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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)

Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The Bikeriders’ imagery as a jumping-off point, Jeff Nichols’ latest feature imagines a fictionalized Chicago motorcycle club, the Vandals. Motorcycle club culture might be a distinctly American phenomenon, but Nichols casts two Brits in the lead, with varying returns: Jodie Comer as Kathy narrates the story in a clear Goodfellas conceit, adopting a Midwest accent flashy (and divisive) enough to ensure sustained awards-season chatter; Tom Hardy is Johnny, a truck driver who gets the idea to start a motorcycle club while watching Marlon Brando’s The Wild One. This low-stakes “why not?” starting point for founding the club works early in the film, until, following the Goodfellas trajectory, it all comes crashing down.

Celebrity documentaries are commanding lofty price tags at the moment, even though “star power” itself seems to be losing its sizzle.

The facts are nasty: Superstar endorsements carried zero clout in the presidential elections. Further, studios have lost their zeal for the once pivotal pre-opening star interview circuit. Superstar vehicles like Wolfs (George Clooney and Brad Pitt) drifted before audiences with limited exposure to blurbdom. Sequel numbers carry greater weight than festival fervor.

Defying this algorithmic blur, Apple TV still felt its Billie Eilish caper was worth $27 million, and Disney forked out $32 million for Elton John: Never Too Late. Disney also paid handsomely for a new/old doc titled Beatles ’64 from Paul McCartney, premiering this week. Could Taylor Swift be far behind?

Intriguingly, audiences still register an appetite for docs about past legends like Humphrey Bogart as well as semi-present ones like Bob Dylan — even litigating about their validity.

Academy Award-winning actor Humphrey Bogart’s life might have turned out a whole lot different had he taken to heart criticism his parents showered on him through his entire early life, calling him an “inadequate” actor and scholar, and an outright “failure.” But a distinctive, raspy voice, the character in his face that he once said had “taken an awful lot of late nights and drinking to put it there,” and that unparalleled talent for playing an emotionally complex tough guy — all fueled by an incredible drive — made him a Hollywood legend. And, as told in the new documentary streaming today, “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” five women in his life defined the trajectory of his career.

“Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” is chock full of never-before-seen photos and is told using Bogart’s own words from letters, diaries and historical interviews as the narrative backbone. But what makes the...

Kathryn Ferguson uses clips, voiceovers and interview archives to offer a candid and entertaining account of the actor who was at the pinnacle of Hollywood’s golden age

Kathryn Ferguson’s very serviceable and enjoyable documentary about Humphrey Bogart takes us through his extraordinary, almost mythic life story; it uses clips, voiceovers and existing interview archives (including the inevitable and indispensable Dick Cavett) but no new on-camera material.

Bogart was the son of a distinguished New York surgeon and a refined artist, illustrator and suffragette and might easily have become a bland east coast bourgeois professional, were it not for his academic underperformance and love of acting which took him from Broadway to Hollywood. The accident of his rugged looks and unmistakable voice brought him tough-guy roles under the whip of studio boss Jack Warner, and he became the face of heroic masculinity – what Helen Hayes called Bogart’s “plain...

Humphrey Bogart was no ordinary movie star. He was, and still is, an icon: Hollywood’s Golden Age in fedora-sporting, gun-toting, cigarette-smoking form. He chalked up nearly 80 features in just over 25 years, including several timeless classics, and his world-weary features and lazy New York drawl are instantly recognisable. Naturally, then, he’s already been the subject of numerous documentaries, but Kathryn Ferguson’s new study claims to take a different approach: this is ‘Bogie’ in his own words – either in archive footage or spoken by an actor – and the words of those closest to him.

Opening with his star-studded funeral, Ferguson’s film spools back to Bogart’s childhood, and from thereon tells his story in linear fashion, from a childhood spent with an emotionally distant mother to his eventual death from oesophageal cancer aged 57. En route, his remarkable life took in a rollercoaster acting career, four marriages to actresses...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Ben Thompson for Wbgr-fm on November 21st, reviewing the highly anticipated film adaptation of the famous Broadway stage play “Wicked,” in theaters on November 22nd.

