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Last month we held our annual Film Independent Forum at the DGA complex here in LA. Not only was there great networking opportunities like Industry Connect, screenings like Will & Harper and a 10th anniversary showing of The Babadook, but there were great panels where industry insiders shared their thoughts on the present and future of the art and business of independent filmmaking.

Today we’d like to share with you just some of these conversations. The topics range from the state of indie financing, to adapting stories for our climate impacted future, to taking meetings in your local laundromat. This year also had a special global emphasis, which is especially timely in an era where the next Oscar winner or streaming hit could come from anywhere and be made anywhere.

So many talented people shared their experiences navigating making movies, selling movies and sharing movies across the globe. Take...

Hhmi Tangled Bank Studios, Tiger Baby, and Emaho Films have set the world premiere of Taira Malaney’s “Turtle Walker” at Doc NYC.

The documentary chronicles the life of Indian sea turtle conservationist Satish Bhaskar. Directed by Malaney in her feature debut, “Turtle Walker” explores Bhaskar’s journey along India’s coastlines in the late 1970s, where he studied and worked to protect endangered sea turtles. The film also examines the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on sea turtle habitats.

Submarine Deluxe, the hybrid sales, production, and distribution company, has acquired sales rights. Run by brothers and co-founders Dan Braun and Josh Braun, the company has a track record of success with documentary sales, having been involved with six of the last twelve Academy Award-winning documentaries. These include “American Factory,” “Citizenfour,” “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Man on Wire,” “The Cove,” and “Searching for Sugar Man.”

Prior to completion, “Turtle...

Yes, the Film Independent Forum is back, happily in person again, and with a new global twist. With so much going over the two days, we wanted to highlight some of the panels and events we missed in our last post on the Forum.

Of course, there will still be the great screenings, networking and workshops that the Forum is known for. September 27 & 28, in person at the DGA in Los Angeles. Tickets are still available.

Keynote By Hiro Murai Moderated By Daniel Kwan

What: In case you missed it, our keynote speaker this year is Hiro Murai. With a very distinct voice and visual style, Hiro Murai has established himself as one of the most innovative artists working today. In particular, Murai’s ten-year artistic collaboration with Childish Gambino produced one of the most acclaimed shows of the century, Atlanta; garnered him a Grammy Award for the music video for...

Today, Apple TV+ debuted the trailer for Midnight Family, the 10-episode Spanish-language medical drama hailing from showrunner and director Natalia Beristáin, and created for television by Julio Rojas and Ariel Award winner Gibrán Portela.

The hour-long series will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with two episodes on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through November 20, 2024.

Midnight Family features an entirely Hispanic cast and crew led by Ariel Award winner Joaquín Cosío (Narcos: Mexico), Renata Vaca (Dale Gas), and Diego Calva (Babylon), and introduces Sergio Bautista.

The series also features the special participation of Goya Award winner Óscar Jaenada (Hernán), José María de Tavira (El Candidato), Itzan Escamilla (Élite), Mariana Gómez (The Queen of Flow), Dolores Heredia (Capadocia) and special guest, Academy Award nominee Yalitza Aparicio (Roma).

Inspired by the award-winning documentary of the same name, Midnight Family follows Marigaby Tamayo (Vaca), an ambitious and gifted...

US sales, production and distribution outfit Submarine Entertainment has picked up Errol Morris’ feature documentary Separated for sales ahead of its world premiere at Venice Film Festival.

The film explores the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy which saw parents and children separated from each other at the Mexico-us border in 2018. It is adapted from Jacob Soboroff’s best-selling book Separated: An American Tragedy.

Separated is produced by NBC News Studios and Participant Media with Soboroff serving as executive producer.

“Any new Errol Morris film is an event and Errol is a legendary filmmaker with hardcore fans around the world,...

US sales, production and distribution outfit Submarine Entertainment has picked up Errol Morris’ feature documentary Separated for sales ahead of its world premiere at Venice Film Festival.

The film explores the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy which saw parents and children separated from each other at the Mexico-us border in 2018. It is adapted from Jacob Soboroff’s best-selling book Separated: An American Tragedy.

Separated is produced by NBC News Studios and Participant Media with Soboroff serving as executive producer.

“Any new Errol Morris film is an event and Errol is a legendary filmmaker with hardcore fans around the world,...

At their best, political documentaries make sense of complex issues. But getting them seen has become more challenging than ever given Hollywood’s preference for celebrity or true-crime nonfiction offerings over anything grappling with thorny, complicated issues or figures.

This hasn’t stopped top documentary filmmakers from tackling such topics. Errol Morris’ “Separated,” a look at Trump administration immigration policies on the U.S. border, will debut at the Venice film festival. Docs about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gun control and antisemitism are also in the works and could end up at fall festivals. There is also chatter about a doc focusing on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

It’s not at all clear who might distribute these films, which follow in the footsteps of political documentaries like Michael Moore’s record-breaking “Fahrenheit 9/11” and Amazon Prime Video’s 2020 offering “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés,...

