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Longtime broadcast journalist and author Jane Pauley and documentarian/director Alex Gibney have been tapped to receive lifetime achievement awards at the 45th annual News & Documentary Emmys. The honors were revealed Wednesday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Pauley, currently the host of “CBS News Sunday Morning,” will receive her award during the news ceremony portion of the awards on Wed., September 25, while Gibney will be honored during the Documentary ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 26. Both ceremonies will take place at New York’s Palladium Times Square, and be streamed on NATAS’ viewing app.

Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS, said: “We are honored to pay tribute to these two revered icons of our industry. Jane Pauley and Alex Gibney continue to reach viewers while at the same time opening doors for those coming behind them,” said NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp in a statement. “This honor...

Anchor Jane Pauley and director-producer Alex Gibney will receive Lifetime Achievement awards at the 45th News & Documentary Emmys.

Pauley will be honored for her career in broadcasting at the news ceremony on Sept. 25. Gibney will be feted for his contributions in documentary filmmaking at the doc ceremony on Sept. 26. Both events will take place live at the Palladium Times Square in New York City.

“We are honored to pay tribute to these two revered icons of our industry. Jane Pauley and Alex Gibney continue to reach viewers while at the same time opening doors for those coming behind them,” said NATAS CEO and President Adam Sharp. “This honor is not only about impressive longevity in a competitive space, but also the broad and sweeping impact each has had on the business, their audiences, and the greater community. NATAS is proud to celebrate their enduring dedication to television excellence.”

Related: 2024-...

In producing the documentary, “We Feed People,” Sara Bernstein was very taken by the philosophy that José Andrés brings to food, that just one plate matters. “I think that comfort food really makes all the difference for people who are surviving natural disaster and other conflicts like what’s happening in Ukraine. World Central Kitchen has been there serving 1.8 million meals daily around the region,” she tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: TV Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). She adds that the organization has really helped to reframe how we feed people in dire situations. “They need a warm meal. They don’t just need what had traditionally been served to them in relief efforts, which were just dried food.”

See More than 180 interviews with Emmy nominees

“We Feed People,” from National Geographic and currently streaming on Disney+, shows how Andrés, a renowned chef with...

Multiple award-winning documentaries have been made about the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, including Amy Berg’s Deliver Us From Evil, Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, and Kirby Dick’s Twist of Faith.

But there’s never been a documentary like Robert Greene’s Procession.

The film, newly-arrived on Netflix, revolves around six men who as boys were sexually assaulted by priests connected with the Kansas City Diocese. But in working with the survivors, Greene doesn’t adopt a typical, “Sit down and tell me what happened to you” approach.

“I’ve heard hours and hours and hours and hours of the most horrible things that these abusers put my friends—these men who are now my friends—through. Almost none of it is actually in the film,” Greene tells Deadline. “It wasn’t about recounting those stories. It was...

It doesn’t take much to get Alex Gibney to describe how sickening it was to view how prescription drug companies were neglecting the safety of patients to make more money with the sale of opioids. “The willful denial, in the service of profit really made me ill,” he tells us in our recent webchat about his newest documentary, “The Crime of the Century” (watch the exclusive video above). The pursuit of profit that Purdue Pharma brought to Gibney’s mind the title of one of his previous documentaries about Jack Abramoff, “Casino Jack and the United States of Money.” “I kept hearing that subtitle in the background here. That says all and then when you see the staggering amount of suffering involved and death, I mean, it really makes your head spin.”

“The Crime of the Century,” which is currently available to stream on HBO Max looks into the...

Intermission Film also signs up to support the award, aimed at UK-based filmmakers with non-English scripts.

The Mother Tongues Award, a new development initiative backed by UK distributor Curzon and French sales agent Charades, has unveiled its inaugural shortlist and secured further support from creative agency Intermission Film.

The award, which is focused on feature film projects by UK-based filmmakers in which the dialogue is in a language other than English, has selected a shortlist of 10 projects from 112 entries that spanned 47 languages and dialects. All will attend a workshop and subsequently a panel interview for the development award of £10,000.

The...

Intermission Films also signs up to support the award, aimed at UK-based filmmakers with non-English scripts.

The Mother Tongues Award, a new development initiative backed by UK distributor Curzon and French sales agent Charades, has unveiled its inaugural shortlist - and secured further support from creative agency Intermission Films.