The story involves two students who meet at Shiz University (for shizzle) … Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned and future Wicked Witch of the West, as well as bubbly Galinda (Ariana Grande), destined to become Glinda the Good Witch. The two begin as rivals, as Elfie has problems with the bigotry other students have for her green skin, and they both have eyes on fellow student Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). When Elfie also shows promise in casting spells, she is taken under wing by Headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), and eventually Elphaba and Galinda join forces and become besties. When Elfie gets an invite to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), the...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on Wbgr-fm on November 14th, reviewing the new documentary “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” an overview of one of the most memorable movie stars in history. In select theaters November 15th, and for digital download December 10th.

This film is is the first official feature documentary to explore the remarkable life and career of Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart. Set from the glitz of Jazz Age Broadway to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and framed around the five key women in his life – his mother and four wives, including his final marriage to screen icon Lauren Bacall – the film weaves together those relationships against a backdrop of outside events which defined Bogart’s career trajectory.

”Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” is in select theaters on November 15th, see local listings, and will be available for digital download on December 10th.

In the new documentary “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” the late actor himself does most of the talking. “Acting is a nice racket,” he says. “The words ‘movie star’ are so misused they have no meaning. The studios can make anyone a star if they get behind them. That’s why I don’t kid myself, why I can’t take myself or the business seriously.”

Born 125 years ago this December, the “Casablanca” star remains one of the most recognizable icons of the silver screen. Those careworn features full of irony and pathos, that ever-present trenchcoat and fedora, are as familiar as Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate or Audrey Hepburn clutching a cigarette holder. But when director Kathryn Ferguson was approached to make a feature-length documentary about his life, she knew she wanted to get behind the actor’s movie star façade.

Made with the cooperation of the...

Proudly billed as “the first official feature documentary to explore the remarkable life and career of Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart,” Kathryn Ferguson’s “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” makes terrific use of its access to the actor’s friends, family, and personal archives, but the burden of this film’s estate-approved purpose — its self-imposed obligation to offer the definitive history of a man who millions of movie lovers can see with their eyes closed — has an unfortunate tendency to blunt its steady drumbeat of intimate details. The result is a womb-to-tomb biography that uses Bogart’s own words to cover the most basic facts about his life; it’s an establishing shot that strains for the nuance of a close-up.

If attempting to cover the full span of a person’s life in less than 100 minutes can feel like a fool’s errand regardless of the subject, the inimitable “Casablanca...

Sinead O’Connor Rips Up Pope’s Photo on Live TV: A Controversial Moment Remembered! (Photo Credit – Wikimedia)

It was October 3, 1992, a night that would etch itself into pop culture history. Sinéad O’Connor, the punk spirit wrapped in reluctant pop star clothing, took to the Saturday Night Live stage and did the unthinkable: she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II. With each tear—once, twice, thrice—O’Connor’s actions mirrored her turbulent journey through fame, a journey she had never anticipated. Just two years prior, she’d soared to the top with her iconic cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, only to find herself at the center of a storm she never requested.

The photo she tore wasn’t just any photo; it was a profoundly personal symbol tied to her fraught relationship with her late mother. O’Connor had promised herself that one day, she would destroy it.

The details of Humphrey Bogart’s epic marriage to Lauren Bacall will now be on the big screen.

Just months after late icon Bacall would have been 100 years old, the new documentary “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes” puts her romance with longtime collaborator and co-star Bogart front and center. The duo’s son Stephen Humphrey Bogart worked closely with Humphrey Bogart Estate CEO Robbert de Klerk and director Kathryn Ferguson, who previously helmed the Sinéad O’Connor doc “Nothing Compares.”

“Life Comes in Flashes” is billed as an “inside look at one of Hollywood’s greatest cinematic icons, telling Humphrey Bogart’s story through his relationships with the five formidable women in his life – his mother and his four wives. Each relationship offers a deep and intimate understanding of a man for whom stardom was hard-won and richly deserved.”

BIFA-winning, IDA-nominated, and BAFTA Breakthrough-selected filmmaker Ferguson opted for the narration...

‘Bluey’ Goes Free-To-Air In Japan

Emmy-winning breakout kids series Bluey will go free-to-air in Japan. Episodes of the Australian animated show from Joe Brumm will begin on TV Tokyo’s Eeny Meeny Many Moe’ slot on Saturday, October 26 at 7am local time, following the network’s deal with distributor BBC Studios. The show follows loveable and inexhaustible blue heeler dog Bluey, her younger sister Bingo and their mum and dad who have unpredictable tales in and around their neighborhood. Rei Marumo, General Manager of the Anime Division at TV Tokyo, said the series could become “an important conversation starter for both parents and children.” The Ludo Studios show, originally for the ABC, is the most-streamed series to-date this year in the U.S., with more than 35 billion minutes watched, according to Nielsen. Disney+ has international streaming rights, including in Japan. BBC Studios has also added Japan to its global master toy deal with Moose Toys.

