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Can’t make it to Toronto International Film Festival next week? Have no fear, Kino Film Collection is here to make you feel less left out. Though the streamer won’t be offering the latest selections from this year’s festival, to celebrate the annual showcase, it has created a program of 87 films that have previously screened there and will be available throughout the month. Below you can find some of the selections with language provided by Kino.

“3 Faces”

Winner of the Best Screenplay Award and nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “3 Faces” is Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s fourth feature since he was officially banned from filmmaking. Starring Behnaz Jafari as herself, Panahi’s film builds in narrative, thematic, and visual intricacy to put forth a grand expression of community and solidarity under the eye of oppression.

“Alps”

Before “The Favourite”, Academy...

Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Swan Song, the ballet-themed documentary that will open Lincoln Center’s 52nd Dance on Camera Festival Friday evening.

The film – a Dogwoof, Visitor Media, Mercury Films, and Quiet Ghost production, directed and co-written by Chelsea McMullan – premiered last September at the Toronto International Film Festival. Greenwich plans to release Swan Song in theaters in the fall.

“Swan Song immerses viewers inside one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement,” notes a description of the film. “The verité-driven feature documentary closely follows Kain and a group of young dancers drawn from the National Ballet of Canada’s ranks, weaving Swan Lake’s dramatic creation process with intimate scenes from the subjects’ personal lives as they push toward one of...

“Game of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau wants to save the world from all manner of existential threats – including cynicism – in his new unscripted series for Bloomberg Originals.

Variety has an exclusive first look at the trailer for “An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet,” a six-episode series that chooses to focus not on problems but solutions to some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

The series follows Coster-Waldau and his team as they travel the globe in search of ideas that inspire optimism for the future. Sustainable food growth, carbon neutral jet fuel, tiny worms that can break down plastics and more are explored in countries including Greenland, Australia, United States, Japan, Vietnam and Kenya.

“I’ve always felt like sometimes the good stories get lost. The focus is often on the end of the world,” Coster-Waldau said. “This show inspires me and gives me a belief that there...

“Scream” star Neve Campbell has boarded the Toronto Film Festival-bound documentary “Swan Song,” about the National Ballet of Canada, as an executive producer.

Campbell, who is Canadian, is expected to attend Toronto in support of the film, which follows the ballet company as it mounts a new production of “Swan Lake” directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement.

The documentary will screen as part of the festival’s Special Presentations program. TIFF announced its official lineup on Monday, promising an array of world premiere titles despite the SAG-AFTRA actors strike, which will likely impede its red carpets.

“Swan Song” is directed by Chelsea McMullan, who wrote the film with producer Sean O’Neill. Distributed in Canada by Blue Ice Docs, with international sales handled by Dogwoof, the documentary will be released theatrically in Canada on Sept. 22. The project was developed with CBC and will air as...

“I of the Water,” one of 20 projects presented at Hot Docs’ marquee market event, the Forum, has won the First Look first prize of Can. $50,000, one of four pitch prizes announced Wednesday at the festival.

Kimberlee Bassford’s “I of the Water” focuses on acclaimed Samoan writer Sia Figiel. After a painful experience pushes Figiel into self-exile, she untangles her complicated past, revealing hidden trauma and initiating a journey toward healing. The film is produced by Bassford, Marilyn McFadyen, Vilsoni Hereniko, Leanne K. Ferrer, Cheryl Hirasa, and Linda Goldstein Knowlton.

The second First Look prize, worth Can. $15,000, was awarded to Kenya-Jade Pinto “The Sandbox,” a Canadian production with a vague tagline: “Your future is being written in the sand.” The doc is produced by Shasha Nakhai, Kenya-Jade Pinto, Jennifer Baichwal, and Rich Williamson.

First Look prizes are financed by members of Hot Docs First Look, a curated access program for...

Game Of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has signed up to host eco series An Optimist’s Guide To The Planet for Bloomberg Media.

The series will feature Coster-Waldau traveling the globe searching for the people, ideas, and traditions that will turn environmental angst into optimism.

He will meet electric aircraft engineers in Burlington, Vermont, Nashulai Conservancy elders in Kenya, and women leading sustainable Mezcal production in Mexico.

Described as Bloomberg’s most ambitious original to date, the series will be produced by Canada’s Cream Productions and Wildfire Television, the UK production outfit. It is made in association with Bell Media and Ill Kippers Aps, Coster-Waldau’s production company.

