Exclusive: Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy Of Detroit, directed by Sam Katz and James McGovern, swept the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, a three-year-old documentary award that carries a finishing grant of $200,000.
The winning entry explores the decline of the American manufacturing city culminating in the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and its aftermath.
Directors of runner-up Free Chol Soo Lee, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, will receive $50,000 for their story of a Korean immigrant wrongly convicted of a Chinatown gang murder in San Francisco in 1973. Four finalists will be awarded $25,000 apiece.
Filmmakers from Ken Burns’ production company Florentine Films and staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center — the Library’s moving image and recorded sound preservation facility – selected the six entries from a flurry of initial submissions of late-stage American history documentaries. That was winnowed to two by a national jury including filmmakers Sam Pollard,...
The winning entry explores the decline of the American manufacturing city culminating in the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and its aftermath.
Directors of runner-up Free Chol Soo Lee, Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, will receive $50,000 for their story of a Korean immigrant wrongly convicted of a Chinatown gang murder in San Francisco in 1973. Four finalists will be awarded $25,000 apiece.
Filmmakers from Ken Burns’ production company Florentine Films and staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center — the Library’s moving image and recorded sound preservation facility – selected the six entries from a flurry of initial submissions of late-stage American history documentaries. That was winnowed to two by a national jury including filmmakers Sam Pollard,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Six documentary films remain in the running for the third annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, the richest award in nonfiction filmmaking.
The Better Angels Society, “a non-profit dedicated to the exploration of American history through documentary film,” announced the six finalists Tuesday [full list below]. The winning filmmaker, to be revealed at an October 26 virtual ceremony, will receive a $200,000 grant “to finish the in-production film and to help with outreach and marketing.” Per the organization, the runner-up will receive a $50,000 grant, and up to four finalists will each receive a $25,000 grant.
“In spite of the pandemic which heavily impacted the arts and entertainment industry, a wide array of late-stage professional American history documentary films were submitted for consideration this year,” The Better Angels Society noted in a statement. “An internal committee consisting of filmmakers from Florentine Films [Ken Burns’ company] and expert staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, the Library...
The Better Angels Society, “a non-profit dedicated to the exploration of American history through documentary film,” announced the six finalists Tuesday [full list below]. The winning filmmaker, to be revealed at an October 26 virtual ceremony, will receive a $200,000 grant “to finish the in-production film and to help with outreach and marketing.” Per the organization, the runner-up will receive a $50,000 grant, and up to four finalists will each receive a $25,000 grant.
“In spite of the pandemic which heavily impacted the arts and entertainment industry, a wide array of late-stage professional American history documentary films were submitted for consideration this year,” The Better Angels Society noted in a statement. “An internal committee consisting of filmmakers from Florentine Films [Ken Burns’ company] and expert staff from the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, the Library...
- 8/25/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Very much in the manner of an “unplugged” acoustic album that showcases the musicianship of a major artist without distracting flash and filigree, “The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash” is a tightly focused yet impressively multifaceted documentary that attempts nothing less than to delve past familiar myths and illuminate the soul of its fabled subject. Director Thom Zimny, who took a similarly stripped-to-essentials approach to another immortal pop-culture icon in his widely acclaimed “Elvis Presley: The Searcher,” has fashioned, with the full cooperation of the Cash estate, a richly textured portrait infused with sympathetic but unvarnished honesty, one that likely will endure as necessary source material for any future biographer of the Man in Black.
The free-form narrative designed by Zimny and scripter Warren Zanes is anchored in the legendary 1968 concert Johnny Cash gave for inmates at California’s Folsom State Prison, an event that was recorded on a phenomenally popular live album,...
The free-form narrative designed by Zimny and scripter Warren Zanes is anchored in the legendary 1968 concert Johnny Cash gave for inmates at California’s Folsom State Prison, an event that was recorded on a phenomenally popular live album,...
- 4/24/2019
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.
Lineup Announcements
– The 2017 HollyWeb Festival, sponsored by AMC Independent and running March 30 – April 2, has announced the full schedule of digital series, filmmaker panels, and events for this year’s edition of the festival, celebrating the world’s premiere digital content. 97 digital series will have episodes screened at AMC Universal CityWalk 19 (100 Universal City Plaza), the Universal Hilton (555 Universal Hollywood Drive), and the Fonda Theatre (6126 Hollywood Blvd.).