The British Film Institute and Chanel have named their latest crop of winners for the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards.

The third annual awards — presented to three rising U.K. directors, with a prize of £20,000 to each — went to Luna Carmoon, writer/director of “Hoard” (which bowed in Venice last year), Pinny Grylls, co-writer/co-director of “Grand Theft Hamlet,” and Naqqash Khalid writer/director of “In Camera.” The three were selected by a jury made up of Tilda Swinton, British Vogue editorial advisor Edward Enninful, Le Cinema Club founder Marie-Louise Khondji and BFI chief executive Ben Roberts.

“The three films we have had the honour to spotlight this year represent — with urgency and accuracy — some of the core values the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards were set up to encourage: self-determination, a reflection on untold life experience and a boundaryless curiosity about the capacities of filmmaking itself, regardless of any limitation,” said Swinton.

Hoard director Luna Carmoon, Grand Theft Hamlet co-director Pinny Grylls and In Camera filmmaker Naqqash Khalid have been named the winners at the third BFI and Chanel filmmaker awards, held this evening (October 1) at London’s Roundhouse.

Each filmmaker received a £20,000 prize, and were selected by a jury of actor Tilda Swinton, Vogue global creative and cultural advisor Edward Enninful, Marie-Louise Khondji, producer and founder of Le Cinéma Club and BFI chief executive Ben Roberts.

Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022 Carmoon’s debut, Hoard, world premiered at Venice in 2023 and won several Critics’ Week prizes, including the audience award. It follows...

“Nothing Compares” director Kathryn Ferguson has set her new feature, a documentary about Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart, at Universal Pictures Content Group.

Titled “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” it is the first documentary about the star endorsed by his estate.

“The film focuses on the icon of Hollywood’s golden age, Humphrey Bogart, and is framed around his relationships with the five formidable women in his life – his mother and his four wives, including Lauren Bacall,” reads the logline. “Featuring unprecedented access to rare footage from the estate, and narrated exclusively in his own words, ‘Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes’ explores his journey to become the of star of timeless classics ‘Casablanca,’ ‘Maltese Falcon’’ and ‘The Big Sleep.’ Each relationship offers a deep and intimate understanding of a man for whom stardom was hard won and much deserved.”

The project, which has just wrapped production, will also see Ferguson reunite...

Photo credit: ©BAFTA/Vivek Vadoliya, 2023

BAFTA Breakthrough is a wonderful Netflix-supported initiative that celebrates the very best of young talent. In its 10th year, the alumni boasts the likes of Florence Pugh, Tom Holland and Letitia Wright – and this year comes a whole host of exciting new names. One of which caught our eye especially, which is Vivian Oparah, who shone in Peckham-set rom-com Rye Lane, which enamoured viewers with its spring-time release. We discuss what it means to her to be named as a BAFTA Breakthrough artist, and naturally we look back to Rye Lane, to talk about shooting the film, and the lasting, indelible impact it has left. She also looks ahead to a future that we’re gonna consider pretty damn bright.

Watch the full interview with Vivian Oparah here:

See below for the full list of this year’s stars:

UK Breakthroughs (20):

Adjani Salmon,...

A galaxy of 42 emerging creative talents from across the U.S., U.K. and India have been unveiled as the 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort.

The selected talents have worked on some of the most lauded projects over the last several months including “The Last of Us,” “1923,” “Blue Jean,” “Rye Lane,” “Rocket Boys” and “Joyland.”

Breakthrough is BAFTA’s flagship new talent initiative in partnership with Netflix, drawn from creatives working in film, games and television. Awarded to those in the midst of, or on the cusp of their breakthrough moment, the year-long initiative includes one-to-one meetings and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and screenings, as well as networking events, both in the U.K. and internationally.

This year’s cohort comprises creatives spanning craft specialisms from hair and make up, production, editing and games design, to performance, directing and cinematography and is from diverse ethnic backgrounds and abilities.

Six of the 20 UK talents have previously been named Screen Stars of Tomorrow.