Executive producers are David Brady, Philip Clarke, Kate Harrison Karman, Coster-Waldau, Joe Derrick, Jennifer Baichwal, and Nicholas de Pencier. Patrick Cameron is the co-executive producer.

“The climate crisis impacts all of us, however what I hope this show demonstrates is that we are not doomed.

Canadian documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal was “excited and happy” to pick up an award at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival for “Into the Weeds: Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson vs. Monsanto Company.”

Johnson, who developed a deadly form of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, took Monsanto to trial, alleging it failed to warn about cancer risks with its Roundup herbicide.

“I love this festival and I have never been able to come in person, because I have children. Now, they have grown up and they don’t care what I do,” she said on Saturday, praising other nominees in the Testimonies section.

Earlier during the week, Montréal-born Baichwal discussed her decades-spanning career during a masterclass moderated by Ji.hlava’s chief Marek Hovorka. She started with her 1999 doc “The Holier It Gets,” about her father’s wishes to have his ashes scattered at the source of the Ganges.

“If you want to know anything about my family,...

The Czech documentary festival ran October 25-30

French director Judith Auffray’s 07:15 – Blackbird has won most notable international documentary film at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

The 30-minute documentary follows a young girl and an old man who set off to identify an unknown bird. The film also won best cinematography.

A special mention was given to Canadian director Jennifer Baichwal’s Into the Weeds: Dewayne “Lee” Johnson Vs Monsanto Company which follows the lawsuit between an agro-chemical corporation and a former employee who believes the herbicide products gave him cancer.

Croatian director...

The power of sound and the impacts of war dominated the 26th Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival awards, with French doc “07:15 – Blackbird” taking home both the main prize and the cinematography award.

The story of a young girl’s quest to identify the call of a mysterious bird, directed by Judith Auffray and filmed by Mario Valero, the 30-minute doc’s “fairy-tale poeticism,” balancing natural wonder and technology, won over the Opus Bonum jury. The jury said the film “draws us back to the mysteries of our existence.”

The closing gala, after the fest’s focus on war films and a strong presence of Ukrainian filmmakers and their work, paused to honor the fallen in Ukraine as a choir took the stage to sing a traditional hymn, “The Duckling Swims.”

Croatian doc “Deserters,” a study of letters from young Balkan war resistors by Damir Markovina, won the Central...

The Oscar race came into sharper focus at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with actors like Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh cementing their lead contender status, and big-budget studio efforts like The Fablemans and Glass Onion premiering to raves.

The fall superfecta – Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York – is the traditional launchpad for the prestige dramas that go on to vie for Best Picture. But for documentaries, it’s a different story.

Analyzing the last 10 years of Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature, most premiered early in the eligibility year, typically at Sundance. But a fortunate few have launched as late as the fall, arriving with such noise and momentum that they rise to the top and earn one of the five slots among the year’s most prestigious nonfiction films.

Stanley Nelson’s Attica accomplished that last year, launching at TIFF in 2021. A second Oscar nominee,...

Though few members of the public were still denying a link between smoking and cancer at the time, it was still nonetheless rather startling when the extent of the tobacco industry’s deliberate disinformation campaign on that subject got exposed about a quarter-century ago. The déjà vu runs thick watching Jennifer Baichwal’s new documentary, “Into the Weeds,” which provides another illustration of coldblooded corporate denialism in the face of widespread harm.

Here the culprit is agrochemical giant Monsanto, and their product Roundup, purportedly for some time the world’s most popular herbicide. Borrowing from “Big Tobacco’s” playbook of yore, it appears the company set out to bury ample evidence of its carcinogenicity as long as it could, buying malleable scientists and discrediting more principled ones, refusing to apply warning labels, denying a causal relationship even as tens of thousands of cancer patients sued.

Those lawsuits (some still ongoing) are the focus here,...

The Hot Docs Canadian Intl. Documentary Festival marked its long-awaited return to cinemas last night, opening its 29th edition in the historic Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema with the world premiere of Canadian filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal’s “Into the Weeds: Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson vs. Monsanto Company.” Sphere Films (formerly WaZabi Films) has worldwide sales rights (excluding Canada) and will be selling the film at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

Johnson, a former school groundskeeper, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2014, and became the first plaintiff and also the public face of a mass tort against the agrochemical corporation that manufactures the common weed-killer Roundup, which contains an active ingredient called glyphosate—a non-selective herbicide used in forestry, agriculture and backyards.