The award, which is focused on feature film projects by UK-based filmmakers in which the dialogue is in a language other than English, has selected a shortlist of 10 projects from 112 entries that spanned 47 languages and dialects. All will attend a workshop and subsequently a panel interview for the development award of...

Intermission Films also signs up to support the award, aimed at UK-based filmmakers with non-English scripts.

The Mother Tongues Award, a new development initiative backed by UK distributor Curzon and French sales agent Charades, has unveiled its inaugural shortlist - and secured further support from creative agency Intermission Films.

The award, which is focused on feature film projects by UK-based filmmakers in which the dialogue is in a language other than English, has selected a shortlist of 10 projects from 112 entries that spanned 47 languages and dialects. All will attend a workshop and subsequently a panel interview for the development award of...

On Nov. 23, Gold Derby will debut a major new video series featuring lively discussions with filmmakers competing in the same awards race. First up: Best Documentary. Our senior editor Joyce Eng will conduct one-on-one interviews with each contender, followed by a group discussion involving all participants in a lively chat about their differing views of what makes a documentary great and how these filmmakers cope with the gravest challenges of their careers.

RSVP today by clicking here to reserve your booking for the premiere of our special new video series. . This one-hour event will debut on Monday, November 23, at 5:00 p.m. Pt. 8:00 p.m. Et. Sign up now and we will reserve your reservation and then follow up later by sending you a reminder a few hours before the show begins.

This “Meet the Btl Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 Oscar contenders:

“All In: The Fight for Democracy...

“I was running a fever of rage over how badly the [Covid-19] response was being handled by the federal government,” says the Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast as we discuss what inspired his latest documentary, Totally Under Control, which he directed with his Jigsaw Productions colleagues Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger.

The trio began work on the film last spring with the goal of determining if the deadly mistakes of President Donald Trump and his administration had been avoidable, and then sharing their findings with the world before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Says Gibney, “It felt like if that was true, and we’re in an election year, then this is important information for voters to have.”

* * *

You can listen to the episode here. The article continues below.

Past guests include Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Lorne Michaels, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney, Meryl Streep,...

One of the biggest surprises on Oscar nominations morning on January 23 was the absence of “Jane” from Best Documentary Feature. The film recounts the life and career of famed primatologist Jane Goodall, and going into the announcement it had actually been our front-runner to win the award based on the combined predictions of thousands of awards watchers at Gold Derby. Despite that omission, however, its script by Brett Morgen is the overwhelming favorite to win Best Documentary Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards on February 11. It has leading odds of 1/10. But Morgen will have to watch out for one of the WGA’s favorite documentarians, Alex Gibney (“No Stone Unturned”).

As of this writing more than 1,200 users have made their WGA Awards predictions. That includes nine Expert journalists we’ve polled from top media outlets, who are unanimous that “Jane” will win: Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Erik Davis (Fandango), Edward Douglas,...

Industry veteran was formerly head of Content Film.

Jamie Carmichael

La-based international sales veteran Jamie Carmichael is stepping down from his role as president of film at Kew Media Group.

The long-time Content Film head is understood to be lining up another venture in the film and TV sector but details have yet to be confirmed.

Kew told Screen in a statement:

”Kew is further combining its film and television units. This allows for more cohesion and synergies across our sales and marketing teams and better positions the company for its growth and expansion. The new joint division will be led by Greg Phillips, President, Distribution. Jamie Carmichael, President of Film, has decided to leave the company to pursue new opportunities.”

Recent titles on the Kew slate include Zach Fox and Omri Dorani’s teen comedy How To Get Girls, Bees Make Honey starring Alice Eve, comedy An Actor Prepares with Jeremy Irons and Jack Huston and sci-fi...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Fascinating and horrifying. A gripping detective story and an impassioned call for public debate over terrifying weapons that have already been loosed. I’m “biast” (pro): love Alex Gibney films

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Cyber warfare is here. And I’m not referring to the Russian hacking of DNC servers during the recent Us presidential election. The cyber equivalent of Hiroshima happened several years ago, and it wasn’t the Russians who dropped the bomb. It was the Us and Israel, and it’s what outgoing president Barack Obama was referring to when he said, in his farewell speech the other day, that he had “shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program without firing a shot.” He was talking about Stuxnet, the malware that sneakily threw Iran’s delicate nuclear-fuel-refining centrifuges out of whack...