Actors Bella Ramsey and Vivian Oparah, and filmmakers Adjani Salmon and Raine Allen-Miller are among 32 talents selected for the 10th anniversary edition of the Bafta Breakthrough programme.

The 2023 edition of the talent-spotting scheme includes 20 UK names, and 12 individuals from the US.

Scroll down for the full 2023 Breakthrough list

Those selected from the UK include Game Of Thrones and The Last Of Us star Ramsey, Dreaming Whilst Black creator Salmon, and Allen-Miller and Oparah, director and star of Rye Lane.

Also included are Blue Jean writer-director Georgia Oakley...

The BFI today announced the winners of its second annual Filmmaker Awards, hosted in partnership with French fashion house Chanel.

The award, which comes with a £20,000 prize, was awarded to three artists working across film and moving image practices: writer/director Ella Glendining (director and cast of Is There Anybody Out There?), writer/director/producer Savanah Leaf (writer/director of Earth Mama), and producer Nadira Murray (Winners).

The winners of the 2023 awards were selected by this year’s jury: Tilda Swinton, BFI Fellow and Global Chanel Ambassador, Edward Enninful OBE, Editor-in-Chief, British Vogue and European Editorial Director, Vogue; Marie-Louise Khondji, producer and founder of Le Cinéma Club and Ben Roberts, BFI Chief Executive.

“We were presented with an incredibly strong and diverse shortlist, indicative of the exceptional quality of work being produced by early career UK filmmakers at the moment,” the Jury said. “It was a very difficult decision,...

Above: first US teaser poster for Poor Things. Design by Vasilis Marmatakis.I don’t know whether it’s because of the power of Yorgos Lanthimos, or the popularity of Emma Stone, or the sheer genius of designer Vasilis Marmatakis, or a combination of all of them, but three out of the four most liked posters on my Movie Poster of the Day Instagram over the past six months have all been posters for Lanthimos’s latest, Poor Things. The teaser above is now the most liked poster ever on my feed.Breaking up the Poor Things monopoly at number two is Polish designer Maks Bereski’s fan-art design for Ridley Scott’s yet-to-be-released Napoleon, which also went through the roof with over 4,000 likes when I posted it in June in conjunction with my article on Bereski and his favorite movie posters. Instagram likes are a fickle thing but it...

Voting will close on November 1.

Voting is now open for the Big Screen Award’s Best British Film of the Year 2023.

The vote closes on November 1 and the winner will be announced at the Big Screen Awards ceremony on November 23 at The Brewery in London.

The Big Screen Awards 2023: Best British Film Of The Year

Last year’s best British film was awarded to Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast with Mark Jenkin’s Bait winning in 2019 and 2018’s inaugural prize going to Daniel Kokotajlo’s Apostasy.

The full list of nominees for this year’s Big Screen Awards can be found here.

Aimee Lou Wood for ‘Living’, ‘Rye Lane’ team and ‘Aftersun’ director Charlotte Wells among the nominees

The Big Screen Awards can unveil the shortlists for best British film as well as the nominees for breakthrough British actor and filmmaker.

The nominees for British film, which will be decided by a public vote, include Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin, Matthew Warchus’s Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical and Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light.

Vote for Best British Film of the Year here

Also among the nominees is Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane – both of...

HBO Max’s The Janes was among the top winners at the 44th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday, with the film — centered on a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion network in Chicago — taking home best documentary as well as best social issue documentary.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presented the Documentary category winners during a live ceremony at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and streamed live on NATAS’ viewing platform powered by Vimeo, the second of a two-night celebration. The News category winners were announced in a ceremony held at the Palladium on Wednesday.

Scheduled presenters at the Thursday night Docs ceremony included HBO Documentary & Family Programming’s Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller, reporter Jelani Cobb, Nothing Compares director Kathryn Ferguson, NPR host and Is That Black Enough for You?!? writer-director Elvis Mitchell, Doc NYC co-founder Thom Powers and National Geographic correspondent Mariana van Zeller.

Jess Search, a British documentary veteran who co-founded the Doc Society, died July 31 of brain cancer. She was 54.

Search’s death was announced in a Doc Society statement yesterday, which said she had died peacefully surrounded by the love of her life Beadie Finzi, their children Ella and Ben, and friends.

The statement called Search a “beloved partner and parent, a brilliant friend, an industry catalyst, master campaigner, consummate producer, preternatural public convener, and mentor to many.”