While tracing his story, the film expands its scope to examine this common product’s impact on human health and the environment, and the global repercussions of the trial, through...

For the first time in two years the Hot Docs Canadian Intl. Documentary Festival is hosting in-person premieres and screenings, after Covid-19 forced the 2020 and 2021 editions of the annual event to unfold virtually. To celebrate, Hot Docs’ programming director Shane Smith selected 226 films from 2563 submissions to screen in-person and online beginning April 28 in Toronto. The lineup includes 63 world and 47 international premieres across 15 programs.

From Lyme Disease (“The Quiet Epidemic”) to Hong Kong’s history of protest (“Blue Island”) to the lucrative world of international pigeon racing (“Million Dollar Pigeons”), the 29th edition of Hot Docs offers up an assortment of titles from 63 countries that tackle a myriad of issues.

“I think of it as a buffet or dinner table that we are setting,” says Smith. “We are looking for as much diversity in the courses that are being served. We are putting together this delicious menu and finding as much variety as we can.

Three years ago, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival drew nearly 230,000 attendees to venues across Toronto. It was a record-breaking turnout, and a hopeful harbinger that even amid the growing disruption of streaming platforms, audiences were flocking more than ever before to North America’s largest documentary festival.

It has not returned to cinemas since.

After the coronavirus pandemic prompted a last-minute online pivot in 2020, Hot Docs was again forced to host a virtual fest last year. Now, as the curtain is set to rise on its 29th edition, the festival’s director of programming, Shane Smith, admits to a case of nerves after the long absence. “Some of us haven’t been on stage for a while,” he tells Variety. “But it’s going to be great to get back into the groove, get that muscle memory reactivated.”

This year’s edition will offer a reminder not only...

"This is about food, this is about health, this is about the soil, this is about environment." An official trailer has arrived for a documentary film titled Into The Weeds, about the uber despicable, disgusting Monsanto corporation and their evil ways. I really hate this company - and you should, too. Monsanto has been in so much trouble, and has been in so many films already, but this looks like one of the worst. Dewayne Johnson is a Bay Area groundskeeper who suffered from rashes and wondered if they were caused by the herbicide he'd been using for the past couple years. Johnson became the face of a legal battle to hold a corporation accountable for a product, yet they still fought him. "This is bigger than me." Adding to her award-winning body of work often centered on our strained relationship with the natural world, docu director Jennifer Baichwal follows Johnson through his battle,...

Jennifer Baichwal’s documentary tells story of man who takes on agrochemical corporation after terminal cancer diagnosis.

Screen can reveal the exclusive first-look trailer for Jennifer Baichwal’s upcoming Hot Docs opening night selection Into The Weeds ahead of its world premiere on April 28.

Sphere Films (formerly WaZabi Films) handles worldwide sales excluding Canada and will be introducing the film to buyers at the Cannes Marché next month. Mongrel Media distributes in Canada.

Into The Weeds tells the story of Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a former Bay Area groundskeeper who takes on a multinational agrochemical corporation after a terminal cancer diagnosis.

The 29th annual Hot Docs Canadian Intl. Documentary Festival will open with Jennifer Baichwal’s “Into the Weeds,” about a former groundskeeper who battles an agrochemical corporation after his cancer diagnosis, it was announced this morning at a media conference in Toronto unveiling the full slate.

The acclaimed Toronto filmmaker is best known for her trio of visually arresting collaborations with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky exploring impact of humans on the planet, such as “Manufactured Landscapes.” She is the first director in Hot Docs history to have a second film open the festival, and among the 49% of female directors in its 2022 official selection.

“Into the Weeds” is one of 63 titles receiving their world premieres at Hot Docs, which returns to live screenings for the first time since 2019, presenting 226 films from 63 countries across 15 programs. Hot Docs runs April 28 to May 8.

“We are elated to be able to bring these outstanding, outspoken stories to Toronto cinemas,...

Board member replaces Jennifer Tory who has held position since 2016.

Universal Music Canada chairman and CEO Jeffrey Remedios has been appointed chair of the board at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Remedios has served on the board for five years and replaces Jennifer Tory who has held the position of chair since 2016. TIFF said the appointee is known for managing digital transformation and has championed new artists and distinct voices throughout his career.

Tory served as chair of TIFF’s philanthropy committee for six years, led the development of the strategic plan exercises, championed the organisation’s leadership transition committee,...

