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by Glenn Dunks

Not content to let scientology corner the market in controversial religion exposes, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady focus their attention on New York’s Hasidic community in their latest feature. A dramatic change of pace after last year’s celebrity bio-doc Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, the filmmakers return at least somewhat to the themes of their most famous film, the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp. Yet despite the potential cross-over to be found in the pair that seek to uncover the alarming practises of organised religion, One of Us is a much different beast.

Unlike that earlier film, which trained its cameras on the inner-circle of a camp for raising the next generation of evangelicals, One of Us observes from the outside, following the stories of three individuals who have attempted to extract themselves from the community and tell some often haunting and traumatic tales of their times within it.

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– Exclusive: The 12th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival announced its official selections for the 2017 event featuring films with Alec Baldwin, Dylan McDermott, John Cleese, Daphne Zuniga and more. Opening night will feature Michael Mailer’s newest film, “Blind,” a romantic-drama, starring Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore and Dylan McDermott. Closing night will wrap up the festival with “Albion: The Enchanted Stallion,” a family fantasy adventure, starring John Cleese, Debra Messing, Jennifer Morrison and Stephen Dorff.

Retrospective Screenings will include Daphne Zuniga appearance at the festival honoring the 30th anniversary of “Spaceballs.” Also in this category will be “The Greatest Show on Earth,” from 1952 directed by Cecile B. DeMille, which won the Oscar for Best Pictures and Best Writing in 1953. The screening will honor the closing of the Ringling Bros.

One of the most loved and acclaimed film critics of the modern age, Roger Ebert dedicated a vast majority of his life to movies. Held not far from Chicago in Champaign, “Ebertfest,” co-founded and hosted by Ebert’s own wife Chaz, commemorates the film critic’s love of cinema though its annual events.

Every year, Ebertfest has a powerhouse slate of just 12 carefully curated films. In the past, it has screened films such as “Love and Mercy,” “Ida,” “Do the Right Thing,” “A Bronx Tale,” and many other acclaimed films.

Read More: Watch: Explore the History of Ebertfest in Exclusive Documentary Featurette

The first two picks of this year’s slate include “Elle” and “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.” In support of these selections, “Elle” star Isabelle Huppert, along with”Norman Lear” producer Brent Miller and directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, will attend this year’s festival...

Curious to know what movies and TV shows are coming to Netflix over the next few weeks? Get a head start and mark your calendars using the list below, just released to us by Netflix. But first, here are our editors' 10 must-see recommendations from below's incoming crop of movies: 1. Paddington (2014) 2. Burn After Reading (2008) 3. Ravenous (1999) 4. Boyhood (2014) 5. The Jungle Book (2016) 6. Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016) 7. The African Queen (1951) 8. Cujo (1983) 9. The Doors (1991) 10. Stephen King’s Thinner (1996) Arriving November 1 The African Queen (1951) Alfie (2004) Bob the Builder: White...

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With awards season gearing up, the nominees and honorees for the 2016 Ida Documentary Awards have been revealed by the International Documentary Association (Ida). The annual ceremony honors both individuals and organizations for outstanding achievements in documentary filmmaking and contributions to the field, as well as recognizes the best documentary films and nonfiction series of the year.

Among the Best Feature nominees are Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro” and “O.J.: Made in America” directed by Ezra Edelman. This year the Ida will also honor five outstanding filmmakers and documentary luminaries including Lyn and Norman Lear, Stanley Nelson, Ally Derks and director Nanfu Wang.

Read More: Oscars Documentary Race Heats up With 145 Features in Contention

Winners in the Best Feature and Best Short categories are voted on by Ida’s international membership. Outside screening committees of industry professionals around the world determine the winners in the other award categories.

1. “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” (available November 25)

Why Should I Watch It? Capping America’s year of nostalgia, Netflix is finally releasing the much-anticipated “Gilmore Girls” revival. Told in four 90-minutes segments, the new episodes will reunite the stars and creator of the early aughts favorite, similar to recent continuations on Netflix and elsewhere. Needles to say, anyone who visited Stars Hollow before is quite eager to see where on the ‘member berries spectrum “A Year in the Life” will fall: the high of “Stranger Things” or the low of “Fuller House”?