“Jess leaves a global family who we know will continue to speak out on injustice, challenge the status quo and live lives of purpose with love in their hearts,” it added. “We consider ourselves to be ‘Lucky F***ers’ to stand beside all of you.”

Search announced that she had a brain tumour several weeks ago, at which point she unveiled the Independence Project – a global research project to “fully articulate the unique and vital contribution to society,...

Search had published a letter revealing her brain tumour diagnosis last month.

Jess Search, co-founder and CEO of non-profit documentary organisation Doc Society, has died at the age of 54 from brain cancer.

Search’s death was announced in a statement on Tuesday, August 1 by Doc Society, which read:

Yesterday morning, our dear Jess Search died peacefully in London, England, from brain cancer. She was surrounded by the love of her life Beadie Finzi, their children Ella and Ben, and friends.

As a fierce supporter of independent artists and co-founder of Doc Society, Jess spent the weeks following her diagnosis focused...

On July 26, 2023, Irish musician Sinéad O’Connor died at 56, and fellow artist Morrissey called out the hypocrisy of the music industry. O’Connor remained outspoken throughout her career; she famously tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II to protest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Her outspokenness brought her criticism from the public and her fellow musicians. When news of her death broke, Morrissey took issue with the latter. He believed the music industry hadn’t stood up for O’Connor when it mattered.

Morrissey addressed musicians who spoke of their love of Sinéad O’Connor after her death

After the news of O’Connor’s death broke, social media saw an outpouring of tributes from her fans and peers. Morrissey quickly took issue with this.

“She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only...

The world suffered an enormous loss earlier this May when it was announced that Tina Turner had passed away, and again last week when Tony Bennett died at 96. And now, one more extraordinarily bright musical light has been snuffed. The radical, pioneering Irish musician Sinéad O'Connor has died at the age of just 56.

She burst on the scene bald, brazen, and with unmatched lyrical ferocity in 1987 with her debut album "The Lion and The Cobra." The album became an overnight international sensation, and with "Nothing Compares 2 U," the Prince-penned lead single of her 1990 follow-up "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," she became a star. The world hadn't seen anyone like Sinéad O'Connor before her time, and it's hard to imagine her ever being replaced. From tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II live on the "Saturday Night Live" stage to becoming an enrobed priest to...

Moody’s previous roles include director of film programming at Sheffield Doc Fest.

Luke W Moody, the former director of film programming at the UK’s Sheffield DocFest, has been named the head of the BFI Doc Society Fund at Doc Society.

In this role, Moody will lead the team in managing all aspects of the UK-wide BFI Doc Society Fund slate and will collaborate with Doc Society directors Shanida Scotland and Sandra Whipham on the strategic direction of Doc Society’s role as the BFI’s UK-wide delegate partner for documentary.

Scotland and Whipham had been managing the fund on an interim basis.

59% of Bifa voters are women or non-binary; with 38% based outside of London.

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) will take place on December 3, and has added key industry figures including Jessie Buckley and Laura Poitras to its 1,500-strong voting pool.

Entries will open for features in July, and will close on August 25, with a late entry deadline of September 1.

Features round one voting will run from September 18 to October 2; with longlist announcements from Wednesday, October 18, and round two voting from October 18 to 30.

The nominations will be announced on November 2, with a final round of voting in November. As previously, the...

Martin McDonagh’s nine-fold Oscar nominee The Banshees of Inisherin, snubbed at this year’s Academy Awards, was a big winner at the 2023 Irish Film and TV Awards (IFTAs), winning three trophies, including for best film, best supporting actor for Brendan Gleeson and best supporting actress for Kerry Condon.

Aftersun star Paul Mescal, another snubbed 2023 Oscar nominee, also won over the home crowd, winning his first IFTA award as best actor for his turn in Charlotte Wells’ acclaimed debut.

Austin Butler’s turn as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic, another Oscar-nominated performance that failed to win over the U.S. Academy, wowed IFTA voters, who gave the young American the award for the best international actor. Similarily, Cate Blanchett’s Oscar-nominated best actress turn in Tár was IFTA’s pick for its best international actress honor.

But IFTA voters agreed with the American Academy on Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front,...

Paul Mescal won best actor for Oscar-nominated performance in Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun.