HollyWeb Festival Co-Director Daniel Doherty said, “From the beginning, the HollyWeb Festival has sought to shine a light on web series creators, honor their collective vision and work, as well as create a yearly event where they can gather and meet, exchange notes, and possibly form partnerships that will lead to even more outstanding and entertaining web series.” HollyWeb Co-Director Jennifer Doherty,...
Lineup Announcements
– The 2017 HollyWeb Festival, sponsored by AMC Independent and running March 30 – April 2, has announced the full schedule of digital series, filmmaker panels, and events for this year’s edition of the festival, celebrating the world’s premiere digital content. 97 digital series will have episodes screened at AMC Universal CityWalk 19 (100 Universal City Plaza), the Universal Hilton (555 Universal Hollywood Drive), and the Fonda Theatre (6126 Hollywood Blvd.).
HollyWeb Festival Co-Director Daniel Doherty said, “From the beginning, the HollyWeb Festival has sought to shine a light on web series creators, honor their collective vision and work, as well as create a yearly event where they can gather and meet, exchange notes, and possibly form partnerships that will lead to even more outstanding and entertaining web series.” HollyWeb Co-Director Jennifer Doherty,...
- 3/23/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Last night, on PBS’ Independent Lens, the documentary “Birth of a Movement,” from producer-directors Susan Gray and Bestor Cram, premiered at 10pm, and is now available online to watch in full. Based on the book “The Birth of a Movement: How Birth… Continue Reading →...
- 2/7/2017
- by Sergio Mims
- ShadowAndAct
The joint will be rockin' at next Monday's Tribeca Cinemas Doc Series screening of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Drawing from rock photographer Jim Marshall's stark images of Johnny Cash's seminal concert at Folsom Prison, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with participants and observers, this film traces Cash's rocky road that led to the concert and the torrent of stardom and political debate that came after it. We checked in with director Bestor Cram for a primer on the man, the music, and the movie. TribecaFilm.com: Please describe the story you tell in Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. What inspired you to tell that story? Bestor Cram: Cash at Folsom is about Cash redefining himself as an artist and as a human being. Troubled by his faltering career and troubled by those he empathized with - the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the imprisoned - Cash...
- 3/1/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2008, dir: Bestor Cram) Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison examines the most important day in the career of one of America's foremost popular artists. It was January 1968, a year that would be saturated with violence and historical change. Cash's 1968 concert at Folsom State Prison in California - and the ensuing album - became a symbol of the late 1960s and transformed his career. Drawing from rock photographer Jim Marshall's stark images of that day, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with participants and observers, the film traces Cash's rocky road that led to the concert and the torrent of stardom and political debate that came after it. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison remains one of the greatest live albums ever made, and the man himself one of America's greatest troubadours and advocates for prison reform. Forty years later, the album still resonates today with a...
- 1/13/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2008, dir: Bestor Cram) Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison examines the most important day in the career of one of America's foremost popular artists. It was January 1968, a year that would be saturated with violence and historical change. Cash's 1968 concert at Folsom State Prison in California - and the ensuing album - became a symbol of the late 1960s and transformed his career. Drawing from rock photographer Jim Marshall's stark images of that day, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with participants and observers, the film traces Cash's rocky road that led to the concert and the torrent of stardom and political debate that came after it. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison remains one of the greatest live albums ever made, and the man himself one of America's greatest troubadours and advocates for prison reform. Forty years later, the album still resonates today with a...
- 1/13/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
PARK CITY -- Tony Kushner, the author of "Angels in America", a wake-up call in the Age of Aids, and more recently the screenplay for "Munich", is the loquacious, immensely articulate, witty subject of Freida Lee Mock's "Wrestling With Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner," an adulatory documentary that could well have been titled "Ode to Kushner". As good-looking and well-crafted as it is -- cinematographers Eddie Marritz and Don Lenzer, who were on board for Mock's "Maya Lin", as well as Bestor Cram provide the rich visuals -- the film suffers from a crucial lack of perspective. A critical voice or two would have enhanced rather than detracted from this entertaining, if overly long, portrait of an artist in process, one of Mock's favorite topics.
The docu should have strong art house potential, especially in the blue states and big cities, where Kushner's brand of liberal activist politics resonates.