Best Episode: From what we’ve seen of the new footage, things are looking good for Amy Sherman-Palladino’s fresh stories. That being said, we haven’t snagged a screener of any episodes, so we’re on pins and needles with the rest of you.

Read More: ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’: Amy Sherman-Palladino...

A total of 145 feature documentaries were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the 89th Academy Awards.

Out of those films the members of the Academy’s documentary branch will select a shortlist of 15 features that will be announced in December, and the five nominations will be announced on January 24.

Read More: Documentary, Now: Three Rock Stars Who Run the Fast-Changing Non-Fiction World

Among the titles included in the list are Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner “Weiner” by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Raoul Peck’s Toronto Film Festival Audience Award winner “I Am Not Your Negro,” the visually stunning “Voyage of Time: The Imax Experience” by Terrence Malik and Otto Bell’s “The Eagle Huntress.”

Read More: Oscars 2017: 10 Documentary Shorts Vie for Nominations

This year Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees’ film “Amy” about British singer Amy Winehouse...

Next month, Netflix has a wide variety of films — modern to classic, animated to live action, Oscar winners to romantic comedies — and we’ve picked seven that you should watch once they’re made available on the streaming service. Enjoy.

1. “Under the Sun” (available November 11)

Directed by Vitaly Manski, the documentary follows a year in the life of a family in Pyongyang, North Korea as their eight-year-old daughter, Zin-mi, prepares to join the Korean Children’s Union on the Day of the Shining Star.

2. “The Ivory Game” (available November 14)

Directed by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the documentary sheds a light on the seedy underbelly of elephant poaching in Africa and black market ivory trading in China.

Read More: ‘The Ivory Game,’ Produced By Leonardo DiCaprio, Is a Shocking Look at an Underground Marketplace — Telluride Review

3. “Just Friends” (available November 14)

On a lighter note, who...

See just how much legendary sitcom writer and producer Norman Lear values creative integrity over monetary gain in this Indiewire exclusive clip. With an $11 million syndication deal with CBS in the balance, Jerry Perenchio, Lear’s former business partner at Tandem Productions and Embassy Television, tells how Lear refused to compromise the integrity of his shows, compared his life’s work to the most famous painting in history: Michelangelo’s “Mona Lisa,” and insisted on consulting his psychiatrist before signing over syndication rights.

The clip is a never-before-seen DVD extra from the first documentary about the 94-year-old television legend, “American Masters — Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” which premieres Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 9 pm on PBS. PBS Distribution will release the film, with additional bonus features, on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD the same day.

Read More: Sundance Review: Norman Lear Fans Will Get a Kick Out of ‘Just Another...

Barbara Kopple has already won a lifetime achievement award for her work as a documentarian, but the legendary filmmaker isn’t resting on her laurels in the slightest. The two-time Oscar winner’s latest film “Miss Sharon Jones!” hit theaters in New York on July 29, and Kopple is already in post-production on her next project, a documentary about transgender internet personality Gigi Gorgeous. “Miss Sharon Jones!” will open in Los Angeles on Friday before expanding to San Francisco, Boston, and dozens of other U.S. cities. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

Read More: How ‘Miss Sharon Jones!’ Turns a Musical Icon Into a Documentary Crowdpleaser

Shot over the course of three years, the documentary follows funk and soul singer Sharon Jones as she battles cancer and prepares to mount a comeback with her band The Dap-Kings. Even more impressive than Jones’s gift...

Chicago – Norman Lear is one of the greatest TV creators of the 20th Century, and beyond. The producer was a titan of 1970s television, with shows like “All in the Family,” “Good Times,” “Maude” and “Sanford and Son.” He is the topic of a new film documentary, “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.”

Lear is the embodiment of television history, having worked in the medium since its advent in the 1950s. He began with partner Ed Simmons, writing for shows like the “Ford Star Revue” and “The Colgate Comedy Hour” (with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis). Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, he produced television that was common at the time – star oriented and non-controversial – while also writing and producing movie satire like “Divorce, American Style” and “Cold Turkey,” with partner Bud Yorkin. In the late 1960s, he began to work on a pilot called “Justice for All,” featuring a bigoted character named “Archie Justice.