Today, Apple TV+ unveiled a first look and the global premiere date for Midnight Family, the 10-episode medical drama series hailing from showrunner and director Natalia Beristáin and created for television by Julio Rojas and Ariel Award winner Gibrán Portela. It is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín and Pablo Larraín.

The hourlong medical drama will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with two episodes on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through November 20, 2024.

Midnight Family features an entirely Hispanic cast and crew led by Ariel Award winner Joaquín Cosío (Narcos: Mexico), Renata Vaca (Dale Gas), and Diego Calva (Babylon), and introduces Sergio Bautista.

The series also features the special participation of Goya Award winner Óscar Jaenada (Hernán), José María de Tavira (El Candidato), Itzan Escamilla (Élite), Mariana Gómez (The Queen of Flow), Dolores Heredia (Capadocia) and special guest, Academy Award nominee Yalitza Aparicio (Roma).

Inspired...

Apple TV+ has set the two-episode premiere date for the Spanish-language medical drama Midnight Family for Wednesday, September 25. New individual episodes will follow weekly on Wednesdays until November 20.

Inspired by the award-winning documentary of the same name, Midnight Family follows Marigaby Tamayo (Renata Vaca), an ambitious and gifted medical student by day, who spends her nights saving lives throughout a sprawling, contrasted and fascinating Mexico City aboard her family’s privately owned ambulance. Along with her father Ramón (Joaquín Cosío) and her siblings Marcus (Diego Calva) and Julito (Sergio Bautista), Marigaby serves a population of millions by tackling extreme medical emergencies to make a living.

The 10-episode series also stars Óscar Jaenada, José María de Tavira, Itzan Escamilla, Mariana Gómez, Dolores Heredia and special guest Yalitza Aparicio. Cosío is perhaps best known by audiences for his roles in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, The Suicide Squad and FX’s The Strain.

In Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s documentary “War Game,” the directing duo map out what America’s next coup d’état might look like.

The 94-minute docu takes place on Jan. 6, 2025 – four years after the 2021 Capitol insurrection. Moss and Gerber chronicle an elaborate simulation that dramatically escalates the threat posed by the recent insurrection and re-imagines a nation-wide insurrection in which members of the U.S. military defect to support the losing presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his advisors war game the crisis in a makeshift White House situation room. The film follows a bipartisan group of U.S. defense, intelligence, and elected policymakers spanning five presidential administrations as they participate in a six hour, unscripted role-play exercise meant to save democracy as America teeters on the brink of civil war.

The doc, which premiered at Sundance 2024, was not picked up by a major streamer, which isn...

Exclusive: Drafthouse Films has acquired Caligula: The Ultimate Cut, the 4K Ultra HD reconstruction of the notorious Tinto Brass movie.

This latest presentation of the famous movie made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 and includes never-before-seen footage and alternate takes and camera angles.

Drafthouse will release the film theatrically across North America in August 2024, followed by a streaming and 4K Uhd Blu-ray release. The Uhd Blu-ray will have new interviews with star Malcolm McDowell and the film’s reconstructionist, art historian Thomas Negovan.

Initially Released in 1980, Caligula was one of the most expensive independent films to date but had a tumultuous journey to screen. Written by Gore Vidal and starring Malcolm McDowell, Dame Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole and Sir John Gielgud, Penthouse founder (and the film’s financer) Bob Guccione seized control of the negative and made significant changes to the movie, including the addition of...

Exclusive: Sugarcane has become the latest big documentary deal out of the Sundance Film Festival.

Nat Geo has snapped up the doc, an investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school which ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.

Deadline understands that the Disney-owned factual brand has struck a deal in the low seven-figures. The doc comes from filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.

National Geographic Documentary Films will roll out Sugarcane at global festivals throughout the rest of the year and release it in theaters before its streaming debut on Disney+.

It is the latest deal out of Sundance for National Geographic Documentary Films; the company picked up Fire Of Love, which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, out of the festival in 2022 as well as The Territory, which came from director Alex Pritz.

There were numerous documentary deals out of...

The 40th edition of Sundance proved that despite corporate consolidation, there is still a market for independently made documentaries. While there haven’t been many sales so far, there has been strong buyer interest in two celeb-focused docs — “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper,” featuring Will Ferrell — and healthy interest in others.

“The market didn’t have a pulse six months ago,” says Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun, who came to the festival with nine documentaries seeking distribution, including “Daughters,” “Gaucho Gaucho” and “Union.” “So there was a reason to be a little bit fearful coming into Sundance. But now we are feeling a pulse. We are heading in a good direction. The patient still needs some treatment, but we are no longer in a Doa situation.”

While Submarine has not yet closed deals for any of the titles, Braun is optimistic, given the fact a...

Exclusive: Submarine has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Ilya Chaiken’s music documentary feature Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks, ahead of its world premiere at Doc NYC.

