News

Mercedes’ much-discussed Formula One driver change is the focus of The Seat, a documentary zooming to Netflix for a release next month.

The streaming giant has landed director Kyle Thrash’s 45-minute film examining Mercedes’ decision that was announced last year to promote 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli as its driver after Lewis Hamilton’s exit. Hailing from WhatsApp and Mercedes-amg Petronas F1 Team, The Seat is set for global release on May 5.

The Seat offers rare access into the workings of the Mercedes team and provides an exclusive look at the private conversations through the messaging platform WhatsApp that were at the center of the decision. The documentary gives insight into the life of Antonelli as he became the third-youngest rookie in Formula One history, sharing background on his close family and Italian roots. A trailer that is exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter can be seen below.

“Selecting Kimi as our race driver for 2025 was,...

Former Pres. Obama is going to bat for a baseball-themed documentary.

The ex-potus sent an Instagram message to his 36 million+ followers on the social media platform, urging them to check out The Turnaround, a short film in Oscar contention directed by Kyle Thrash and co-directed and produced by Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot. Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama serve as executive producers of the documentary.

“Sports have the power to bring us together – helping change attitudes and culture in ways that may seem subtle, but that ultimately makes us think differently about ourselves,” Obama writes. “The Turnaround follows the story of a devoted baseball fan determined to inspire his city while navigating his own private struggles. Check it out on Netflix.”

The city – Philadelphia. The fan – Jon McCann.

Jon McCann in ‘The Turnaround’

The Turnaround dials back to McCann’s upbringing, as a son born to teen parents in tight economic circumstances.

No Other Land, the powerful documentary set in a Palestinian community of the occupied West Bank, may lack U.S. distribution, but it’s got awards momentum behind it.

The film directed by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers earned a place on Doc NYC’s coveted Short List — the festival’s nod to what it considers to be among the year’s best feature documentaries. The list – a harbinger of potential traction with Oscar voters — also gave recognition to Will & Harper, a Netflix film built around a road trip taken by Will Ferrell and his longtime friend Harper Steele after Harper came out as trans.

Both No Other Land and Will & Harper earned nominations for Best Documentary Feature at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards announced earlier this week. Also pulling off the Doc NYC-Critics’ Choice double is Sugarcane, the National Geographic documentary investigating the disappearance of Indigenous children...

The Philadelphia Phillies racked up 95 wins during the 2024 season, securing a spot in the playoffs. But just a year prior, the Major League Baseball team wasn’t looking so good. It kicked off 2023 with the acquisition of star shortstop Trea Turner with an 11-year, $300 million contract, but his season got off to a rough start. The city’s notoriously vocal fans weren’t pleased, to say the least, but Jon McCann, a superfan who goes by The Philly Captain on Instagram, wondered what might happen if the local crowd greeted Turner with cheers instead of boos.

What happened next surprised just about everyone — and that story is chronicled in The Turnaround, a documentary short co-directed by Philadelphia native Kyle Thrash and Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, created in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company. Thrash says that...

Exclusive: Netflix has lined up a blockbuster slate of short documentaries heading into Oscar season, including the latest from two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot in collaboration with the Obamas’ production company.

The streamer announced four acquisitions today, beginning with The Turnaround, directed by Kyle Thrash and Proudfoot, a documentary that “tells the story of Philadelphia Phillies’ superfan Jon McCann, who helped inspire an unlikely 2023 standing ovation for Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, which helped turn the team around after hitting a major roadblock.”.

As Deadline reported in late August, Higher Ground, the production company founded by former Pres. Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, came aboard The Turnaround. Higher Ground produces, along with Proudfoot’s Breakwater Studios, Cookie Jar & A...

Exclusive: Sffilm’s prestigious Doc Stories is set to welcome a slew of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmakers to its 10th anniversary event next month, along with industry heavyweights Keri Putnam, Laura Kim, Carrie Lozano, and Justine Nagan.

The documentary festival, which runs from October 17-20 in San Francisco, unveiled its full lineup this morning, highlighted by new work from Kevin Macdonald, Ben Proudfoot, Raoul Peck, Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, and Pedro Kos, as well as a classic from Amy Berg about a singer who stunned San Francisco with her talent more than 50 years ago. [Scroll for the full program]

Macdonald opens the festival with One to One: John and Yoko, co-directed by Sam Rice-Edwards, “which chronicles John and Yoko’s musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world set against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history.”

The closing night film belongs to Suburban Fury,...

Michelle and Barack Obama are teaming up with double Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot and Kyle Thrash for The Turnaround, a short documentary that will make its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

The film tells a remarkable story from the sporting world that suggests Philadelphia, indeed, deserves to be called the City of Brotherly Love. Thrash, a Philly native, shares directing duties with Proudfoot. Higher Ground, the former president and first lady’s production company, partner with Proudfoot’s Breakwater Studios, Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios (a Dick’S Sporting Goods company), and Major League Baseball to present the film, which bows on Sunday at the festival.

