News

The 2024 Doc NYC festival has unveiled its winners.

The critically acclaimed festival, which is the largest documentary festival in the U.S., marked one of its most successful in-person editions yet, with more than 20,000 viewers having watched films over nine days in New York alongside more than 1,500 filmmaker and industry guests participating in screenings and panels.

The juries for each respective award, along with the coveted Audience Award, had tough competition among this year’s festival.

Among eight international features, Areeb Zuaiter’s feature debut “Yalla Parkour” was selected as the winner. “Yalla Parkour” had its world premiere at the festival, and centers on young parkour athletes in Gaza who practice the sport on a “conflict-scarred” landscape.

“The jury was unanimous in its choice for best international documentary,” the Doc NYC international jury, consisting of “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” filmmaker Moses Bwayo, “Little Richard: I Am Everything” director Lisa Cortes,...

In Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin’s new documentary Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse, Robert Crumb is the man who came to dinner.

In one of the film’s central scenes, Crumb and his late wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb join longtime friends Art Spiegelman and his wife Françoise Mouly to break bread and discuss their respective connections as titans of the ’70s and ’80s underground comic movement. For purposes of this scene, Crumb is just a friendly and reflective old guy, a normal person having a normal dinner with his normal, if culturally significant, pals.

Crumb’s ease in this scene is disarming because while here he’s simply a peer and a colleague, he’s something much more significant in a broader cinematic context. Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb casts an impossibly long shadow over any nonfiction film about artists, comic or otherwise, but really over any biographical documentary of any kind.

Exclusive: Doc NYC today unveiled its main slate for the 15th anniversary of America’s biggest documentary festival, a lineup that includes 31 world premieres and 24 U.S. premieres.

The festival, running from November 13-21 in Manhattan (and continuing online until Dec. 1) will open with the U.S. premiere of Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, directed by Sinead O’Shea, a portrait of the acclaimed Irish writer who died in July at the age of 93. Closing the festival on Nov. 21 will be the world premiere of Drop Dead City – New York on the Brink in 1975, directed by Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn, “a look back at the circumstances and players involved in NYC’s mid-70s financial crisis.” (The film’s title refers to a legendary headline in the New York Daily News reporting on then-Pres. Ford’s promise in October 1975 to veto any federal bailout of the Big Apple...

Ricky Jay, a singularly skilled magician whose acting career included roles in “Deadwood” and “Boogie Nights,” died in Los Angeles yesterday. He was 72. The news was confirmed by Jay’s manager, Winston Simone, who said that he died of natural causes and “was one of a kind. We will never see the likes of him again.”

“I am sorry to share that my remarkable friend, teacher, collaborator and co-conspirator is gone,” tweeted Michael Weber, Jay’s partner in the Deceptive Practices Company.

Jay was the subject of a 2012 documentary, “Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay,” directed by Molly Bernstein. It explored his revered career as a magician, as did a 1993 New Yorker profile that referred to Jay as “perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive.” Those talents also brought him work as a behind-the-scenes consultant on movies like “The Prestige,” “The Illusionist,” and “Ocean’s Thirteen.

Every week, a bevy of new releases (independent or otherwise), open in theaters. That’s why we created the Weekly Film Guide, filled with basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

For August, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for August 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, August 12. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Anthropoid

Director: Sean Ellis

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Harry Lloyd, Jamie Dornan, Toby Jones

Synopsis: “Anthropoid” is based on the extraordinary true story of “Operation Anthropoid,” the code name for the Czechoslovakian operatives’ mission to assassinate SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution,...

Photographer Rosamond Purcell specializes in beautiful, yet unsettling images of natural and man-made objects. Her work has garnered international acclaim and she has released numerous books, including “Book Nest,” “A Glorious Enterprise: The Museum of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia,” and “Owls Head: On the Nature of Lost Things,” which covers Purcell’s 20-year photographic “excavation” of a Maine junk yard. She has also collaborated with historian Stephen Jay Gould, magician Ricky Jay, and Shakespeare scholar Michael Witmore.

Read More: ‘An Art That Nature Makes’ Exclusive Trailer: New Doc Examines Rosamond Purcell’s Essential Work

Now, director Molly Bernstein (“Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay”) has directed a new film entitled “An Art That Nature Makes,” that details the photographer’s oeuvre of work and how she has found unexpected beauty in the discarded and decayed, straddling the line between the breathtaking and the disturbed. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Molly Bernstein’s “An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell” examines the life and career of photographer Rosamond Purcell, bringing light to a major presence long unrecognized by the art world. A collector of objects that’s curious about human beings’ obsessive need to collect, Purcell is not an easily classifiable artist, but she’s someone who uses material objects as a medium to understand the collective human psyche. The daughter of an eminent Harvard University historian, she grew up in an academic environment where the written word was sacred, but eventually gravitated towards images both emotionally and intellectually challenging. Some of the images in her work include an old, discarded book transformed by the steady work of hungry termites, and a meticulously arranged box of human molars collected by Peter the Great. The documentary features interviews with not only Purcell, but admirers such as author Jonathan Safran Foer,...