Lisa Jackson’s hybrid documentary feature project “Wilfred Buck,” which centers on the eponymous science facilitator, an expert in Indigenous lore about astronomy, won the Canadian Forum Pitch Prize at Hot Docs last week. Jackson tells Variety how she came to the project.

Jackson – whose mother was Anishinaabe, an Indigenous group in North America – was at a conference in November 2017 when she first heard about Wilfred Buck, who had curated an exhibit at the Canada Science and Technology Museum based on the stories about the stars told by First Nations communities. As well as being an educator, Buck is an elder and ceremonial leader for the Cree, one of Canada’s largest First Nations groups.

When she heard about Buck’s work, Jackson had what she describes as a “zap” – an urgent realization that “someone has to make a film on this man,” she recalls.

When she contacted Buck, he...

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival - which was forced to postpone this year's festival because of the coronavirus pandemic - has announced it is teaming up with Curzon Home Cinema for a 12 day selection of film previews.

The EdFilmFest At Home will run from 24 June to 5 July, with film tickets priced at £9.99. Live Q&As will also be hosted alongside many of the films. Filmmakers joining the showcase include the Dardenne Brothers, Jennifer Baichwal and Ron Howard.

Director of programming Rod White said: “We can’t bring you the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year quite as and when you know it, but we are finding ways to adapt and to share our passion for films through new initiatives. We want to give our industry something to get excited about whilst all UK cinemas are closed, and get the cinema-going...

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has unveiled its line up of features for this year’s edition, which is taking place online due to the coronavirus crisis.

The festival, which was due to take place in Scotland this month, has partnered with Curzon Home Cinema to present an online festival instead.

The line up includes the U.K. premieres of Ron Howard’s documentary “Rebuilding Paradise,” Susanne Regina Meures’s doc “Saudi Runaway,” Alex Thomson directed U.S. comedy drama “Saint Frances,” Jóhann Jóhannsson’s “Last and First Men,” narrated by Tilda Swinton, Sebastian Lifshitz’s “Little Girl,” and “Perfumes,” by Grégory Magne.

A film will be presented each day of the 12 day festival, with films playing for between two and 12 days, each priced at £9.99 ($12.80). Alongside the films there will be live Q&As with special guests.

Rod White, Eiff director of drogramming said: “We want to give our...

In today’s film news roundup, Netflix dates “The Lovebirds,” Goldcrest Post hires a veteran executive and the documentaries “American Heretics” and “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” are getting free showings.

Release Date

Streaming giant Netflix has set a May 22 launch date for its Issa Rae-Kumail Nanjiani romantic comedy “The Lovebirds,” directed by Michael Showalter.

“The Lovebirds” was originally scheduled to premiere on March 14 at SXSW and then be released in the United States on April 3 by Paramount. Those plans were scrubbed due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Paramount then opting to have Netflix handle the release.

Rae and Nanjiani portray a couple who become unintentionally caught up in a murder mystery, requiring them to solve the murder and figure out the future of their relationship at the same time. “The Lovebirds” also stars Paul Sparks, Anna Campa and Kyle Bornheimer.

Nanjiani and Rae each released short promotional videos Monday about...

For Sama, Waad al-Kateab’s striking documentary about the start of the protests against the Assad regime in Syria, won the Best Feature prize at the International Documentary Association’s Ida Awards.

Al-Kateab shot hundreds of hours of footage over a course of the five-year siege that offered an unflinching view of life in war; the twentysomething economics student married one of the last doctors in her hometown of Aleppo, and they had a daughter, Sama, as the city crumbled around her.

Other winners Saturday at a ceremony on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles included HBO’s Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland, which won for Best Multipart Documentary, and Homecoming, Beyoncé’s Coachella concert film for Netflix.

Netflix won a leading three awards, including Best Director for American Factory co-directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert and Abstract: The Art of Design as Best Episodic Series.

Here’s the full...

“For Sama,” Waad al-Kateab’s wrenching story of raising a young daughter in war-torn Syria, has been named the best nonfiction film of 2019 at the International Documentary Association’s 35th annual Ida Documentary Awards, which were handed out on Saturday night on the Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles.

Al-Kateab, who directed “For Sama” with Edward Watts, also received the Ida Awards Courage Under Fire Award at the ceremony. Last week, the film also won the top award at the British Independent Film Awards, a rarity for a documentary.

Steven Bognar and Julie Reichert received the Best Director Award, the first time the Ida has handed out that particular prize, for their look at the culture clash when a Chinese company took over an American auto glass factory in Ohio in “American Factory.”