Trea Turner’s name goes up in the Phillies’ locker room.

“The Turnaround follows Jon McCann, a proud Philadelphian who struggles with his mental health. Jon is equal parts unruly and reverent when it comes to his beloved baseball team,...

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence and Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in ‘Conclave’ (Photo Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024)

The 51st Telluride Film Festival announced its lineup just days ahead of the festival’s opening on Friday, August 30, 2024. The festival, which runs through Monday, September 2nd, will include the world premieres of Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, Edward Berger’s Conclave, and Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson.

This year’s festival includes 60 feature films, shorts, and revival programs.

“This brief weekend of cinematic bliss reminds us every year that movies really are magic,” stated Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “The process of assembling our line-up is both daunting and rewarding, and it never fails to bring the most fantastic sense of satisfaction once we’re finished. Our anticipation matches that of the audience. We’re delighted to now share what we found to be the most exciting, interesting and...

The Barack and Michelle Obama-led shingle Higher Ground has acquired “The Turnaround,” a documentary short film premiering at the Telluride Film Festival. Barack and Michelle Obama, along with Higher Ground’s Vinnie Malhotra and Ethan Lewis, have joined the project as executive producers.

Directed by Kyle Thrash and Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, “The Turnaround” tells the story of Philadelphia Phillies’ superfan Jon McCann, who helped inspire an unlikely 2023 standing ovation for Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, which helped turned the team around after hitting a major roadblock.

The doc is one of three short films in Telluride’s main program. Proudfoot has won two Academy Awards in the doc short category for “The Queen of Basketball” (2022) and “The Last Repair Shop” (2024).

In 2019 the former President and first lady launched Higher Ground and signed a content development pact with Netflix. In June, Higher Ground extended its creative partnership with Netflix. The...

Telluride Film Festival has announced the line-up before the festival starts on Friday, with world premieres for Edward Berger’s Conclave, RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys, and Robbie Williams musical biopic Better Man.

Also making the cut in the main programme are documentaries Leonardo Da Vinci from Ken Burns, Kevin Macdonald’s One To One: John & Yoko, and R. J. Cutler’s Martha Stewart film.

Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 and Joshua Openheimer’s The End are in the main programme, alongside Cannes favourites Anora, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, All We Imagine As Light, and Emilia Pérez.

The 51st...

The world premieres of “The Piano Lesson,” “Conclave” and “Saturday Night” will take place at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival, which begins on Friday in the Colorado mountain town.

“The Piano Lesson” is an August Wilson adaptation directed by Malcolm Washington and starring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington; it will be released by Netflix. “Conclave” is a Focus Features drama set admidst the election of a new pope, and the first film for German director Edward Berger since his Oscar-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front.” And Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” a Sony release, tells the story of the first episode of the long-running comedy series “Saturday Night Live.”

Other films in this year’s Telluride lineup include “The End,” a dystopian sci-fi musical starring Tilda Swinton and marking the narrative debut of “The Act of Killing” director Joshua Oppenheimer; “Nickel Boys,” a Colson Whitehead adaptation from RaMell Ross; and “The Friend,...

Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson,” RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys,” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End” will world premiere at the 51st edition of the Telluride Film Festival, fest organizers announced on Thursday.

In addition to the world premieres, several expected awards contenders will have North American bows in the small Colorado town over Labor Day weekend, including Pablo Larrain’s “Maria” (which premieres Thursday at the Venice Film Festival), Sean Baker’s “Anora” (this year’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner), and Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” (a Cannes winner for its ensemble of actresses and a jury prize winner at the prestigious event).

In addition to its lineup of features, Telluride organizers also bestow the Telluride Silver Medallion to “a trio of artists who have made significant contributions to the film industry.” This year’s honorees are the French filmmaker Audiard,...

It's an election year, which means everyone and everything is focused on politics—even the season's major festivals. Colorado's Telluride Film Festival just unveiled its 2024 lineup, and it has as much of an eye toward the White House as anything else this time of year.

According to The Hollywood Reporter,...

Exclusive: Documentary+, the free streaming service launched by non-fiction studio Xtr, has launched its latest slate of original feature docs.

The service is launching three new films in October and November in addition to The Sentence of Michael Thompson, which is coming to the service after its debut on MSNBC, and When The LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood, which was the service’s first original.

The streamer launched in 2020 and is available in 95M households as both on-demand and via Fast channel platforms.

Crypto Farmers, which launches on November 8, comes from director Nick Aldrige, who helmed Hillsong Church: God Goes Viral that aired on the BBC Storyville strand.

It examines the unlikely relationship between a young cryptocurrency entrepreneur and struggling farmers in rural Wales. As farms in Britain continue to shut down due to unprofitability, Crypto Farmers follows a group of Britons as they build hydro, solar, and manure-powered crypto...

A24’s Close, which won the Grand Prix in Cannes, has picked up another accolade, capturing the jury prize for top narrative film at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The 30th edition of the festival, which wraps this weekend, also gave the top documentary honor to Pray for Our Sinners, directed by Sinéad O’Shea.