Plus: Gkids executives join Angelina Jolie on The Breadwinner as executive producers; and more…

Outfest top brass announced the complete line-up of 162 films from 19 countries on Thursday ahead of the July 7-17 festival.

Opening the festival is Samuel Goldwyn Films’ The Intervention, Clea Duvall’s directorial and screenwriting feature debut, while Vertical Entertainment’s Other People closes the event.

“I am proud and honoured to present a program that focuses on the most talented queer voices across all media – from film to television to the web,” said Outfest executive director Christopher Racster.

For full details click here.

Slamdance Presents will release Claire Carré’s directorial debut Embers, which closed the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival, on August 5 at the ArcLight Hollywood. The Orchard will release the film at the same time on VOD.Gkids announced that CEO and founder Eric Beckman and senior vice-president of distribution David Jesteadt will serve as executive producers alongside Angelina Jolie Pitt and others...

Every year sees a number of biopics released to the public that take fictional liberties in glorifying or vilifying the film.s subject as per the filmmakers. views. These films serve their purpose, generally telling a decent story while raking in the money. Far less often do biographical documentaries reach those levels of popularity, despite showcasing real stories told by the actual people involved. Is actor/magician Ricky Jay.s life more important than Abraham Lincoln.s? Perhaps not, but I can read a history book to find out Lincoln.s story. Variety reports distributor Kino Lorber has acquired the U.S. rights to Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay, the documentary co-directed by Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein. The film, which garnered positive reviews at its New York Film Festival debut last year, will be released at New York.s Film Forum on April 17 before seeing...

Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein's magician documentary "Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay." The film, which premiered at last year's New York Film Festival, will be be released on April 17 at New York's Film Forum, followed by a national release at various Landmark theaters. "Deceptive Practice" offers an intimate glimpse into the life of magician and best-selling author Ricky Jay, as well as the many greats of the professional magic world who taught him. One of the world’s greatest sleight-of-hand artists, Jay began learning magic at the age of four. The film, told through Jay's words, includes performance footage from his one-man shows and TV appearances. “We fell head over heels for this brilliantly constructed film that matches the brilliance of its subject,” Lorber said of the acquisition. “Ricky’s warmth, wit and erudition fuse seamlessly with...

Kino Lorber has taken Us rights to "Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay," from directors Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein. The film debuted at last year's New York Film Festival. Richard Lorber states, “We fell head over heels for this brilliantly constructed film that matches the brilliance of its subject. Ricky’s warmth, wit and erudition fuse seamlessly with feats of conjuring that are nothing short of miraculous.” Mr. Jay adds, “I’m making a concerted effort not to escape from the frames of the film before it is shown." Kino Lorber will release the film at New York's Film Forum on April 17, followed by a national release. Synopsis below: Deceptive Practice is an intimate portrait of the multitalented Ricky Jay, best-selling author and historian, acclaimed actor, leading collector of antiquarian books and artifacts, but above all one of the world’s greatest sleight-of-hand artists, capable of...

Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay

Directed by Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein

USA, 2012

On the opposite side of the various muckraking documentaries that attempt to rile the audience over one political or social issue, there is the documentary Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay. This is a film which is not attempting to spread outrage about anything, least of all Jay, the stage magician who may be best known to audiences from his appearances in films like House of Games and Heist. The only way in which this film could overcome its tendency to fawn over its subject would be if Jay were the greatest sleight-of-hand artist living, a sensei of his craft. Fortunately for directors Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein, that’s exactly what he is.

The film takes the exact path that its title might imply: it goes back to the...

You could count me as enthusiastic for this year’s initial New York Film Festival lineup — no, I won’t even bother listing all the auteurs — so hats off to Lincoln Center for making it all the better. In unveiling their Masterworks, Cinema Reflected, On the Arts, and Special Events selection, it’s become evident that 2012 will bring forth a glut of outside-the-lines works.

The most notable of these would be an 8k Lawrence of Arabia restoration; a documentary “preview” from Oliver Stone; Odd Man Out, the follow-up to 2008′s excellent Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired; the acclaimed Kubrick documentary, Room 237; something about Ingmar Bergman & Liv Ullmann; and even The Princess Bride. Talk about something for everybody.

Read the list below:

Masterworks

Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962, UK/USA)

The screen’s greatest epic returns in a magnificent 8K restoration. A Sony Pictures Repertory release.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand,...

Three anniversary classics will screen at the 50th New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14): David Lean’s 50-year-old epic "Lawrence of Arabia," fresh from its 8K unveiling at Cannes, Walt Disney’s 75-year-old animated "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," and Rob Reiner’s comedy "The Princess Bride," marking a quarter century with a cast renunion. Other special events include a sneak of three episodes of Oliver Stone’s ten-part 2012 Showtime series "The Untold History of the United States," and World Premieres of Molly Bernstein’s and Alan Edelstein’s magician portrait, "Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay," and avant-garde theater director Richard Foreman's feature debut focusing on the rituals of 25 people, "Once Every Day." With the Elinor Bunin Munroe Center needing programming, the Nyff is adding two new sidebar sections to...