Also Read: 'For Sama' Film Review: Syrian Documentary Finds Wrenching Personal Take on Conflict

Two...

“Apollo 11” was the big winner at the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards on Sunday in New York City.

The film took home the award for documentary feature, as well as editing for Todd Douglas Miller and score for Matt Morton. “Apollo 11” was also honored with archival documentary and science/nature documentary prizes.

There was a tie for director between Peter Jackson for “They Shall Not Grow Old,” and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar for “American Factory.” “They Shall Not Grow Old” also brought home the award for innovative documentary. “American Factory” nabbed the prize for political documentary.

The inaugural D. A. Pennebaker Award, formerly known as the Critics’ Choice lifetime achievement award, was presented to Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s longtime collaborator and widow. Michael Apted received the landmark award in honor of his “Up” series.

The ceremony, hosted by “Property Brothers” star Jonathan Scott, was held at Bric in Brooklyn.

Artemio Benki’s former child prodigy feature ’Solo won best Czech documentary.

Lina Zacher’s Fonja has won the main competition award at the 23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Oct 24-29) in the Czech Republic

The documentary, which received its world premiere at Ji.hlava, follows 10 juvenile delinquents in Madagascar’s largest prison.

The Opus Bonum prize, which honours the best international documentary, was awarded to both Zacher and the 10 subjects of the film. The German director also received a special mention for her work on the film.

The winning films were chosen by Romanian director Cristi Puiu,...

“The Biggest Little Farm” leads nominees for the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, with seven bids, followed by “Apollo 11” and “They Shall Not Grow Old.” “One Child Nation” received five nominations.

The winners will be presented their awards at a gala, hosted by Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott, on Nov. 10 at Bric in Brooklyn.

The awards honor documentaries released in theaters, on TV and on major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified Cca members.

A new honor, the D.A. Pennebaker Award, will be presented to Frederick Wiseman. Michael Apted will receive the landmark award for his work on the “Up” series of films, with “63 Up” opening this year.

“As the film and television industry constantly evolves, documentaries remain a vibrant creative art form that entertains as well as informs,” said Cca CEO Joey Berlin. “We are proud that our awards event has become a...

Farm animals, the historic moon landing and World War I veterans back to vivid life top the nominations for the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.

The Biggest Little Farm leads this year with seven nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, John Chester for Best Director and noms for Best Cinematography, Editing, Score, Narration and Science/Nature Documentary.

Recognized with six nominations each are Apollo 11 and They Shall Not Grow Old. The nominations for Apollo 11 are Best Documentary Feature, Todd Douglas Miller for Best Director, plus Editing, Score, Archival Documentary and Science/Nature Documentary, The nominations for They Shall Not Grow Old are Best Documentary Feature, Peter Jackson for Best Director, Editing, Score, Archival Documentary and Most Innovative Documentary.

One Child Nation received five nominations: Best Documentary Feature, Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang for Best Director, along with Editing, Narration, and Political Documentary.

The Cave, Honeyland, American Factor, Aquarela...

Exclusive: The climate change documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is just as much a visual marvel as it is a call to action. Kino Lorber is partnering with the streaming platform Kanopy to bring the feature docu to over 100 theaters nationwide on September 25 to coincide with the U.N. Climate Action Summit and Climate Week NYC in an effort to combat man-made climate change. In addition, Anthropocene will be available for streaming on Kanopy starting January 1, 2020.

From Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, the docu is narrated by Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander and screened at Sundance, Berlin and the Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim. Taking four years to make, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group which, after nearly 10 years of research, is investigating how the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the...

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch co-director Nicholas De Pencier serves as Ep.

Carmine Street Guitars director Ron Mann’s Toronto-based Sphinx Productions has teamed up with the National Film Board of Canada to produce Brian D. Johnson’s The Colour Of Ink.

The feature-length documentary will follows Jason S. Logan, an artist who scours locales ranging from the Arctic to Death Valley to make ink from wild ingredients like weeds, bark and rust. Logan’s loyal global customer base includes The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood.

Mann’s Films We Like is introducing The Colour Of Ink at the Cannes market,...

March 1

– Now in its fourth year, the Doc10 film festival is proud to announce their official 2019 film slate. Presented by Chicago Media Project, Doc10 will open with the critically acclaimed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez documentary “Knock Down the House” and close with Emmy Award-winning director John Chester’s “The Biggest Little Farm.” In celebration of the highly curated event, filmmakers from this year’s ten best documentaries will be descending on Chicago for screenings and Q&A’s. Doc10 will also showcase Vr content, industry panels, and creative workshops, and takes place from April 11 – 14, 2019 in Chicago, Il.