Concord Originals, the narrative content creation division of L.A.-based music management company Concord, has come on board to finance and produce.

The film revolves around influential underground New York punk band Les Lunachicks which had its heyday in the 1990s with songs such as Fallopian Rhapsody and Bitterness Barbie, and performed live with the likes of No Doubt, Green Day, The Offspring, The Go-Go’s, Nofx, Rancid, The Ramones, Rev Horton Heat, The Buzzcocks and Joan Jett.

Director and producer Chaiken catches up with the group decades after its messy break-up as its members attempt to reunite for one last show.

“I’ve been a devoted Lunachicks fangirl since I lucked into their very first show in 1988 when we were all teenagers.

Black Barbie: A Documentary, which details Mattel’s introduction of a Black doll to its Barbie collection and the women that brought it to life, has landed at Netflix and Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland.

Lagueria Davis directs the doc and produces alongside Aaliyah Williams.

The logline for the project reads: “Black Barbie celebrates the momentous impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know it. Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.”

The film premiered at SXSW 2023. The Hollywood Reporter‘s review out of that festival reads: “Topics of conversation include the Barbie vlogs on racism during the height of the 2020 protests and feeble attempts to give Black Barbie her own stories.

Netflix and Shondaland have snapped up worldwide rights to Black Barbie: A Documentary, a new film from Lagueria Davis that screened a previous cut, to critical acclaim, at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.

Pic is exec produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers as part of their overall deal with Netflix, which was extended in 2021, following the Bridgerton duo’s initial signing with the streamer in 2017. It arrives at a time when the doll made world famous by Mattel has taken on a new level of cultural cachet, thanks to Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy Barbie, which has grossed over $1.43B worldwide since its July 21st release by Warner Bros, coming in as the highest-grossing film of 2023, as well as the top grosser in the history of the studio, and for a solo female director.

While resonating with the themes of that film written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach,...

Magnolia Pictures announced on Thursday that they had acquired of North American rights to “Immediate Family,” director Denny Tedesco’s follow-up to his 2008 documentary “The Wrecking Crew,” which was also released by Magnolia.

While “The Wrecking Crew” followed the first wave of studio musicians in the 1960s, “Immediate Family” picks up where that film left off and highlights the talents of session musicians from the ’70s, with commentary from music legends Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett and Phil Collins.

“Denny Tedesco has given us another extremely entertaining glimpse behind the musical curtain of some of the most memorable songs of our time,” said Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley in a statement. “The musical talent of these studio players is rivaled by their incredibly engaging personalities and hilarious stories.”

“Immediate Family” tracks the rise and...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “Immediate Family,” director Denny Tedesco’s follow-up to his acclaimed documentary “The Wrecking Crew.”

That earlier film, which Magnolia also released, followed the first wave of studio musicians in the ’60s. “Immediate Family” takes up the story where “The Wrecking Crew” ended, taking a deep dive through some of the most famous and influential session musicians from the 1970s.

To that end, the new documentary includes commentary from the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, and Phil Collins. Magnolia will release the film theatrically in December.

In addition to talking to those music legends, “Immediate Family” tracks the rise and collaborations of session musicians Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel as they help craft some of the decade’s most enduring hits.

The filmmakers say...

Distributor plans September 15 theatrical release.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired US rights to Invisible Beauty, the documentary about the career of pioneering Black fashion model Bethann Hardison which premiered at Sundance and played at Tribeca.

Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng directed the film about Hardison’s career. Born in 1942 the Brooklyn native, now in her 70s, played a key role in the racial evolution of fashion.

Invisible Beauty features interviews with luminaries such as Iman, Tyson Beckford, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zendaya, Fran Lebowitz, Pat Cleveland, Naomi Campbell, and Stephen Burrows.

Lisa Cortés produced and the executive producers are Hallee Adelman, John Boccardo,...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to “Invisible Beauty, a documentary telling the story of fashion icon Bethann Hardison.

The film, co-directed by Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and recently screened at Tribeca. The picture is produced by Lisa Cortés with Naomi Campbell serving as an executive producer and will debut theatrically Sept. 15.

The picture shines a spotlight on Hardison, one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent and entrepreneur, pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is currently penning her memoir which will take stock of her legacy amid a fashion industry shaken by discrimination.

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“Bethann...

Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Invisible Beauty, the Sundance world premiere documentary about the career of pioneering African American model and fashion icon Bethann Hardison.

Magnolia plans a September 15 theatrical release of the film directed by Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng. Lisa Cortés produced the film; supermodel Naomi Campbell serves as an executive producer.

“In her lifetime, Hardison has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model,” notes a release about the documentary. “At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry was shaken by discrimination.”

Model Bethann Hardison on a fashion shoot in New York in 1975.

The documentary...

Company plans October 6 theatrical release.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Berlinale and SXSW selection Joan Baez I Am A Noise directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, and Karen O’Connor.

