Diane Becker Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Christopher Vourlias London-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has closed a host of sales for Daniel Roher’s “Navalny” and Jono McLeod’s “My Old School,” both of which premiered at Sundance and are screening this week at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.Roher’s riveting documentary thriller (pictured above) won the Festival Favorite Award and the U.S. Documentary Audience Award at Sundance.

Bad Press, King Coal, Joonam and Fantastic Machine are all award-winning documentaries, yet in the race for Oscar recognition, they’re underdogs. Despite the many honors they have collected at festivals around the world, each of these exceptional films has struggled to land distribution, complicating efforts to get attention from Academy voters (on Monday, King Coal did lock down a deal with American Documentary for broadcast next year on POV). 

EXCLUSIVE: American Documentary has acquired Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s award-winning documentary King Coal for the upcoming season of POV, the longest-running nonfiction series on television.

In a sense, Central Appalachia is as threatened by climate change as much as any other place on Earth.

EXCLUSIVE: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival announced the lineup for the 32nd edition of North America’s longest-running all doc festival, a slate that includes several world premieres and a slew of Academy Award-contending films. In addition, Hot Springs announced Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, an Arkansas native, will serve as honorary chair of the event in the resort town located in the scenic Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.

Oscar voters scanning their final ballot may do a double-take when they get to Best Documentary Feature: the name Shane Boris really does appear twice in the same category. 

Best Feature DocumentaryAll that Breathes (India, United States, United Kingdom | Sideshow and Submarine Deluxe, HBO Documentary Films | Director/Producer: Shaunak Sen | Producers: Aman Mann, Teddy Leifer)All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (United States | NEON, Participant, HBO | Director/Producer: Laura Poitras | Producers: Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov)Fire of Love (United State, Canada | National Geographic, NEON | Director/Producer: Sara Dosa | Producers: Shane Boris, Ina Fichman)A House Made of Splinters (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine | Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont | Producer: Monica Hellström)Katrina Babies (United States | HBO Documentary Films, HBO Max | Director/Producer: Edward Buckles, Jr.

EXCLUSIVE: Dear Producer has set Liz Cardenas (7 Days), Megan Gilbride (Tower), Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (To the End) and Avril Z. Speaks (Jinn) as the recipients of its inaugural Dear Producer Award, recognizing excellence in independent producing.

. Ward has reported extensively from Russia and Ukraine and specifically on matters related to Alexey Navalny for several years.“Alexey Navalny was just last week convicted and sentenced in Russia and cannot tell the story of what happened to him. Our film shows his tremendous courage fighting an authoritarian regime and its corruption inside Russia. I’m looking forward to the Fathom Events engagements and speaking to CNN’s Clarissa Ward. I appreciate Warner Bros.

announced earlier this month, and CNN will broadcast the film in North America later this year while both HBO Max and CNN+ hold the streaming rights. Other distribution rights remain available.The film is directed by Roher and produced by Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris and Odessa Rae. “We are delighted to have ‘Navalny’ at this year’s Festival,” Tabitha Jackson, Sundance Festival’s director, said in a statement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn celebration of Saturday’s premiere of the Tina Turner documentary “Tina,” HBO has teamed up with NTS radio for five hours of programming around the legendary singer’s career, featuring Arlo Parks, Dawn Richard and others. “Tina” is directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J.