Distributor strikes theatrical and home entertainment deal for George Best: All By Himself.

Dogwoof has acquired football doc George Best: All By Himself for UK & Ireland theatrical and home entertainment distribution in 2017.

The feature documentary unveils the drama and allure of gifted football star George Best. The film follows Best’s struggle to fight his alcoholism whilst his footballing prowess begins to abandon him.

The Fine Point Films (Bobby Sands: 66 Days) production is funded by BBC, Espn and Nothern Ireland Screen. It is directed by Daniel Gordon (Hillsborough).

The distribution deal was signed by Oli Harbottle, head of distribution at Dogwoof, and Trevor Birney, MD of Fine Point.

Harbottle commented: “We were immediately excited when we first heard that the story of George Best was being made into a feature documentary a few years ago. With the hugely talented Dan Gordon as director and the combined heavyweight experience of both Fine Point Films and [link...

Cinema Eye has named 10 filmmakers and 20 films that have been voted as the top achievements in documentary filmmaking during the past 10 years. Founded in 2007 to “recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film,” Cinema Eye polled 110 members of the documentary community to determine the winning films and filmmakers just as the organization kicks off its tenth year.

Read More: Behind the Scenes of Cinema Eye’s Secret Field Trip for Nominees

Among the films chosen are Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” and Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Poitras and Oppenheimer were both also named to the list of the top documentary filmmakers, joining Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman, who recently won an honorary Oscar and will be saluted at the annual Governors Awards on November 12.

“It’s fantastic that he is being recognized by the Academy for a...

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

Alex Gibney works with such ferocious regularity that it’s sometimes hard to keep track. Last year alone he had three films released following two the year before that. His latest, Zero Days, falls into the camp of Gibney films in which he most excels - those like Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room that allow him to exercise his skills at investigative journalism and dig deep into exposing organizations and those who surround them. While it lacks the pop fancies that made Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief such a success, Zero Days is Gibney’s best documentary in years.

Told with all the propulsive, thrilling excitement of a Hollywood spy blockbuster, Zero Days lifts the lid on a series of cybercrimes...

An elegy for old-school reportage and the people who pursue it, and a journalistic procedural with a snappy rush of urgent discovery and consequence. I’m “biast” (pro): partial to stories about journalists, love the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

For me, this kind of story is why we do this.” So says Liev Schreiber as Marty Baron, the editor of the Boston Globe newspaper on the eve of the publication, in January 2002, of a story the team of investigative journalists in the paper’s Spotlight department had been working on for months. It would crack open the coverup of pedophile priests in the Catholic Church in Boston, led to the revelations of similar coverups around the U.S. and across the planet, and would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. But “this kind of story...

A compassionate, intimate unpacking of the legend of Janis Joplin that reveals the troubled influences on the force-of-nature singer she willed into being. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Janis Joplin! She was the Amy Winehouse of her day… except without all the vampiric media attention and the constant stalking by paparazzi. Joplin was at least able to die of her substance abuse in peace and privacy. We’re used to thinking that women have it so much better today, but before Joplin died in 1970 — at age 27, the same age at which Winehouse died in 2011 — the focus of the press coverage of her had been on her work: “Janis should dump her band, they’re not as good as she is and they’re dragging her down”; “Janis shouldn’t have dumped her band, these...

For being just a brief 4 days, True/False is a densely packed festival, and I mean that in the true celebratory sense, full of not just film screenings, but parades and parties, street bound buskers, live game shows, filmmaking workshops and what-have-you, and it’s all condensed down into a vibrant, but relatively small college town. Everything is within a 10 minute walk. And where else might you walk two blocks and in the process subsequently encounter the likes of Joshua Oppenheimer, Alex Gibney, Nick Broomfield and the Ross Brothers? Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, the founders of True/False have created something truly special here in Columbia, Mo – a glorious celebration of non-fiction filmmaking and the fascinating fault line that separates the unreal from the untruthful.

Interestingly, Alex Gibney’s latest feature peddles only truth, but deals with the murky myths of a science fiction pseudo-religion. Based on Lawrence Wright’s exposé of Scientology,...

Not satisfied with taking on the Catholic Church in Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Oscar winning documentarian Alex Gibney has since turned his lens on L. Ron Hubbard and the Scientology faith. In the opening seconds of the trailer for Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, an HBO Documentary debuting March 29, a speaker immediately labels the religion a cult, and the sinister feeling and tone is palpable.