Aisha and The Banshees Of Inisherin were among the big winners at this year’s Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) , which marked its 20th anniversary with a ceremony in Dublin on Sunday.

Martin McDonagh’s multiple Oscar-nominated The Banshees Of Inisherin shot on location in the west of Ireland and took awards for best film, while Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon won IFTAs for supporting actor and actress.

Frank Berry’s direct provision drama Aisha also scored several major awards in the ceremony at Dublin Royal Convention Centre.

The Irish Film And TV Academy (IFTA) have revealed this year’s nominees for the Screen Ireland – IFTA Rising Star award.

The five nominees are Aoife McArdle (Director – Severance), Danielle Galligan (Actor – Lakelands), Daryl McCormack, Éanna Hardwicke (Actor – Lakelands), and Kathryn Ferguson (Director – Nothing Compares).

Previous winners of the IFTA Rising Star Award include Saoirse Ronan, Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, John Michael McDonagh, Sarah Greene, Gerard Barrett, and Jamie Dornan.

Announcing the nominees, the Irish Academy said this year’s group of Rising Stars represents a new “vanguard of the next wave of Irish Screen Talent.”

“Ireland has recently enjoyed a record-breaking year in terms of film and television production. The past year saw Irish directors, writers, producers, cast, and crew create world-class stories that have engaged audiences around the globe,” the statement read.

Selected by a special jury, the winner...

Outlander ‘s “The Skye Boat Song” is one of the most iconic songs of any TV show. With season 7 fast approaching, the show has secured legendary Irish singer Sinead O’Connor to put her own spin on the tune, and Outlander star Caitríona Balfe is more than impressed. Balfe recently expressed her excitement for O’Connor’s recording of the Outlander theme song, saying, “I am in awe.”

Sinead O’Connor is season 7’s theme song artist Singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor performs in 2020 I Andrew Chin/Getty Images

The Outlander theme song is undoubtedly one of the catchiest tunes on TV today, and for the upcoming season 7, the show secured O’Connor to put her spin on it. “We are honored to have Sinead O’Connor performing ‘The Skye Boat Song,'” Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts told Entertainment Weekly in a statement.

Singing her praise, Roberts said, “Her rendition is,...

‘The Woman King’ took prizes for best ensemble and best female friendship on screen.

Charlotte Wells’ indie drama Aftersun and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King headed the winners at the second Girls On Film awards, from the UK podcast celebrating exceptional women in cinema.

Aftersun received the best feature film award, four days after it picked up the Bafta for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. The film also won best publicity campaign, for Mubi with Organic for theatrical & awards publicity, and Dda for awards publicity.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

The Woman King...

The £6 million of National Lottery funds will be invested over three years.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is to invest up to £6m over three years in documentary filmmaking, and has re-appointed Doc Society to distribute doc funding across features and shorts, as well as support talent development.

Formerly known as Britdoc, Doc Society was founded in 2005 as a non-profit to support documentary films and filmmakers. It has been the BFI’s delegate partner for funding documentaries since 2017, and has received £9.7m in funding over the past five years.

The BFI Doc Society Fund will open for applications during April-June...

The BFI today said it will invest 7 million (£6 million) of National Lottery “good cause” funding over three years in Doc Society.

The cash award is part of the BFI’s rollout for its new National Lottery Strategy and will go toward supporting the documentary-focused non-profit in its distribution of funding across features, shorts and talent development.

The BFI Doc Society Fund will also be open for applications from April-June 2023. Recruitment will start imminently for a new executive who will lead the fund, working closely with Sandra Whipham and Shanida Scotland, Directors of Doc Society.

The BFI has said Doc Society will also “develop and evolve” the funding and support it offers filmmakers from April 2023 to meet the new BFI’s new National Lottery strategic priorities. These structural changes will include a stronger focus on regional and national opportunities through the BFI Doc Society Fund to support features and shorts.

Founded...

Louis Armstrong, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Selena Gomez, Sinead O’Connor and Tanya Tucker are the subjects of six separate 2022 music documentaries. But if you ask the directors behind each project whether or not they made a music doc, the answer is resounding no.

Instead, the music created by each legendary artist is used to draw viewers into a deeper story that goes beyond song.

Sacha Jenkins’ “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” is a prime example. While Jenkins delves into the life and art of the legendary jazz performer, the director also explores America and race by examining the misconception that the New Orleans trumpeter didn’t do enough to support the civil-rights movement.