This year, Michael Moore will use his Traverse City Film Festival to throw down the gauntlet for women filmmakers. The official selection — not the sidebar, not a spotlight — is comprised of 32 films, and every one is directed by a woman.

“Every film in our Official Selection (Us), fiction and nonfiction, is directed or co-directed by a woman,” Moore told IndieWire in an email. “And they’re all incredible movies. As an expression of tokenism usually reserved for women, I am bringing five films by American men in a sidebar called, ‘Men Make Movies —The Struggle Continues.'” There are other movies in the lineup directed by men, of course, whether foreign or classic.

Compiling the list took some digging, as Moore, admits in his Traverse City Film Festival welcome letter. But the results are impressive, ranging from Sundance hits (Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady’s documentary “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,...

This year, Michael Moore will use his Traverse City Film Festival to throw down the gauntlet for women filmmakers. The official selection — not the sidebar, not a spotlight — is comprised of 32 films, and every one is directed by a woman.

“Every film in our Official Selection (Us), fiction and nonfiction, is directed or co-directed by a woman,” Moore told Indiewire in an email. “And they’re all incredible movies. As an expression of tokenism usually reserved for women, I am bringing five films by American men in a sidebar called, ‘Men Make Movies —The Struggle Continues.'” There are other movies in the lineup directed by men, of course, whether foreign or classic.

Compiling the list took some digging, as Moore, admits in his Traverse City Film Festival welcome letter. But the results are impressive, ranging from Sundance hits (Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady’s documentary “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,...

Mid-summer brings the biggest limited opening of 2016, with a return to form by Woody Allen as new distributor Amazon Studios and partner Lionsgate pushed “Café Society” to numbers unseen since last December. It’s not at Allen’s top level, but a huge leap above his last two films as well as anything else so far this year.

For a totally different market, Dinesh D’Souza doc “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party” had a limited opening in Middle America with strong front-loaded initial numbers. The political doc goes wider this Friday and could see a better eventual total —via an entirely different audience—than Allen’s film.

“Hunt for the Wilderpeople” (The Orchard) from New Zealand leads the films in wider release as it continues to build word-of-mouth success. “Captain Fantastic” (Bleecker Street) boasted a decent second weekend expansion and could end up at a...

Hollywood has long been viewed as a force in the battle for social justice. But the police killings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and the subsequent murder of five police officers in Dallas last week is forcing some in the entertainment industry to take a hard look at their role in the nation’s growing racial tensions. “It has to change,” “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, whose show routinely tackled social issues in the 1960s, told TheWrap at a special screening of “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” on Thursday at the WGA in Beverly Hills.

Ever since it wowed opening-night crowds at Sundance 2016, documentary biopic “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” has met a range of reactions. That’s because it’s more than a straightforward cradle-to-grave chronicle of Lear’s remarkable decades of television creativity. (Music Box opened the film in New York July 8, Los Angeles hits July 15, PBS’s American Masters airs in October, followed in November by Netflix.)

Documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Oscar-nominated “Jesus Camp,” shortlisted “Detropia”) recognized that, at 93, their subject is still vital and engaging—years after creating groundbreaking ’70s shows “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” “Maude,” and “Sanford and Sons,” among others, not to mention founding liberal action group People for the American Way.

And so they gave Lear leeway to fashion his on-screen persona, and brought in plenty of friendly talking heads, including, most controversially, George Clooney. In turn, Lear let them dig and...

Ever since it wowed opening-night crowds at Sundance 2016, documentary biopic “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” has met a range of reactions. That’s because it’s more than a straightforward cradle-to-grave chronicle of Lear’s remarkable decades of television creativity. (Music Box opened the film in New York July 8, Los Angeles hits July 15, PBS’s American Masters airs in October, followed in November by Netflix.)

Documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Oscar-nominated “Jesus Camp,” shortlisted “Detropia”) recognized that, at 93, their subject is still vital and engaging—years after creating groundbreaking ’70s shows “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” “Maude,” and “Sanford and Sons,” among others, not to mention founding liberal action group People for the American Way.