The film chronicles the final tour of the celebrated activist and folk singer and will next close the Hamptons International Film Festival’s SummerDocs series on July 22.

Magnolia plans an October 6 theatrical release on the biopic-concert film hybrid, which follows Baez on her final tour and delves into her archive with previously unseen home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio recordings.

Baez is remarkably revealing about her life...

Magnolia Pictures announced today they’ve acquired worldwide distribution rights to “Joan Baez I Am a Noise,” an exploration of the famous 1960s folk singer. The film was presented at this year’s Berlinale as well as SXSW. Magnolia has plans to give it a full-scale theatrical release in October.

The documentary, directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle and Karen O’Connor is being touted less as a traditional documentary and more along the lines of Brett Morgen’s 2022 film on David Bowie, “Moonage Daydream.”

In the wake of Warner Bros. “Elvis” and Morgen’s “Moonage Daydream” last year, music docs continue to see an uptick in interest. However, the exploration of female singers remains lacking. Baez is a groundbreaking figure in the 1960s folk scene with a fascinating story. Magnolia has been especially interested in propelling original content forward, even pairing with NBC streamer Peacock back in April to stream their films.

Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Joan Baez I Am A Noise, the feature documentary about the iconic folk singer directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, and Karen O’Connor.

Magnolia plans an October 6 theatrical release of the film, which premiered at the Berlinale in February. Joan Baez went from Berlin to SXSW and recently served as the opening night film of DC/Dox. It is the closing night film for the Hamptons International Film Festival’s SummerDocs series on July 22.

“Neither a conventional biopic nor a traditional concert film, this immersive documentary shifts back and forth through time as it follows Joan on her final tour and delves into her extraordinary archive, including newly discovered home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio recordings,” notes a release from Magnolia. “Baez is remarkably revealing about her life on and off stage – from her lifelong emotional struggles to her civil rights...

Hulu’s The Jewel Thief documentary chronicles thief Gerald Blanchard, with Blanchard delivering a first-hand look behind the scenes at his lifelong interest in stealing. The trailer shows Blanchard’s humble beginnings and traces his story, with the thief himself helping to narrate his journey.

“Blanchard made headlines for his impossibly elaborate heist of the Sisi Star jewel in Austria, but most people don’t realize that he spent decades crafting increasingly elaborate schemes across the world, targeting everything from gas stations to museums to banks, and getting away with it,” stated the film’s director, Landon Van Soest. “The Jewel Thief dives into his obsession with outsmarting authority, his love of the chase, and an ambitious quest for criminal notoriety.”

Director Van Soest serves as a producer along with Josh Braun, Ben Braun, and Dan Braun. Rick Brookwell and Ben Schwartz are involved as executive producers.

The Jewel Thief...

“When was the last time you heard of anyone stealing a crown jewel?”

The trailer for Hulu’s doc The Jewel Thief, out July 13 on the streamer, asks this and other questions as it pertains to the life and crimes of Gerald Blanchard, with Blanchard on hand to answer them.

Landon Van Soest directs the doc that, according to the film’s logline, tells “the unbelievable first-hand account of Gerald Blanchard, one of the most creative, calculating and accomplished criminal masterminds in modern history. Two unlikely Winnipeg detectives track Blanchard across the globe as he perpetrates a series of increasingly elaborate heists in a quest for fame and notoriety through a life of crime.”

Blanchard is best known for stealing a Star of Empress Sisi, one of the diamond-and-pearl hair ornaments worn by Elisabeth of Bavaria, the Empress of Austria. He also robbed multiple banks and was wanted by Interpol.

In early summer, the still-slim Oscar conversation around documentary contenders got an unexpected bump: from an Emmy contender.

When the team behind AppleTV+’s “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” realized that the field of Oscar contenders was thinner than usual, the Davis Guggenheim-directed doc entered the fray. Right now, the film about the hugely popular TV and film star fighting off the vicissitudes of Parkinson’s and reflecting on his past looks good not only for an Emmy nomination, but Oscar rules make it possible to double dip and also pick up an Oscar nod.

But it doesn’t work the other way. Only if a movie does not land an Oscar nomination can it then submit for the Emmy race, as Brett Morgen’s “Jane” did in 2017. But given the weak Oscar competition this year, “Still,” with superb reviews for its innovative filmmaking — which elevates it beyond...

Every year, the Cannes Film Festival program yields its riches. And every year, documentaries are kept to the selection sidebars, with the exception of just three over the years, two of which won the Palme d’Or: “The Silent World,” co-directed by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle in 1956, and Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.

This year, out of 16 documentaries in the Official Selection, two are in the Competition, the first time nonfiction titles have joined that storied roster since Moore’s inclusion.

