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20 Days In Mariupol
Dir. Mstyslav Chernov
This from-the-frontline documentary by Associated Press journalist Chernov starts in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He and his colleagues shoot and report as the first tank arrives in Mariupol, and besieged citizens plead with the reporters to bear witness to their plight. Winner of the audience award in Sundance’s world cinema documentary category (won by Navalny in 2022, which went on to take the best documentary feature Oscar), this PBS release in the US has been gaining plaudits on the documentary festival circuit, and has five Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations.
American Symphony
Dir. Matthew Heineman
Musician Jon Batiste won multiple prizes — an Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe among them — for the score he composed on Pixar’s Soul with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Now he becomes the subject of a documentary that charts how the composition of his 2022 ‘American Symphony’ was overshadowed by the return of his wife’s cancer. Heineman, Oscar- and Bafta-nominated for 2015’s Cartel Land, is looking to go one better with a film backed by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company. Netflix snapped up worldwide rights after an enthusiastic Telluride reception.
Anselm
Dir. Wim Wenders
Nominated for the documentary feature Oscar three times — including in 2012 for 3D dance project Pina — Wenders here deploys his 3D, high-resolution cameras to create a portrait of the life and work of German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. After its premiere at Cannes, the mostly German-language film, produced by Karsten Brunig and executive produced by Jeremy Thomas, was bought for the US by Sideshow and Janus, with a December 8 release set.
Beyond Utopia
Dir. Madeleine Gavin
With three separate stories of citizens attempting the highly dangerous mission of leaving North Korea, this documentary plays out like a thriller — especially when using handheld footage shot on the escape route through jungle terrain. Winner of the US documentary prize on its debut at Sundance, the film has since played CPH:DOX, Jerusalem and Sydney, among others, picking up the audience award at the latter. US director Gavin has worked predominantly as an editor, including on her own film here. Roadside Attractions bought US rights from Dogwoof, and releases at the beginning of November.
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Dirs. Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp
The 2021 campaign by charismatic Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine to unseat his country’s dictatorial sitting president is the focus of an impactful debut feature from Uganda-born directors Bwayo and Sharp and prolific UK producer John Battsek. Premiering at Venice Film Festival in 2022, it was picked up for the world by National Geographic and given a limited US theatrical release in July.
The Deepest Breath
Dir. Laura McGann
Through eye-catching underwater photography and a thriller structure, Irish filmmaker McGann interweaves an international love story with a look at the extreme sport of ocean free-diving in her second feature as a director, produced by A24, Ireland’s Motive Films, John Battsek’s Ventureland and the UK’s Raw. Netflix took rights to the film before its premiere at Sundance and gave it a limited US theatrical release and worldwide streaming launch in July.
The Eternal Memory
Dir. Maite Alberdi
Alberdi was Oscar-nominated for her 2020 documentary The Mole Agent, and the Chilean filmmaker takes a similarly intimate approach with this account of how Alzheimer’s has affected the relationship between a former TV presenter and his longtime actress-politician partner. Produced by Pablo Larrain’s Fabula, the Spanish-language project won Sundance’s grand jury award for world cinema documentary and sold to MTV Documentary Films, which released in the US in August.
Fantastic Machine
Dirs. Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck
This Sundance premiere scooped the special jury award for creative vision (world cinema documentary) and is produced by Sweden’s Plattform Produktion — which is behind all of Ruben Ostlund’s films since 2001. The director duo dig into the impact on human behaviour of the still and moving image, from the camera obscura to YouTube. Ostlund is executive producer, and Strand Releasing distributes in North America.
High And Low: John Galliano
Dir. Kevin Macdonald
Director Macdonald has switched between documentary (winning an Oscar in 2000 with One Day In September) and narrative (The Last King Of Scotland, The Mauritanian). His latest documentary may initially seem like a bid to salvage the reputation of former Dior designer Galliano, convicted of anti-Semitic abuse in France in 2011 — but he is not that easy to categorise, as footage of his outbursts and his own recollections now demonstrate. Macdonald’s great feat is to defrock an industry awash with bad behaviour in which Galliano’s greatest offence seems to have been getting caught. Mubi jumped on board ahead of its Telluride premiere.
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Dir. Lisa Cortes
The complex personal and professional life of Little Richard and the Black queer origins of rock ’n’ roll are revealed in this CNN Films/Max project from Cortes, who co-directed 2020 documentary All In: The Fight For Democracy and produced 2019 Primetime Emmy winner The Apollo. Magnolia snapped up worldwide rights after a Sundance premiere and released in US cinemas in April.
The Mission
Dirs. Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
This Telluride-premiering documentary tells the story of evangelical Christian John Allen Chau, whose convictions led him to defy a ban on contact with a tribe living in voluntary isolation on the remote North Sentinel island in the Indian ocean. The Mission tracks his fatal odyssey, while also dealing with wider themes of faith. Released in the US in October by National Geographic, this is the second collaboration for Moss and McBaine, whose Boys State won the grand jury prize (documentary) at Sundance in 2020 and a Primetime Emmy.
Occupied City
Dir. Steve McQueen
McQueen’s debut feature documentary is based on Bianca Stigter’s book Atlas Of An Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940-1945, and explores 130 locations in the city relating to the Jewish community before and during the Nazi occupation. The A24/New Regency-backed film earned three nominations in the Critics Choice Documentary Awards including for director.
The Pigeon Tunnel
Dir. Errol Morris
A 2004 Oscar winner for The Fog Of War, Morris takes on the life of David Cornwell, the former British Cold War spy better known as novelist John le Carré. Drawing on his similarly titled memoir, and produced by le Carré’s sons Simon and Stephen Cornwell, the Telluride premiere mixes archival and dramatised elements with an interview with the author shot before his death in 2020. Apple’s limited US theatrical and worldwide streaming release began on October 20.
Stamped From The Beginning
Dir. Roger Ross Williams
Ibram X Kendi’s prize-winning book on the history of anti-Black racist ideas is brought to the screen by Williams — a 2010 Oscar winner for short Music By Prudence and a 2017 nominee for Life, Animated — using an animation process that blends live-action with period art. The Netflix documentary had its world premiere at Toronto, and the streamer has set a November 10 limited US theatrical release followed by a November 20 global streaming launch.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Dir. Davis Guggenheim
Using archival and scripted elements as well as a contemporary interview with the actor, this Apple Original from Guggenheim, director of 2007 Oscar winner An Inconvenient Truth, connects Michael J Fox’s early Hollywood stardom with his life dealing with Parkinson’s disease. Concordia produced the Sundance premiere, which won the Hope Award at SXSW and has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmys. It was given a limited US theatrical and Apple TV+ streaming launch in May.
Awards contender profiles by Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Charles Gant, Tim Grierson, Fionnuala Halligan, John Hazelton, Lee Marshall, Mark Salisbury, Neil Smith
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– Armessa Movie News