And so they gave Lear leeway to fashion his on-screen persona, and brought in plenty of friendly talking heads, including, most controversially, George Clooney. In turn, Lear let them dig and...

Thanks to a well-reviewed movie star, Bleecker Street took “Captain Fantastic” to a now-rare, once-common $20,000-plus limited per theater opening. With all well-oiled cylinders at work, Bleecker filled the demand for older-audience films after two failed recent attempts by others at corralling the younger market (“Swiss Army Man” and “The Neon Demon”).

Two New York-only docs, “Under the Sun” (Icarus) and Sundance opener “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” (Music Box) both attracted interest.

A wider Bollywood release, Salman Khan-starrer “Sultan” (Yash Raj), achieved something few specialized films have managed in recent months: a Top Ten placement despite playing at fewer than 300 theaters.

Meantime, The Orchard’s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” expanded again to strong numbers close to last weekend’s. This word-of-mouth hit could play all summer and expand wider. There is still an audience out there: it’s just more selective.

Opening

“Captain Fantastic” (Bleecker Street) – Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Sundance,...

Illumination and Universal's The Secret Life of Pets delivered a record opening for an original animated property as it led a strong, post-holiday weekend where the top twelve grossed an estimated $206 million, down only a fraction of a percentage compared to last year when Minions scorched the box office with a $115.7 million opening. The weekend's other wide release, Fox's Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, also performed well as did Yash Raj's Bollywood release Sultan, which secured a top ten finish after opening on Wednesday and playing in a mere 283 theaters. Heading into the weekend, the largest opening for an original, animated property was the $90.4 million Inside Out brought in last year followed by the $75 million opening for Zootopia just a few months ago. Thus, the $103.17 million opening for The Secret Life of Pets handily tops those openings while also becoming only the sixth animated film to ever open with more than $100 million.

Title: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady Genre: Documentary Legendary American television writer and producer Norman Lear made the history of entertainment in the United States. He produced successful sitcoms during the 70s, such as ‘All In The Family’, ‘The Jeffersons’ and ‘Good Times’ and was just as influential as a political activist. He founded the advocacy organization People of the American Way in 1981 and supported First Amendment rights and progressive causes. The story of Mr. Lear, now almost 94, is captured in a very inspirational documentary by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, whose previous works include ‘Jesus Camp,’ ‘12th [ Read More ]

The post Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, 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 July 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Director: Jake Szymanski

Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron

Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.

The Secret Life of Pets

Director: Chris Renaud,...

Saying someone is iconic or influential is easy to do. However, few names defy even those labels quite like TV Titan, Norman Lear. Not one of, but easily the more influential and groundbreaking TV creator/producer in the medium’s history, Lear’s influence spans decades, even as we make our way through this new “golden age” of television.

Best known for TV shows ranging from All in the Family to Maude, Lear’s career really sparked in the early ‘70s, after discovering a British series entitled Till Death Us Do Part. The story of a conservative father and his relationship with his progressive son, Lear ostensibly took that premise, and adapted it for the Us, a country in the midst of a cultural revolution incomparable to any moment in its history before or really since. That show was the aforementioned Family, and driven by a groundbreaking sense of humor...

Toward the end of Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, a new doc about the TV visionary and political activist, Amy Poehler attempts to sum up Lear's impact. "Do you know how fucking hard it is to make people laugh, to tackle big issues and get big ratings?" she tells an audience at an event honoring Lear. "It's so hard that people don't even do it anymore."

The audience claps, and Lear smiles, but the TV game-changer says now that he doesn't quite agree with the assessment. There's hope,...

“Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” wants to remind you again, and again, and again that Norman Lear is a genius. Lear, the prolific writer and producer behind the shows “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times,” and “The Jeffersons,” is still sharp and driven at age 93, and filmmakers Rachel Grady and Heidi […]

The post ‘Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You’ Is A Good Introduction To A TV Legend, But Doesn’t Go Deep [Review] appeared first on The Playlist.

