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set to kick off on Sept. 30 with Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” and close with the Oct.

Deadline on Wednesday launched its streaming site for Contenders Film: Documentary, the award-season showcase that took place Sunday with creatives from 20 of the year’s buzziest non-fiction movies.

Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, has established an enviable track record with Oscar voters, earning a Best Documentary Feature nomination last year with Crip Camp, and a win in 2020 for American Factory. It’s back in the Oscar race this year with Descendant, a Netflix documentary directed by Margaret Brown. 

The Oscar prospects for Fire of Love, The Territory, and All That Breathes got a significant boost today with the announcement of the nominations for the 16th Annual Cinema Eye Honors.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE“Aftershock” (Hulu)“The Automat” (A Slice of Pie Productions)“Descendant” (Netflix)“Fire of Love” (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)“Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” (Briarcliff Entertainment)“Good Night Oppy” (Amazon Studios)“The Janes” (HBO)“Moonage Daydream” (HBO/Neon)“Navalny” (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)“Sidney” (Apple TV+)BEST DIRECTORJudd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – “George Carlin’s American Dream” (HBO)Margaret Brown – “Descendant” (Netflix)Sara Dosa – “Fire of Love” (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)Reginald Hudlin – “Sidney” (Apple TV+)Brett Morgen – “Moonage Daydream” (HBO/Neon)Laura Poitras – “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (HBO/Neon)Daniel Roher – “Navalny” (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros.

Clayton Davis The Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced its nominees where Sara Dosa’s lava-fueled love story “Fire of Love” led the field with seven nominations including best documentary feature and director. Co-distributed by National Geographic and Neon, the film’s Ryan White’s “Good Night Oppy,” the moving reflection on the Mars rovers, received a hearty six-nom tally including editing and score. “This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” said Christopher Campbell, Co-President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch.

Margaret Brown entranced audiences at the Sundance Film Festival with “Descendant,” her documentary about the historic discovery of a lost slave ship in 2019. The movie made such a splash at Sundance that it won a Special Jury Prize.

When September rolls around, it means one thing for many of the top filmmakers in the world – time to hit the road. Venice, Telluride and Toronto come in rapid succession, to the point of overlapping. But for documentary filmmakers eager to showcase their work, there’s another important stop to make in September: the Camden International Film Festival in mid-coast Maine.

Diane Garrett On Friday, during the 18th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, organizers unveiled a Diane Weyermann Fellowship at Points North Institute.Weyermann, the former chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s documentary film program, died last October of cancer.

Angelique Jackson Following news that the award-winning documentary “Descendant” will screen as an official selection at the 60th New York Film Festival, Variety can exclusively announce that the film will launch Oct. 21 on Netflix and in select theaters.Directed by Margaret Brown (“The Order of Myths,” “Be Here to Love Me: Townes Van Zandt,” “The Great Invisible”), the documentary follows members of Africatown, a small community in Alabama, as they share their personal stories and community history as descendants of the Clotilda, the last known ship illegally carrying enslaved Africans to the United States.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNew movies from directors Claire Denis, Park Chan-wook, Ruben Östlund, Kelly Reichardt and Paul Schrader will play at the 60th New York Film Festival, which is running from Sept. 30 through Oct.

The 60th New York Film Festival unveiled its main slate from established and upcoming directors with Cannes’ Palme d’Or-winner Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund, Claire Denis’s Stars at Noon (tied for Cannes Grand Prize), Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave (Cannes Best Director), and Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun (Cannes’ French Touch Jury Prize).

Barack and Michelle Obama stop by the 2022 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) on Friday (August 5) in Edgartown, Massachusetts.

Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival’s kicked off Friday night with documentary film Descendant, from Netflix and Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, and the former President and First Lady were the opening night’s surprise guests.

MVAAFF) kicked off Friday with great pomp and circumstance — and a few bars of “Hail to the Chief” — as Barack and Michelle Obama made a special appearance for the opening night screening of Netflix documentary “Descendant.”When Netflix acquired worldwide rights to the Sundance award-winning documentary in January, the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground signed on to present the feature alongside the streamer and Participant. The documentary, which earned the U.S.

Dispatches from the Sundance Film Festival are usually accompanied by descriptions of the looming mountains, snowy premieres and frantic bus shuttles. This year's Sundance, which played out entirely virtually due to the COVID-19 surge driven by the omicron variant, meant less evocative screening circumstances: Laptops, digital links and Zooms.But even in reduced form, the films were often hypnotic, thrilling and urgent.

“Descendant,” the Participant feature documentary and Sundance Award winner about the legacy of slavery, has been acquired for worldwide rights by Netflix, the company announced on Friday. Higher Ground, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, will present the film, alongside Netflix.“I have been humbled and honored to spend four years with the residents of Africatown as they seek justice and reconciliation for what happened in 1860, and what is still happening today,” Brown said in a statement.

Angelique Jackson Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to the Sundance award-winning documentary “Descendant,” by filmmaker Margaret Brown (“The Order of Myths,” “Be Here to Love Me: Townes Van Zandt,” “The Great Invisible”). Higher Ground, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, will present the Participant feature alongside Netflix later this year.The film follows members of Africatown, a small community in Alabama, as they share their personal stories and community history as descendants of the Clotilda, the last known ship carrying enslaved Africans to the United States.

NEW YORK -- Rarely have past and present mingled in a documentary the way they do in “Descendant,” a nonfiction account of the last known ship to bring African captives to the American South for enslavement.Margaret Brown's “Descendant," which recently premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the discovery of the ship, a 90-foot-long wooden schooner that was secretly burned and sunk near Mobile, Alabama, after it was used to illegally take and enslave 100 Africans on a trip across the Atlantic in the mid-19th century, decades after the international slave trade had been outlawed.“Descendant” closely documents the finding of the Clotilda, which was confirmed in 2019. For locals, it's a long overdue affirmation of a long-obscured history that for a century was little spoken of.

$25 million Apple paid for “CODA,” the $15 million Netflix paid for “Passing” or documentary-record $15 million Searchlight/Hulu paid for “Summer of Soul.”  There’s still plenty of time for dealmaking, but not much time for new films to grab the spotlight: All of the festival’s movies were programmed to launch in the first five days, with Monday’s lineup – which included “Emily the Criminal,” “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” “Dos Estaciones,” “The Janes” and “Am I OK?” – scheduled as the last of this year’s premieres.

Early in Margaret Brown’s exquisite new documentary “Descendant,” Africatown, AL resident Joycelyn Davis calls out the possible narrative pitfalls of chronicling the recovery of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States in 1860 — 50 years after the international slave trade was abolished. Just after a town hall in which marine archeologist Dr.