Enormously productive, Kushner has a bundle of creative energy that he invests in diverse projects and causes. During a three-year period from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to the 2004 presidential election, Mock followed him from rehearsal halls to one humorous speaking engagement after another, to endless book signings and the warm embrace of gushing fans, weaving in clips from performances of his plays along the way. Marcia Gay Harden doing a riff on Laura Bush in "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy" is hilarious. Scenes with Kushner collaborating with Jeanine Tesori, composer for the score of "Caroline, or Change", are fascinating.
Kushner often speaks directly to the camera, reminiscing about coming out and growing up Jewish and gay in Louisiana, and it's a joy to listen to him. A rebel from an early age, he sported an Afro, was a champion debater and refused to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
For the entire length of the film, no negative words about Kushner are spoken. Collaborators such as George C. Wolfe and Maurice Sendak sing his praises, and many choice lines are delivered by Kushner and his friends. Mike Nichols takes Kushner aside and consoles him by saying: "Cheer up. Life isn't everything."
Mock, an accomplished filmmaker, gets close to her subjects and has, in some cases ("Return With Honor") lost her objectivity. In this docu, she shows a reluctance to cut her material. Kushner uses pounds of chocolate cookies to ease the pain of writing, a practice that has led to yo-yo dieting and a battle with his weight. That's OK. But would she had drawn the line at accompanying Kushner on a doctor's visit. There are some things we don't need to know.
Because Mock is less selective, the film drags in spots, despite the playwright's humor, conviction and abundant charm. If nothing else, this is an essay in charisma.
WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER
American Film Foundation/Sanders & Mock Prod.
Credits:
Writer-director-producer: Freida Lee Mock
Executive producer: Terry Sanders
Directors of Photography: Eddie Marritz, Don Lenzer, Bestor Cram, Terry Sanders
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Editor: Anne Stein
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 102 minutes...
The docu should have strong art house potential, especially in the blue states and big cities, where Kushner's brand of liberal activist politics resonates.
Enormously productive, Kushner has a bundle of creative energy that he invests in diverse projects and causes. During a three-year period from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to the 2004 presidential election, Mock followed him from rehearsal halls to one humorous speaking engagement after another, to endless book signings and the warm embrace of gushing fans, weaving in clips from performances of his plays along the way. Marcia Gay Harden doing a riff on Laura Bush in "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy" is hilarious. Scenes with Kushner collaborating with Jeanine Tesori, composer for the score of "Caroline, or Change", are fascinating.
Kushner often speaks directly to the camera, reminiscing about coming out and growing up Jewish and gay in Louisiana, and it's a joy to listen to him. A rebel from an early age, he sported an Afro, was a champion debater and refused to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
For the entire length of the film, no negative words about Kushner are spoken. Collaborators such as George C. Wolfe and Maurice Sendak sing his praises, and many choice lines are delivered by Kushner and his friends. Mike Nichols takes Kushner aside and consoles him by saying: "Cheer up. Life isn't everything."
Mock, an accomplished filmmaker, gets close to her subjects and has, in some cases ("Return With Honor") lost her objectivity. In this docu, she shows a reluctance to cut her material. Kushner uses pounds of chocolate cookies to ease the pain of writing, a practice that has led to yo-yo dieting and a battle with his weight. That's OK. But would she had drawn the line at accompanying Kushner on a doctor's visit. There are some things we don't need to know.
Because Mock is less selective, the film drags in spots, despite the playwright's humor, conviction and abundant charm. If nothing else, this is an essay in charisma.
WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER
American Film Foundation/Sanders & Mock Prod.
Credits:
Writer-director-producer: Freida Lee Mock
Executive producer: Terry Sanders
Directors of Photography: Eddie Marritz, Don Lenzer, Bestor Cram, Terry Sanders
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Editor: Anne Stein
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 102 minutes...
- 1/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Park City -- Tony Kushner, the author of "Angels in America", a wakeup call in the Age of Aids, and more recently the screenplay for "Munich", is the loquacious, immensely articulate, witty subject of Freida Lee Mock's "Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner," an adulatory documentary that could well have been titled "Ode to Kushner". As good looking and well crafted as it is -- cinematographers Eddie Marritz and Don Lenzer, who were on board for Mock's "Maya Lin", as well as Bestor Cram provide the rich visuals -- the film suffers from a crucial lack of perspective. A critical voice or two would have enhanced rather than detracted from this entertaining, if overly long, portrait of an artist in process, one of Mock's favorite topics.