This is progress, but a quick glance at the latest Palme d’Or predictions reveals that Wang Bing’s “Youth” (marking the first 3.5-hours of an eventual 10-hour triptych) and “Olfa’s Daughters” from Kaouther Ben Hania are not high on the list of likely winners. Both are recognized by critics as boundary-pushing examples of the form but seem unlikely to become consensus award picks from Ruben Östlund’s eclectic Competition jury.

Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to The Stones and Brian Jones, a documentary about the “lost creative genius” who launched – and named – The Rolling Stones.

Acclaimed filmmaker Nick Broomfield directed the documentary, which Magnolia plans to release in theaters later this year.

“Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, The Stones and Brian Jones explores the creative musical genius of Jones, the key to the success of the band,” a release about the film notes, “and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.”

The Rolling Stones in London, May 4, 1963. L-r: Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.

Jones assembled the Stones in 1962 as a blues-infused unit, playing rhythm and lead guitar alongside Keith Richards,...

Hulu is adding three new titles to its growing lineup of original docs: “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told,” “Queenmaker: The Making of An It Girl,” and “The Jewel Thief.”

“Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told” “recounts the rise and fall of a small Atlanta Hbcu picnic that exploded into an influential street party and spotlighted Atl as a major cultural stage,” per Hulu’s description. “Can the magic of Freaknik be brought back 40 years later?

Executive producers include showrunner Geraldine L. Porras and director P Frank Williams, as well as Jermaine Dupri, Luther Campbell, Peter Bittenbender and Melissa Cooper for Mass Appeal, Eric Tomosunas for Swirl Films, Terry Ross and Alex Avant. Nikki Byles and Jay Allen are producers.

From MRC, “Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl” reveals the story behind the now-defunct “Park Avenue Peerage” blog. “In the height of heiress-era NYC, an anonymous blogger infiltrated Manhattan’s elite,...

As the market for independently made documentaries continues to dry up, regional film festivals have become essential to filmmakers hoping to sell their docs.

At this year’s Sarasota Film Festival, which kicks off on March 25, 36 documentaries are part of the lineup. Over 25 of them are seeking distribution. They include Luke Lorentzen’s “A Still Small Voice,” Alexandria Bombach’s “It’s Only Life After All” about the Indigo Girls, Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto “Aum: The Cult at the End of the World” and Bethann Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng’s “Invisible Beauty.” All four films premiered at Sundance in January.

“From Submarine’s point of view, we’ve always encouraged great regional festivals like Sarasota, the Berkshires, Woodstock and the Hamptons partially because there is the possibility that awards voters are there,” says Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun, who reps both “Aum: The Cult at the End of the World” and “Invisible Beauty.

The Oscar-nominated documentary “Fire of Love” is getting the narrative remake treatment.

The acclaimed non-fiction movie, concerning the scientific research and on-the-job romance of French volcanologist filmmakers Katia and Maurice Krafft, will become a live-action narrative feature film. Searchlight Pictures snagged remake rights to the acclaimed documentary, which debuted at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival before being acquired by National Geographic Documentary Films.

Searchlight will finance and distribute, with Jamie Patricof’s Hunting Lane developing and producing. “Fire of Love” director/producer Sara Dosa and producer Shane Boris are attached to produce this version as well, while producer Ina Fichman will be an executive producer. Other executive producers include Josh Braun and Ben Braun from Submarine Deluxe, and Greg Boustead and Jessica Harrop from Sandbox Films.

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There is no word on who will direct the picture or anything regarding casting.

The most romantic documentary of all time may be getting the full-fledged romance movie treatment. Searchlight Pictures is making a deal to remake “Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa’s Oscar-nominated doc about French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, into a narrative feature film, IndieWire has confirmed.

Dosa’s original film, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of the Kraffts’ two romances: with each other and with volcanoes. Narrated by filmmaker Miranda July, the film uses archival footage videotaped by the two scientists during their research to recount their lives, which ended tragically in a volcanic eruption in 1991.

No director or screenwriter is attached to the narrative remake of the documentary, but Dosa and the documentary’s producer Shane Boris are both on board the project as producers. Huntin Lane productions will develop the film and produce, while Searchlight will finance and distribute. Ina Fichman, who produced the original documentary,...

Exclusive: Searchlight Pictures is making a deal to turn Fire of Love into a narrative feature. The film, which tells the story of the scientific research and romance of preeminent French volcanologist filmmakers Katia and Maurice Krafft, is a frontrunner in the Oscar race for Best Documentary after premiering atthe 2022 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Jury Prize and being acquired by National Geographic Documentary Films.

The docu is filled with stunning footage of the couple braving the dangers of volcanoes that exploded and spewed red-hot lava, but the core of the tale that lends itself so well to a narrative version is the love story between them, before they paid the ultimate price for their passionate pursuit of erupting volcanoes. The couple died together in a volcanic eruption in 1991.

Searchlight Pictures will finance and distribute, and Jamie Patricof’s Hunting Lane will develop and produce. Fire of Love director-producer Sara Dosa...