Reviews for Going Clear out of Sundance were stellar, perhaps some of the best Gibney has had in years. But this isn’t even his only documentary planned for this year, as he’s also releasing a Steve Jobs documentary, Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine at SXSW.

Watch the trailer for Going Clear below:

The post Alex Gibney takes on Scientology in trailer for ‘Going Clear’ appeared first on Sound On Sight.

Alex Gibney is continuing on his quest to make every denomination mad at him, and after turning his lens on the Catholic church in Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, he’s now examining the teachings of yet another religion, Scientology.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that his latest project is based on Going Clear, a non-fiction book by Lawrence Wright from 2013 in which Wright interviewed near 200 high-ranking Scientologists, documented the life of the church’s founder L. Ron Hubbard and in turn received numerous letters threatening legal action.

So, Gibney shouldn’t worry about ruffling any feathers then, right?

The documentary is in the finishing stages of production along with HBO, who THR notes is eyeing a 2015 debut and a potential run at this year’s Sundance should the film be completed in time.

Gibney of course has been mighty prolific of late, this becoming his 11th...

Two compelling documentaries about famed competitive cyclists and the corrupted sport that chewed them up. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): not at all a fan of competitive cycling

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

I know even less about competitive cycling than I know about the other sports I don’t like and don’t follow. This did not prevent me from enjoying immensely Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist, a documentary biography of the celebrated Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, a man I had never heard of until I received an invitation to a screening of this film. Filmmaker James Erskine gives even the most profoundly uninitiated viewer (such as me) plenty of opportunities to understand, cheer for, and mourn the man whose death, we learn, was greeted with a Princess Diana-level of public grief in his native country...

Awardees for the seventh annual Television Academy Honors were announced on Wednesday, with seven series, including cancer dramedy The Big C: Hereafter, family drama The Fosters (pictured), and news program Vice, recognized for bringing awareness to important social issues.

The full list of series being feted by the Television Academy includes Showtime’s Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor, HBO’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, CBS sitcom Mom, and Conde Nast Entertainment and Glamour’s Screw You Cancer. These shows tackled topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder, sex abuse in the church, alcoholism, cancer, and the foster care system.

The Television Academy today announced this year’s honorees for the Seventh Annual Television Academy Honors. They are The Big C: hereafter, Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor, The Fosters, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God, Mom, Screw You Cancer and Vice. The recipients are being honored for using the power of television to bring awareness to important social issues. For the first time this year, beginning the week of May 25, the recipients will be celebrated with special daily content on the Television Academy’s digital platforms and on Yahoo TV. Dana Delany will host the awards ceremony set for June 1 at the Sls Hotel in Beverly Hills. Click over for a description of the honorees: Recipients of the Seventh Annual Television Academy Honors are: · The Big C: hereafter (Showtime) – The Big C: hereafter is the fitting conclusion to Cathy’s (Laura Linney) journey of battling Stage Four melanoma.

ABC Family's The Fosters, Showtime's The Big C: Hereafter, CBS' Mom and HBO's Vice are among the recipients of the 7th annual Television Academy Honors.

Showtime's Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor, HBO's Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Conde Nast/Glamour's Screw You Cancer round out the honorees. The TV Academy Honors spotlight programs that bring awareness to important and social issues.

The seven honorees will be celebrated starting the week of May 25 with daily content on the TV Academy's digital platforms and Yahoo TV. On Sunday, June 1, the recipients will be feted at ...

The 73rd Annual Peabody Award winners are a zeitgeisty mix of new television classics, from "Breaking Bad" to "House of Cards" and "Scandal," and underdogs like FX's "The Bridge."  This was a great year for overseas television. Denmark's "Borgen" and France's "The Returned," a must-see now on Netflix, both won prizes. BBC's beloved sci-fi series "Orphan Black," starring Tatiana Maslany, and crime miniseries "Broadchurch," took home honors as well. Though the Peabody Awards typically honor television and radio, filmmakers weren't left out. Director Alex Gibney picked up a Peabody for his HBO documentary "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God" about sex scandals in the Roman Catholic Church. Director Ken Burns' provocative "The Central Park Five" -- which he co-directed with Sarah Burns and David McMahon -- got kudos, too.  TCM was honored for Mark Cousins' 15-part revisionist history of cinema "The Story of Film," which.