Director Lukas Dhont’s Close follows the intense friendship between 13-year-old boys Léo and Remi, which suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi’s mother. The film is billed as an exploration of friendship and responsibility. The leading roles in Close are played by newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. Léa Drucker and Kevin Janssens, Marc Weiss, Igor Van Dessel, and Léon Bataille also star.

“Our team feels incredibly honoured to receive this year’s Hamptons Film Festival Jury Award,” Dhont said. “We want to thank the jury and...

Exclusive: The timely documentary The Sentence of Michael Thompson will be reaching a big audience soon, courtesy of MSNBC and Xtr’s streaming service Documentary+.

The cable news channel will premiere the short film on October 30, with the Documentary+ debut coming on November 1. The film, directed by Kyle Thrash and Haley Elizabeth Anderson, focuses on Thompson, “the longest serving non-violent offender in Michigan history,” who became the subject of an intense legal battle to win his freedom. [See teaser below]

“In 1994, Thompson was sentenced to 42 to 60 years in prison for selling three pounds of cannabis to a close friend turned police informant, and he remained there even as Michigan legalized the recreational use of marijuana,” a release about the film said. Prior drug possession convictions contributed to his draconian sentence, as did a dubious weapons charge (police searched his residence after his arrest and found some antique guns and some other weapons that...

Five winners from the festival selection get a shot at Oscar consideration.

Short films from Estonia, South Korea, Cambodia, France and the US were among the major award winners at this year’s Palm Springs International ShortFest, which just finished its June 21-27 run in the California desert city with 300 shorts in its official selection.

The Visit Greater Palm Springs Best of the Festival Award went to Sierra, director Sander Joon’s short from Estonia about father and son car racers. Special mentions in the category went to The Great Abandonment, from India and the UK, and The Voice Actress,...

The Palm Springs International ShortFest took place in California this weekend, honoring the best work in narrative, documentary, live action, and animated short films. 25,000 in cash prizes were given out to various winners, who were narrowed down from over 300 official selections. The top prize went to Sander Joon’s Estonian short film “Sierra,” a surreal animated film about a boy who turns himself into a tire in order to help his father win a race.

The festival’s Oscar-qualifying status means that winners in the Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short, and Best of the Festival categories may be eligible to submit their work to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration this year.

Keep reading for the complete winners list, with synopses courtesy of the festival.

Greater Palm Springs Cvb Best of the Festival Award

Winner: “Sierra” (Estonia), Directed by Sander Joon.

Previous | Image 1 of 13 | NextAmy Landecker, Patton Oswalt, James Morosini and Claudia Sulewski of ‘I Love My Dad.’

Chicago – The 9th Chicago Critics Film Festival (Ccff) wrapped on May 19th, 2022, with the featured Closing Night film, “I Love My Dad.” The film stars Patton Oswalt and James Morosini (who also wrote and directed the film), and both appeared on behalf of the film, in addition to cast members Claudia Sulewski and Amy Landecker. Photographer Joe Arce took Exclusive Portraits of the cast and director, accessible in the Slideshow below.

Inspired by writer/director/lead actor James Morosini’s true life experience, “I Love My Dad” follows Chuck (Patton Oswalt), an estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his depressive son, Franklin (Morosini). Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress named Becca (Claudia Sulewski) online and starts checking in with Franklin, unbeknownst to...

Updated, 12:23 Pm: South by Southwest Conference and Festivals today announced the Audience Award winners for the 29th SXSW Film Festival, with the Patton Oswalt comedy I Love My Dad, FX’s comedy series Atlanta, Sony Pictures Classics’ music doc The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile and AMC’s drama series 61st Street coming in as notable recipients.

I Love My Dad was previously awarded the Narrative Feature Competition Grand Jury Award, and today took home the Narrative Feature Competition Audience Award. Atlanta won out in the Headliners section, with The Return of Tanya Tucker prevailing in 24 Beats Per Second, and 61st Street taking the Audience Award for Episodic Premieres.

The SXSW Audience Awards follow the previously-announced 2022 Jury Awards, as well as the 40 Years of Massive Talent Award, which was presented to Nicolas Cage at the festival screening of his Lionsgate pic The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent on Saturday night.

"Did you ever doubt Rocky?!" Wavelength Productions has unveiled an official trailer for a fascinating new sports documentary titled Maybe Next Year, made by Philadelphia native filmmaker Kyle Thrash. This originally premiered at the Philadelphia Film Festival last year, because of course it just had to play there. Maybe Next Year is the story of four superfans' fanatical obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team during their incredible 2017 Super Bowl winning season. The documentary offers an intimate and nuanced view of the NFL's most notorious fanbase and casts a sympathetic light on what it means to be a "fan" of anything. But - this film isn't about the Super Bowl, it's about the religion of fandom. The poster artwork with an eagle-dog on it is awesome, I certainly need to point that out. This whole film looks damn good - definitely not just another sports doc, digging deeper into...