Submarine Entertainment is launching sales at Berlin’s European Film Market on high-profile doc “Milano — The Inside Story of Italian Fashion,” directed by John Maggio (“The Perfect Weapon”).

Billed as the definitive story of the explosion of Italian fashion in the 1970s and 80s, as told by the insiders, the star-studded doc extensively features Giorgio Armani and delves into his life story, but also reveals unknown details about the Gucci and Versace fashion houses. “Milano” also features appearances and commentary by former Gucci creative director Tom Ford, Gianni Versace’s brother Santo Versace and Hollywood stars including Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson and Frances McDormand, all of whom have close ties to the Italian fashion milieu. Watch clip.

“Every once in a while something comes along that’s a little unexpected, in that I often feel that a film about a topic, a broader topic, doesn’t always resonate with me,...

Sundance 2023: ‘The Disappearance of Shere Hite’ Directed by Nicole Newnham

U.S. Documentary Competition

The Hite Report, a groundbreaking study of female sexuality, remains one of the bestselling books of all time since its publication in 1976. The Hite Report brought the female orgasm out of unspoken shadows into the light of day by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Shere Hite’s findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender and sex.

Drawn from anonymous survey responses, the book challenged restrictive conceptions of sex and opened a dialogue in popular culture around women’s pleasure. Its charismatic author, Shere Hite, a feminist sex researcher and former model, became the public messenger of women’s secret confessions. With each subsequent bestseller, she engaged television titans in unforgettably explicit debates about sexuality while suffering the backlash her controversial findings provoked. But who remembers Shere Hite today? What led to her erasure?

The takeaway of The Hite Report was that female expression of sexuality should not be defined by patriarchal power. This idea deeply offended the male establishment and consequently, the media made as much of their wounded ideas of themselves as of the book itself whose authentic and anonymous findings were treated with intense controversy.

The astonishing beauty of Shere Hite herself lies outside of the cliche perameters of the “scholarly” (i.e., “homely) woman. And so her methodical research was called “unscientific” and was called into question (and answered smartly by her). Her background as a working-class, bisexual, former nude model with photographs appearing in Playboy did not sit well with the offended and offensive men who interviewed her on top TV shows after the book became a runaway success. All of her many identities are displayed in the movie.

Digging into exclusive archives, as well as Hite’s personal journals and the original survey responses, filmmaker Nicole Newnham transports viewers back to the 70s, a time of great societal transformation around sexuality (See Fairyland, about queer life in San Francisco, also playing here in Sundance,for another take on the 70s and Food and Country about the coming of age of California cuisine in the 70s under the guiding hands of Ruth Reichl and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse). Newnham’s revelatory portrait brings us to reconsider a pioneer who broke the ground for our current conversations about gender, sexuality, and autonomy. Her story also is a timely, cautionary tale of what too often happens to women who dare speak out.

Nicole Newnham is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning documentary director and producer and four-time Sundance alum. She co-directed Crip Camp (2020) with Jim LeBrecht. Crip Camp was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Sundance U.S. Documentary Audience Award. Newnham’s other documentary directing credits include the Emmy-nominated films The Revolutionary Optimists, Sentenced Home, and The Rape of Europa.

U.S. Sales and Distribution: Josh Braun, Submarine Entertainment

There is no international sales agent. Maggie Pisacane at WME is the producers rep along with Josh Braun.

Directed and Produced By: Nicole Newnham (Crip Camp)

Produced By: Molly O’Brien, R.J. Cutler, Elise Pearlstein, Kimberley Ferdinando, Trevor Smith

Co-Produced By: Erica Fink, Eleanor West

Executive Produced By: Elizabeth Fischer, Liz Cole, Noah Oppenheim, Andy Berg, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman

116 minutes

Film FestivalsWomenDocumentaryGenderSundance...

Ben Stiller is in final negotiations to jump on board a limited series adaptation of the documentary ‘Three Identical Strangers.’

Like the documentary, the series would focus on the true story of Bobby Shafran, David Kellman, and Eddy Galland — identical triplets who were separated at birth only to be reunited later in life. Stiller would star as the three adult brothers.

The series comes from writer Amy Lippman with Sony Pictures Television producing along with Sk Global and TriStar Television.

Also in news – Emma Thompson set for thriller ‘The Fisherwoman’

Lippman would also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series, with Stiller executive producing via Red Hour Films. Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, Charlie Corwin and Marcy Ross of Sk Global also executive produce along with Piers Vellacott, Dimitri Doganis, and Tim Wardle of Raw and Emmeline Yang Hankins. Mark O’Connor of Sk Global, Dan Braun, and Josh Braun...

Ben Stiller is setting an acting return with Three Identical Strangers, a high-profile limited series package that just hit the premium/streaming marketplace.

Stiller is in final negotiations to headline and executive produce the series, a multi-decade family drama inspired by the incredible true story of identical triplet brothers separated at birth. The project hails from Party of Five co-creator Amy Lippman, Sony Pictures Television and its TriStar Television division as well as Sk Global Entertainment.