Winner of the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “Knock Down the House” follows progressive activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other insurgent female candidates running for Congress in 2018. Setting their sights on making a difference, the film chronicles these women as they fight for the issues they are most passionate about and shake...

The documentary “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” which screens as a Berlinale Special, exists as one part of a multimedia project, conceived by a trio of passionate and dedicated filmmakers: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky. The Canadian production enlisted Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander for voice-over duties and serves as one component of a vast spread of multimedia disciplines, with all efforts exploring the intense impact that humans have made on the Earth, in any number of geological ways.

Consisting of the documentary, two museum exhibitions, a photographic essay, a series of film installations, an art book and a virtual reality component, it’s a project on a monumental scale, and one with significant social purpose. “This documentary partially serves as a call to action,” says Burtynsky. “We’re facing an existential threat, which is hard to act on immediately, but it’s something we need to be aware of because time is running out.

Streaming platform Kanopy to partner on release.

Seville International announced from Sundance on Tuesday (29) it has licensed Us rights on Anthropocene: The Human Epoch to Kino Lorber and struck key additional international sales.

The documentary from Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky is the first acquisition by Kino Lorber in association with Kanopy, the free streaming platform available to college students and professors, and public library members across the Us.

Seville has also licensed the documentary to Groupe Mediawan forFrench-speaking Europe, NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Against Gravity for Poland, Moviecloud for Taiwan, and Fondazione Culturale N. Stensen with Valmyn Distribution for Italy.

Dp Nicholas de Pencier has long collaborated with his wife, director Jennifer Baichwal, on her projects. One of their most acclaimed films, Manufactured Landscapes, was a profile of large-format landscape photographer (and fellow Canadian) Edward Burtynsky. Now, on Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Burtynsky moves from subject to collaborator on a large project tackling nothing less than humanity’s impact on the planet. Filmed over four years, the project involved a great deal of travel, technical planning and risk; via email, de Pencier answered questions about his work on the ambitious documentary. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]...

Dp Nicholas de Pencier has long collaborated with his wife, director Jennifer Baichwal, on her projects. One of their most acclaimed films, Manufactured Landscapes, was a profile of large-format landscape photographer (and fellow Canadian) Edward Burtynsky. Now, on Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Burtynsky moves from subject to collaborator on a large project tackling nothing less than humanity’s impact on the planet. Filmed over four years, the project involved a great deal of travel, technical planning and risk; via email, de Pencier answered questions about his work on the ambitious documentary. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]...

Agnieszka Holland’s Mr Jones to premiere in Berlin’s Competition.

The 69th Berlin International Film Festival has bolstered its Competition and Berlinale Special line-ups with the addition of further titles.

A total of 11 films have been added to the Competition programme, including Agnieszka Holland’s Mr Jones (previously Gareth Jones), starring James Norton, and a documentary by Agnès Varda titled Varda By Agnès, which will play Out of Competition.

Further titles added include a new Netflix film by Isabel Coixet, titled Elisa & Marcela, and Yuval Adler’s The Operative, starring Diane Kruger and Martin Freeman; the latter will premiere out of competition.

The Berlin Film Festival has added movies by Agnès Varda, Agnieszka Holland, Hans Petter Moland, Isabel Coixet and Wang Quan’an to its competition programme. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind will play in the Berlinale Special strand. Scroll down for the full list of additions to the batch of films already announced for the competition.

Coixet’s (The Bookshop) black-and-white feature Elisa & Marcela, the true-story of two women who got married in Spain in 1901 after one adopted a male identity, will likely receive an extra dose of media attention given that it is a Netflix acquisition, marking the streaming giant’s first film to screen in competition in Berlin. Festival director Dieter Kosslick has previously said that competition films must have a theatrical release.

Among other highlights announced today are James Norton and Vanessa Kirby starrer Mr. Jones from Polish director Agnieszka Holland and Italian mafia pic Piranhas,...

The Toronto Film Festival has revealed its annual list of top ten Canadian films. Compiled by Tiff’s team of programmers in collaboration with Canadian critics, the ‘Canada’s Top Ten’ list includes Tiff titles Freaks, which scored a significant deal with Well Go, and Giant Little Ones. Scroll down for the full list.