The University of Georgia’s 73rd Annual Peabody Awards set a record with 46 recipients, which were announced today on CBS This Morning. The winners, chosen from nearly 1,100 entries, were selected by the Peabody board to be named the “best in electronic media for 2013.”

Recipients range from local news to international coverage, also including entertainment series, documentaries, web-based winners and more. A complete list of the winners is below:

180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School (PBS)

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS)

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)

Best Kept Secret (PBS)

Borgen...

What is a Muppet? Is it something one is born? Is it something one chooses? Is it a state of mind? Is it a lifestyle? I’m “biast” (pro): Muppets!

I’m “biast” (con): biast? moi?

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Subtle. Unspoken. Perhaps even unintended. The question. The Question, even.

What is a Muppet?

That question — in retrospect, one that desperately needed to be voiced — is at the quietly unsettling core of the 2011 return to the big screen of the entertainers who probably hadn’t even realized they’d raised the question decades ago… and hence certainly cannot have realized that they hadn’t answered it. Hell, I didn’t even realize that they’d asked it and then not answered it till I saw this movie.

Kermit the Frog? More like Kermit the Philosopher. Kermit the Existentialist Tormentor. Because I can’t even.

What’s new, what’s hot, and what you may have missed, now available to stream.

streaming now, before it’s on dvd

The Armstrong Lie: another brilliant documentary from the ever-incisive Alex Gibney, about Lance Armstrong and the power of celebrity [at Amazon Instant Video]

new this week

Dallas Buyers Club: unsentimental true story of tenacity, and a reexamination of prejudices, in the face of imminent death; Matthew McConaughey is terrific [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video] Hawking: engaging documentary about the world-famous physicist that emphasizes the challenges of his personal life and the resilience of his humor and spirit [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video] Mother of George: powerful drama about a Nigerian couple in Brooklyn struggling with the cultural pressures to have a baby [at Amazon Instant Video]

new to streaming

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God: enraging documentary about the Catholic Church’s pedophilia coverup will leave you feeling battered by grief and fury [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video] The Conspirator: admirable, handsomely mounted drama about the Lincoln assassination,...

What’s new, what’s hot, and what you may have missed, now available to stream on Netflix, blinkbox, BBC iPlayer, Curzon on Demand.

new to stream

African Cats: gorgeously photographed, astonishingly intimate documentary; you won’t believe it can have been possible for cameras to get so close without disturbing the animals they’re watching [my review] [at Netflix] Blood: smart British cop drama is a dream showcase for star Paul Bettany [at Netflix] Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God: enraging documentary about the Catholic Church’s pedophilia coverup will leave you feeling battered by grief and fury [my review] [at Netflix] Smash His Camera: engaging and provocative documentary about early papparazzo Ron Galella and the ethical and free-speech issues surrounding such photography [at Netflix] The Words: intriguing exploration of living with mistakes made features great performance by Bradley Cooper, yet peters out with too much left unsaid [at Netflix]

streaming now, before it’s...

Exclusive: Storyville, Irish Film Board commission is first production from Alan Maher at Roads Entertainment.

BBC4 doc strand Storyville and the Irish Film Board (Ifb) have ordered a documentary from Crazy About One Direction-director Daisy Asquith.

After the Dance will chart Asquith’s investigation into her own complicated family history on the west coast of Ireland.

The feature-length film will trace the fallout experienced by Asquith’s family after her mother was conceived to unmarried parents and adopted, unpicking a past dominated by secrets and shame and involving a new family in County Clare.

Asquith said: “My grandmother suffered an appalling injustice at the hands of the Catholic church, being forced to give up her baby after a secret pregnancy she dared tell no-one in her family about.

“The shame at these stories still exists, which makes this a tough film to make. But I make it with love and pride in my Irish family.”

After...

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney is known for going after big fish such as the Catholic Church (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”), Enron (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) and the United States Military (“Taxi to the Dark Side”), but when he was tapped to make a film on Lance Armstong, it wasn’t supposed to be like the exposés he’s known for. At the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this fall, he sat down with Thompson on Hollywood’s Anne Thompson to talk about the personal journey that “The Armstrong Lie” took him on. Below are the highlights. (Sony Pictures Classics opens "The Armstrong Lie" in select theaters this Friday.) The film he was supposed to make and the story that followed it “It started out as an inspirational comeback story when Lance Armstrong decided to come back to cycling in 2008 after being in retirement.