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Set in New York over several decades, Three Identical Strangers tells the story of Bobby Shafran, David Kellman and Eddy Galland, three complete strangers who inadvertently discover...

Ben Stiller is nearing a deal to star in a limited series adaptation of the documentary “Three Identical Strangers,” Variety has learned.

The series hails from writer Amy Lippman with Sony Pictures Television producing along with Sk Global and TriStar Television. Like the documentary, the series would focus on the true story of Bobby Shafran, David Kellman, and Eddy Galland — identical triplets who were separated at birth only to be reunited later in life. Stiller would star as the adult brothers.

Lippman would also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series, with Stiller executive producing via Red Hour Films. Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, Charlie Corwin and Marcy Ross of Sk Global also executive produce along with Piers Vellacott, Dimitri Doganis, and Tim Wardle of Raw and Emmeline Yang Hankins. Mark O’Connor of Sk Global, Dan Braun, and Josh Braun of Submarine would serve as co-executive producers.

The...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Your Place or Mine, Knock at the Cabin, 80 for Brady and the kickoff of Grammy weekend events.

Knock at the Cabin premiere

M. Night Shyamalan debuted his latest project in New York on Monday, alongside stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Abby Quinn.

Ashwin Rajan, Nikki Amuka-Bird, M. Night Shyamalan, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Dave Bautista, Abby Quinn and Jonathan Groff Kristen Cui, Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff

Pamela, a love story special screening

Pamela Anderson, sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee, director Ryan White and producers Jessica Hargrave and Julia Nottingham were in attendance at the special screening of the documentary in Los Angeles on Monday.

Julia Nottingham, Josh Braun, Brandon Thomas Lee, Pamela Anderson, Ryan White, Jessica...

Ryan White’s new Netflix documentary, Pamela, a love story, captures the rise and re-rise of one of the ’90s most famous women, Pamela Anderson.

The film spans her early years growing up on Vancouver Island, where she experienced sexual abuse, to her recent decade-in-the-making Broadway debut as Roxy in Chicago, with the Good Night Oppy and Ask Dr. Ruth director showing one of the world’s biggest mega-stars in a humanizing character portrait. Arriving the same day as her memoir Love, Pamela and following the Hulu series Pam & Tommy, the film ultimately doubles as a re-examination of her cultural impact, career, sexuality and personhood.

Conducted with her consent — something that Anderson has not always gotten in her personal or professional life — White’s film helps cast a new light on the actress, author, model, activist and mother. It also raises questions about how an entertainment and media industry...

Between the Netflix documentary “Pamela, A Love Story” and the memoir “Love, Pamela” from HarperCollins, Pamela Anderson has been spilling plenty of tea, including some embarrassing, ’90s-era anecdotes about Tim Allen and Sylvester Stallone. And while both actors have emphatically denied Anderson’s claims, director Ryan White is pushing back in defense of his leading lady.

“Of course, I totally believe Pamela because I think she’s always honest in everything — about her own shortcomings, but also about other people’s,” White tells Variety in response to Allen and Stallone’s denials. “That was our conversation at the beginning of this [process]. She was, ‘I spent so much of my life protecting other people. And I’m not I’m trying not to do that as much anymore.’”

Anderson’s candor has ruffled feathers. In the memoir, which hits shelves Tuesday, she says that Allen flashed her on the set of “Home Improvement” in 1991. “[He was] completely naked,...

Providing a masterclass in empathy, Chilean documentarian Maite Alberdi lends a certain whimsy to her works that forage hope amidst roving sadness. She manages to extract each ounce of charm from her subjects and, as in her study of aging and isolation in Oscar-nominated “The Mole Agent,” she continues to showcase a zest for life in the protagonists in her latest feature.

“The Eternal Memory,” her follow-up to “The Mole Agent,” was the subject of double news on Friday, walking off with the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – the section’s top plaudit – just hours after MTV Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights to the doc feature.

follows former Chilean journalist Augusto Góngora and his wife, actress Paulina Urrutia, in their rigorous fight against Augusto’s memory-zapping diagnosis.

Tender and sentimental, scenes oscillate between the torture of a fast-fading history and divine moments of immense love as they navigate the...

Showtime is exploring an infamous teenage couple who were convicted of murdering 11 people in the 1950s in the network’s latest docuseries. The 12th Victim is a four-part docuseries following the crimes of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate.

Told through a stylistic blend of archival and recreated footage and countless film and television series inspired by the killings, the series reexamines Fugate’s guilty verdict, who was 14 years old at the time of the killings, through a modern lens, questioning the media and judicial system’s treatment of her despite her self-proclaimed innocence.

On Tuesday, Showtime released a trailer for the series and announced it will debut on February 17.

In 1958, a grisly string of murders terrified the Midwest, as 18-year-old Starkweather killed 11 victims in Nebraska and Wyoming with his girlfriend Fugate by his side. Fugate went on to become the youngest female in U.S. history to be tried...