The feature list was curated by Cameron Bailey, Kerri Craddock, Steve Gravestock, Danis Goulet, Ming-Jenn Lim, and Kathleen Drumm, in collaboration with the Vancouver Film Critics Circle and the Association Québécoise des Critiques de Cinéma.

“Tiff is thrilled to present its uniquely Canadian list that offers a richness of voices, perspectives, and insights into adolescent identity,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of Tiff. “These films expertly examine heritage, family, the fragility of friendships, and the importance of challenging the current state of our world, and are testament to the fact that our Canadian filmmakers...

This year’s Canadian feature slate — 25 in all — can be seen in six Tiff sections including Discovery, Tiff Docs and Wavelengths.

Among the selected features are highly anticipated films from fest alumni including Denys Arcand, Barry Avrich and the late Rob Stewart.

Arcand’s “The Fall of the American Empire” stars Alexandre Landry as Pierre-Paul Daoust, who faces a moral dilemma after discovering two bags of money. Sony Classics bought the North American rights to the film during the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film, which will play in Tiff’s special presentations section, is a thematic cousin to Arcand’s Oscar-nominated “The Decline of the American Empire” and the Oscar-winning “The Barbarian Invasions” (2003).

Avrich returns to Tiff’s docu section with “Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz,” a portrait of the United States’ chief prosecutor during the Nuremberg trial. Stewart’s final film, “Sharkwater Extinction” will...

Other titles on slate include Firecrackers, and Toronto world premiere The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.

Anick Poirier’s Montreal-based Seville International arrives in Toronto with a sales roster comprising the previously unannounced The Great Darkened Days and Broken Mirrors, as well as Firecrackers, and Toronto world premiere The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.

The world premiere of Maxime Giroux’s The Great Darkened Days receives its first public screening on September 10 and hails from the director of former Canadian Oscar submission Felix And Meira. The P+I screening is set for September 8.

Martin Dubreuil, Sara Gadon,...

Oscar winner Alicia Vikander has boarded the Canadian documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch as the narrator ahead of a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film, by directors Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, explores the human impact on the earth and will debut Sept. 6 at Tiff.

"Alicia’s exceptional voice, and her considerable talent in knowing how to use it, has elevated our film enormously and brings a beauty and hope to the narration that is crucial. We are deeply honored by her participation,” said co-director Baichwal in a statement Tuesday.

Vikander is ...

Oscar winner Alicia Vikander has boarded the Canadian documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch as the narrator ahead of a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film, by directors Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, explores the human impact on the earth and will debut Sept. 6 at Tiff.

"Alicia’s exceptional voice, and her considerable talent in knowing how to use it, has elevated our film enormously and brings a beauty and hope to the narration that is crucial. We are deeply honored by her participation,” said co-director Baichwal in a statement Tuesday.

Vikander is ...

Exclusive: Tomb Raider and The Danish Girl star Alicia Vikander has lent her voice to big-canvas documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, which will get its world premiere this week at the Toronto Film Festival.

The science-themed doc, from filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier and photographer Edward Burtynsky, contends that human impact on the planet means we have entered a new geological era.

The Toronto-based trio travelled to six of seven continents and 20 countries (the project was entirely carbon offset), documenting evidence of human domination, from concrete seawalls that cover 60% of China’s mainland coast to potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains, and marble quarries in Italy to surreal phosphate tailings ponds in Florida.

The film is in English, Russian, Italian, German, Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles. Pic is being released in Canada by Mongrel Media. Seville International is handling international sales.

“Alicia’s exceptional voice, and...

The Amazon series “Homecoming,” starring Julia Roberts and directed by “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail, will have its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, Tiff organizers announced on Thursday.

“Homecoming,” a psychological thriller created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, is one of the five series that will be included in the festival’s Primetime program, which is devoted to TV from around the world.

Also included in the Toronto Primetime program: “Sorry for Your Loss,” a Facebook Watch series created by Kit Steinkellner and directed by James Ponsoldt, Jessica Yu and Allison Anders; the French sci-fi series “Ad Vitam,” directed by Thomas Cailley; the Asian horror anthology series “Folklore: A Mother’s Love & Pob,” from showrunner Eric Khoo; and David Syrkin’s Israeli comedy “Stockholm.”

Also Read: Sam Esmail Takes Credit for 'Finally' Making Julia Roberts-Dermot Mulroney an On-Screen Couple

Toronto also announced some of the...