The doc should have strong art house potential, especially in the "blue states" and big cities, where Kushner's brand of liberal activist politics resonate.
Enormously productive, Kushner has a bundle of creative energy that he invests in diverse projects and causes. During a three-year period, from 9/11 to the 2004 presidential election, Mock followed him from rehearsal halls to one humorous speaking engagement after another, to endless book signings and the warm embrace of gushing fans, weaving in clips from performances of his plays, along the way. Marcia Gay Harden doing a riff on Laura Bush in "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy" is hilarious. Scenes with Kushner collaborating with Jeanine Tesori, composer for the score of "Caroline, or Change", are fascinating.
Kushner often speaks directly to the camera, reminiscing about coming out, growing up Jewish and gay in Louisiana, and it's a joy to listen to him. A rebel from an early age, he sported an Afro, was a champion debater and refused to stand up for the pledge of allegiance in school.
For the entire length of the film, no negative words about Kushner are spoken. Collaborators such as George C. Wolfe and Maurice Sendak sing his praises and many choice lines are delivered by Kushner and his friends. Mike Nichols takes Kushner aside and consoles him by saying: "Cheer up. Life isn't everything."
Mock, an accomplished filmmaker, gets close to her subjects and has, in some cases, i.e. "Return with Honor", lost her objectivity. In this doc, she shows a reluctance to cut her material. Kushner uses pounds of chocolate cookies to ease the pain of writing, a practice that has led to yo-yo dieting and a battle with his weight. That's OK. But would she had drawn the line at accompanying Kushner on a doctor's visit. There are some things we don't need to know.
Because Mock is less selective, the film drags in spots, despite the playwright's humor, conviction and abundant charm. If nothing else, this is an essay in charisma.
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner
American Film Foundation/Sanders & Mock Productions.
Credits:
Writer/director/producer: Freida Lee Mock
Executive producer: Terry Sanders
Directors of Photography: Eddie Marritz, Don Lenzer, Bestor Cram, Terry Sanders
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Editor: Anne Stein
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 102 minutes...
The doc should have strong art house potential, especially in the "blue states" and big cities, where Kushner's brand of liberal activist politics resonate.
Enormously productive, Kushner has a bundle of creative energy that he invests in diverse projects and causes. During a three-year period, from 9/11 to the 2004 presidential election, Mock followed him from rehearsal halls to one humorous speaking engagement after another, to endless book signings and the warm embrace of gushing fans, weaving in clips from performances of his plays, along the way. Marcia Gay Harden doing a riff on Laura Bush in "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy" is hilarious. Scenes with Kushner collaborating with Jeanine Tesori, composer for the score of "Caroline, or Change", are fascinating.
Kushner often speaks directly to the camera, reminiscing about coming out, growing up Jewish and gay in Louisiana, and it's a joy to listen to him. A rebel from an early age, he sported an Afro, was a champion debater and refused to stand up for the pledge of allegiance in school.
For the entire length of the film, no negative words about Kushner are spoken. Collaborators such as George C. Wolfe and Maurice Sendak sing his praises and many choice lines are delivered by Kushner and his friends. Mike Nichols takes Kushner aside and consoles him by saying: "Cheer up. Life isn't everything."
Mock, an accomplished filmmaker, gets close to her subjects and has, in some cases, i.e. "Return with Honor", lost her objectivity. In this doc, she shows a reluctance to cut her material. Kushner uses pounds of chocolate cookies to ease the pain of writing, a practice that has led to yo-yo dieting and a battle with his weight. That's OK. But would she had drawn the line at accompanying Kushner on a doctor's visit. There are some things we don't need to know.
Because Mock is less selective, the film drags in spots, despite the playwright's humor, conviction and abundant charm. If nothing else, this is an essay in charisma.
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner
American Film Foundation/Sanders & Mock Productions.
Credits:
Writer/director/producer: Freida Lee Mock
Executive producer: Terry Sanders
Directors of Photography: Eddie Marritz, Don Lenzer, Bestor Cram, Terry Sanders
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Editor: Anne Stein
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 102 minutes...
- 1/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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