Covid Pic ‘The First Wave’ Was “Terrifying” & “Inspirational” For Director Matthew Heineman – Contenders Documentary

The Producers Guild of America on Friday unveiled nominees in the Outstanding Documentary Motion Picture category for the 33rd annual PGA Awards. It’s the first batch of noms for the guild, which honors excellence in motion picture and television productions.

Marta Balaga In his film “The Mute Man of Sardinia” (“Il Muto di Gallura”) Turin-born Matteo Fresi reignites the feud between the Vasa and Mamia families, which caused the deaths of more than 70 people in mid-19th century Sardinia.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterA new documentary is in the works exploring the mysterious founder of Bitcoin and the larger state of cryptocurrency.Director Matthew Miele (“Always at The Carlyle,” “Quixotic Endeavors”) will helm the project, titled “Finding Satoshi.” The film will investigate the origins of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, whose identity and invention remains secret.Tucker Tooley, the veteran filmmaker behind movies like “The United States vs.

Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before the first presidential debate with Joe Biden last year, Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows reveals in a new book obtained by The Guardian.

When New York City became the epicenter of the country’s Covid outbreak in 2020, many residents—those of means, anyway—fled to second homes or other points far from the city. But not New York-based filmmaker Matthew Heineman. He suited up in PPE on the frontlines of the Covid battle.

Introducing, subject Blair said she allowed director Rachel Fleit to film her coping with multiple sclerosis treatments because she could not find examples of other people going them. Blair and director Rachel Fleit spoke with Deadline’s Matthew Carey at The Contenders: Documentary.

Jeffrey Robinson, the central figure of Sony Pictures Classics’ Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, says that despite a long-held belief across the nation that America has been a post-racial society, only now is the country being forced to reckon with that false narrative.

The filmmakers behind Julia, the in-depth exploration of iconic television cooking show host Julia Child, said her profound impact on the culture was felt far beyond introducing lovingly prepared French cuisine to a mass American audience.

Evgeny Afineevsky called his Pope Francis documentary Francesco a “healing moment” during a Discovery+ panel for the feature film at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary. He also said Pope Francis’ leadership inspired him during the Covid pandemic.

Arthur Ashe is an icon in the tennis world, breaking barriers to become the first Black male champion of three Grand Slams: the Australian Open; the U.S. Open; and, most famously, beating Jimmy Conners in 1975 to win Wimbledon. But on the other side of the net is Ashe’s work as an activist, which becomes the focus of CNN Films’ documentary Citizen Ashe.

The 1960s were a time of cultural upheaval for society in general, but also within the Roman Catholic Church.

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson took an immersive approach in his preparations to direct Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), winner of the top nonfiction prize at Sundance and Best Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

Homeroom filmmaker Peter Nicks, whose documentary delves into the lives of a high school class in Oakland, CA, dealing with troubling issues ranging from the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic to concerns about their school system’s internal police force, said his Hulu film reveals how the teen generation is eager and capable of using their mastery of social media to drive significant change.

The bracingly intimate feel of the documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry emerged because the pop singer at its center grew to trust the filmmakers enough to reveal her private pain on her own terms, the film’s director revealed.

Edgy rock band the Velvet Underground was an outgrowth of manager Andy Warhol’s avant garde art movement that over time has emerged as one of the most influential groups of the 1960s and ‘70s. It also exerted a powerful influence – particularly in the image crafted in Warhol’s films – on the way filmmaker Todd Haynes presented the group onscreen in the documentary The Velvet Underground.

C’mon C’mon from A24 turned in the best per-screen average for a limited platform release since Covid at five theater in New York and LA as stellar critical response was met by strong exit polls ahead of a wider rollout into top markets over Thanksgiving and continued expansion thereafter.

Procession director Robert Greene said he would have stopped filming at any point if it was harming his subjects. He followed six survivors of sexual abuse by Kansas City priests as they re-created scenes of their experiences in the church. Greene spoke with Deadline’s Matthew Carey about the film for The Contenders: Documentary.

The affecting intimacy of Val, the sometimes ethereal, often unblinking look at Val Kilmer’s life and career through personal home footage, was a reflection of the actor’s unselfconscious ease, both on camera and in life, according to the documentary’s filmmakers.

The late African American civil rights activist, author and legal scholar Pauli Murray spent a lifetime taking on the system—fighting inequality, institutionalized racism and gender bias.

Flee director Jonas Poher Rasmussen revealed that it took animation to tell the true story of his childhood friend Amin’s harrowing journey as an Afghan refugee and the painful secrets he’s held for decades to allow him to finally tell his tale both anonymously and with deep emotion.