“The film is much more than a music doc,” says Jenkins. “Music is a great portal into larger conversations because music is always a reflection of and a reaction to the environment, particularly with Black artists in America.

The PGA Awards announced its nominees for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures today, a list noted for a number of snubs and surprises.

Seven films were recognized with nominations, including All That Breathes, Shaunak Sen’s documentary about two brothers to Delhi, India who have dedicated their lives to rehabilitating birds of prey that have fallen victim to the city’s polluted skies. It won the Best Feature honors at the IDA Documentary Awards over the weekend, so the PGA Awards nomination comes as no surprise.

However, omitted from the PGA list was All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the strong Oscar contender from director Laura Poitras which on Friday was named Best Non-Fiction Film by the New York Film Critics Circle. Also missing out on a PGA Award nomination were Moonage Daydream, Brett Morgen’s documentary on David Bowie that is far and away the top-grossing documentary of the year in theatrical release,...

It was a great night for Charlotte Wells' father-daughter drama Aftersun at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday evening, as the film—– already a favourite going into the evening after 16 nominations, won seven, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Other films scoring several awards included Blue Jean, and The Origin, about a nomadic tribe that faces a terrifying ancient threat that comes when night falls.

The BIFAs continued non-gender-specific main performances categories and added one, the Joint Lead Performance, awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their roles as extraordinary real-life siblings who communicated only with each other in The Silent Twins.

Here is the full list of winners…

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson – Winner

Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living – Oliver Hermanus,...

It has been a stellar year for British talent, as is evidenced by the amazing line up of films celebrated and championed by BIFA this evening. The British Independent Film Awards were handed out this evening in London and we were there to talk to the presenters and nominees on the red carpet.

A full list of winners follows the interviews. Colin Hart and Ethan Hart were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.

The 2022 BIFAs Red Carpet Interviews

The full list of winners is below.

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson (Winner)

Blue Jean Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen

The Wonder Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney

Best Director,...

It was an historic night for female filmmakers at the British Independent Film Awards, with 10 of the night’s biggest awards going to women or films directed by them. The biggest winner of the night was “Aftersun,” which won Best British Independent Film, as well as Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Director for Charlotte Wells. The film also took home prizes for cinematography, editing, and music supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” also had a strong showing, with Rosy McEwen winning Best Lead Performance and Kerrie Hayes winning Best Supporting Performance and Oakley winning Best Debut Screenwriter. Shaheen Baig also won Best Casting for the film.

Despite facing stiff competition from the likes of “Decision to Leave” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” won Best International Independent Film.

Keep reading for the complete list of nominees from the 2022 British Independent Film Awards,...

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Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, was the big winner at this year’s British Independent Film Awards in London, earning seven honors from 16 nominations.

The drama about a father and daughter’s complex relationship won the awards for best British independent film, presented by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing), best director, best debut director and best screenplay on Sunday night.

The film, which became a breakout hit in Cannes, where it was nabbed by A24 and Mubi, previously also won three craft awards: in the best cinematography category for Gregory Oke, for best editing for Blair McClendon and in the best music supervision category, a new honor introduced this year, for Lucy Bright.

Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean, about a young teacher forced to lead a double life, earned 13 nominations and four BIFAs.

Charlotte Wells’ debut scooped seven prizes, including best British independent film and best director.

Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut feature Aftersun was the big winner of the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), taking seven prizes at Sunday night’s (December 4) ceremony in London.

Wells’ drama won the award for best British independent film, best director, the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director, and best screenplay, adding to the three craft awards already announced – best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

The Cannes premiere follows a daughter as she reflects on her relationship with her complicated father, through memories of a summer holiday in Turkey,...

The awards ceremony takes place today (December 4), starting at 8pm UK time.

The 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) ceremony is taking place today (December 4) at London’s Old Billingsgate.

The show starts at 8pm UK time, finishing at approximately 10pm.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates).

Leading the pack for nominations is Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, with 16 mentions – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. The feature has already won three of those awards,...

In October of 2021, Amazon Studios announced it was acquiring Trevor Beck Frost and Melissa Lesh’s “Wildcat” for a price nearing 20 million, a staggering sum for a doc of its kind. Produced by 30West, the film tells the story of former British soldier Harry Turner and conservationist Samantha Wicker, who help heal each other while caring for a small ocelot wildcat in the deep Peruvian rainforest.