Cinema Eye Honors has announced its nominees for the 7th Annual Nonfiction Film Awards. Forty feature films and six shorts will vie for this year’s Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking.

Five films are competing for Cinema Eye’s top award, Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act Of Killing, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s After Tiller, Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie And The Boxer (pictured), Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel’s Leviathan and Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell.

Cutie And The Boxer led all films with six nominations, while The Act Of Killing received five. Heinzerling and the directing duos of Castaing-Taylor and Paravel and Shane and Wilson all led individual nominees with four nominations apiece.

Cinema Eye also announced nominees for their inaugural award for Nonfiction Films Made for Television. Four of the six nominees are from HBO Documentary Films, including Lucy Walker’s The Crash Reel, Dawn Porter’s Gideon...

Stephen Frears's film about an Irish woman, played by Judi Dench, who is trying to trace the child that was taken from her reveals the sins and the secret strength of the religion

• Video interview: Steve Coogan and Martin Sixsmith on Philomena

• The film reviewed in the Guardian, the Observer & on video

As the world's biggest, oldest, most influential and perhaps most colourful institution of any kind, the Catholic church has surely merited more attention than cinema has accorded it. Angels & Demons and Habemus Papam gave a hint of the possibilities, and that somewhat minor branch of pastoral activity, exorcism, has been more than adequately explored. Otherwise, we've had saintly but boring priests such as those of The Bells of St Mary's and Angels with Dirty Faces or absurdly delightful nuns like those in The Sound of Music and The Nun's Story.

In part, the prevalence of such sympathetic...

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, winner of the Lff 2012 Best Documentary prize for Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God returns this year with an equally absorbing film that literally puts professional cyclist Lance Armstrong on the spot. Oprah has been there, trying to get the truth. Now it’s Gibney’s turn, especially as he was filming the athlete’s cycling comeback in 2009 as he trained for his eight Tour de France victory (as contested). Issues of doping cropped up back then – all denied.

Since doping revelations have since come to light in the past couple of years, what follows is a change of plan to Gibney’s original documentary idea. He goes armed again with his camera to try and get a ‘true’ confession out of the cyclist, especially as he was lied to face-to-face back then. It’s cringeworthy, ‘car crash’ viewing that doesn’t...

Alex Gibney, Laura Poitras and Geralyn Dreyfous will receive awards at the International Documentary Association’s 2013 Ida Awards, the organization announced on Wednesday. Gibney, whose work includes the Oscar-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side” as well as “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” the recent Emmy-winner “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” and this year’s “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” and “The Armstrong Lie,” will receive the Ida’s Career Achievement Award. In the past, that honor has gone to Errol Morris, Michael Moore,...

HBO knows how to throw a good bash, and their annual Emmy after-party at the Pacific Design Center was a huge improvement on the sad and gloomy death-obsessed 65th Emmy Awards, which nonetheless drew the largest audience in eight years.  Who are these mythical TV Academy voters who baffled most of the Gold Derby Emmy predicters? I did terribly on my picks but came out ahead of many others, it turned out. The Emmys work the opposite of the Oscars. In other words, the larger group picks the nominees while smaller groups pick the winners. This accounts for such strange wins as Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") over Louis C.K. and Jeff Daniels ("The Newsroom") over Kevin Spacey ("House of Cards"). As usual, HBO did well, taking home 27 primetime Emmy awards, the most of any network, thanks to 11 wins for Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra," five for "Boardwalk Empire,...

Behind The Candelabra (HBO) — 11 Boardwalk Empire (HBO) — 5 66th Annual Tony Awards (CBS) — 4 Saturday Night Live (NBC) — 4 The Big Bang Theory (CBS) — 3 Breaking Bad (AMC) — 3 Disney Mickey Mouse Croissant de Triomphe (Disney) — 3 House Of Cards (Netflix) — 3 Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God (HBO) — 3 Related: Nikki Finke Live-Snarks 65th Emmys 30 Rock (NBC) — 2 55th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS) — 2 American Horror Story: Asylum (FX) — 2 American Masters (PBS) — 2 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) — 2 The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) — 2 Da Vinci’s Demons (Starz) — 2 Deadliest Catch (Discovery) — 2 Game Of Thrones (HBO) — 2 Homeland (Showtime) — 2 How I Met Your Mother (CBS) — 2 The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) — 2 The Men Who Built America (History) — 2 Modern Family (ABC) — 2 Nurse Jackie (Showtime) — 2 Veep (HBO) — 2 The Voice (NBC) — 2 Related: Primetime 2013 Emmys Analysis: Night Of Upsets Primetime Emmys 2013: Tepid Applause For Monteith Tribute (Video) Primetime Emmys 2013: High Mark For Female ... Read More »...