Aum: The Cult at the End of the World tells the lesser-known story behind the widely covered 1995 Tokyo subway attack, the largest act of domestic terrorism in Japan’s history where sarin gas was released in the Tokyo subway system during rush hour, killing 14 people.

Chiaki Yanagimoto and Ben Braun directed Aum, which takes a deep dive into Aum Shinrikyo, the doomsday cult behind the attack, founded by Shoko Asahara, a self-claimed yogi who said he was the reincarnation of Buddha. The doc, which draws from the book about the cult by investigative journalist David E. Kaplan and Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Marshall, is told through the testimonials of characters like Fumihiro Joyu, a former Aum devotee who skirted blame for the attack, and Marshall, a British journalist living in Japan who early on rang the alarm bells about the cult.

Braun — who is the son and the nephew of Dan and Josh Braun,...

For documentary filmmakers seeking distribution for independently made projects, Sundance is the golden ticket. It’s where a few lucky doc directors can nail down seven-figure deals with major distributors including Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV+ every year. But this year, with streamers not only tightening their purse strings but also increasingly commissioning their own content, and even shunning more provocative political-leaning fare, the Park City market for indie nonfiction features will be more competitive and likely less lucrative.

Last January at Sundance 2022, which was an online-only event, the doc market got off to a strong start. Several Sundance nonfiction titles sold, including “Aftershock” (Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News), “All That Breathes” (HBO), “Descendant” (Netflix), “Last Flight Home” (MTV Documentary Films), “Fire of Love” (National Geographic), “Mija” (Disney+), “Nothing Compares” (Showtime) and “The Territory” (National Geographic). But as the year wore on, economic unease and the merger of...

Last February, when Hulu chronicled the ’90s sex tape leak of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee through the miniseries “Pam & Tommy,” it received generally positive reviews from critics, but notably lacked the participation of one of its main subjects. Anderson reportedly refused to meet with anyone from the production to offer her point of view on the scandal, which caused a sexist backlash against her at the time.

Now, the “Baywatch” star and iconic model is offering her perspective on her life and career with the upcoming Netflix documentary “Pamela, A Love Story.” The streamer released the trailer for the documentary Tuesday, with the release date set for January 31.

According to the logline, “Pamela, A Love Story” is an intimate and humanizing portrait of one of the world’s most famous blonde bombshells, taking a look at Anderson’s life and career from small-town girl to international sex symbol,...

It’s been a good year for several documentary filmmakers who sought and found distribution for independently made projects at major festivals. But for many nonfiction helmers, this year’s festival circuit hasn’t proven to be as fruitful as it once was.

Pre-pandemic, streaming services went to film fests to fill their slates, but now with media conglomerates consolidating, brands merging, and Netflix tightening its wallet, film fest documentary shopping sprees have slowed down. On top of mergers and economic unease, there’s been an increase in streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, and Disney either pre-buying docus or commissioning their own nonfiction projects.

Some of this year’s fest favorites were commissioned docus, including Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes’ ‘The Janes” (HBO), W. Kamau Bell’s “We Need to Talk About Cosby” (Showtime), Rory Kennedy’s “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” (Netflix), and Ron Howard’s “We Feed People...

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CNN Films and Points North Institute have revealed the five recipients of the 2022 American Stories Documentary Fellowship.

The artist development program fellowship supports independent documentary filmmakers who, from diverse points of view, are exploring themes unique to American experiences. The five filmmaking teams named as this year’s fellowship recipients include Ameha Molla and Rajal Pitroda; Gabriela Díaz Arp and Karla Claudio Betancourt; Paige Bethmann and Jessica Epstein; Jordan Lord and Abby Sun; and Julie Wyman, Lindsey Dryden and Jonna McKone.

The fellows will each receive a 10,000 production grant and have costs covered to attend an immersive week-long working retreat that runs concomitantly with the annual Camden International Film Festival (Ciff) in Maine. The retreat includes feedback sessions, workshops and individual as well as group discussions with veteran filmmakers and industry professionals.

Each of the 2022 filmmaking teams were chosen from 200 applicants from across the U.

Neon in association with National Geographic Documentary Films said director Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love will cross 1 million at the box office this weekend, becoming the biggest documentary release of the year for combined domestic and international gross. The film opened this summer and is entering its ninth week in theaters nationally. It will stream on Disney+ later this year.

National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the worldwide rights to Fire of Love following its Sundance debut (awarded the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award). Produced by Shane Boris, Ina Fichman and Dosa, the Miranda July-narrated film explores the passionate lives and work of French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft through their striking, rare archival footage.

Executive Producers are Greg Boustead and Jessica Harrop of Sandbox Films, Carolyn Bernstein of National Geographic Documentary Films and Josh Braun and Dan Braun of Submarine.

The intrepid scientists captured some of the most spectacular imagery...