This is Frost and Lesh’s first feature film. Frost comes from a still photography background, with work published in National Geographic and the New York Times, while Lesh has previously worked with short films. The documentary has picked up considerable steam on the brink of awards season, having recently been nominated for two IDA Documentary Awards for editing and score (Patrick Jonsson).

Amazon has already launched the film’s FYC page, which includes several categories including best documentary film, directing and original song...

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In Showtime’s Nothing Compares, co-writer and director Kathryn Ferguson presents a complex and at times tragic portrait of Sinéad O’Connor. The Irish singer-songwriter became a near-overnight international success upon the release of her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra — and her bold and brash outspokenness landed her squarely within the culture wars of the early ’90s when she gained infamy for ripping apart a photo of the pope during her musical performance on Saturday Night Live, which brought her career to a screeching halt.

Ferguson — who first responded to O’Connor as a fan, and later was asked to direct one of O’Connor’s music videos after completing a short student film in which she included the musician’s songs — provides a compelling origin story for her documentary subject, using O’Connor’s experience growing up within a repressed Irish-Catholic...

For several years, Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams hosted an intimate IDFA paella party at his apartment in Amsterdam for attending directors, producers and editors. But in 2018, Williams and his co-host, documentary producer, and the founder of Motto Pictures, Julie Goldman (“The Velvet Underground”), realized that the annual event had transformed into an award season stop.

“At one point, we looked around, and the whole party was filled with the international AMPAS (Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences) members,” says Goldman. “Then, the last year we had the party, someone rang the buzzer an hour before it was supposed to start. We buzzed him up, and it was this guy named Alex, and he said, ‘I was told that I have to come to this party.’”

It turned out that Alex was Alex Honnold, the subject of “Free Solo” – a film that would later win the Oscar for best feature documentary.

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Fire of Love and The Territory landed a field-leading seven mentions, including best feature, in the Cinema Eye Honors nominations, which were announced Thursday.

The Ceh organization, which celebrates nonfiction work on screens big and small, also nominated All That Breathes (six noms), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (four noms), Navalny (three noms) and A Night of Knowing Nothing (four noms) for its top honor.

Meanwhile, in the directing category, an unprecedented five of the six nominees are women: Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed), Rebecca Huntt (Beba), Margaret Brown (Descendant), Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) and Payal Kapadia (A Night of Knowing Nothing). The sixth nominee is Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes).

Poitras, with her noms for feature and direction, ties Steve James for the most Ceh noms of all time, with 13.

Alex Pritz has the most individual noms this year,...

Prior to the advent of streaming, documentaries had a reputation for being, as Jerry Seinfeld put it at the 2007 Oscars, “incredibly depressing.”

Politics, the environment, warfare, and the farming industry were all topics routinely explored by documentary filmmakers for several decades. But Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, and Disney have effectively altered the nonfiction landscape by seeking out documentaries that have mass appeal, which has in turn helped them build their respective audiences. Netflix has a knack for determining what will appeal to viewers. “Tiger King,” “The Last Dance” and “The Tinder Swindler” were all released on the streaming service.

Given the ongoing worldwide pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, America’s school shooting crisis, the yearly uptick in extreme weather events, it’s not exactly a surprise that viewers are attracted to nonfiction content that isn’t didactic. It makes sense that factual features and series about celebrities, sports, and music are all the rage.

Charlotte Wells’ indie breakout “Aftersun” continues to build momentum in the indie awards race.

After receiving four Gotham Award nods, “Aftersun” leads the 2022 British Independent Film Awards nominations in 16 categories, followed by 12 for “Blue Jean” and “The Wonder,” respectively. “Living” earned nine nominations and “Flux Gourmet,” “God’s Creatures,” “Men,” and “The Origin” each landed five nods.

The 25th annual BIFAs introduces new performance, first-time documentary feature, and music categories, with female filmmakers dominating the performance, writing, and directing categories for this year’s batch of nominees, recognizing 36 British features. The 2022 BIFA ceremony takes place December 4.

Hosts Sam Claflin and BIFA winner Kosar Ali announced the 2022 BIFA nominations, including former BIFA recipients Emma Thompson, Jessie Buckley, Florence Pugh, and Alice Birch among them. Two Paul Mescal films, “Aftersun” and “God’s Creatures,” are among the top-nominated films, with Mescal in the running for both Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance for the respective films.