Glenn here with our weekly look at documentaries from theatres, festivals, and on demand.

We get told time and time again that we are in a golden age of television, and it’s impossible to deny that the expansion of the viewing landscape has resulted in a boon of creativity that can be seen in every single corner of the television globe. There are times throughout the brisk Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You where it appears directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are attempting to suggest that this golden age was birthed some 40-odd years ago when Norman Lear was the centre of the small screen universe with a collection of series to his name that not only snagged record-busting ratings, but also critical acclaim and pop culture buzz that saw his shows watched by some 120 million American a week.

You could say he was like David E. Kelley...

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column.

– newportFILM announced today an impressive line up of world-class documentaries for their annual summer series newportFILM Outdoors.

The sunset screenings kick off on June 30 and run through September 1, with weekly Thursday night events that are accompanied by filmmaker conversations, food vendors and pre-film live music. This marks the series’ seventh summer season of hosting screenings at various outdoor picturesque locations, often thoughtfully paired with their film, around Newport, Ri.

Opening night will feature a special showing of “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” in the heart of downtown Newport in the Maya Lin designed Queen Anne Square. The program will continue throughout the season with a notable collection of documentaries including the following highlights: “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble,” “Life, Animated,” “Betting on Zero,” “Jim: The James Foley Story,...

Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal says, “Television can basically be broken down into two parts: before Norman and after Norman.” The “Norman” in question is none other than Norman Lear, the iconic producer behind groundbreaking television shows such as All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons and Maude. The new documentary Norman Lear: […]

The post ‘Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You’ Trailer: The Man Who Changed TV Forever appeared first on /Film.

"I was concerned about what I was seeing on TV - mixing politics and religion." Music Box has debuted a trailer for the documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, which profiles the life and work of legendary TV producer Norman Lear. From documentary filmmakers Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, this premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to mostly positive buzz. I wrote in my review from the fest: "Not only is Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You a fascinating look at the 'history of TV', in a sense, but it's also a remarkably eye-opening examination of how to be yourself, find happiness, and strive on even with so much opposition or absurdity all around." Even if you don't know much about Lear, it's enjoyable. Trailer for Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady's Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, via YouTube: Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television,...

The North American premiere of Alex Gibney’s Zero Days and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You bookend the five-day event.

Zero Days premiered in Berlin in February and focuses on the Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer worm discovered in 2010 that was commissioned by the Us and Israeli governments to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. It screens on June 22.

Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You premiered in Sundance in January and chronicles the life and work of the TV writer and producer behind All In The Family, The Jeffersons and Maude.

“With At&T’s continued support, we are thrilled to kick off and close AFI Docs 2016 with two remarkable films that remind us why documentaries are essential viewing for all who love film,” said festival director Michael Lumpkin.

“To have this trio of film-makers — Alex Gibney, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — bookend the festival is a true honour.”

AFI...

The River Run International Film Festival wrapped its 18th edition in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with its narrative feature award going to Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits, which was, in the words of the jury, “an audacious debut from a promising American talent.”

Best documentary feature went to Mike Plunkett’s Salero, about one of the last salt gatherers in Bolivia. The jury praised that film “for its astonishing visuals, narrative acuity and ability to showcase characters that go against the grain.”

The Fits, a Venice Biennale College project that also played at Sundance, also won best actress for its impressive young newcomer Royalty Hightower.

Interestingly, there is a link between the two top winners — debutant director Holmer from The Fits also served as a producer on Salero.

The jury’s best ensemble performance went to Jackson Martin, Nick Serino and Reece Moffett in Sleeping Giant, with best director honours for Romania’s Radu Muntean for One...

Few people have changed popular culture more than Norman Lear. When Television was at its height he provided a much needed jolt, giving audiences not what they asked for but what they required. His comedies were dramatic, crafting more complex situations for his sit-coms than any that had come before. With a string of hits that spanned from All In the Family to Maude to The Jeffersons Lear and his creative team managed to shift the comedic discourse for the latter half of the 20th century. Lear has had his fair share of accolades, but there's likely been no better tribute to the man and his art than the documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You.Mixing subtle moments of cinematic whimsy with compelling...

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