Here’s a look at how the networks and shows are doing, numbers-wise, including the Creative Arts Emmys, which were handed out Sept. 15: Shows Behind the Candelabra: 11 Boardwalk Empire: 5 66th Annual Tony Awards: 4 Saturday Night Live: 4 Breaking Bad: 3 Disney Mickey Mouse Croissant de Triomphe: 3 House of Cards: 3 Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God: 3 The Big Bang Theory: 3 30 Rock: 2 The 55th Annual Grammy Awards: 2 American Horror Story: 2 American Masters: 2 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: 2 Da Vinci’s Demons: 2 Deadliest Catch: 2 Game of Thrones: 2 Homeland: 2 How I Met Your Mother...

HBO dominated the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday night, grabbing 20 awards, including eight for the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, the most-awarded program of the night. Other notable winners include Bob Newhart; the TV vet took home his first-ever Emmy for his guest-starring role on The Big Bang Theory.

See the complete list of winners below; an edited version of the nearly four-hour Creative Arts Emmys will air Saturday, Sept. 21, on Fxx.

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program

Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

Betty White, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers

Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars

Winner: Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn,...

Wins By Network HBO 20 (1 programs + 19 individuals) CBS 15 (3 programs + 12 individuals) NBC 8 (8 individuals) Cartoon Network 3 (1 program + 2 individuals) Disney.com 3 (1 program + 2 individuals) Nickelodeon 3 (2 programs + 1 individual) PBS 3 (1 program + 2 individual) Showtime 3 (3 individual) CNN 2 (1 program + 1 individual) Comedy Central 2 (1 program + 1 individual) Discovery Channel 2 (2 individual) Fox 2 (2 individual) FX Networks 2 (2 individual) History 2 (2 individual) Netflix 2 (2 individual) Starz 2 (2 individual) ABC 1 (1 individual) AMC 1 (1 individual) Bravo 1 (1 program) BravoTV.com 1 (1 program) Cinemax 1 (1 individual) ComedyCentral.com 1 (1 program) Disney Xd 1 (1 individual) History.com 1 (1 program) IFC 1 (1 individual) Lifetime 1 (1 individual) Oprah.com/Lifeclass 1 (1 program) ReelzChannel 1 (1 individual) Sundance Channel 1 (1 individual) Youtube.com/LizzieBennet 1 (1 program) Programs with Multiple Awards Behind the Candelabra (HBO) 8 66th Annual Tony Awards (CBS) 4 Boardwalk Empire (HBO) 4 Disney Mickey Mouse Croissant de Triomphe (Disney.com) 3 Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (HBO) 3 Saturday Night Live (NBC) 3 The 55th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS) 2 American Masters (PBS) 2 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) 2 The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 2 Da Vinci’s Demons (Starz) 2 Deadliest Catch (Discovery...

A week before the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards rock the entertainment industry, nearly 80 awards were scheduled to be presented at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony Sunday (Sept. 15) at the Nokia Theatre. Fxx will air an edited version of the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony on Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. Et.

HBO's "Behind the Candelabra" unsurprisingly took home a number of awards, while Bob Newhart won his first career Emmy for guest-starring on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory."

Here is the full list of winners:

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series - 2013: Carrie Preston, as Elsbeth Tascioni on "The Good Wife"

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series - 2013: Dan Bucatinsky, as James Novack on "Scandal"

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - 2013: Melissa Leo, as Laurie on "Louie"

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series - 2013: Bob Newhart, as Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton...

The Emmys have begun! The Emmys have begun!

No, we’re not talking about the 2013 Primetime Emmys broadcast — you’ll have to wait till next Sunday, Sept. 22 at 8/7c for that — but rather, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, handed out at Sunday evening the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Photos | Fall TV Spoiler Spectacular: Exclusive Pics and Scoops on 45 Returning Favorites

Here’s a list of the majority of winners:

Guest Actress In A Comedy Series | Melissa Leo, Louie

Guest Actor In A Comedy Series | Bob Newhart The Big Bang Theory

Guest Actor In A Drama Series | Dan Bucatinsky, Scandal...