The Toronto Intl. Film Festival has added Denys Arcand’s crime thriller “The Fall of the American Empire” and 18 other Canadian films to its lineup.

Nine of the films are directed by women and 14 are world premieres.

“We’re especially proud to present such a diverse group of films,” said Steve Gravestock, senior programmer. “Ranging from science fiction to fantasy, myth to documentary, and romance to a dystopic vision of our neighbours to the south, this year’s Canadian films come from every region in the country, stretching from east to west and north to south.”

“The Fall of the American Empire” stars Alexandre Landry, Maxim Roy, Yan England, and Rémy Girard and centers Landry’s character discovering two bags of money and facing a moral dilemma. Arcand was inspired to make the film after learning about the 2010 murder of two people in a Montreal boutique.

Sony Classics bought the...

The Toronto International Film Festival​ has added another 19 new titles to its 2018 festival lineup, comprised entirely of features directed by Canadian filmmakers. Each year, Tiff highlights the films that hail from its own shores in a standalone announcement, and this year it includes nine new films from female directors, six debut features, a number of titles from fixtures of the Canadian film scene, and the world premiere of three films that showcase some of the country’s Indigenous talent.

The festival will also play home to a special event world premiere and tribute dedicated to the late filmmaker and conservationist Rob Stewart, centered around his final film, “Sharkwater Extinction.” Stewart passed away in 2017 while working on the film, a followup to his 2006 documentary “Sharkwater.”

“We’re especially proud to present such a diverse group of films,” said Steve Gravestock, Tiff Senior Programmer, in an official statement. “Ranging from science fiction to fantasy,...

New films from Canadian filmmakers Denys Arcand, Maxime Giroux, Jennifer Baichwal and Bruce Sweeney have been added to 2018 Toronto International Film Festival lineup, which announced its slate of Canadian films on Wednesday.

Nine of the films are directed by women, fsix are debut features and 14 are world premieres.

Canadian features will include Arcand’s “The Fall of the American Empire,” Giroux’s “The Great Darkened Days” and Sweeney’s “Kingsway.”

Also Read: 'Beautiful Boy,' 'A Star Is Born' Highlight Toronto Film Festival Lineup

The Canadian documentaries include Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky’s “Anthropocene,” Ron Mann’s “Carmine Street Guitars” and Thom Fitzgerald’s “Splinters.”

Three of the films – Gwaii Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s “Edge of the Knife,” Darlene Naponse’s “Falls Around Her” and Miranda de Pencier’s “The Grizzlies” – feature indigenous talent.

A special event will screen the documentary “Sharkwater Extinction,...

Anthropocene and The Fall Of The American Empire are among films joining the line-up.

The Toronto International Film Festival has added another 19 Canadian titles to its line-up, among them the world premieres of documentary Anthropocene, Rob Stewart’s Sharkwater Extinction and Miranda de Pencier’s feature directorial debut The Grizzlies.

The new titles for the forty-third edition of the festival – which runs from September 6 to 16 - include nine films directed by women and five debut features and senior programmer Steve Gravestock emphasised the diversity represented.

Scroll down for full line-up

“We’re especially proud to present such a diverse group of films,...

Documentary marks third in series exploring humanity’s impact on Earth.

Heading into Cannes next week Seville International has boarded worldwide rights to the documentary Anthropocene.

The film is co-directed by veteran documentarians Jennifer Baichwal (Long Time Running), Nicholas de Pencier (Black Code) and photographer Edward Burtynsky (Watermark).

The third in a series about humanity’s impact on Earth, Anthropocene follows the research by an international body of scientists who argue that profound and lasting human changes to the planet means we has entered a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene.

The follow up to Manufactured Landscapes (2006) and Watermark (2013) is currently in post-production.

Beyond the tragedy of Gord Downie’s terminal cancer diagnosis on a personal level for his friends, family, and The Tragically Hip bandmates, the idea that we would never again hear his voice sing “Bobcaygeon” or “Courage” live meant his nation was losing its first legend of rock and roll. Considering how many of our greats were cut down by drugs, accidents, or age, the end of “rock eras” so to speak have become commonplace here. But Kiss, Rush, Neil Young, and others still tour. Canada has been fortunate until now.

It’s therefore all the more tragic that the first to go would be younger than each of those 70s superstars. Downie and The Hip were no less prolific, though—his death at age 53 was a young marker considering his debut was three decades and twelve albums ago. This is why their farewell tour inevitably sold out in minutes for every stop.