked.

the New York Times reports, the highly publicized altercation between the “King Richard” Best Actor winner and comedian Chris Rock has ignited an internal debate at Apple as executives reconsider delaying their release of Smith’s next awards season hopeful: his upcoming Civil War drama, “Emancipation,” for which the studio paid a staggering $120 million to acquire in 2020. Although Apple pushed the film’s release to 2023 in May following Smith’s public fallout, three people involved with the film speaking anonymously with The Times said that Apple staffers have discussed releasing “Emancipation” by the end of this year, within the window of eligibility for awards consideration.

The Oscar race came into sharper focus at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with actors like Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh cementing their lead contender status, and big-budget studio efforts like The Fablemans and Glass Onion premiering to raves.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “Nothing Compares,” a documentary about the life and career of Sinead O’Connor, will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 23 for a one-week run that qualify it for Academy Award consideration. The film’s theatrical release will come days ahead of the docu’s Sept. 30 Showtime streaming and on-demand debut. The 97-minute film, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, traces O’Connor’s rise to worldwide fame after “Nothing Compares 2 U” was released in 1990, as well as the Irish singer’s eventual exile from pop mainstream after she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992. The docu also examines other headline-grabbing controversies, like O’Connor’s refusal to perform at a New Jersey stadium amid the Persian Gulf War unless stadium officials agreed to forgo the playing of the national anthem. At the time, the star’s political and religious outrage was met with outrage. Told through a contemporary feminist lens, Ferguson’s portrait doc argues that O’Connor was 30 years ahead of her time.