I grabbed documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”) and former Lance Armstrong teammate Jonathan Vaughters at the Toronto International Film Festival to talk about the long-gestating doc "The Armstrong Lie," which will be released by Sony Pictures Classics. (Here's Indiewire's coverage.) Gibney who won an Oscar for torture expose “Taxi to the Dark Side," was approached to make a film on Lance Armstrong's comeback Tour de France race in 2009. “It started out as an inspirational comeback story when Lance Armstrong decided to come back to cycling in 2008 after being in retirement," he told me. "Folks at Sony, Frank Marshall and Matt Tolmach, wanted to see if I’d be interested in doing a documentary that would follow him during this comeback year. I’d certainly heard the rumblings and rumors about doping in the past, but I was interested in this comeback...

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney is known for going after big fish such as the Catholic Church (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”), Enron (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) and the United States Military (“Taxi to the Dark Side”), but when he was tapped to make a film on Lance Armstong, it wasn’t supposed to be like the exposés he’s known for. Here at the Toronto International Film Festival, he sat down with Thompson on Hollywood’s Anne Thompson on Tuesday to talk about the personal journey that “The Armstrong Lie” took him on. Below are the highlights. The film he was supposed to make and the story that followed it “It started out as an inspirational comeback story when Lance Armstrong decided to come back to cycling in 2008 after being in retirement. Folks at Sony, Frank Marshall and Matt Tolmach, wanted to see...

“Mad Men” star John Slattery has been tapped to narrate “Esquire’s 80th,” Esquire Network’s retrospective of its namesake magazine’s history, TheWrap has learned. Slattery, 51, plays the advertising agency patriarch on AMC’s “Mad Men.” His many TV credits also include “Arrested Development,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Jack & Bobby,” and “Ed.” He has also previously lent his voice to characters on “The Cleveland Show,” “The Simpsons” and narrated the documentary “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.” The previously announced two-hour special is the new network’s first original production and will kick off its first night of primetime programming on Monday,...

Venice -- Italy, Oscar-winning documentary director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) returns to a project he started over five years ago in The Armstrong Lie, which was initially envisaged as a film about champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s 2009 comeback and now includes material shot after the 2012 revelation that the athlete’s insistent denials of ever having used performance-enhancing drugs were a lie. The director of such recent, rigorously researched non-fiction exposés as Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks here makes a rare, somewhat unfocused film

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The Creative Arts Emmy ceremony will take place on September 15 at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, with a two-hour edited version being broadcast on the 21st on the new FX spin-off network Fxx -- but the folks below already know they're going home with an award. Today, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners for the juried prizes in the categories of Individual Achievement in Animation, Costumes for a Variety Program or Special and Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, which went to "Adventure Time," "Portlandia" and Alex Gibney's "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," among others. The juried categories require all entrants to be screened by a panel of professionals in their peer group -- instead of nominees, there's a one-step evaluation and voting procedure, and it's possible for there to be no winner awarded. Here's the list of juried winners below. The big awards...

Disney animation, "The Simpsons," the Grammy Awards, "Portlandia" and the documentary "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God" have won the first Emmy Awards of 2013, the Television Academy announced on Wednesday. Those programs, and several others, were given Emmys in three juried categories. The Emmys do not have standard nominations in those categories but instead convene special peer-group screening committees to view eligible achievements and decide if each one is deserving of an Emmy. More than one award in each category is possible, but only programs or individuals...

The UK/Us firm also increased growth after acquiring a majority stake in Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.

Content Media Corporation has released its financial results for 2013, reporting a revenue increase of 54% and major profit growth.

Revenue of $71.1m (£46.9m) was up 54% on 2012’s $46.1m (£30.5m).

Profit before taxes rose 19% to $4.9m (£3.2m). Reported profit after tax came in at $13.3m (£8.8 million), up 420% after a large one-time gain.

The large growth in the Content’s revenues reflects the development of its television and film production businesses, including Collins Avenue, Jigsaw Productions and Preferred Film and Television.

The company’s traditional television and film distribution companies has also continued to perform well, according to the financials.

Content CEO John Schmidt said: “We saw significant revenue growth in our operating businesses and strong profitability. We also executed several deals that are important to our future and position us well for growth.”

Those deals included acquiring a 50.1% stake in [link...